Because bexless made me lose the ability to breathe.

Cavemen!CLex. Oh dearest GOD. Yes. This--HYSTERICAL!

And I'll tell her so. RIGHT when LJ lets me post comments again. Becuase I did today! I did! I posted replies and comments and then--it stopped. Bastard.

But anyway.

Still, Eg thought to himself, drawing himself up to his not-yet-fully-erect five foot and two inches, it couldn’t hurt to ask.

“Ug,” said Eg again. When this drew no response, he pointed his purplewood spear at his own chest and said, ‘Eg.”

The creature tilted its head to the side, green eyes shining. “Ug?” it said.

Eg sighed. Definitely an Enng. He pointed the spear at himself again. “Eg,” he said clearly. Then he pointed the spear at the young Enng and made what he thought might be an appropriate noise when attempting to ascertain someone’s identity. “Ooo?”

Ah, a new word. Excellent.

The Enng looked from the spear up at Eg, and bared his – startlingly white – teeth in a not entirely unpleasant manner. “Arg.”

“Arg?” Eg thought it best to make sure it was the creature’s name, and not simply a new vowel-syllable combination essential to the evolution of mankind’s spoken language.

Makes you just want to run out and find some nice Neanderthals to nail, hmm?

*grins* Maybe not. Unless they are Eg-ian.

Recs -- the Te Collection

*thinks* She keeps blaming me for one of these.

Rhetoric by Te, who is, in fact, an actual fic crack dealer. Am I really interested in going back to X-Men after all this time? Noooo. Well. *thinks* Maybe. It's JOHNNY! And God, is he hot. And he thinks WAY too much.

Sugar and Spice. Oh dearest GOD. Poor Logan-ette. Yes, you read that right. And really, you have to read it more than once.

*still laughing*

Float by Te. Oh hell yes. Oh HELL YES. And oh GOD yes.

*clears throat* You know. Read it. *nod*

Recs -- The Helen Collective

I meant to do a long entry about Rivka's latest, but it turned into a kind of weird fangirl essay comparing Rivka to some recent saints and not a few famous courtesans, and well. You know? I'm willing to be abjectly devoted, but it just gets creepy when you're mooning how wonderful someone's vowel constructions are. So. *g* We'll save that one for when I feel more shameless.

Instead, other stories.

Adding to Zero by hwmitzy Why Helen? Well, apparently, here's an answer to teh question. Wow.

And....

The Reckoning by latxcvi. Because watching Lex get revenge? It IS that good. Talk about some serious, serious catharsis. *shivers* That was GOOD for me.

Recs -- Other

Boys Don't Cry by aelita Awhile back, I swore off of anything that broke up the boys. Yes, I know, stupid resolution, and I'm glad I broke it because I would have missed THIS. Wonderful Clark POV, lovely style, and maybe the exception that proves the rule regarding songfic, if this IS songfic, because this worked in ALL ways. Melancholy and melodic and so sad and so inevitable. Beautiful writing all around.

To Have and To Hold by hwmitzy Ahh yes. Oh yes. And damn yes. *happy* Denialfic is JUST the thing! *happy*

More later.

The Spam Report

Okay, here's a thought for would-be spammers. May be difficult to get, since spammers are way down at the bottom of the food chain, right there with militant fundamentalists and people who don't brush their teeth, but let's try. If you want to spam me? DON'T MISSPELL THE SUBJECT LINE.

Just for a thought. Let us compare.

CEE MY BYG PEEENEES!!!!!.??/!

to

SEE MY BIG PENIS!

Let's look at this.

First off, penis the word in itself I don't find sexy. Maybe some do, but well. Penis is just a really weird word. Say it five times fast. When one says penis, I do not think of sex or power or, well, hot, but rather, that is a really weird word. Or I think of anatomical books of sad little penii all curled up on themselves because they are camera shy.

But leaving that aside, I also look for penii to be rather educated. Who wants a dumb, non-sophisticated penis anyway, especially taking up valuable vaginal real estate? Should I be interested in yours, I'd like to think I was getting one of above average, if not well above average, quality and education, and well, that spam? Does not demonstrate this.

Also, big? This is where it gets tricky. I'm sure there are people who want and like giant, invasive penii the size of mountain ranges. Me? Not so much. If it requires some kinds of flexibility exercises and gymnastics to make everything fit? I'm going to get something from the freezer and just watch a movie instead, kay? You and your big penis just go somewhere else. Because, should I so lose my mind as to want an uneducated penis, or an educated one with bad spelling, I would like one that won't require some kind of medical attention afterward.

And even getting beyond that, even should I WANT a penis, to see a penis, or to hang around with one on a casual basis, even if the subject line was a huge fluke and really, that penis mentioned inside is of superior quality and education that was just having a bad day, even IF it's big but not too big? I'm a girl. I want subtle, meaningful, and romantic. There's a reason the romance novel market is so good. I'll mock it to my dying day, but man, you turn on the RIGHT kind of romantic lines? Mmmmm.

Just keep that in mind. Hopefully, this little lesson will improve the quality of my spam.

And no, still not interested in the Britney-look-alike/horse/chicken menage a trois on video. No, really. Promise.

And also? Really tired of the latest virus round. Beyond words to describe.

Bored

I'm as moody as always, but with an added bonus of gripey. I need music recs and I need them NOW. NOW NOW NOW. Something darkish and not to much bass. Moody, though. Think dark and moody and maybe a bit of hopelessness, but not too much.

Yes, I did like Exodus enough not to even try to spellcheck. Now, on any given day, I rarely spellcheck my LJ entries, because I tend to do them in one sitting or relatively fast. Exodus is the case that proves I should, because wow. I counted thirty. If not more. I think. *shudders* Don't tell me if it's over thirty, kay?

I've been thinking about Exodus, and talking the plotline over with people regarding the entire Helen-Lionel-Lex thing.

Here's spoilery thoughts, for those still waiting for Sunday.

( things that don't make sense )

Working on The Yard and staring at it, because well, it's still up in the air in terms of what I think it should do as opposed to what it apparently wants to do, like, say, have sex now with absolutely no motive or reason. Stupid story.

...because. LJ keeps not working and now it's working and dammit, I'm using that.

slodwick made a gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeouscover for Intent. For my story! *ecstatic* And God, it's hot, and yes, it's...*drools*. My God, yes. Love her. Love. Her. *pokes* Give her love and more love. And then even more.

AND.

I called a moritorium on WiPs. They stress me! I said. They frustrate me! I said. I want insta!gratification! I said.

Okay, well, you know, intentions, hell, pot, kettle, goose, gander, whatever.

Altville by liviapenn. Save and read. Do it now. And then read more at box_of_serial and just be happy.

It feels like first season SV. You know, remember? When we were all drooling over how COOL and DIFFERENT this was and staring at Lex with possessive eyes and--it FEELS like that. Livia's done an amazing job so far in capturing both the atmosphere and the wonder, and wow. I got so nostalgic I started re-reading first season fic. Must be read. Now. And follow along. Because it is that damned good. Even better than good. Like, fabulous.

So. There we go. All is happiness and right in jennworld. Or as close to it as I can get.

*hugs everyone and bounces off*

Child became nauseous last night. Please, please don't ask abut the bathroom at four this morning, kay? I'm trying to block it out. So. Child and jenn home for the day.

My trainer is going to be very, very unimpressed. *sighs*

And hi to new LJ friends! *waves*

In other news.

Dental appointment on Wednesday. In which my dentist will be making derogatory comments about my teeth to all he sees. Hell, I would. Damn stupid teeth.

Answered comments. I am happy about this. Caught up, even.

Recs

Safe by Elizabeth. The author of the unforgettable (I) Forget, the single creepiest Lex fic in creation, this one introduces Supergirl and yes, it's creepy and sad and disturbing and strangely hot. Read now. Now nownownownow.

Getting Into the Swing of Things by Karen Colohan. Hot PWP hammocky things. Oh yes. Delicious. *fanning self*

Burned by Karen Colohan. And another hot one. Clark is sweetly and concernedly and determinedly Clark, trying to bring back Lex from all that nasty non-passion. And well, hot. Yes.

