Ganked from KdS, who gave me the letter V. Tough one.

1. Comment on this post and ask for a letter.
2. I will give you one.
3. Think of 5 fictional characters whose names begin with that letter, and post their names and your comments on these characters in your LJ.

Now with photos! In case you don't know what these characters look like. ( Spoilers for Without a Trace, Veronica Mars, Stargate SG-1, Justice League Unlimited, The Magnificent Seven, and V for Vendetta, etc. )

Off to my cousin's house for a combo birthday dinner. Also a very happy birthday to arethusa2! *hugs*

Ganked from masqthephlsphr. Not sure how accurate this is, cuz I see myself as more Reclusive, but the test says...

( I'm a rebel! )

I've been reading Stargate SG-1 fic in between doing expenses. *meeps a little* This fandom has some truly inspired writers. It's not as wacky-insane as SGA fandom but, oh dark, and it does such terrible, wonderful things to our so-called heroes. It's fascinating to see Daniel Jackson, fandom Golden Boy, portrayed as the detached, ruthless -- at times, monstrous -- man he is under canon's surface.

Here's my not-quite-finished M7 ficathon assignment. Oops?


Title: Run to obtain
Author: scrollgirl
Written for: i_want_2
Prompt: Chris catches Vin. Either Vin's a wild man, a jungle bunny, or just someone who don't like people. Must have Chris being dominant, can have BDSM but no spanking.
Rating: Slash, R for language, violence, nudity, etc.
Summary: Vin won't stop running and Chris can't stop chasing after him. Part of a larger AU centred on Phoenix, Arizona, that's in the works. (To clarify: Chris is a police sergeant, not military. And if you're wondering why a cop is chasing someone across state lines -- oh, look, time travel in the Stargate universe! *runs and hides*)

Author's Note: This story is not yet complete! My sincerest apologies to i_want_2. I was travelling for all of August (Europe, yay!) and as soon as I got home, I immediately got sick. I'm mostly better now, but didn't have enough time to finish my assignment. Will get the rest of it up as soon as possible.


( Tanner's a slippery one, a canny, careful bastard with instincts sharper than any man Chris has ever met. But even canny, careful bastards can make mistakes. )

* * *

Cross-posted to mag7_fic. Feedback welcome :)

Europe was great :) Will go into more detail later. I got back into Toronto late Friday night, then left again for Montreal on Saturday morning. Cousin's baby shower was fun and there was much oohing and aahing over tiny sleepers and baby blankets, and silly baby shower games like guess how round she really is with a bit of string! Why do we always overestimate pregnant women's waists?

The Montreal second cousins (cousins once removed? I can never remember the English terminology) are awesome and lots of fun. There are so many of them! I kind of envy how they never run out of people to just hang out with on a Saturday night. I was in a minivan with my cousin and a few others (the other car had cat hair, which is bad for pregnant women and people with cat allergies, ie me) and I discovered I'd been hanging out with the entirely wrong set of cousins. My girl cousins are terrific and all, but they're very... girly. Growing up, we'd go to the mall, they and my sister would try on clothes and I'd hide in the bookstore. But the boys in the minivan! We talked Trek and BSG (which they insisted I watch) and Justice League and Gargoyles, and hee, my cousin decided all that geekery was too much for her and zonked out.

So we went over to one of their houses after dinner and bubble tea (in Montreal's tiny quartier chinois) and some of the boys and my cousin played poker while I watched and failed to learn. *g* The uncle of that house is a sword collector! Once I get my photos uploaded (ha! oh, I laugh and laugh) you'll get to see me swinging a broadsword and posing with a couple other pieces.

Got back Sunday in time for dinner -- more Chinese food, and yeah, okay, I was kind of grateful to get back to what I knew after a month of European cuisine. Monday I was sick! Very sick. My mom was awesome. There was watching of a Julia Stiles movie, The Prince & Me, which was kind of fun. (Though I'm still debating which ending would've made for a stronger story.)

