Welcome to the fandom-focused journal of Clarity Scifiroots! This month marks the beginning of my 11th year in writing fanfic and participating in online fandom. Slowly I'm catching up with posting past fic/graphics/videos/fanmixes here, but it's very slow, so find other works on my former community - enchanting_muse and on my website

I'm proud to say I successfully completed my Criminal Minds/NCIS fic for NaNoWriMo 2009.

Currently watching: Bones, NCIS, CSI New York, The Mentalist, Monk, The Closer, V 2009, Numb3rs

Current Obsessions: Criminal Minds (Hotch/Reid), Abby Scuito/Emily Prentiss, Bejeweled2, my new iPhone, Twitter

Current Fics In-Progress: Shook the Bones (CM slash), Broken Silence revise (NaNo), 30kin3, and possibly smallfandom_bb

So I saw this on someone else's blog and I thought it was a good idea.

Post purpose: Feedback! I'd really appreciate some honest (constructive) critiques/comments/suggestions regarding my stories. I write a lot, as you should know by now, and I've done fic for ten years now. It's painfully obvious to me which stories I wrote in my early years. Even two years ago I'll cringe at some things. So I know there will always be issues and things I can improve.

Now I know people can get shy about sending an author feedback for a variety of feelings. Honestly I don't mind the idea of anonymous feedback because with some comments from some people I might know, it has the potential to hurt my feelings or get embarrassed. So this idea works all around.

No, you don't have to do FB here. Please feel free to respond directly on fic posts!

If you do write here, please include fic title (& fandom) in subject. With ten years of fic... yeah, I can't really keep track.

Thank you for sharing your opinions!

So you know about my announcement a week ago about wrapping up the NaNoWriMo project - huzzah! Well, now it's time to get back to other stories and actually there's a challenge (30Kin3) for me to write. =p

I've reread all of Shook the Bones now and there's some general ideas floating in my head, but I can't seem to get started on anything now. =\ HELP? I feel suddenly quite lost and baffled. 

By the way, the 30K challenge is due at the end of January. I'm hoping I can do it (I should be able to do it) while running around crazily for finding an apartment, a job, and starting grad school. What I'm thinking for this challenge is making it part of the Shook the Bones universe, probably a couple "stories" ahead so that I can at least release an average-size (meaning between 4-5K words) story in December. 

Still, I need the prompt, encouragement, really whatever you have to offer. I'm going to go back into the NaNo forums too and check for the push. Probably next word war/sprint I see around I'll jump on it and try working on something. =) I hope to have something available in the next couple weeks for reading!

 Seen this a couple places now...

Step One:

Make a post (public, friends-locked, filtered... whatever you're comfortable with) to your LJ. The post should contain your list of ten holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fandom-related ("I'd love a Snape/Hermione icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV"). The important thing is to make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.

If you wish for real life things (not stories or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.

Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your LJ so that the holiday joy will spread.

Step Two:

Surf around your friendslist (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now here's the important part:

* If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use—or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free—do it.

* You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf—to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not—it's your call.

* There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just...wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.

 *laughs like a maniac* Oh my god, I can't begin to describe how excited I am! *squee* Soooo proud of myself! =D =D =D

My goal was to complete my plot (as holey and messy as it is) by midnight on today/Sunday; well, I'm off by an hour, but I didn't go to bed before it was done. Extra awesomeness: I made my "bonus point" goal of hitting 50,000 early/first run of the plot! This week will be spent (besides doing ridiculous amounts of other RL things) writing additional scenes, fleshing out sections, and tackling some of the massive plot holes. =p

This story is by no means pretty, lovingly in character, detailed, or, y'know, particularly clear, but this is definitely a first-first draft. I did not have to resort to killer vampire bunnies, someone eloping, aliens beaming Hotch aboard an UFO, or the zombie apocalypse (aw, damn, I <3 zombies). Hee. ^_^ I'm pleased as punch with my accomplishments thus far.

 Well I'm over 36K for words! =D So exciting! Also have been formulating an outline on notecards. Until a couple minutes ago, those were on a board, which makes it easier to look over during word sprints (@NaNoWriMo has done a wonderful job of hosting those over Twitter much of the week), but now they're down in a pile since I'm heading to MATC Oak Creek campus in about an hour for the Write-In Write Now! event this evening. Whee~! Auction to profit the Youth Writers Program, plus writing time amongst fellow Wrimos. I'm so looking forward to it. And kindly I've got carpools to go to and from the location - whew!

Tomorrow is another write-in at the Greenfield Borders, and I plan to be there the whole time, actually - 2pm-7pm. If I concentrate, I'm pretty sure I can wrap up the plot tomorrow while there. =) If not, my deadline for story wrap-up is by Sunday midnight. So excited about this! I'm loving the experience!

Oh, and other RL news! I have been accepted to attend UMN next semester to begin my masters in adult education! =D Right now I'm trying to figure out the finances and search for an apartment. No easy task, but it's so exciting to know that I've got my place at the school. Also a little scary because I'll truly be living on my own for the first time - not at home, not in dorms... Whew. Exciting changes!

