lacrimae rerum

Truth! Justice! Freedom! Reasonably priced love! And a hardboiled egg.

This is the first Glorious Twenty-Fifth after Sir Terry Pratchett's passing, and I think it's a much more solemn occasion for Discworld fans around the globe than in former years. I mean, it's always been half-solemn for fans as far as I know, with the remembrance of those who died in the revolution (and it's Memorial Day this year), but it's also a happy celebration combined with Towel Day and Geek Pride Day and stuff. But this year, I think many of us are wearing the lilac in solidarity with one another in memory of Sir Terry Pratchett as well as our beloved book characters. At least, that's how I felt with some large Discworld groups on Facebook; we shared our loss and grief, and we all wore the lilac not only to mark the 25th as the anniversary of the revolution in the book, but as a mark of remembrance for Sir Terry.

I certainly felt a lot sadder. My copy of Good Omens is signed by Neil Gaiman, and one of my life goals was to get it signed by Sir Terry Pratchett as well. I remember staring at that signed page, realising that this would never happen, and shedding tears some time after I first heard the news. I want to read more about the Watch, and about Granny and Nanny, but there will be no more stories (unless Rhianna is taking over?). And then I went on Tumblr; damn those onion-cutting ninjas.

I couldn't find any lilac here in Perth, but the rosemary in our garden has little purple flowers, so my partner and I made do with those and wore sprigs of those to uni/work today. Rosemary for remembrance.





This was breakfast today.



How do they rise up, rise up, rise up?

G N U

Okay, so back when I returned from Pencampwr at the beginning of June I meant to put up photos of my awesome medieval weekend and I never did. And then I had exams and flew home and there was a lot of crazy cleaning and organisation because my sister was getting engaged and when Indians get married or even engaged it is crazy. And I had a 12-hour Special Extended Edition movie marathon of The Lord of the Rings with friends.And I had to attend a wedding in Malaysia on my birthday and rather disliked it, but felt much better the next day when back in Singapore and cutting cake and eating durian with my family. And then WE WENT TO THE HARRY POTTER EXHIBITION AND IT WAS AMAZING AND I SPENT SO MUCH BUT IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT. And I went out with friends and was given more cake and had to pack in a huge hurry and now I'm back in Perth.

And basically I meant to put up photos of all of these things but everytime I switched on the laptop I was always distracted because ever since I saw the Avengers movie all those months ago my mind has been EATEN by Avengers fanfic, especially Steve/Tony. I've read hundreds of Steve/Tony and Avengers fanfics obsessively and have pretty much exhausted Archive Of Our Own and am trawling LJ and Tumblr for more. <_< And now I'm tentatively poking my head out again and peeking at all my other fandoms that I neglected and catching up on my f-list.



Hence the long absence, for which I apologise. Though it also had to do with the fact that half the time I was also exhausted from cleaning or spending all day out with my family/friends and had no energy to do much besides flop into bed and read smut.

I will be spamming you with overdue photo posts, fair warning, but first: my grades for the first semester were released on July 16th.



Ignore the three UPs, they were for compulsory online modules on academic conduct, Aboriginal culture and basic communication/research skills and I actually got more than 80 marks in each, but you just need to pass them and so they're listed as Ungraded Passes. But oh my god, the others.

I got Distinctions in Discoveries in Archaeology, German Studies 1 and Introduction to Scientific Practices (Science Communications), and a High Distinction in Myths of the Greeks and Romans. It was past 2am when I first saw this and it took me a few moments of squinting blearily at the screen to realise what I was looking at, and then I wanted to jump off the bed and go and tell everyone, but everyone was asleep. D:

I would have hated myself if I'd gotten anything less than a Distinction in Greek mythology, but hadn't been expecting a HD. And I honestly have no idea where the Distinction in Science Comm came from, since I did slack a bit in that class and got Bs for most of my assignments and hadn't thought my performance in the final assignment was spectacular. o_O

And now that the initial glow has worn off I'm panicking over whether I can maintain this sort of grade as everything gets harder. D: Semester 2 starts next Monday and I'm really looking forward to it - I'm continuing German and also taking Latin 1, a unit called Glory and Grandeur that's classical Greek and Roman history, and an English unit called Journeys: Texts Across Place and Time (which is for my Medieval and Early Modern Studies major; I'm double-majoring in that and Classics and Ancient History). I can't wait to start all these courses - god, I've wanted to learn Latin since I was a child - but am also worried.

Also, I landed in Perth after midnight on the 21st but still haven't really unpacked. <_< ... I should get on that. BUT FANFICTION.