I made it into work yesterday, barely, but I was not at all productive and finally left early. I'm much better today and figured I wanted to say hello to all of you. Hello! I'm home! I missed you guys so much! *hugs*

M7 ficathon assignment due tomorrow and I am so. screwed. Eep! Which means I probably won't be online again until I've posted something.

I can't believe my 3 weeks and 3 days are over. I fly home today -- in fact, my entire day will be spent on planes and in airports. At least Heathrow's Terminal 5 is very pretty! My sister wanted me to pop into London to buy her something from Top Shop but that ain't gonna happen. I texted back that I could get her something from Harrod's instead, but she hasn't responded. Ah well, her loss!

Of course, jet-lagged or not, tomorrow early morning my mom, sister and I are driving to Montreal for my cousin's baby shower. She is due in November and this'll be our first chance to see her since she got pregnant. (This is the cousin currently living in Raleigh, NC. She's home for the long weekend.) It'll be good to see the extended family again -- at least, I hope to see my other girl cousins, as I think this is a female-only affair.

Okay, I'm on the train for Fiumicino airport. Good-bye Rome! I enjoyed you much more than I'd expected to! I haven't seen so many nuns since the last time I watched one of the Sister Act movies. Good-bye Rome! Good-bye Bernini! (d'H is absolutely right about Rome being Bernini's city. "Stunning" is all I can say right now.)

The battery on my BB needs to last all day so I'll leave off. Good-bye Europe, you were beautiful and flawed and full of stories to tell. I'll miss you but I'm glad to be going home!

Open air film festival! Last night my friends saw the last ten minutes of Tosca. Unfortunately for them, their train to Rome left at 7pm so they're missing this evening's performance, Giselle. This one of the very few ballets I've actually seen before, but I've never seen it on a jumbotron ;)

They have chairs set up in the plaza in front of Rathaus, which a gov't building. Not to mention cafes and food vendors everywhere so you can have dinner, wine, and beer with your cultural experience! I've got a great seat so I'm a bit afraid to move, especially as I don't have anyone with me to guard the seats. Though the guy on my left was nice enough to watch my chair so I could purchase an Ikea blanket from the Film Festival info booth for 3 euros. At least now I'm not so cold!

DUDE. An ice cream guy just came by and as it's getting quite dark, he has a 60 watt LIGHTBULB in one hand so folks can see the menu. Looks battery operated, no wires. What happened to good old-fashioned flashlights? Took a photo of the poor guy and his cart, and I'm sure the two older gentlemen on either side of me thought me quite odd. *g*

Waiting for the show to start, with music from The Nutcracker playing from the massive speakers. Snowflake waltz, I think. It's been a while.

One thing I will NOT miss about Europe is the smoking. Toronto's strict no smoking in dining establishments have definitely spoiled me. But I'm going to miss Europe's cafes. I love how people just sit outside with their coffees or wines and take in the streets and parks. It puts Canada's patio season to shame.

Tomorrow I fly to Rome and meet up with my friends who are on the train. Besides the Vatican, Sistine chapel, and Colosseum, what do you guys recommend in Rome? I have 4 days!

Oooh, the show is starting! There are commercials first, which... okay, they have sponsors and need to pay for this somehow ;)

Giselle! *twirls*

I really wanted to do a video of my Highlander tour so you could hear my saying "hi" to the Seine for Masq and other fans, but my camera's almost out of batteries! Alas, I will have to content myself with photos. And memories ;)

3:20pm: I've been sitting here for 20mins now but I'm not at all bored. The view is fantastic, with Notre Dame in the background, Methos' tunnel to my right, and tour boats going by. I have a lovely, clear day.

4pm: I just wrote a tiny snippet of Duncan and Methos reuniting here on the quai some years after the series finale (but not taking into account HL4). Once I get home and clean it up, I'll post it :)

Now I'm off to visit St Julien le Pauvre and Shakespeare & Co! And to buy more batteries.

