Lock your doors and hide your boy banders

Okay, so it's probably way too late for this, and you've already started writing. But if you have not, here we go:

General things about my preferences (unfortunately copied from, well, all my other Dear Writer letters this year, but it stays the same across the board):

What I Like
kid!fic (as in, the characters have kids, not the character are kids - toddler age is perfect), crushes/beginning of relationship (the concept of the feelings coming to fruition and both parties going, "WTF is going on? Why am I acting this way around him/her?" is one of my favorite fandom tropes), smut is always good, flirting.

What I Don't Like
Incest, bestiality and molestation are my only three sexual squicks, fandom has desensitized me to everything else. Character bashing. Yes, I'm generally a slasher but that doesn't mean I hate the female characters (or, if I do, it's for reasons unrelated to "I ship her love interest with her best male friends and she gets in the way of the gay sex"). On that note, I also hate when writers completely disregard canon pairings. As much as I don't want them to, they exist. If you're gonna break them up, let us know how it happened. Please. I also don't like character death (unless it's a person that has died IRL).

Popslash specific likes:
Europe era! (Goes along with my crush/start of relationship trope I like). Tour based fics (cramming two guys into one bus? LOVE!).

Backstreet Boys, Brian/Nick
Okay, so, let's see... there has been a lot of new "canon" for BSB this year, so you have a lot to work with if you wanted to go that route. A little birdie told me that these two have a "moment" on their This Is Us tour (choreographed into a song, even!), so if you don't mind being spoiled (or have already seen the show) and want to work it in that'd be awesome. (I myself haven't seen it due to not wanting spoilerage.)

Crossover, Chris/AJ
A simpler request: So AJ mentioned in an interview that the "big BSB/*NSYNC" feud was based around the fact AJ dated Amanda Latona after Chris did, so something where they have to interact due to that (but it turns to something more) would be totally cool!

In general, don't stress. I'm easy to please.

(This is letter 3 of 4... that means ONE MORE! \o/!)

BACKSTREET BOYS JOIN OLYMPIC HALL-OF-FAMER FOR A NIGHT OF UNFORGETTABLE PERFORMANCE. “KRISTI YAMAGUCHI & FRIENDS STARRING THE BACKSTREET BOYS” LIVE AT US AIRWAYS CENTER!

Grammy Nominated Pop Stars Backstreet Boys to Join Cast of Champion Skaters Before Embarking On European Leg of Tour For New Album “This is Us”.

Phoenix, AZ. – A stunning spectacle of art and sport will culminate on Friday, October 23 2009 at the US Airways Center with “Kristi Yamaguchi & Friends Starring the Backstreet Boys”. The seventh year of Figure Skating icon Kristi Yamaguchi’s televised skating special will pull no stops with an amazing cast of Kristi’s close skating friends and live music guests the Backstreet Boys. The show will air on NBC Sunday, November 1st 2009 4:00- 6:00PM EST.

AND THIS DOESN'T EVEN INCLUDE THE POSSIBLE TOUR DATE! I COULD SEE MY BOYS TWICE IN A MATTER OF MONTHS!

COME HELL OR HIGH WATER, MY ASS IS THERE!

Life is weird to me right now.

It's weird that all my stuff isn't in boxes.

It's weird that I'm not turning in a set of keys tomorrow.

It's weird that I'm not updating my address anywhere.

I've moved every July since I was 20 years old. It seems almost natural to me to spend the last two weeks of June cleaning and packing, marking boxes and having my family get my furniture out.

But this July... this July... it's not happening. This is the first time I've renewed a lease instead of signing a new one. This is the first time I can actually start to feel settled. This is the first time I don't mind finding prints for my walls. I can actually have a home, not a, "place I go to sleep at night... this year."

So since the WTJ is in an unusable state at the moment due to paint needing to dry (I just did the "Drip stuff here, close the book to make a print" page), I figured I'd catch up here.

I spent entirely too much money in the name of creativity today. I bought my WTJ (came out to $14 after tax), AND $21 of art supplies at Wal-Mart (I needed a glue stick, and paint... then I saw colored pencils and neon crayons! Oh, and glitter glue!)

I almost went with this paint set that had sponges, but I was looking for more colors (that set had three). Found a set of finger paints instead. Same price and I got a fourth color!