Choices by rosees. OOh. Mean and hot and strangely believable. At least, now the last few eps make SENSE. A lovely and hot and bittersweet moment in a Ferrari.

One of These Days by chelle. Helen's life as Lex's wife. I can see this. Wonderful view of Helen and her ability to be completely blind to what she doesn't want to see. Or believe.

Kryptobiology by meret. Oh. My. God. I haven't laughed this hard in SO damn long! *still choking* Read it and simply love. Love love love!

I am full of the love today. More later as I am catching up on my reading now.

Places to Go

selling_out - where Jessica and Co are writing so much good Indy!Verse Clark it is just unreal. If you aren't reading it, you SHOULD be. Happiness! Also, that rare animal, a likeable, in-character Clark. Lovely.

latxcvi is taking about courtesey in spoilers here. Very highly suggested reading. As someone who is militantly anti-spoiler, but perfectly willing to let everyoen spoil themselves silly, it was a very balanced post. Besides, I've finally--FINALLY!--worked out who and who doesn't get spoiled, so as to very very carefully skim their LJs before reading, just to be safe.

Other Things

Being home, and bored, and kinda sad, because I LIKE work, I am contemplating how I need something to do. Three WiPs are posted and out of the way. Webpage updated. Working on Jessica's Indyverse page, but I need a few more pics to play with. Generally annoying myself with my lack of ability to be entertaining.

( blah blah blah )

Anyone doing anything interesting? *hopeful* I'm stuck at home and I am bored. Bored, bored, bored. Fic, links, anything. ANYTHING here, people.

And if you're really, really bored, email me, as I have this really--well, it's a stupid story idea, but unfortunately, not one I can manage to just, you know, stop writing on. Would like someone's opinion that has never seen it before and never heard about it. *sighs* And yes, before you ask, it looks kind of long. But! Not futurefic. Had no idea current SV would make me want to write if it didn't involve dirtywrongLucasincest.

Because I'm inconsistent regarding what I will and will not be spoiled for, I went out and read every X-Men 2 spoiler I could. No problems there. Happy with everything so far, thrilled with some bits, confused by others.

Because you know? I'm not seeing thsi movie ANYTIME in the near future. Ask me why.

Two mandatory work Saturdays, in addition to my usual workweek this month. Now, on one hand? I ENJOY work, so that's Okay. On the other, Saturdays currently make up one half of my weekly free time and the only day I'm actually, you know, free to do some things that take me out away from Child. And no, he never sees a movie that I haven't watched first. I don't have a lot of restrictions on his viewing--frankly, if he can sit through Teletubbies and not come out traumatized, I just don't see how anything short of something "Faces of Death"-esque could upset him, but I just like to know what might be--well, icky.

I'm not sulking, just a little disappointed, but if this is the worst that's going to happen this month? I'm realy good to go.

Bought out every cannister of Bencheley Apricot Tea at Central Market. No, I left one, bought five, felt bad for anyone else with a thing for it. You think I'm joking. Some aren't for me, though, but I wasn't taking chances. Seriously, I cannot find this tea ANYWHERE ELSE I CAN FIND. If you have not had this tea, you should, like, immediately. The smell when you open the container is exactly like apricots, but stronger, and the taste is absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, they've moved from nifty metal cannisters to less nifty but slick black plastic ones.

And I used nifty twice in one sentence. Huh. Could be a little high on the tea. Yes, it is that good. This is my Tea Grail, my solace, my rock of Gibraltor (is that the right term?), my--thing.

Anyway.

Also went to garage sale, and--I bought a three and a half foot tall (I think) stuffed animal moose. I named him Fred, ignored the titters, and brought him home. He's almost as big as Child. I put him in clothes, there's a good chance someone is going to be worried. Like me. But he's cute. And very, very big. No, I'm not joking, this thing is huge. Pictures will be forthcoming. He, the One Bear, and Shan are getting to know each other. I'm officially shedding anything resembling shame.

Now, moving on.

LJ full of St. John/Bobby and St. John/Logan spec.

Oh God, thank you.

As one who went around BEGGING once upon a time for more people to write this pairing (FIRE! ICE! COMBINATION!), much joy. As someone who wrote it and screwed up Pyro's powers--if you read them and saw that? Yes, I know, bad research. Yes, I know, completely wrong. Yes, I know, but honestly, it was an experiment and I didn't know I'd fall for it as hard as I did. Though that's really not an excuse for the fact I never corrected myself.

So yes, I am obsessing lightly. My first slash crush. I used to moon about them constantly. They have that entire 'doomed' thing going on.

Kind of like practice for Clex, come to think. How--very disturbing. When IS the last time I wrote a non-doomed pairing? Jeez.

Recs

Blindfold by spyhop Plotty good Clexness and wonderfully written. Very highly recommended for something meatier than usual.

Some Like It Hot by corinna_5 Mmm. Wonderful sequel, plotty, with Lois! Actiony! Fun! I am grooving, or would be, if I was actually able to use that word with a straight face.

I am boring today and have every intention of being as boring as possible for as long as possible. Training for all of next week for a computer system that one, in a month, I already kind of know well enough to use, and that two, in another month, is being replaced with a completely different one. Yes, seriously. I am training for something I will only use for about six weeks before it's replaced, adn then will go to training AGAIN for the new system.

Boggles the mind. Not that I'm complaining.

Oh, right. A few older recs, X-Men movie (first one) or comicverse that I thought I'd throw out for anyone new to it and liking it. You've probably read these before--they're incredibly good. But. Can't hurt.

Seema--go to minisinoo, since you like Jean/Scott. She writes the best Jean/Scott movieverse I've ever seen. Special attention to Mickey Blue Eyes, Body Memory, and Climb the Wind. Very, very good stuff. All her stories are at The Medicine Wheel.

Also, Bishclone for The Box Room and Seventeen. You may know her from the Alias fandom or the Voyager fandom or the Buffy fandom, and her X-Men are, yes, just as good.

Jane St. Clair did a fabulous Scott/Logan and Scott/Jean in All of the Animals. This link takes you to the main page of her site. I suggest reading everything. Also, one of my favorite stories of all time, Blue, a Hank/Bobby fic. Very, very, very good stuff.

And for St. John comicverse, I ran across this one by accident and fell in love.

The Other Side by Diamonde. It's beautiful and sad and an ending. And yep, cried through the end, but I still love to read it.

Um. Logan/Rogue I wrote and love and the recs are on my rec page. Which still needs about fifteen stories or so to top it off, but I really, really put off updating for some reason. *g* Procrastination.

And am going to finish seven pages tonight if I have to type until my fingers bleed. Oh yes.

Original Entry Date: 4/30/2003, 22:01
Backdated Entry Date: created 8/20/2007, 15:37, partial copy of privatized entry.

Short things.

Recs

Lowell County Choppers by roses. You know, it IS humorous and IS funny and IS cute, but the edge of bittersweet loss of possibility hurt, too. Beautifully written, as always by this author. *sighs*

A Step to the Left by shinan. Hmm. The thing is, while I like it, it NEEDS more. More--context, more background, more explanation of the AU possibility this is. I love the idea, and the writing is sound, so definitely should be read--but I'd love to see this author tell us more about this. Intersting.

Inversion by Lenore. Oh how cool! Reverse AUness, Alex Kent and Clark Luthor. Spooky couple of kids in so many ways. An interesting AU she should definitely revisit.

Other Things

Got this in my LJ, posted to the entry regarding video theft. For those following along in LJ, elke_tanzer discovered another idiot doing the theft of video thing. Because fandom is made of a lot of great people and then there are the morons who I would ban from fandom for all time.

See, this is when I want magical powers, dammit.

Anyway, jainieg is spearheading Access Denied.

The site is for people who have had their work and/or their bandwidth stolen by thoughtless thieves. At the heart of the site, it's a project to cut the stealing off at the source: by systematically shutting all of the participating AD sites down for 24 hours on May 19. What better way to hammer home the point about fans stealing from other fans by having the fans shut down their sites. Because we don't have to do what we do - we don't have to provide screencaps, we don't have to post our vids and art so that everyone can see them. This is an opportunity to show the thieves just how empty and dull the 'net would be without all of our contributions to the fannish community.

bonibaru already mentioned it, but let's get this across fandom. Mark the date on your calendars.