*hugs*

We have arrived in Paris. Saw Sacre Coeur, which is gorgeous. And huge! Walked along a lot of small side streets off Blvd de Clichy, had dessert at a little bar with a jazz trio (piano, trumpet, and bass) because my friend is a fan of live music. Tomorrow I will likely take a stroll along the south bank of the Seine ;)

Going to sleep now but we have the Olympics on and I just saw Ian Millar riding In Style for a perfect jump. Is that how you'd say that? Horse lovers and those who know the sport, please correct me if I'm wrong! This is a Spanish channel so I'm depending on numbers to figure out who's winning. It's still kind of sad that we haven't won anything, but it was awesome to see the Canadian flags in the crowd and see one of our Olympiads representing us so well. Go Canada!

It's also kind of cool that two women (that I've seen) are part of the jumping teams. Is this the only mixed gender team sport?

Ooh! I just saw The Allowed do a perfect jump! It's the "jump off".

Oh crap, I think we just lost to the Americans :( Still, we did well for ourselves! Does this mean we get a silver? Or was that just the first heat or whatever? I should learn more about how the Olympics are run.

Anyway, bon nuit! Hope you guys are doing well! *hugs*

Shoot. I'm going to miss International Blog Against Racism Week (Aug 4-10) this year. Not that I participated last year, or ever. But having become so enmeshed in Magnificent Seven fandom in recent weeks, and wishing Nathan had a better presence/stronger following (to put it mildly), I've found myself interested in reading more about racism -- specifically racism against blacks in the United States, both historically and today -- and considering writing out my own evolving understanding of how we in fandom/real-life deal with black characters/people. Not that I can't still do all this... just that it'll have to wait until September.

But for those of you who are online and want to read more, go to ibarw for terrific links to anti-racist articles/essays and smart, incisive, personal posts by folks here on LJ. This year's optional theme is intersectionality.

I will be in Edinburgh when this movie opens in theatres. Alas! Guess I'll have to wait until I get back. But here are the two official trailers for your viewing pleasure!





In unrelated news, it appears I have something in common with Billie Piper's character on The Secret Diary of a Call Girl, which is that I've never been addicted to anything, "except maybe the fourth season of The West Wing." *g*

Whoa. How did I not know about Michael Turner? This was a month ago -- not to mention I didn't even know he was sick. Well, I suppose even during my brief time in comics fandom I didn't notice the writers and artists so much as the characters. I'm sorry to hear this, though. I liked Turner's art.

It's kind of weird but... I don't want to go on this trip anymore. I mean, I want to go because it's been a LOT of work getting ready for it and a lot of money spent, so I better darn well enjoy myself. But on the other hand, I'm a homebody and I don't want to leave my nice, comfortable house and my nice, comfortable bed, and I'm gonna miss my mom and I just have all this hesitation about being by myself so far from home, with everything that can go wrong. It'll probably be better once I'm actually there, but I anticipate plenty of lonely nights and drifting days.

I've just purchased Wonder Woman Seasons 1 and 3 (alas, I couldn't find S2), and the complete series for Wonderfalls and Point Pleasant. I don't know much about Point Pleasant -- was it good? Scary? Cheesy? The title sounded familiar and I vaguely remember somebody reccing it to me. It was on sale for really cheap so I figured, why not? If you guys tell me it sucked, I can always return it.

I also bought t-shirts, socks, a cheap digital watch, a padlock, and exchanged Canadian dollars for British pounds. Unfortunately my bank didn't have any Euros in the vault.

Now I'm going to lay everything out and see what fits in my backpack!


My sister used every single pot and pan in the kitchen to cook up a picnic for her and her boyfriend. At least she isn't expecting me to clean up after her! Though she did kindly leave me some potato salad. They're going to High Park to watch A Midsummer Night's Dream.

A question for folks way more internet / technologically savvy than me:

If a server is down, it wouldn't cause one website (dannyandmartin.com, which is supposed to be a Danny/Martin fic archive) to show info from another website (what appears to be the web mistress' artfolio), would it? I mean, whenever I've seen a server going down, I just get a "Page could not be displayed".


ETA: NEVER MIND!