So when I bought them I was expecting a texture similar to the tempura paints I used to use as a kid (and that was what I was originally looking for). Not so! I opened them and surprise of surprises - finger paints (at least Crayola ones) are a gel! Oh my God my print looks so cool. (And some of the paint got on the instructions but you can read it.)

I'm pleasantly surprised. :)

I wanted to share with you an excerpt from my paper journal (my crossed out typo at the end included):

So, I had to scrape the excess fryer grease off the containers we use when we filter the fryers. It got me comparing the container to life. Cause, you know, bad things happen, and you can try to "scrape away" the memories, but it'll never be perfect, there will always be "residue" from the events that will stick with you fro forever.

Wow that seemed like a lot longer written down. Oops.

Having the paper journal has helped a lot, at least in the first two days. Been able to write down things I would never, ever, ever in a million years put in my LJ. I'm hoping the paper journaling will clear my head and let me write in this more, because all the truly personal stuff is already out. I don't want the paper journaling to consume my blogging.

I love the Friends of Friends page. It was the feature I missed the most the week or two I went without a paid account back in October.

I find the most interesting journals/communities through it.

This time it was embodiment, and the focus of it is to get people paper journaling, and I want to try it. Even if I don't go a year (what the comm wants you to do, write and entry a day for a year), it'll be nice to get my thoughts down in a more private and tangible state (cause even private LJ entries can be deleted, databases can become corrupted, the site can close without warning).

I was gonna wait until later today to start this (I thought I would have to go down to Michael's or Target before work and pick up something I could use as a journal), but I discovered my parents had gotten me a little Dollar Tree writing tablet for my birthday (yes, back in January - which reminds me! happy_cupcake are you still interested in sorta/kinda being penpals, since I also still have all that stationary I got so I could write to you), so I figured that would be perfect for me to use. It's there, it's free, and it serves its purpose.

Right now I've already gotten two and a half pages written, but it's not standard notebook size, it's pretty small. It's probably about the same amount of words typed as this entry is, maybe a little longer. (I'm not sure if I'll share any pages, or even the content of the pages. It'll have to depend on the page.)

First off, I got this in my Facebook inbox from Tyler Labine - a.k.a. Sock from Reaper (I'm in the Reaper group he runs):

Just got official word that there is absolutely no chance of Reaper going another year. It has been dropped by all involved. Boooo. But on a brighter note, There is a comic book coming out and there is some serious talk of it being turned into a cartoon. That could be sweeeeet. I would definitely be into doing a voice on that show. So, I guess thats it. I am officially going to be turning this into a Tyler Labine fan page and would be flattered if you all would stay on board with me. I've become quite fond of chatting with all of you. Nice to know you're out there. If not, that's cool too. Thanks for all of your support guys. For real, you've been awesome fans. None better out there. Talk soon. TY.

While it's kind of a punch to the gut to actually see it written out, I've kinda known it was coming for a while. I just hope the fandom can continue on even without the show, cause it's hella fun, and made up of a great group of people. (And there's a comic book! And maybe a cartoon!)

However, it's always a good idea to be prepared, and I've already got a "replacement" show/fandom in the works (although nothing will ever be what Reaper was to me! *stompstomppout*). *drumroll please...*

The Listener! Everyone (well, all my US friends) should run, not walk, to Hulu and watch this awesomeness (and then catch it on NBC in the States, CTV in Canada, both networks air it on Thursday nights - I just checked *g*). The main character can read minds, people! It's fucking sweet! It reminds me a bit of Reaper (hot 20-something guy with a secret that only a few people know, annoyingly lovable best friend, co-worker hot main guy will probably never have a chance with), but it's different enough to where I like it both for its similarities to my former love, and its differences.

So, yes... The Listener. Watch it. Needs a little moar Toby/Oz subtext though.

If there is one person or more on your friends list who makes your world a better place just because they exist and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.

You all know who you are.

1605 / 15000 words. 11% done!

I think I'm doing better at this point than I was for bittybang last year, but I can't be entirely sure. I've still got the same process I did last year (which was put all my effort into it at the beginning and lose interest).

I think I've got a better plot this year, however, and I can stretch it better, without it feeling like filler. So we'll see.

*flails again*

Sorry for the crappy quality, cell phone pic and all...

1) write your username.
2) write your the name of two of your favorite bands/artists.
3) write "i ♥ ______". this is to see how you write hearts.
4) write the name of your all-time favorite person.
5) write the name of a recently favored person.
6) tag six people to do this.