If I had slightly more energy, I'd probably throw the most boring fit in creation, but I just don't. I don't get the attitude and I don't get how any sane person can think this is okay. And talking to stupid brick walls, while a way to pass the time, just doesnt' make my top ten list of Things to Do. Removing my toenails with pliers ranks higher at this point.

Places to Visit

Here, thebratqueen explains WHY stealing fan stuff is wrong, wrong, wrong.

selling_out is the new home of Jessica's wonderful indie!Clark AU. And if you don't know what this is, you NEED to check it out.

And I have GOT to think of something to write that won't annoy me.

Snippet from the ClexBrothersAU. Set in time between the first two snippets, about two years after the first one. One day, I may even finish this story.

(privatized, fic can be found on website under title Looking Glass.

I've been meaning to start putting up some of the Very Long Feedback I've sent authors, since these work very well as recs and also save me much in the way of time. So. As I get time to look, I'll put them up for fun, and also, makes it easier to update my recs page with actual reasoning on why I like a story.

To refresh memories, Past Grief was posted over a year ago, to a really stunned fandom. Think dropping a small asteroid into a really quiet pond and the ripples in some ways simply haven't stopped. The debates over the characterizations, the plotline, and the choice of material were huge and fascinating to everyone who followed them, and I followed pretty obsessively. As a massive influence on the fandom (A Handful of Dust can be considered almost a homage, considering I took the religious themes I saw in Past Grief and played with them quite mercilessly), it also influenced later characterizations of Clark, being a kind of grandparent to the ultradark apocalyptic angstfics that began to surface soon after its release. The themes of absolute, destructive, and really relentless love have been picked up by many and mmm. Yes.

More or less, the text sent to Te in late March of last year. I've edited for typos. When I say this story hit me between the eyes and has never moved from its place in my head? I'm seriously not kidding. You people should have seen me for the month after reading it--total inability to think of anything else.
( past grief, feedback and review )

Happy birthday bexless!

*hugshugshugs*

Sometimes, I DO remember.

I give thanks for the Family Medical Leave Act, otherwise, having to take a day off in only my third week of work MIGHT have been a Very Bad Thing.

On the other hand? I STILL don't have my damn permissions, and I can only file so much before my cuticles rebel. And trust me, they've been rebelling up a storm.

Anyway. I wore jammies until noon. And this doesn't bother me, even though it's Monday. I have brushed my teeth and I am going to crochet slippers.

You hear me? SLIPPERS. Like, the kind that go on the feet. Okay, right, there are no other kinds of slippers, but I'm still amused by the fact my competence with a crochet hook has grown enough to dare slippers.

I also crocheted a pitcher and a teapot and stuffed them with cottonish stuff--fibersomething?. There's supposed to be crocheted plants in them--seriously, these patterns are awesome--but they require chenille something or others, which I took a bit of time wondering, what the HELL is that?--then figured out, right, glorified and overpriced pipe cleaners.

You know, so the crocheted plants stand up. Seriously. This is so cool. If I can get this to work, someone is getting one of these as a Christmas present. Maybe two. The only plant I cannot kill would have to be made out of thread, but I still don't trust myself around it for too long.

Anyway.

*****

Pru Amuses Me

Speaking of my job, five months two weeks until I can interview for a higher position if I want to, which I'm still debating. While chatting with Pru, it amused me a little to think that anyone with a modem and a general idea of how to use google could pretty easily get my entire name if they were willing to hunt around some of the older archives when I was still using my full name (yes, I did that).

Anyway. Went like this.

seperisgrins* I'm often amused about if I ever publish, the fact that anyone with the ability to use google will, in fact, be perfectly able to connect me with any of my fanfic work.
Jenn: Hell, my coworkers could do it if they get bored, and that's equally amusing.
Jenn: I can just see my next interview.
rageprufrock: *LOL*
Jenn: "So are you in fact, a purveyor of pornography on the net?"
Pru: "next interview"?
Pru: *LOL*
Jenn: "I like to call it 'smut', sir."
Jenn: "...smut."
Jenn: "Sometimes involving food."
Pru: *giggles*
Jenn: "Food."
Jenn: "Did I mention it's usually pretty guys?"
Jenn: "..."
Jenn: "I'd be a great asset to your team."
Jenn: "..."
Jenn: "Yes, right now I AM imagining you nailing the guy beside you. How'd you know?"

Yep. How could they not want to hire me on the spot?

*****

Smallville:

I'm nearly spoiler free, which pleases me beyond words to describe, so I'm looking forward to the next six eps. At first, I was worried about spoilers because I just KNEW it'd be last summer all over again and hearing about Lex Marrying a Woman (horror, terror, lalala), and then they showed Heat, and Jesus, the slash ranneth like wine in the rivers, so honestly? Come on. At this point Lex could sleep his way through a brothel and I'd be like "PROOF OF THE BIG GAY LOVE! OVERCOMPENSATION!"

Self-hypnosis and unremovable slash-goggles are, I think, a Very Good Thing indeed. Really, they make life so much less stressful than it otherwise could be.

An interesting discussion last night with a few people on public critique in fandom. I'm not sure if they're hot to identify themselves, so I'll keep this one relatively general. They can chime in if so moved or I get something wrong.
( public critique and state of SV fic, etc )
*****
Recs:

Two Voices by dolimir. An interesting--and VERY different--bit of AU-ness that cannot be described adequately. I was a little thrown by the Lex at the end, but otherwise, it was absolutely lovely and solid and damned fun to read straight through.

Blood by tstar78 Oh. Damn. Lucas and Lex and all that twisty-wrong Luthor family dynamics that screw with their heads. Lucas is a lot more Luthor than even he knows.

Distractions by siobhan. I think this one I read in LJ first, but it's just as good on another read, and so much fun. They keep getting interrupted, dammit.

I'm staring at CLexBrothersFic again and pondering the very sickness of my mind. It's fun, really.

Fun night! Apparently, I can carry out a social life with some competence. Or so I hope. That or I blathered far too much and was very silly. Also had lemon drop shots for the first time ever. Mmm.

Met up with devinmoonshine for dinner along with Mr. Moonshine and nezsa in town. I'm still writing up a report of events, as I wish to embarass her, but I will say this--she's even funnier in person.

*hugs Dev*

Recs

Personal Call by shellah. Mmm. Phone things. Yes. Those kind.

Springtime Snow by shellah. It's sweet. And hot. And makes me very happy. Vive la Clex. Especially the cold weather kind.

Rainbow by dammitcarl I adore Nickyverse (who doesn't?) and this one is just wonderful. Fashion sense be damned. Nicky's proud of his parents. Love it.

Make Room by rageprufrock Prodigal-fic, and so--well, so LEX it just works. Especially fond of how Lex mulls how he fits in Clark's home.

First by tstar78 *grins* Only Caro could make a first date where theyr'e at second base and make it both hot and funny and so much fun. Perfect amounts of comfort and awkwardness.

Make Yourself Welcome by spyhop *snickers* Just read it. Clark and alcohol are an unbeatable combination.

*****

In Which Jenn is Subtly Manipulated and Also Has Coffee

A conversation on Friday. There's a slight chance I'm remembering this wrong. Very slight. Perhaps I even imagined most of it. Perhaps, in fact, that all the details are just a little inaccurate in presentation *looks at Pearl-o* Though not by much.

seperis says: I'm bored. I can't write.
Jenn: write me more Indie!Clark!
dammitcarl says: write me something.
pearl_o says: something cute. No branding
Jessica: no apocalypse
Pearl-o: no branding masquerading as snuggling (<--she did use the word masquerading, though.)
Jessica: no angst
Pearl-o: did I mention the no branding thing?
Jessica: Clark and Lex getting ready for work.
Pearl-o: No taking over the world work and no branding.
Jenn: Hmm.

You see where this is going.
( A Life More Ordinary )

Prawn! Porn! Um, yeah. I get confused.