I'm also considering signing up for this:


I haven't written much this year and haven't posted anything (role-play aside) and have zero ideas for a GO Big Bang, but hopefully that will change soon.

For the Good Omens Exchange 2011, I wrote a long Good Omens/Harry Potter crossover AU fic which the mods titled Slytherin Vaguely Downwards as I could not think of a title. It grew into an utter monster and I went way over the deadline, and at one point I think I even had a nightmare in which the mods were so angry they banned me. XD

God, the story was hard. Crowley was not easy to write for; I'd sit and stare blankly at the Word document for ages, cranking out maybe two words an hour, and then at 3AM when I was about to go to bed I'd suddenly find the words flowing out and type furiously for another few pages until I passed out. I researched the weirdest things, racking up a Google search history of 'food allergies', 'coconut allergies', 'English-Latin online translator', 'old-fashioned cuckoo clock', 'kola nut properties', 'sarsaparilla properties', 'guido reni st michael painting', 'magic marker' and so on, and discovered the lovely resource that is the Harry Potter Wiki along the way, where I looked for Ashwinders and Herbology textbooks and pureblood history and all sorts of other things; when I was writing a battle scene I drew on the spells in my memory at first, since I can recall quite a lot, but eventually had a tab with the Wiki's list of offensive spells open while writing. I also spent ages on Pottermore one afternoon studying and contemplating wand woods and cores, and went around with my nose buried in my copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them for a week. At one point I jumped up and ran to find my copy of Quidditch Through The Ages to doublecheck what sort of wood the handle of a vintage Silver Arrow broom would be made of.

The longest chapters/short stories I've ever written thus far have been maybe 9 pages in a Word document; this one was 28, if I recall correctly, and went up to 29 after I added some end notes. I went, "Hallelujah!" out loud when I finished it, though I did enjoy writing it. Mostly. Slipping in references to the Discworld series and other random references like William McGonagall was definitely fun, as were the footnotes.

  steadfast and sunflower_mynah are my awesome beta-reading team who also provided lots of encouragement - the Dr Filius quip and footnote were entirely Jen's idea - and eidolon_bird and kleine_teekanne were also there to hold my hand and listen and cheer me on when I moaned about how big it was growing and how difficult Crowley was being. _silverfox and seablue_eyes were also encouraging. Thank you so much, all of you. ♥

There are actually a few scenes I had in my head that I had no time to write/didn't quite fit into the story arc. However, I may write and post them as Extras/Deleted Scenes if I can.

And it turned out that sidesinger, my recipient, was actually assigned my request as well! She wrote me an absolutely FABULOUS Good Omens/Harry Potter crossover called Hogwarts According To Adam and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Hers had lots of awesome Discworld references too - clearly we both love the Librarian - and even had references to the Shoebox Project! She even had photos of actual handwritten notes from Crowley to Aziraphale that made me squee out loud. *flail* And there were tons of moments that made me laugh out loud, and it was amazing. And we basically exchanged GO/HP crossover fics, which is just awesome. 8D

I made this plushie of Aziraphale from Good Omens as a gift for Jen aka steadfast. :D The entire thing is stitched by hand (though the hair, eyes, mouth and wings are glued on) and it took me a very long time. XD



( More photos and details... )

So after a fairly long dry spell (with the occasional burst of inspiration that allowed me to get Triangle finished and kept me poking periodically at a sort of prequel for _silverfox involving Gabriel and Bast at the Festival of Bubastis; it involved loads of research but is mostly done and I'm trying to figure out how to wrap it up), my creative juices are beginning to flow again. :D

I haven't really roleplayed that much since the drama early this year, aside from an occasional thread here and there (and rarely involving Gabriel), but now I really want to roleplay again (especially with Gabriel) and am trying to poke some enthusiasm into the few RP partners I have. XD Plus I'm also working on my long-abandoned fanfic100 project for Gabriel; I'd left a mostly-written rough Chapter 2 alone for so long but it's co-operating now, as are the other characters, and I hope to have it up by the end of this month at least.

Plus I've spent the last few months in the Harry Potter fandom, reading loads and loads of fabulous fanfic, and although I haven't written for that fandom in over a year (I think my last HP fic was posted as a New Year's gift in 2010) I'm hoping to try again. And the go_exchange is coming up; I couldn't participate last year due to A Levels but I will definitely join this year. I haven't written GO fic in a while too, so hopefully I can remedy that.