( Err... cut for big pictureness )

Name your 15 absolutely favourite couples (het/slash/canon/fanon) and ask people to see what trends they notice about your couples. Try to pick different fandoms.

1. Brian/Nick - popslash/Backstreet Boys
2. Nicole/Ashley - popslash/Pussycat Dolls
3. Keita/Ryohei - w-inds.
4. Sam/Sock - Reaper
5. Sam/Cady - Reaper
6. Bussan/Bambi - Kisarazu Cat's Eye
7. Ben/Kevin - Ben 10/Ben 10: Alien Force
8. Dino/Tsuna - Katekyo Hitman REBORN!
9. Haru/Kyoko - Katekyo Hitman REBORN!
10. Pascal/Nervous - The Sims 2
11. Haruka/Mitsuki - Kimi Ga Nozomo Eien
12. Haruka×Takayuki - Kimi Ga Nozomo Eien
13. Sora/Layla - Kaleido Star
14. Sora×Ken - Kaleido Star
15. Yukari/Miwako - Paradise Kiss

Don't say, "they're mostly slash/femslash pairings," cause that's too easy. But there is a definite second trend in my shipping choices.

I just was scared shitless.

I was about to go to bed, like I should have hours ago... anyway. I was about to go to bed, and one of the last things I do is plug my phone into the charger. Normally, my phone is sitting on my computer desk (where the keyboard would go if I had a desktop). If it's not there, it's usually in my pocket. It wasn't in either place. I thought I may have chucked it on my bed with my iPod. Nope, even after checking the blankets.

Last place I, presumably, had it was out at the convenience store where I went for a snack run (I'd jokingly tweeted that I was getting "real food" alongside my brownies and Kit-Kats). So, I assumed I'd left it on the counter post-TwitterBerry usage and walked out. So, I walked all the way back to the convenience store, hoping it was there (I really don't wanna deal with Asurion, changing my number - cause lost phone = lost SIM, giving everyone the new number, and giving all my BlackBerry Messenger contacts my new PIN, assuming Asurion would have hooked me up with another Pearl).

It wasn't. The girl working (she knew me from when I worked at Wienerschnitzel, so it's not like it was a total stranger) even called it, in case someone picked it up, and nothing. She told me it's probably at home, I'm freaking out prematurely, to go back home and keep looking. So I did, albeit very freaked out about the whole thing. I assumed it'd dropped off my desk and was under it.

It wasn't. (And, at this point, I'd checked every room in my - very small - apartment about three times). I was ready to Google Asurion's address and put in the insurance claim.

I noticed something black poking through the pile of clothes currently on my couch (waiting for me to put them away).

IT WAS MY PHONE!!! :D

I'm happy (very happy! That was a $300 piece of equipment I thought I'd lost, and I was sure that if it was picked up, it was by some dishonest person who would sell it.), but I'm also just so overwhelmed by the last half hour's worth of events that I feel totally sick (pre-existing anxiety over other things hasn't helped).

And now... I am gonna try to get some sleep.

stori_telling stori_telling stori_telling stori_telling

AND

rpf_big_bang rpf_big_bang rpf_big_bang rpf_big_bang

Both definitely need artists, and can also use some authors.

The best part? Neither are fandom specific! (Well, rpf_big_bang is RPF only, but other than that they don't care!)

While it may not need to be said, I want to cover all my bases and put up a disclaimer that this rant is specifically about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I have nothing against organized religion in general. In fact, a few years ago I was strongly considering going back to the LDS church (I briefly, and I do mean briefly, attended as a young teen) - as it had been the only church experience I have known, and probably would be still considering it were it not for what I'd learned in my Google research (most of which will be what I express to below).

I've been hit by the marriage bug (in the, "Where is my knight in shining armor I want to get married now!" sense), so I've been doing a lot of "research" about marriage, and mostly what I'd do for my wedding when it finally comes around (most of which has been chronicled in my Tumblr here). Some of the research, however, has been for an RP wedding I was planning with my RP partner. Both characters in said RP were Catholic, so I did some research on Catholic weddings (since I'm a stickler for accuracy/details in my RPing).

This is what led me to my research of Mormon weddings. I had this thought to myself about, "Hmm... if I hadn't had to be pulled out of church 10-11 years ago, what would my wedding have been like?" and Google was my answer.