Laid Before by hwmitzy Futurefic, sexy, hot, and so much fun. Winning elections should ALWAYS be this hot.

Mmm. Pretty hot men all--hot. Oh yes. Read now.

Edited Saturday to remove link to locked entry, because I really should not edit at one or so at night. Gah. *sighs more*

I am so not caught up in my friendslist. *sighs*

Okay, linking, but with this bit--I'm not sure about the etiquette of linking to a community, even if it's open, so if it's not-done, someone tell me?

And make zarah post these somewhere linkable. *grins*

Rosso Relativo by zarah5. Two things really worked for me. The stuttered break-up of the scenes, and Clark, who is the king of being freakily inconsistent. Ah, Smallville writers, how we love thee. Anyway. Most interesting is what he doesn't quite understand about limits, and the Clark and Lex interaction is fascinating. Bonus: interesting discussion in commentary about the story, which I recommend reading.

Underneath by zarah5. Jonathan POV, watching Clark and Lex and some very subtle pre-CLexness going on. Same as above--quick, short scenes, beautiful style, and some interesting things going on in Jonathan's head.

You know? Finding fic I've never read by an author I haven't read? It's turning out to be a good, good week.

*grins*

It's weirdly cold outside, which is a complete betrayal by our weather man, as I could swear he said warm. I sent Child to school in shorts but did retain enough sense to send his coat with him.

Hating weather people. Bah.

Recs:

Wham Bam by thete1 Mmm. Porn. Everyone getting laid and enjoying it a LOT. My God. Breathe. And it's TE! YAY!

The Indestructible Truth by Lenore Sequel to Seduction, in which secrets come out and people hurt. Poor Clark. Poor, poor Clark. Well written and a good follow-up.

Don't Ask by Illuferret Her take on Lionel always creeps me out in just the right way. Strange and off-center, and--*shiver*. Lionel scares me anyway, but here? Totally new levels of it

Wish by rosenho A lovely, lyrical bit of Chloe/Lana goodness. Mmm.

Five Days of Magic and Mayhem by Mobiusklein *snickers* This is just--heh. Funny as hell. This author kills me. Read them all. They're all bizarre as hell.

Not Yet by Ruby, sequel to Promise. Plot, character development, and smutty goodness all in a well-written package. And a LOT of fun to read. I have a bad feeling she's going to hurt me soon, so I'm taking this one with as much optimism as possible. Do read now.

*****

Jenn TMI:

Crampy, gripey, and for some reason beyond my understanding, really--frustrated, though I can't quite nail down the source. I think I'm just tired. Apparently, I am attending a birthday party this weekend. Having just gotten the news, I'm so pleased I was given two day notice and not the one hour notice I got the last time, when all my laundry was in various stages of being washed and I was doing a thorough cleaning of my closet, which is, I'd like to explain, quite the adventure.

*sighs*

Yep. I'm gripey. I shall go look at pictures of Leto and make butterscotch chip cookies. One of my few practical moments, when chips go on sale, I bought. Very satisfactory.

We also gave away a puppy today, Tom, who is large, fat, and so good tempered he edges on torpid. That hurt. We have to, we can't keep six puppies, especially considering their mother's transient status in the area, and other means aren't acceptable, but *sigh*. And Samson's pretty. So damn pretty. Curly fur.

*****

Other Stuff:

Apparently, it's coming on prom season. These things I do not notice, being well beyond prommish things, but a friend of my youngest sister wants to borrow one of my old formals. Because, you know, pack rat? I keep EVERYTHING. Right up to the shoes and gloves. Er, somewhere. Can't vouch for where they ARE right now.

Anyway.

Now normally, I wouldn't care so much--I dno't exactly go many places (read: anywhere) requiring a formal gown, and the dress she wants to use wasn't terribly expensive and is pretty, so deserves to be worn. The problem is, of course, she's roughly three sizes larger than I am, or close enough, and several inches shorter, and the dress is tea-length.. Hmm.

She'll look good in it, though (she has the body to carry off that bodice type top, too, which in all honesty, coming from the Twiggy school of body design, I never could manage), and it seems the height of silliness, not to mention plain selfishness, to be possessive over something I don't need and will never use.

*****

Okay, even for me, this is a vaguely weird entry. Going to go grocery shopping and find some comfort cornish game hens and I saw key limes the other day, soooo…key lime pie. The simple kind with evaporated milk and key limes and whipped cream and gram cracker crust. Which is, btw? Very good.

Stupid Cheese Tricks

Years and years ago, like many a human being, I worked in fast food.

In some ways, worst job ever, but in one very, very important way, a way that still makes me mildly nostalgic, it rocked.

Endless creativity with food prep. No, I don't mean spitting on the food. Lettuce, tomatoes, use of sharp objects to cut them--and I can STILL cut a tomato so fine you can almost read through it, a skill my boss never really appreciated. Something about the customer wanting to TASTE the tomato or some such nonsene. Pshaw, I say. But anyway.

There was the cheese thing.

Short version--you get these huge blocks of sliced cheese. The job, should you choose to accept it, is to restack the cheese for easier grabbing for the burgers in minimal time. The normal method is to turn every other piece sidewayish, so on, and that's how I learned it. Basically making an eight point star pattern, over and over and over. Very boring, or so you'd think.

But never underestimate a bored girl at two in the afternoon after the rush is over and thre's a brand new thingie of cheese.

At first, traditional way. But then spirals appealed to me, so I'd only angle abuot a quarter of an inch each time I laid down a slice. After a few weeks, I could make some very, very fine spirals and keep them at a sharp vertical, no sweat.

But no, that's not how it ended. There were eight blocks of cheese this one hot summre day, over a hundred slices per block. And I was Very Bored, Very Hot, and apparently, Not Very Well Supervised.

So I got creative.

Hence to the Cheese Arch Experiment.

Here's something you may not know about the average slice of cheese.

Now, it's fairly sticky. I could get the cheese to do a Tower of Pisa thing if I was very careful and had enough of a base to balance. Not for LONG, but well, I say if it stays stable ten seconds, you've got a masterpiece going there. Anyway, whilst experimenting with the equivalent of I think ten pounds of cheese, I wondered, can I make an arch by stacking cheese?

The answer is--yes.

Now again, cheese slices are STICKY, so this does actually work. So I started off with two pillars, angling them inside a little farther with each spiral until they almost met, then starting the top slices to make the upper arch. This took, I think, an hour fifty, whilst my coworkers mopped, swept, and organzied around my feet or took naps in the refrigerator (did I mention the air conditioning sucked? Which also helped the cheese slices stick). Anyway, I'm not exactly famous for having a real knowledge of what's going on around me, and I forgot this wasn't my personal home cheese project. Though it sort of scares me now that I want to try this again.

Anyway, there's a sudden flurry of activity from napping coworkers. Customers! Tons of them! Everywhere! So my boss yells for me to bring all the stacked cheese.

Okay, now here's another little fact about cheese slice arches. They don't really MOVE well, especially if you built them on wax paper on a metal counter. Becase a nice, solid counter is MUCH more stable than the cheese tray thing, and colder.

So I stare at it, trying to figure out how to move it, because damned if I was disassembling this feat of engineering architecture without a fight. My boss comes back, the better to discover what on EARTH I've been doing, and stares at the empty box of cheese and the glorious concoction on the counter.

Seriously. Double take there. I'd never actually seen him look like that before.

Well anyway, despite my protests in the name of art and culture, he took off the upper arch of my Cheese Arch and vanished with one of my pillars to fill an order. Dejected, I've never tried it again.

Damned customer nonsense.

Except when I met Children's Legos in a small family restaurant in Austin. Near the door. With my boyfriend, best friend, her brother, and another friend. Where the kids can play.

Seriously, legos ROCK for spirals, arches, and pretty things.

But I digress.

You know, oddly, I have no idea why I remembered this so vividly, except we just got a brand new package of cheese today, NOT the individually wrapped kind, but the sliced but in a block kind.

Now, should you choose to do your own Cheese Arch experiment, a few tips.

1.) No air conditioning. Sweating cheese is sticky cheese that won't try to collapse.

