Pen's Nest

While searching through my journal the other day I came upon a not-quite-meme, and decided to have another go.

I think it works like this: choose ten titles from your fic, and invite readers to guess what the story is about.

I've divided them by fandom, in case it makes a difference...

Popslash
A Little Bit Extra
Fettered
A Tale of Torment and Sweet Revenge
An Empty Cardboard Box
Cocktail Party
The Story of James Lance, who Told Lies, and Came to a Sticky End
Who's Your Daddy

ST:TNG
Between SemiQuavers
A Few Datas More

Glambert
Sparrowhawk and Beeswax

So, pick one, and tell me what you think the story is about!

And There Was Only One Panel: The Joy of Fanfic, or, Squeeing About Our Favourite Tropes Definitely worth about an hour of your time, particularly if you can play a fairly mindless card game at the same time. Or knit, or something. From the 'Fringe' of WorldCon.

*

Has anybody tried a UBra? I was transfixed by an ad for them on YouTube, and found my way to their site. It looks... oddly appealing/like boobrabbits/possibly worth doing...? I could enperkify my matronly bosom!

There will not, however, be pictures.

*

Spotted on shipperslist's journal, another meme that assumes everyone is an American half my age, but wottheheck, thought I'd have a go anyway.

1.What kind of soap is in your bathtub right now?
The soap in the shower is a Lush one, a brown one that smells of roses, though it is a bit disappointing now that I've had it 'in operation' for a couple of weeks. It has lost its scent, and doesn't lather well.
( Read more... )

Seen this around, and it's quite fun, so here goes.

Slow burn OR love at first sight Heh. Ideally, one of each in the same story. Most of the time, 'love at first sight' actually means instantaneous sexual desire, which is entirely plausible but not very interesting, so if I have to choose, it'll be Slow burn.

Fake dating OR secret dating Really don't care about either. Have enjoyed stories of both kinds.

Enemies to lovers OR best friends to lovers Enemies to lovers can work, sure, but generally we're talking about two people with fundamental incompatibilities, and I just don't see it. And if it means Harry/Draco I… really don't care. Best friends to lovers has so much more joy! And so much more chance of being a real relationship!
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kira_j asked for something on my personal style.

Hmm.


I don't know that I have a personal style other than 'comfortable', but if I do, it's probably somewhere along the 'random', 'arty', 'quirky' and 'messy' axis.
( Read more... )

Happy New Year, everybody!

ladymoonray asked for my favourite fandom memories. Many of you will already know what those are, but ladymoonray is quite new here!
( Read more... )

nopseud asked for My favourite museums.

My favourite museums… hmm. When I was a child it was a great treat to come up to The Museums, and my favourite was the Natural History Museum, because it is a fabulous building and had dinosaurs. I wasn't nearly so keen on the Science Museum because it seemed to be filled with gigantic engines that didn't do anything. It's a bit more fun these days, I grant.

Nowadays… hmm. As I failed utterly to notice the existence of the Museum of Sex until I was about to get in a cab to the airport, last time I was in New York, I have not been to that one. Maybe next time an Adored One appears on Broadway… But I have been to the V & A, and that's a splendid place. I have absolutely no idea if I've seen all of it, because it is constructed a bit like Little Brampton on astronomical-scale steroids, with staircases and rooms through other rooms and odd levels all over the place. But there are so many galleries filled with sparkling objects, and as I was plainly a magpie in a previous life, this appeals to me. I went to a fashion exhibit there with... ephemera? And who else? rikes? adelate? There is also a really magnificent tea room there, it's a treat just to sit in something that astonishingly overdecorated. Admittedly it is not a good idea to try and see too much of the V&A in one go, as it's easy to be a bit horrified by the amount of Stuff We Stole Impressive Wealth on display, though there isn't quite as much Stuff We Stole as there is in the British Museum.

On a smaller scale, I have a definite fondness for the Costume Museum in Bath; we were there fifteen years ago (I think) for a wedding anniversary weekend, and the costume museum was one of the places we visited. They had a set of "Jane Austen in film and television" exhibits, and someone had been delightfully acerbic about several of them. I think the BBC's 'Pride and Prejudice' must have come out not long before, and generally speaking got a lot of praise, but a number of Hollywood products were well scathed.