Now, on the surface, a Mormon wedding ceremony doesn't seem all that bad. You go to one of their temples and have what is called a "sealing," which essentially ties the couple to each other for eternity, even beyond death. How romantic, right? (This seems to be the best account of a Mormon sealing that I have come across)

Could be... but once you get further into the details of a Mormon wedding, you start learning exactly why I refuse to have one (and thus, refuse to ever go back to the Mormon church).

To be allowed into a Mormon temple, you are required to get a "temple recommend" from your local bishop, which requires you to be in good standing with the church. This also means that only people with temple recommends are able to witness your wedding.

Which means, in my case, my entire family? Unable to see me get married (they would have to wait outside the temple). And that does not fly with me. (And also confuses me, because the LDS church puts such a strong emphasis on family, yet alienates families on the one day that should be about uniting them.)

Making me give up my dream dress due to having to wear a church approved Temple dress? Fine. Some of those dresses aren't so bad. Requiring endowment (and therefore making me wear that infamous "Mormom underwear" for the rest of my life) before the sealing? Not something I would do otherwise, but for love I'd probably do it. Not allowing me a bridal party, or having my father walk me down the aisle (it's not done in the temple)? Disappointing, because part of the fun for me is picking out my bridesmaids, but I'll live with it.

Excluding my entire family from even viewing the ceremony? That's a line you don't cross.

"But Erika," you may be wondering, "Why not have a civil ceremony so your family can attend, then go on your own with your now husband and have the religious ceremony in the temple?" And in my head that was one of the options I considered. Having a public civil ceremony for my family, and then a private sealing for myself and my hypothetical husband.

However, and this is something else that pissed me off: in the US, the LDS Church "punishes" couples who went that route (got married in a non-religious or non-Mormon ceremony first), by making them wait a year to be allowed to get sealed, which is total bullshit. (I do not know if the one year wait rule applies if the couple marries in a regular Mormon church. Anyone is allowed in a Mormon church, only approved members are allowed in a Mormon temple.)

Of course, I would take back all of this and keep it as a possible option (though at that point it'd be only if I met a Mormon man and fell for him), if there were one change made to sealing process: open the sealing room, and only the sealing room (well, and obviously the entrance/exit) to the public (or barring that, eliminating the one year wait - if it exists in this case - for couples who marry in a Mormon church first). Of course, that would require them possibly having to add certain "Mormon only" aspects to the wedding to keep it special, and that's fine by me. Non-Catholics don't recieve communion during a nuputal mass, and non-Jews don't wear kippot at a Jewish wedding.

Therefore, it'd be totally cool and understandable for sealings to exclude non-Mormons from aspects of the ceremony. Aspects, people, not the entire fucking thing.

And I'm done.

In more ways than one!

Okay, so I hate when I get in these, "Oh, my God! Fuck my life, fuck the world, fuck everything." moods like I was in today. Long story short, bad day at work. Yeah. Anyway. It's all good now though because I talked to my mom about the whole thing and got some motherly advice. So, yay? Of course now it's just a matter of when I'm at the point where I feel like doing something about it without it becoming a wangstfest on my part.

lol. So. I watched the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. Okay, correction: I watched the first hour of the preshow for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. And all I've gotta say is I find it completely hilarious that there was, I'm assuming, at least two hours of preshow and red carpet for what ended up being two minutes of action. (I was totally "Bzuh?" when the commentators were all "prepare for the fastest two minutes in sports!") Also, and I understand that we were dealing with racing horses and they're raised differently than non-racing horses, but it was kinda funny that they were being talked about like they were baseball or football (and that can be read as either American tackle football or what Americans refer to as soccer. Take your pick.) players.

I do have a vlog coming up. A very ranty vlog because I'm apparently all for equal rights and it is so my main issue (because the thought of anyone being treated differently than anyone else without a valid reason to be so - I'll admit it, if someone fucks me over, they don't get my respect. But, never prior to the fucking over - makes me rage like no other). Though, it might come off as rather "WTF?" to some people, especially given how the whole idea came up, lol.

I think that's everything. Yup.

Crossposted just about everywhere. I don't care where you comment to, either. I'm not picky.

I've set up crossposting from my new Dreamwidth account (fangirlism) to my LJ (linear_flower) and my IJ (aeiouna). Every entry posted to DW will be posted to LJ and IJ, but not every entry that makes my LJ will be crossposted from DW.

And that is all. lol.

Any of you guys on IJ? I have no friends over there!

This account is just for me to use aeiounawrites as another archive of my fiction at _stolenwords_, as well as to post in dragonspam