christmas present angst

Being the Christmas season is upon us, I've been going through my lists of ideas for Christmas gifts for the masses. One mass in particular--Child.

Since the Stupid Living Rocks (hermit crabs) have defied all expectations and survived, and still, I have no idea how, I've been mulling moving Child up the food chain and getting him a higher maintenance pet.

Excerpt from car convo the other day.

Mom: Chameleon

Me: No.

Mom: Why?

Me: Reptile. If I'm going to be chasing it around the living room after escaping, and I *will* be, it's going to be something that doesn't see me standing on top of the table crying for my mommy.

Mom: Turtle?

Me: Reptile with a shell. Table.

Mom: You want to go back to invertebraes?

Me: Let's think mammal.

Mom: Gerbil.

Me: That's a rat. Me on table. No.

Mom: It's not a rat.

Me: It's a small, pretty rat. That doesn't make it any less a rat.

Mom: How about a guinea pig?

Me: Bigger, prettier, smarter rat. No.

Mom: It's not a rat.

Me: It'll get out and organize the mice into rebellion against me and I'll end up besieged on the table. I've read about this. Not happening.

Mom: Uh huh. What are you thinking about?

Me: Iguana.

Mom: Giant reptile?

Me: They're cute.

Mom: What else?

Me: Ferret, maybe.

Mom: Long, slinky rat.

Me: I like rabbits.

Mom: Big, pretty rats with long ears?

Me: The ears make it okay.

I think these are those moments Mom wonders if her real child was taken by gremlins and replaced with me.

But I have reason for my rat-thing.

Many, Many Moons ago, when I was--a lot like I am now, but I hadn't seen The Ring yet, so I was willing ot make tentative forays into dark territory with a flashlight to get a glass of water--there was a Big Thing in the middle of the hall. It was huge, and dark, and it was on the floor. Of course, my first instinct was to assume it was an alien out to dissect me, or an evil animal from Pet Sematary, so like any unhinged young girl, I screamed the house down.

The Thing turned out to be a rat the size of a small dog, dying inconsiderately in the middle of the floor where I could see it. Not God, man, or promises of good anecdotal material later could move me, and no one else in the family could make themselves go anywhere near it. It could still be there to this day, long, long, long earthworm tail and all, except someone managed to find a shovel and get rid of it.

So. Trauma.

(brief real time moment: child is outside in last year's too-small summer shorts, no shirt, no shoes, and his winter coat. I am amusing myself with imagining the neighbors critiquing my parenting skills.)

( more on Christmas prezzies )

rec - Wrenlet

I put it off until she put up the end sign, meaning it was done, because honestly, I knew for a fact I wasn't up to it before it was completed.

Hell, I'm not sure I'm up to it *now*, and I just finished it.

But.

Wrenlet's NaNoWriMo Entry, complete, crossover QaF/Dead Like Me. And if you're going to sit there and think, dumb idea? You really need to get out more. Entry link is to the first part, just zoom on through. When it goes up in HTML, I'll link to that instead. But you don't, and I repeat this because I'm like that, don't want to miss this.

Fucking fantastic. Beautifully written, aching, angry, sad and sweet all at once, this wonderful look at an AU of the second season, where Justin's luck had run out.

Nothing I could write here could come *close* to explaining why it's so good. You'll just have to see for yourself.

Someone wiser than I said a crossover should only be written if you can say something in it that you can't say in the original medium. nanowrenlet's done just that. She says incredible things.

(no subject)

I'm a bad Austrian recently. But I'm a good journaler. So.

Three Recs from QaF

Motives by juteux. Mmm. Smutty hotness. Toppy Justin. Happy jenn. Oh, that last part is just reccing interjection. Story made jenn *happy*.

Shadows by gradiva. Second person pov, lyrical, oddly bittersweet. This Brian works for me. There are some beautiful lines throughout, but they need context to sink in. Justin's tired. Brian reacts. And sex is how they talk, and Brian's learning how to say more than he thought possible. It's beautiful. And also, in second person pov. Did I point out how much I *love* that?

josselin is writing SquickFic. Which is--I don't want to spoil it for you, but it's just--heh. Interesting. Honestly, I'd love to link you to all the bits, but there are forty-EIGHT.

So we'll do this.

Parts 1-14

Part 15-31

Part 15-31 post two (dont ask, I have no idea why)

Part 15-31 post three (no, really, don'y ask).

The rest is in her LJ, main page. Just go on up.

Three Recs from Smallville

Parhelion by jackbuggery I wont' spoil, because in this case? Surprises are *good*. Just read. Now.

Shattered by dolimir Without fail, this author blows my mind.

He thinks one of the things he'll miss most is the way the sky turns the most beautiful shade of amber just minutes before sunset, making the fields of swaying corn look like waves in search of a beach; although he's never been able to convince himself that the joyfully gliding swallows are seagulls.

It's short, it's as painful as a stiletto though the heart, and I haven't hurt like this for Lex in so long. Jesus. I felt like crying from the first word to the last. And if you haven't read it? WHY?

Home to Roost by harriet_spy Martha and Jonathan taught him so well, but Martha didn't think they taught him this. It cuts. And you know? It's true.

Right. I need to do something productive. Maybe.

insta!rec - Sunset

If I find out someone on my friendslist read this and forgot to tell me....

*stops*

Okay, so I've been antisocial in extreme. Sorry. And also, I'm posting a lot today. Yes, I noticed.

Sunset by bluesmoke. She's just wandering around writing fic like this and it's gorgeous.

I could live without the 'taller man' and 'artist' bits, but I'm weird about common noun descriptors and that's just a matter of weird taste. It's lovely and sweet. Read it.