2.) Weight is everything. Do a good distribution, and the balance works. The Cheese Tower of Pisa, I theorize, COULD be pulled off and stay stable if the cheese is stacked just right. If anyone manages, do tell.

3.) Patience. Just because the cheese tips over the first time does not mean giving up. Or the eighth.

4.) American cheese all the way. Cheddar I just don't trust, do you?

5.) Wash hands frequently. The smell is appalling after a while. You keep thinking you'll be able to tune it out, but if you do not wash every few minutes, at the end, that smell will be on your hands for DAYS, no matter how many showers you take or what kind of brillo pad you have.

6.) Look BUSY so you don't get assigned prematurely to do something useful and productive, like mopping. Complain every so often so you sound like a disgrunted employee. Mumble, though, because saying you're cheese sculpture isn't working isn't what you want them boss to hear. The appearance of industry AND unhappiness is key here. Looking like you enjoy your job WILL get you reassigned. Hence the fact I lost my tomato privileges.

I still don't believe I sliced them too thin. Please.

*****

Recs

Melt by bexless Oh dear GOD. Hot. And cold. *grins* *nudge* Trust me, you really want to read this RIGHT NOW.

Pass by Tim Ian. Huh. Now this I didn't expect, though I'm not entirely sure what I did expect when I started reading.

Excerpt:

Clark,

During the era of open discrimination, pale-skinned blacks would occasionally hide their ancestry and live as though they were white. This phenomenon was known as "passing." Those that passed felt this strategy to be their best chance at avoiding the bigotry and persecution inflicted upon their brethren.

It takes a certain kind of bravery to live as something you are not, just as it takes a different kind of bravery to be punished for who you are. Both choices exact a price.

Read this now. Extremely good, thoughtful, and different.

Okay, that covers it. Going to go try and remember new boring anecdotes to share.

Two I ran across while braving the backlog of my friends list. I didn't see them recced anywhere else, so thought I'd throw them out.

Respire by martianhousecat. You may remember me reccing the Ten Things Lex Luthor Wouldn't Do thing, and the kick-ass Lillianfic, and yep, same person. And a very, very haunting story. Very highly recommended. The author's looking for critique, so drop some. Frankly, I couldn't find a damn thing to criticize. I haven't been so amazingly creeped out since Hope's The Fifth Season. Fabulous Lex pov, and just THINK about this story after you read. Damn.

100 Challenge Ficlet by attolia. *grins* I seriously love dammitcarl's make up challenge. And this is cute. Seriously so. Love it.

100 Challenge Ficlet by harriet_spy, another entry in dammitcarl's challenge. Hee! This is SO cool. Read read read.

That only leaves--er, a million ficlets to go. Dear God. Okay. Am going to read and comment, dammit. Starting--er, later.

I updated my webpage recs somewhat--or basically, whatever I had on hand and fixed some links. I need to keep up better. You've seen them all before--either here or in the diary.

One thing though--does anyone know where Maygra's work is? Anyone?

Anyway.

Recs

Topography by hackthis. Mmm. Clark/Lex in the language of geography. Also? Very hot. And gorgeous style going on.

Fireworks by penelope_z. Another off-center, slightly surreal, and very painful fic from the lovely Penelope, who just hurts me. Beautiful, moving, and just. Mmm. Yes.

Wilde Like by thamiris. Oh damn. Absolutely gorgeous Prodigial missing scene. Rich, wonderfully written Clark, sexy and sweet and beautiful. Not to mention how great Lex is. *happy*

Sparks Fly Upward by liviapenn. Whoo hoo! Livia wrote Lucasfic! An unexpected meeting between Lucas and Ryan in Edge City. Wonderfully written and so good.

Five Imaginary Incidents from the Lives of Unimportant People by pearl_o. Well, damn. The five things challenge has brought about some seriously interesting ideas, and this one is no exception. I like them all, but my especial favorite is number four. Guess why. HIGHLY recommended.

The Green Fairy* by rosenho. Wow. No spoilers, do a cold read. It's--REALLY not what I expected when I started reading. Go go go.

Edited to correct title, because I'm a moron

Another Rec Redux, since this will remind me to add it to my webpage. I have GOT to organize my entries soon so I can find these things when I need them.

Breathing Amber by harriet_spy.

It's one of the most chilling stories I've read in any fandom. There's a slow start, this beautiful town, the lovely Lana, and the faintest sense of unease that grows slowly through the story. A strangely sick feeling of not-change, and you really don't get it until the end.

For a characterization of first season Lana, it's marvelous. The girl who wants everything to remain the same--her friends, her hometown, her life. And Smallville becomes just that--a huge, unliving monument to a world that should be gone, all held by the power of her need and one man's determination.

Frankly, in all its subtlety, it's one of the most powerful stories I've ever read, and it creeps me out EVERY time.

Other Things

I need more hours in the day.

Still reorganizing memories page and adding as I find them. I cannot find the long entry I did on Ruat Caelum or Everything's Eventual here, though I think I missed the latter just skimming.

Anyway. Ficletness. Kind of--meandering. I know where I'm going, but not entirely how to get there, if that makes any sense at all. Or maybe this will be a huge collection of loosely related episode codas.

Spoilers for Rush.

( a separate peace: carpe diem )

A night of LJ withdrawl was horrible, horrible, horrible. You know, at this rate, I'd better get a really reliable addiction, like, say, heroin.

But anyway.

Due to karma because I was laughing at a friend buried in snow, rain has begun. And when I say rain, I mean, I am watching for Noah and his Ark out the window rain, and I swear, the animals around here are moving two by two toward some unknown destination. It's slightly surreal. I went to bed last night with some normal raininess and woke up to the Poseiden Adventure in the front yard. Driving The Child to school, I watched the rushing rivers where there were once fields and monitored bridges in some interest. I live on a hill. There are two road-type ways off this hill and both involve bridges. No, I am not driving over muddy fields to get away if necessary. The only thing I really never worry about up here is actual flash flooding. Tornados, yes. Flash flooding, not so much. But those bridges are interesting to watch.

My area holds the unofficial highest rainfall in a twenty-four hour period--either for the state or the country, I really can't remember which. No, I don't know why it's not official, but it is somewhere in an almanac of some kind because as a kid, I had to look it up at school. Growing up, I never could figure out why so many fields had very, very deeply cut trenches (and a LOT of them) and why there were so many bridges up until my fourth grade science teacher told us about that year. Over the years, of course, they wore down (no trees, soil shift, what have you), but the original cuts in the landscape were made many, many, MANY years ago, well before I or I think even my parents were born if I remember correctly, and every so often, we get another Really Rainy Period to recut the trenches. The dry spell a few years back did a LOT to even out the landscape.

Right, uninteresting in the extreme. Moving on.

Recs Redux

My Rainy Day Reading. I've recced them at various times since I first read them and they are among those I curl up with whenever I need a pick me up. This only covers about ten percent of my harddrive-saved fic, since anything I like well enough to read more than once goes into a folder for emergency pick-me-ups.

For sanity of friends page, cutting here, recs inside. I got a little--er, carried away.

( recs redux )

Okay, that took more time than I thought. Have to hurry now.

Got caught up in Adobe yesterday, as I am wont to do when I can't write or am sulking about a bad episode. Or when I'm avoiding tstar78 and grrleloquence murmuring sweet Lucas nothings. *grins* Okay, so that was me mumbling those at them in hopes of inspiring them, but they enable, dammit. And they didn't run away too fast, either.

Anyway. A cover came out of it.

( cover for one thousand miles by zahra )

I'm reorganizing my memories, so anyone who actually checks out that page will notice some shifting around as I add in episode reviews and specific story reviews into the mix. I'm going to eventually post some Star Trek and X-Men ones I did in my other fandoms, especially the ASC awards feedback votes, since I go through phases of being ultra locquacious in feedback, much to the amusement of those who get my long, long interpretations of their fics.

Mmm. Rainy days.

Start with the usual.