Dude. Booking a hostel in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival is CUT-THROAT. Sorry, black_eyedgirl, looks like I'm gonna have to bail early.


ETA: OH MY GOD. *crosses fingers* PLEASE LET THIS BOOKING GO THROUGH. So long as the internet doesn't fail me by giving me a false positive, I now have a room for Friday night. Yay.

*falls over*

Date:	2008-07-31 14:08
Subject:	Insta!rec: "Too Close To Call" by urban_stoop (TWW, Will/Kate)
Security:	Public
Mood:	excited

pocky_slash! I have a fic rec for you! It's Will/Kate fluff! Post-series! It is awesome like a truly awesome thing, and it's funny and sweet and it has the Laurens! It is incredibly happy-making :D

Title: Too Close To Call
Author: urban_stoop
Fandom: The West Wing
Pairing: Will Bailey/Kate Harper
Summary: On the night of the election in the Oregon Fourth, Will receives an unexpected visitor.

He tries to give her a cool grin, but his stomach is churning and his palms are becoming sweaty. She’s here. She’s really, really here. And walking up to him.

Enrique Murciano just broke my heart in "Showdown", Without a Trace 4x01. Even being spoiled for this ep didn't stop me from being shocked by the emotions of it. Mostly Danny, but Victor Fitzgerald too.

I like Victor, dammit. I like that he is totally not thinking straight. I like him berating Jack because, honestly? Jack deserved to be berated. I love that one shot of Victor, with his cold blue eyes. Very unlike Martin's deeper blue. But that expression on his face was pretty much, "I want revenge and I will kill anybody who stands in my way."

Mostly though, I kept thinking "Oh, Danny. C'mere, baby. Let me give you a big, warm hug." That poor guy needs Viv now more than ever, the way he's losing control. *pets him*


Oh wow, I really need to sleep now.

Date:	2008-07-26 21:36
Subject:	Insta!rec: "Origin Story" by minim_calibre (spoilers for The Dark Knight)
Security:	Public
Mood:	awed

Hell yeah, Barbara Gordon.

For those of you who watched The Dark Knight and loved it but wanted more out of the female characters, and for those of you who watched The Dark Knight and hated it because of what they did to the female characters, you need to read Min's fantastic little story.

Because there's nothing wrong with fighting like a girl.

Title: Origin Story
Author: minim_calibre
Summary: She's seven and a half years old when she moves to Gotham.
Spoilers: The movie, obviously.

I had an interesting half hour on my way home from work! I left the office an hour early because the movers came to pack up my computer. Took the subway, then the bus. Halfway home, three Caucasian women get on the bus. I don't know if they were related, but they all had light blonde hair, probably dyed (they were past middle-aged, I'd estimate?), and wore casual clothes, jeans and t-shirts. One of them had a Cher t-shirt! Which... okay, didn't necessarily mean anything. I'm not a Cher fan. But I noticed it. Unlike everyone else on the bus, they were relaxed, chatting with each other, joking to themselves about warning other passengers not to sit on the seat with the spilled water, and how the poor guy who'd sat there got his pants all wet. Not in a mean way, but in a very good-natured, "we're enjoying each other's company" kind of way. (Like they were at a Con or Gathering!)

See, the weird thing is? I saw them get on the bus. I watched them come down the aisle. I offered one of them my seat (she declined). And I knew it. Somehow, in my lizard brain, I knew that these women were Of My Tribe.

( FANDOM IS EVERYWHERE. NO REALLY. )

Of course, I missed my stop and got off at the next one. Oops! BUT THAT'S OKAY. Because that brought me to the next leg of my very short, but interesting, journey. ( So what happened next? Not fandom-related. )

I just told my mom about my little adventure, and she had to laugh at me. She said I used to always miss my stop (true) or I'd get confused about the time, or directions (also true), or I'd fall asleep on the subway (happened to me YESTERDAY), and she really hoped I wouldn't have these problems in Europe -- which I hope is true too, but hey! It could be a little adventure!

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