Also, I am really not an artist - I'm okay with crafts but I suck at drawing - but it doesn't stop me from having fun, so here are a couple of quick little doodles I did last night. This is steadfast's Archangel Michael, aka angelofawesome, during a training session. DeviantArt link here. The Roman-style armour was just me being lazy because I decided it was easier than, you know, trying to get the armour the angels wear in my head, which is a lot more elaborate, graceful and pretty, and very like the Elves' armour in the LotR movies. However, the skirt is so FOOFY and girly, I was so tempted to add a plaid pattern and knee socks and pigtails. XD



And this is her Michael and my Gabriel. I imagine the raspberry as following another crack at Gabriel being known in angelology as "the only female archangel". DeviantArt link here.



Michael's shoulders should be broader, I'm afraid. :/ I don't draw often; I can actually produce a decent still life of random household objects but that's boring, but I'm not very good at reproducing what's in my mind. Still, it's fun. :D

Off to poke some more at my FF100 chapter.

I've been on a cleaning/organisational frenzy at home since my job contract ended, and clearly it's extending to LJ. I thought I should try to collect all my fics (the ones I'll admit to, anyway) together in one place. I suck at ratings, so if you think something should be rated differently, please comment saying so. :)

Bear in mind that the earliest stories are most likely not all that good; I started writing fanfic in 2005 and I was only 12 going on 13 then. And that there is a fair amount of slash (male/male pairings: the pairings are stated clearly, so if it offends you, please don't read), and some of the role-play entries may be friends-locked (however, if you add my RP accounts as friends to read them, I will add you back ASAP).



( Harry Potter fanfiction  )


( The Chronicles of Narnia fanfiction ) . Autumn reminds Susan and Lucy of Narnia.

Perfumes of Narnia - Pevensies, Peter-centric, PG13, 2010. Peter is a man in a boy's body.

Constellations and Promises - Susan and Lucy, Lucy-centric, PG, 2011. It was hard to see the stars in London. [Titled Promise on FanFiction.Net]


( The Black Magician Trilogy fanfiction )


( Good Omens fanfiction )


( The Sandman fanfiction )



( Miscellaneous fanfiction )


( Role-Play and Original Fiction )


Hopefully I remember to update this thing. :D

I've been either too busy or too tired for LJ. My new job keeps me really busy - I work five to six days a week, either 9.30AM to 6.45PM or 12.45PM to 10PM (10.30 on Saturdays), and then there's travelling time, so generally by the time I get home it's late, I'm tired, and I just want to curl up and read, or chat with friends on AIM, or watch Supernatural or The Mentalist or Justice League Unlimited, or one of the Ancient Egypt documentaries if I'm not too braindead.

Also, I recently bought and read the John Constantine graphic novel Hellblazer: Pandemonium and it was AWESOME. It has ancient Sumerian ruins and the goddesh Ishtar and Christian demons who were once worshipped as gods in the Middle East and ruined temples and a poker game with the gods and of course John himself... basically, almost everything I love. ♥ And there was this awesome bit on the last page that really resonated with me (Singapore just had an election, and I am disappointed, although proud of some areas). Here's the quote:

Blame the gods' cold machinations, or the fundamental violence of human nature; but which of us with the privilege to vote can claim innocence for the filthy crime of war? We have the choice who leads us, apathetic, into pandemonium." - John Constantine in Hellblazer: Pandemonium.

Awesome, isn't it?

Also, the 7th of May was Free Comic Book Day! :D We celebrated it at Kinokuniya by giving away free comics, giving away little Green Lantern figurines with every purchase, giving members a 20% discount on all comics, and having Stormtroopers and Darth Vader himself turn up for photos. :D



I also took advantage of that discount (I don't have a staff discount) to get myself the tenth Lucifer volume, Lucifer: Morningstar, and the Absolute Death volume! EEEEE. :D







Okay, so I could not resist. That's me in a black tank top and an ankh pendant, with my Absolute Death volume. ♥ In retrospect, I should have let my hair down, it's wild enough that if I ever did dress as Death properly, I wouldn't need a wig. The book is GORGEOUS, isn't it? As befits a beautiful character, say I. I wish my Mac camera hadn't laterally inverted everything though. ;_;

Now, on to the book meme. Since I haven't been online for so many days, I'm going to cheat by answering questions 5 to 10 in one post. XD


( 5. A book you acquired in some interesting way. )


( 6. A book with a story for you, that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time). )


( 7. What fictional character are you (secretly) in love with? )


( 8. The last book you acquired, and how (begged, bought, borrowed?). )


( 9. Your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next. )



( 10. What author do you own the most books by and why? )


There. :D Off to spend some quality time with my new comics and wrap them in plastic.