Recs

Expectations 11 by hwmitzy. The much stalked, much whined at, much put upon Beth (did I mention I'm holding her cat hostage for more of this fic? Er, forget I said that) FINALLY released the fic we've all been waiting for, the birth of the Kent-Luthor triplets! Much drooling. Much joy. Much jenn-excitement. HAPPY!

READ NOW NOW NOW!

The Seventh Day by melo. A bittersweet glimpse at a future Superman. Hurts. Muchly.

Breathing Room by Nitelite. A post-Prodigal Lex fic. I like Lex's voice in this, introspective and not quite bitter so much as thoughtful.

Smallville Who's Who, A Music Video by the endlessly talented ivyblossom. Okay, this is one of those times I say, do this RIGHT now. Because this is funny. And cool. And I love Ivy. Love her much. *giggling*

Places to Go

Style in fiction seems to be the discussion topic of interest. Which, by the way? Love to read these.

thamiris starts us off here with some great insights into both what she reads for and how she writes.

lexluvsclark continues here with some text comparisons and lyricism in fiction, which is very interesting.

Up to the last one I read...

corinna_5 chimes in with more thoughts on style here.

Art Things:

Kat sent me the loveliest cover today for In the Absence. *happy sigh* Lucex. Lux (who thought of that one again?). Lexus. Hee. Sorry. I always giggle.

Love Kat. She's so GOOD at this. I spend quality time staring at it moodily. Yes, Lucas apparently does really do things for me. *sighs*

( cover for ita )

Other Things

Reality Television is taking a turn for scariness with the teaser for the new show, which for the life of me, I think I've blocked the name due to trauma.

It's like we're resurrecting the Dark Ages. First we had the Alaska girls with their dowries (DOWRIES?), then all these bizarre versions of Cindarella sans evil family, now we get the Classic Arranged Marriage as chosen by television viewers.

Thing is? I wouldn't trust the television viewers in general to choose my socks in the morning.

I'm scared to death I am going to watch this show, just for the car accident fascination of watching people actually put their marital fate into what amounts to being a huge blender of bizarrity. I have a better idea. Put on a blindfold, go outside, and the next person you run into? Marry him/her/it. Trust me, your chances are about the same for happiness.

Okay, I may be watching. This is like watching civilization crumble. Unattractively. *g*

Nah, I'm not quite that cynical.

I've been throwing this story together. Non-fanfic--it's for a friend, one of those family stories that gets told over dinner at reunions and stuff? Surprise surprise, my family actually has GOOD ones. Okay, some are highly unverifiable, but also bizarre.

For example, my favorite of the group:

The Great Uncle Who Went To Calfornia with His Family and Returned WITHOUT Family, Moved Into Trailer (possibly a Trailer Park) With Another Woman, and Never Mentioned the California Family Again, Ever, Except Maybe to Sister, Deceased. That's verifiable, since currently living relatives can remember that, yet he is dead, and apparently, the secret went with him.

Then there's The Legend of the Lost Silver Mine of Robert Grabs in Arizona (Arkansas, Colorado, take your pick). Great, great grandfather's brother, if I squint. It's the best one but also the one I least believe. Genetically, my father's mother's side has Money Issues. Or, an inability to really get the CONCEPT of money. Luckily, they usually marry accountants or people who have no money themselves. It's genetic.

Then there's the really GOOD stories, the ones we were all told to go play in my cousin's room before they'd tell. I still can't get those out often. You know, half-sentences and semi-mysteries and that drives me crazy.

*sighs*

Darn them for privacy!

Mmm. More Lucas/Lex GIPping soon as I raid for more caps. Lucas inspires me.

Recs

A Brotherly Chat by ubertodd. Lucas/Clark, Lucas/Clark/Lex, Clark/Lex, and so on. Sort of. Hot? Yes. And creepy? Yes. And good? Hell yes.

He should hang up. He should have hung up sometime around that pronoun confusion.

For some reason, that line symbolizes the entire story to me. The wrongness just doesn't end. Mmmm.

One Thousand Miles by hackthis. A beautifully written, aching Lucas POV of a difficult life. Highly, highly recommended.

Untitled Prodigal-esque Fic by basingstoke . As begun, it changes. And I LIKE it. Kinda weird, then funny, then cute. And the POV? Marvelous. Just enjoyed so much.

Spare Room by tstar78. Adorable Prodigial missing scene. And what should definitely have happened!

Part of the Same by philtre. Another lovely bit of Prodigal-ness, lovely and Clexy.

Blueprintes by rhiannonhero. Another installment in the Orbiting Universe, following I think Constellations. Lex and the plan. And the in-laws. And some other things, too. Very nicely written.

February by Aklani. A sweet, barely-slash Clark and Lex, Clark POV. I love how beautifully and thoughtfully Clark's written in this one.

Pass by Tim Ian. Huh. New to me author. Post Rush moment, Clark contemplating. And an interesting reason on why Clark seems to be pulling away from Lex. I liked it.

*****

Other Things

Let's see. Child ill, read traumatizingly bad fic, and refused to allow myself near friends list until I finished this stupid story.

Also? He-Man is back. She-Ra, let it happen. I was invested in the entire Captain Hawk/Adora thing and plus, she was once a bad guy and I really loved her for that.

Off to find beta for fic.

Original Entry Date: 2/10/2003, 00:38
Backdated Entry Date: created 8/20/2007, 15:37, partial copy of privatized entry.

You know, I'm just not as loyal to my LJ as I was to my diary. I feel like a semi-adultress, and I'm not even any good at it.

Personal News

If all goes well, sister will be leaving for boot camp on Wednesday. We had kabobs and cheesecake tonight to celebrate. Absolutely non-intresting to most, but STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE! AND a strawberry torte.

And have I mentioned I bonded with Wal-Mart's Valentine's candy section?

Recs

Luna Lunatica by penelope_z
Surreal. That's all I'm saying. Read it a few times. It's just--yeah. Surreal.

A Bed in a Room in a House by dammitcarl. I love Jessica's lovely single-scene, thoughtful fics, and this one is both hot AND sweet. A Nickyverse story, and lovely as ever.

Harvest by Bren Antrim. In which the fandom still works through it's Clark!Rage quite energetically. Lex is bitter. And this hurts. Read.

Sweet Dreams by bexless. Bittersweet Lex POV, covering several different time periods. Beautifully written Lex that I can sink into, and lovely introspection.

Links

Livia's gotten Truckload of Heart, A Clark and Pete link directory. Slash and friendship, should definitely be checked out. And contributed to!

jenn squeeing

liviapenn's been playing with Premiere and made the COOLEST thing ever. A trailer for Standing in the Common Spaces, Spiderman the Movie/Smallville. Yes, I'm drooling and giggly and DAMN it's so NEAT! The cuts are DAMN cool and I just love watching it and that song rocks. RealPlayer format. *happy sigh*

No, I haven't watched it multiple times in succession, why do you ask? *grins*

Just think, we can get her to VID for the fandom if we just put enough pressure on her--er, the word is 'encourage', rather. I like this idea. Can we start an official campaign? *curious*

*happy squeeing*

Really, I'm cute when I look like this. Anyway, go check it out, it just ROCKS.

*hugs liviapenn*

Other Things

I'm labeling again. I like it. It makes me feel as if there's been progress.

So the other night, Koi made me want to try a Five Things fic. Of course, that never works, as if I AU, I tend to want to stay there for an indecent word count and wallow in it instead of skipping blithely off. But. This one came out. After talking it over with liviapenn and pearl_o, I don't really think it works as it is, either as a legit AU or as a good Jonathan characterization. Since I'll never use it, I thought I'd post this version while I work out how it would work better.

And because I sort of LIKE it. *grins* I like creepy!

Anyway.

So the week has looked up by the end.

Let's start with the happy stuff. People who write fic.

Recs

Make Me Happy by Ash Jay. Threesomeness and wow, hot? Yes. Especially the imagery of Clark with a red K tongue ring which is possibly one of the best ideas I've heard in a looong time. Vaguely creepy ending, especially about going to see Lex after--I'm just wondering if he'll survive long enough to orgasm. *grins* Read and enjoy.

The Tick of the Universe by penelope_z. I love her style period, and I love how she writes Lex and Clark. Melodic, beautiful, and bittersweet. Vintage Penelope.