Oh, and we went to a rather lovely Toy Museum one Camp, but I can't remember where it was. A Museum of Childhood? With toys on the ceiling, and all kinds of fun. That was very charming.

pixiebeanz asked: if money/travelling were no issue where would you host the next Camp Sparkle and what activites would you have on the agenda?

( What an excellent question! )

ephemera asked for this one.

I did not start wearing earrings until, hmm. Well into my thirties. Bun actually had her ears pierced before I did. However, I quickly began to make up for lost time, as you can see (below the cut). My favourite dragons (and the little silver dragons, too) are among the earliest surviving pairs, as naturally I bought a bunch of little studs which, one way or another, did not survive. I still rue the loss of the little glass stars—well, I have one of them to this day, but eh.

I'm not a great wearer of jewellery. The burglar found nothing worth stealing in my jewellery box, although I do (still!) have some pearls from my mother-in-law, and possibly also from my gran. I've occasionally succumbed to the glittery lure of a pendant or necklace, but seldom remember to put one on—with the result that when I do want to wear one, I don't really have exactly the right thing.

But once I started wearing earrings, I couldn't stop. They're so convenient! And sparkly! And pretty!

( More than you ever wanted to know about my earrings! )

starturtle0977 asked for my favourite boyband songs.

Nsync is the easiest: I Thought She Knew. I adore this. It's a very well-constructed song, it tells the whole story of a relationship so elegantly. And of course, it is a beautiful thing as sung by these young men. Really gorgeous.

I have variable fondnesses for the rest of Nsync's oeuvre, but that one is consistently at the top.

As for the solo efforts, I think my favourite JC song has to be Build My World. I cannot help but sing along, and I love the chorus. I have a lot of affection for most of his songs (wish he hadn't made Some Girls a single, though), but that one's probably my favourite.

I can't say the same about Justin's solo efforts, as most of them I just don't like at all. I do enjoy all but the end of LoveStoned/I Think She Knows, which makes my shoulders want to groove along, and I like the harmonies on the chorus of Losing My Way (even as the lyrics make me want to smack him with a fish). But I do have a favourite Timberlake song now: Wings. The (curse it) hidden song on the latest album. It's so pretty, and simple, and lovely. The fact that he seems to have been channelling my dragon story as he wrote it is also a bonus.

Of Chris's handful, my favourite is the one about vomiting. (Get Out)


It's a lot more difficult to pick a favourite Backstreet song, because I have a surprising amount of affection for many of them. But, hmm. Undone, from This Is Us might well be the winner. I also really like Bye Bye Love from the same album. 10,000 Promises is another favourite, not least because it inspired a story out of me. Just Want You To Know is an ordinary song but I have unending love for the video.

I've not listened to either of Nick's solo efforts, or Howie's, often enough to have decided what I like there, and I haven't listened to Brian's at all. But AJ's solo album is a precious and wonderful thing. I… think I'll have to go for I Hate It When You're Gone, as a very particular love song (for a relationship idiot, probably). I like lyrics that tell me a bigger story than they're saying.


I didn't actually notice other boybands in any particular way, so no offerings from New Kids, or Take That, etc. Except that I must mention that I absolutely adore Dujour's masterpiece, Backdoor Lover. As, surely, do you all.


Seven days unclaimed, here.

Today: is there a fic you desperately wish existed, but, for whatever reason, don't feel like writing yourself? (Any fandom) from brandywine28

Well, I'd really like to be *able* to write my Wallow, but I certainly don't seem to feel like actually writing it.

However. Hmm. Since watching an episode of House that featured Jeremy Renner, I feel there really ought to be a House/Avengers crossover featuring House and Hawkeye achieving a sly alliance of similarly cynical minds. I would very much like to read such a fic.


No subject tomorrow! And there are a handful of free days left besides that one, so to fill in with a request, go here.