I'd rather play at hug o'war

1. I am alive. We survived the storm relatively unscathed. Besides a few shingles pulled off the roof and our fence well and truly fucked, Ike took pity on us. Centerpoint Energy, on the other hand, did not; we didn't get our power back for a week. Now THAT was a bitch and a half.

2. My consult with the boob doc went well. It's only a matter of waiting to find out if the insurance approved me, or if I'll have to go a round with them to prove that I do need to get my Ks down to a C. *fingers crossed*

3. I am officially in love with Step-Up 2: The Streets. Don't even ask, people. It's positively AWESOME. Of course, I have a great love for Fast Forward, so. Grain of salt.

4. Privileged is, hands down, my favorite new show this season. I love it like burning. And I finally - FINALLY! - figured out where I know Brian Hallisay (a.k.a., hot neighbor boy Will) from: he played Jimmy in the Cold Case ep "Forever Blue." That episode made me cry like a wee baby. Plus, hello, HOTNESS.

5. The Grandmother is finally back home, which means I get to go to the movies this weekend for the first time in four months. I swear, I could cry. Nevermind having back my weekends. I have missed my weekly movie fix. Eagle Eye, here I come.

Post a list of your top five favorite fics you've written, regardless of fandom or the reason you love them. This isn't about the BEST things you've written, but what you LOVE most. Then tag five other people to do the same.

Considering I have all of eleven fics to my name, I still felt the urge to have a little trip down memory lane. Which then reminded me that I have not yet added Our Invincible Heights to my website. ARGH.

Anyway, in no particular order:

Home (Gilmore girls, Future fic, LorelaiLuke, RoryJess, SookieJackson, multiple OCs) - This was only my second fic, both in the fandom and just in general. I can remember the idea coming to me one day and how obsessed I became with it. I just HAD to write it. But I was afraid how it would be received by fandom, especially when one of the main characters was Jess Mariano, all grown up at 30 and father to a ten-year-old daughter called Wren. There are multiple original characters (another worry, re: fandom reaction), and I don't actually introduce Rory into the story until chapter five. It is probably the one I'm most proud of because it showcases me at so many stages as a writer. I sort of grew up writing this baby.

And because I'm a total dork, I actually have a favorite chapter. Chapter six feels the most complete as it hit every emotional and plot point I wanted it to when I was working it out in my head. Plus I don't ever cringe or feel like going back and reworking anything. It also contains one of my favorite lines I've ever written.

Brand New Colony (Everwood, BrightHannah, AU [at least after publishing]) - This is my first fic within the fandom after three years of faithful viewer ship. It is also my first (and so far, last) foray into 2nd person narrative. I love it because it's about Bright and I think Bright Abbott is quite possibly my favorite TV boyfriend ever. This is the only fic I've ever written in one sitting, late on a Friday night. Yes, it's short, but when it comes to writing, I'm rather deliberate and there's a process (write, re-write, a little hand-wringing, fret, email Evie for some hand-holding....annnd repeat.) that does not lend itself to such speedy completion. It also saw me out of a long writing funk.

Fade To Color (Gilmore girls, RoryLogan, Finn, OC, Futurefic, AU) - Rory's a mother and Logan is still the lovable cad. He's also the father of Rory's son Eli. I wanted to explore Rory's issues and how she would react to motherhood, specifically a potentially career-derailing, surprise, senior year pregnancy. Not only does it feature my favorite children's book Where the Wild Things Are, it is also some of my favorite banter I've ever written (shit, the only banter I've ever written really) and Logan, the cook. There's also a tiny cameo by Finn, who is Eli's honorary godfather though I don't state that explicitly in the text. (Finn has shown up in cameo form in two out of my three RoryLogan fics, actually. Between him and Colin, I could see him remaining friends with Rory and Logan [specifically as a couple] in the longterm.)

La Vie en Rose (Gilmore girls, RoryTristan, AU, Futurefic) - One thing that I love about fanfic is the ability to play with what are essentially modern archetypes. For the purposes of Rory's Chilton life, Tristan was the tortured wealthy bad boy. He teased her because she intrigued him.

After reading Hito's Roman Holiday, I started thinking about Lorelai and Christopher and their wonderfully fucked up history. So I took Rory and Tristan and placed them in that world. Rory was raised by her grandparents (this was originally intended to be a much longer fic, which would have explored not only Rory's abortion at sixteen but Lorelai dying when Rory was four and Chris handing over custody to Grandparents Gilmore) and grew up being best friends with Paris and Tristan. Then Rory and Tristan's childhood friendship blossomed into something more in intermediate school.

Basically I wanted to explore what would happen if Rory found herself in Lorelai's position, pregnant at sixteen, but more importantly, choosing the opposite: aborting, and what that would do to her and Tristan. As canon has told us, Tristan's father was a bit of a hardass, and when it eventually comes to light about the aborted pregnancy, Tristan is shipped off to military school (as in canon) to get him away from Rory since the DuGray's never approved of his relationship with the Gilmore's bastard grandchild.

This is the aftermath. Rory and Tristan are people who are still clinging to old hurts and how that doesn't make for the best reconciliation, no matter how much they still love each other or want it.

Our Invincible Heights (Supernatural, DeanOFC, Sam, Ash, OCs, Futurefic) - This one will always hold a special place in my heart despite it being relatively new. (I posted this in January.) I think it's my first truly proper story. Yes, it takes the characters from SPN, but the story is told from the perspective of Lia, Dean's wife. It is twenty years after season two (I started writing this in October 2006) and Sam and Dean had all but given up on destroying The Demon. They've both pursued normal lives: Dean with Lia, Sam with Sarah (from "Provenance"), and that's where the story starts.

Though some would disagree with me (Dean included), I think he could leave the life and be happy. Family is the sole focus of his world and why hunting is such an intrinsic part of him, but if that family was threatened or if leaving the hunt meant keeping them protected, he would do it. And that’s truly the focus of this story: family. It’s also what drew Dean and Lia together in the first place.

In other news, calikali posted this month's Frankenmix rules, and I swear it's trying to eat my brain. Seriously, how to choose? Guh. My version of Sophie's choice, yo.