Disturbing the Rhythm by Shellah. Hot. Very much. Damn. *grins*

Falliable Theory by zahra. An entrant in the Twelve Days of Pain for Clark challenge issued by rageprufrock, and beautifully written. Lex POV. Very--ambiguous ending. Per usual, zahra makes me think.

Tax Haven by Melo. Hee! Another entrant in Celli's Taxfic challenge and hysterical. I loved it. Especially poor Clark and accounting beating him up.

Points of Triangulaton by andariell. A lovely Chloe/Lana fic that worked beautifully with both characters. Much recommended for reading right now.

The Master Plan by ingrid. *dies* A hysterical fic for Celli's Taxfic Challenge, and ingrid does it short, sweet, and ruthless. I'm totally in love here.

Trinity: Three Things That Didn't Happen to Lionel Luthor by serrico. Oh DAMN. Strange, surreal, WEIRD, and so damn cool. No spoilers, because dammit, it needs to be read straight through.

Capable by destina Oh she makes me happy. Beautiful post-Suspect bit of ficness that does a lovely, lovely Clark.

Favorite Lines:

Lex's eyes are dark, his feelings no longer obscured; Clark knows that look. He's imagined it so often he's made it real. Clark isn't capable of looking away. Then he remembers: capable. Dominic had made the word ugly. Capable, he'd said - an implication of darkness. "In your heart, Clark, you've always known what Lex was capable of."

Yes, thinks Clark, as Lex kisses him, holds him, mends fences for him. I did know. He's capable of this.

*sniffles* Yes. Just like that. Beautiful.

Vulnerable Confusion by Henry Jones Jr. Post Rush redfic, Lana and Lex get a full dose of Clark at his most honest and most nasty. CLex, very good. Very painful, too. Wanna slap Clark. *G*

Everything's Eventual (Try to Act Surprised) by Lint. Chloefic.

Okay, this one? Hated on first read. Could NOT get it. Second read, though....

Oh wow. Yes. Again, stories like this? The reason I absolutely love to read fanfic.

( Everything's Eventual, spoilers for the story )

So. You know. Absolutely adore it now. Just adore it.

*****

Places to Go

This is a short list. I've barely skimmed my friends list and read the fascinating convos going on there.

Discussion of BDSM in SV by penelope_z. Really interesting stuff going on with both the Lionel/Lex and Lex/Clark pairings in mind.

ClarkRage and Lex is a good friend by liviapenn in which Livia discusses both the anger against Clark and why Lex really is a great friend. Hence the title. *g*

*****

Other Stuff

Working on fic. Liv gave me an idea--or I gave her one and she gave it back, not too sure on its genealogy there. My sister got an LJ. She leaves for the army in about a week and it's more than a little sad. She's also below minimal weight again, so her recruiter's working to get her those last three or so pounds--I think it was three or so pounds. And that about covers it. Interesting convos are mentioned above, as trust me, this is as interesting as I get. Mild sinus infection thing boring the hell out of me, but on the upside, wow, does my nose have some serious color! See, you know, storms, silver linings, platitudes galore going on here.

Huh. I miss Jack.

Anyway, going to go work on something. In lieu of that, look at Word menacingly and hope words appear magically. Which I think is perfectly possible, darn it.

Everyone's covered the destruction of the Columbia, which has been--well, terrible. I remember Challenger. I think fourth grade, and it took forever for our teachers to get an explanation out that made sense to us.

God be with those who were lost and with those left behind.

*****

Two icons, courtesey of thete1. My fanficboyfriend is Spike. For some reason, this sound really reasonable to me.

And...happy birthday penelope_z! Sorry, chica, I didn't really check LJ much, and this is late. *lovelovelove* Your stories make me think and your art is amazing. I'm so so glad to have met you and that you're playing in SV.

*hugs*

On my main LJ page, I actually added a link, thanks to pearlo, which will TELL me when birthdays are so I am, with any kind of decent luck, no longer late. Also, made a memories thingie, once the instructions were given to me in nice, plain English, so story snippets are somewhat organized. Oh happiness!

Let's see, what else....

*grins*

Right. silviakundera, author of the tres fabulous Fanfiction Classics in a Minute (check out her LJ there for these wonders), sent me an absolutely gorgeous manip for Syzygy.

Can I point out please how absolutely AWED it makes me what people can do with Adobe? My GOD. I block up these days just thinking of the WORD Adobe.

( cover )

*happy more*

*****

Recs

Tell by rivkat I'm not sure, but I suspect Rivka's main reason for writing is to see how very, very much she can creep us out. Can't prove it or anything. I'm good with this. I encourage the creepiness. And the hurtness of Lex. As long as I can fix him in my head. *hugs Lex* She's GOOD. And it hurts. Poor woobie.

Childhood Dreams by mobiusklein Not in the usual hysterical-funny, but thoughtful and bittersweet and CLexy. I likes muchly.

After the Storm by Caro. I can't actually remember if I recced it or just imagined I did, but it certainly can't hurt to read it again. Beautiful Clark POV and a lovely story.

*****

Places to Go

Spike on Fandom of Pain and Te on the same.

Te asks a cool question, though.

The Spike got me thinking about what I want from those shows, *and* what I want from those fandoms. And it goes all the way back to when I was a newbie in the X-Files fandom, absolutely gobsmacked by the presence of MSR types and noromos.

My attitude was, "Dude, you're pretty much getting this stuff *from the show*, why would you want more?"

Now, the people writing case files, I could understand. Because, wow! Exciting stuff! Maybe stuff that wouldn't get shown because it was too gruesome or intelligent. But... relationships that are either already onscreen or *will* be? (Maybe it's because I came in relatively late, but *I* never doubted that MSR would be onscreen. Fucking CC.)

Written in the same, happily-ever-after, fade-to-black, what the fuck happened to Scully's balls style?

What was the point?

I was in fandom for the what if, and I still am. To this day, 'missing scenes' bore me if they're written as well as they can be. (het, gen, or slash) To this day, I've yet to see a canonical relationship that I cared about enough to be truly fannish about it -- though Spuffy came pretty damned close.

Yet one more reason that the sheer existence of UCSL was once enough to make me want to strew flower petals and sing songs, and still makes me sigh happily.

I'm not saying that I don't want *any* romance on-screen -- though in my experience, a lot of writers *fuck it up*. I'm just saying that I like having room to play, and never understood people who wanted to color in the lines.

Or... who wanted to *only* color in the lines.

I can tell you why. *g*

It usually hits me after stuff like Insurgence or even Skinwalker. Or for that matter, when I was in movieverse reading Logan/Jean.

There's something absolutely comforting about falling in love with a pairing that you can be relatively sure isn't going to just rip you apart. This is a retrospective view, btw.

I started fanfic writing in very canon, episode extending, Paris/Torres het in ST: Voyager, and really, that's the least stressed I've been since. Also far less inspirational material sometimes, but--I never hit the levels I get in movieverse and not even close to what SV does to me on occasion. In both of the earlier fandoms, I had a main pairing that was my comfort zone, and I branched out from there when I felt like it. With Voyager, there was no real reason to believe P/T was breaking up anytime soon. With movieverse, I had a LOT of time before the next movie screwed up my universe. So. Levelness. It was a very real way to keep from being jossed, one, and two, very little worry about my pairing of choice becoming deadly enemies and depressing the hell out of me. Hell, Voyager's continuity was so bad I'm not entirely sure ANYONE could be seriously jossed up until the P/T wedding.

With that base, it made it very easy to play around with other pairings that I didn't have nearly as much an emotional investment in. Voyager, it was Paris/Seven, in movieverse, St. John/Bobby and a little Logan/Jean. I had my happy place, I was comfortable there, canon wasn't out to get me, so vive la multipairing joys and so forth.

Clark/Lex--it's very, very hard to write anything else, for me. And part of it is, yes, the show is never, ever, ever going to give me some nice, comforting, hot boys with apple-flavored oil sex. And I'm emotionally invested, which really, I should have known better, but on the other hand, Lex Luthor. Come on.