So sunflower_mynah  linked me to this lovely 30-day book meme at book_memes , and I'll be doing it. :D

1. A fictional character you identify with and why

This is actually a pretty hard one. XD I think I share traits with many characters, and some years ago I'd probably have given you a long list of characters I thought I identified with, but now... I really don't know.

Hmm. Maybe Aziraphale from Good Omens? We both have what would probably be called an awfully outdated fashion sense (I'd like to think that I'm not nearly as bad, though... and since my two-week paid trial expired, my two Adam Lambert icons have replaced two of my GO icons, so I can't use this icon for this post; it'd have been fitting), we both worship books, particularly rare and/or old ones, we both call people "dear", and I have a dreadful fondness for tartan. Also... between Aziraphale and Crowley, it seems like Crowley's actually the more optimistic one while Aziraphale seems to have the more jaded view of humanity; Crowley's the one who has to go and get drunk for a week after seeing the Spanish Inquisition. While I am constantly shocked by what humanity's capable of, overall I do tend to take a more pessimistic view of it. XD However, I do prefer cocoa to tea.

There's also Remus J Lupin from Harry Potter, to some extent. Mostly because of the chocolate and books. XD Also, maybe it's just me reading too much into things and forcing my head!canon onto him, but it seemed to me that sometimes he couldn't quite get why he was a Marauder, why the popular James Potter and Sirius Black cared so much about him; he didn't see what he had to offer people, and we see that repeated later on with Tonks (putting aside my inner Remus/Sirius fangirl and my slashy reasons for that). And sometimes I, too, wonder (in a good way, usually) why my friends are here, what they see in me, what I can offer them.

And of course, from the same fandom, there's also Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood. Hermione for obvious reasons - I'm also a huge bookworm and I think all the answers to everything can be found in books/the library (or Google), and I'd like to think I'm as loyal to my friends as she is. I'm not always very logical, though, and I'm only a top student for certain subjects that I enjoy, like English/GP/Lit. And I am a proud nerd; with certain subjects, I genuinely enjoy learning and will voluntarily read more about them for fun. And my hair is just as bushy; I swear, it's like a longer, black version of hers. And Luna because, again, for obvious reasons. I'm not nearly as spacey as she is, but a lot of my peers would consider me "Loony" as well because of what I read, the things I say and do, the things I believe, the way I dress, etc. I say weird things at odd moments too. And I do love the way she dresses. XD

Aargh. My A Levels were finished at the end of last November and I have a break until university starts much later this year. I'd been looking forward to this period SO MUCH last year, and planning what I'd do kept me going.

Now the months stretch ahead of me and I have so many things to do but just can't bring myself to finish them. Would the word ennui be appropriate? There are times when I just walk around the house, unable to motivate myself to finish any of my current projects or start a new one. None of them seem to appeal to me; sometimes they do but I don't feel like doing them anyway. When I'm on the computer, instead of writing or doing anything productive, I spend hours faffing about on Facebook or reading (in some cases, rereading) fanfiction.

Maybe a list will help. Things that are in progress will be italicised, things I've completed will be struck off.

( Reading )

( Movies/TV )

( Music )

( Writing/role-play )

( Craft Projects )

( Miscellaneous )


*stares at list* This is going to end up like that post-O Level list of mine, isn't it? Lakshmi and I wrote up a nice long list and we only did a few things on it. Sigh.

This was meant to be posted for my birthday; it was meant to be a tiny drabble looking at my RP character Belial, lordofsin , when he was still an angel. It grew and grew and I only finished it in August. I posted it as his LJ here, but somehow never got around to posting it here at my own LJ as I had originally meant to.

A/N: A huge thank-you to steadfast  and sunflower_mynah  for betaing!

I apologise for the italics; it was originally meant to be a very short piece with brief flashbacks and then grew into this. And when I tried switching the formatting, it insisted on being in italics. Untitled for now, but suggestions welcome!

PG13 perhaps, for religious/mature themes. I'm horrible at ratings.

Disclaimer: Carasel and Saraquael are the property of Neil Gaiman in his Murder Mysteries, as is the concept of the Hall of Being and the Silver City, and Gadre'el is my take on Crowley from Neil Gaiman's and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens. Aziraphale makes a tiny cameo too. Otherwise, all angels mentioned are my own takes on Biblical characters.

  *

( It would have been inaccurate to say that Belial had never meant to Fall; he had. He just hadn’t known what it was like, at the time; what it would feel like, what it entailed. What he would Fall from.  )

 

 ~*~