It's--not necessarily that anyone goes into fanfic thinking, I am going to write the pairing s/s because that's the canon one/non-canon one/cutest/het/slash/strange etc. Bethy once said she follows what hits her right, and that's pretty much how I do it. Clark/Lana had all the attraction of leftover school meatloaf, but even if it hadn't, Clark/Lex already had me. And this is from someone who has no actual talent for reading subtext whatsoever--I had to have it not only explained but demonstrated, and I spent a LOT of my first few weeks in the fandom finding out that Smallville's subtext is very atypical in its blatancy. It clicked for me, therefore, that's where I stayed.

Of course, now, I read slash into animation and OTP bizarre things, and wow, this is weird, but no matter.

I don't necessarily think that coloring inside the lines is limiting.

God, I suck at metaphors. Let me try to say this differently. To me, the limit's always been in the author who writes the stories, not the subject they choose to write about.

Wow, that was unexpectedly serious. I shall write jello smut now to clean my brain out.

*****

The Spam Updates

I am NOT in need of a lonely housewife. I do not want a hovering anything. And if it involves the carnal uses of livestock? Not interested. Also? No, I do NOT want to eat pizza and lose weight. When I eat pizza, I want it to be fattening as hell. Thank you. Go away.

How to get this across to the people that keep spamming me is the question.

*****

Weird Writing Moments

I know, everyone has this time, probably more than once, whereas they are innocently writing, say, a nice episode coda exercise, and then they look at it and think, huh, that's gone places it wasn't supposed to. On the order of asking for whipped cream and getting sour cream.

Or not. But I like bad and inappropriate metaphors.

You start off with a story idea. You start writing it and you write and you write and then your idea is somewhere in the next galaxy and what you have makes no sense whatsoever.

Yeah. That's how I'm feeling atm. Thank you pearl_o for your mockage of my annoyance with myself. As a single scene, the characterizations all feel about a full step off even loose canon, and I'm willing to admit I watch those boys through Jenn's Special CLex-Tinted Glasses. It just feels wrong, and I think I can figure out why, but it will be so complex.

And a thought to either destina or brighidestone, whoever said Ice Age was slashy? I blame you for the fact when I watched it today, I was wondering if the other mammoths would accept the mixed marriage and if a stable threesome with a sabretooth tiger was reallly that bad an idea.

*sighs*

I'm doomed. Oh yeah. Handbasket annny day now.

Tell Me by ubertodd Oh fuck yes. Perfectly plausible, beautifully Lex, and he needs--at this point? Probably a memory wipe to get rid of this.

Post-Suspect, and so--damn. Yes.

Read RIGHT now.

Because she totally rocks, penelope_z sent me a gorgeous, gorgeous cover for The Wasteland. Pardon me while I squee hysterically.

( cover for The Wasteland )

Recs:

The Giving Tree by zahra. The odd thing is, until last night while chatting with someone, I hadn't even, I think, HEARD of the story, then voila, this appears in my inbox. Very lovely, pure zahra. And it looks like I need to get to reading.

Capillary by Julian Lee. It's the little things, not the big ones, that'll catch Clark out in the end. It's deceptively simple, heartbreaking, and strangely inevitable. I like how Clark and Martha are drawn here. It aches, all of it. With a killer last line.

Disconnect by Julian Lee. Oh. Wow. Now THAT is a new way of looking at Jonathan and his relationship with his son! I'm not sure I entirely agree, but I'm not sure I disagree either. In any case, a fascinating take on the entire idea, both of how Clark views his father and Lex's, and how Lex views his father, Clark's family, and Clark.

Let's Talk About Sex by zahra. *snickers* THAT is funny. I love how she writes Lex in the throes of passion. Just--so. Very. Funny.

Places to Visit:

denialcorp - Home away from home. Happy place. I'm entranced. Oh yes.

thamiris comments here about Clark and the episode Suspect.

latxcvi comments here and here as well with some interesting insights.

eat_crow has some good analyses of the episode as well by taraljc and rosenho

And my entire friends list is alive with musings of one kind or another. These people think a LOT.

Other Things:

Got my remix assignment. Okay, I'm going to seriously need to think about this for a bit. Or you know, until the day the challenge is due, so as to keep up with my flawless procrastination record.

Well, I had two things to ramble on. One, and really, talk about BACKTRACKING, defending Clark, but luckily, thamiris did it and very lovely she did, too. Clark's such a guy. Why discuss when you can pretend nothing happened? Boy has his head SO far in the sand it's adorable. Two, writing process, but my nose is runny and therefore, I shall use that as an excuse to be boring.

Actually, I'm contemplating a story idea. Like so many others, it's percolating, because while it's INTERESTING, I don't have my hook for it yet. After devinmoonshine was oh so kind as to agree to think about a VERY pretty idea (nudge her every so often, please?) and hwmitzy showed me something--highly, highly mindbending, I'm all in the mood to do something--bizarre.

I have the COOLEST friends ever. *g*

In more jenn-centric news, I'm full of envy for everyone who gets to go to conventions. You know, I never used to want to go. Now I do. Dammit. That's really random, I know. But there it is. Envy.

Okay, everyone asks this eventually, so I will too, because I keep catching people friending me and I have no idea why exactly or who they are, though I try to check at least once a week or so and see the journals in question, I'm sort of behind on doing that. I mean, granted, if you dropped by when I was writing Somewhere, it was definitely more convenient to friend so as to keep up with updates than to hit refresh on my main page so many times a day. Got that one. But otherwise? Just feel oh so free to comment.

Um. So. Feel free to drop in, say hi, I'm so and so, and it's your icons that just dragged me in. Just so you know? I have made exactly ONE of them. Maybe three the entire time I've had an LJ. Chances are, if it's the icons? Someone else made it. *g* I suck with the icon thing. No visual imagination whatsoever.

And...HOW would a corporation rule the world? You know, if such a thing were to happen. What kind of model are we talking about? I'm torn between a really bizarre communism, except that feels weird for the idea of capitalism, or a really really bizarre fascism, but that one seems a little too--wrong. Or I'm not thinking about it in the right way.

Um. Just asking. For absolutely no story-related reason whatsoever.

I had this long, long entry on badfic and then lost it. It made me sad. Grrrr. It was a GOOD entry. Stuffed full of metaphors and historical comparisons and examples.

Also mention of wishing for visual aids while reading just to figure out what on earth some of them are doing during sex.

But oh well. *sighs*

Recs:

Clean by Lenore. Oh. Wow. It starts off deceptively simple and went places I had no idea it was going to go. Beautifully written, lovely characterization. I like it. VERY much.

Only You by Illuferret. Futurefic, and an interesting take on the Clark/Superman dichotomy. I liked this for a lot of reasons, not least of which everything that's going on in Clark's head.

Casualties by penelope_z. See, and she DOES this and freaks me out amazingly. Strange, surreal, and completely creepy in a highly understated way. Lex and Lionel and how truly fucked-up they are.

Well, my energy level is crashing severely. But. Gorgeous fic to read. Have I mentioned today how much I do love my fandom?

*happy sigh*

Okay, it's been HOURS since this was posted. Must be read NOW if haven't before.

Switch: A Comedy of Terrors by RivkaT. In which bodies are changed, explorations commence, and--oh God, I can't even begin to cover everything.

This is almost too good to be true.

Lex is just so Lex...God, is he Lex, in the wrong body entirely. Funny, fascinating insights and hijinks (I never thought I'd be using THAT word with a straight face), and everything that can go wrong and then again, doesn't.

Read it now. Now now now. On third run through, and damn, I LOVE this story.

Ooh yes. I'm blissing out here.

Lalala procrastinating. But productively so.

Posted Silk. Only, what, three months after writing it? *sighs* My WiP folder is still scary.

Generalized musings in the diary, because it seems I cannot meta well in LJ. It's like a bizarre block.

And ultrafast rec for Enfante Terrible by Devin Moonshine. Damn. Wow. Different, definitely. Definitely should read.

Also? The Story by grrleloquence, because Val rocks everywhere, even in StS fic. VERY good story. Must read.

I'm making jello tonight.