Since I really haven't been crossposting things from nano_scifiroots I realized that I've not really been informing others about the various graphics projects I've been doing in relation to my NaNo project.

So I guide you to that journal now with the graphics tag to check out some of the odds and ends. I currently have 5 "Post Secrets" for the story characters (four from CM characters, 1 from an unsub that no longer quite fits with what's written). Additionally I just posted a couple Abby/Emily manips. There's also my cover and banner over there. More to come during the month I'm sure. =)

The lovely Hidama provided me with text to use in a comic and I happily agreed. I love this gal, she's a witty, friendly person - totally awesome and smart and has provided more support (and inspiration!) than I could ever hope for. =)

I'm so excited! In a little bit I'll be taking off to go to my first write-in! If you're in the Milwaukee area, the NaNo write-in is today from 2-7pm at Borders in Greenfield (the one in the parking lot of Southridge Mall). I'll be there wearing my maroon Writing Center t-shirt and a red skirt. ^__^

It's amazing to me how quickly I can come awake when I have something to get up for. I bounce around, enjoy my shower more, happily apply makeup, pick out some funky jewelry and wha-la! I'm ready to get out there!

I only have 1K words to go to meet today's goal so I'm excited about getting ahead of the game today! Looking forward to meeting fellow NaNo writers and writing in a different setting. Squee! I'm happily bouncing around here, lol.

Nabbed from me_and_thee.

( Criminal Minds meme )

 Help me out, folks! I've come to the point where I actually need names for a couple secondary (but quite important) characters in NaNoWriMo project.

What I do have: Joanne (Cook) was Rossi's first wife. Alice Fairchild is the name of my unsub's former wife.

I'm thinking Brandt as the surname for my unsub. But I need a first name! Here's what I'm thinking...
() Elliott
() Garrett
() Coti
() none of the above/other (then give me an idea!)

Thanks! Names (except Joanne's) gathered from "adopt a name" thread on NaNo site.

Aparently I'm 18% of the way done with NaNo! Wowza!

Memes and online research are the too biggest distractions when I'm supposed to get some writing done. Here's a music meme.

</div>

 So we got home from Orlando yesterday evening with the new pup - she's adorable! Although poor baby was sick during our travels.

Today I woke up earlier than I wanted - as if we were headed out to the Disney parks - and then I went back to bed to catch up on sleep. Puppy girl (her name's Daisy) went into a crate for the duration of my morning nap. Then after I woke up again, I took the pup and two of the other dogs joined us outside for a potty break. Suddenly Nicky barks like a madman and I look over to the neighbor's yard and there's a cat. I was confused, not knowing of any feral cats prowling lately. Then I realized the cat looked familiar! It was TJ, one of our neighbor's cats who I've pet-sat for. Kinda freaked, I grabbed the neighbor's keys and the phone from inside, then ran next door. Thank god TJ actually wanted to go back inside to his house. The door was unlocked but closed. I went inside while calling the neighbor's cellphones. Now they're having remodeling done in their attic/second floor so I know there's been a guy over there doing work... but even he wasn't in. I checked around and no sign of Taz, the other cat. Not sure what to do, I made sure the door was securely closed and started out of the yard. Taz was just outside the fence, waiting to come around to the back door. I swear I just about passed out from relief and let him in. By the time I got back to my yard to check on the newest pup (and I was scared she was going to slip through a fence! She's a tiny little thing!) the worker pulled in next door. I talked with him and he seemed sincerely surprised and worried that the cats had gotten out. I was glad he said he'd take extra precautions to make sure all the animals were inside.

So that was an exciting adventure, huh? And I figured that was the end of adventures there and that I'd just be dealing with the squirrelly little pup here. Then about an hour or so ago Nicky's barking again, though we're all inside. I told him to knock it off since he's apt to bark when some dog on the block starts up. Then I heard deep, big dog barking that was coming from awfully close. The neighbors to either side of us have fairly small dogs - like us. I stepped into the backyard to look and sure enough there's a large lab-mix (I think) dog in the neighbor's yard with a guy at the back gate and a young woman holding a leash and wearing a t-shirt. This is the same neighbor's yard as the cats earlier. Confused and not real impressed by this behavior, I asked if I could help and the woman said the dog had escaped and she was trying to get him. So I went back inside, grabbed a jacket (yes I'm still in my PJ's) and some dog treats before going next door. The back gate must have been left unlatched *sigh* for Chopper (the dog) to get in, though the folks had closed it to keep him inside. I squatted down inside, called the dog's name and offered the treats. Shortly thereafter the dog danced around his owner and started rolling on the ground next to her and she was able to clip the leash on. He was in a playful mood, so I was never all that nervous - though I made sure I was in a pretty submissive position when offering the treats. Actually I think my getting low to the ground gave a cue to the woman to kneel down and encourage the dog to come to one of us. He kinda stood between us for a bit and barked excitedly before running near her.

So thankfully it's been happy endings all around. I'm just a little wary about what else might happen today considering it's only two o'clock. o_0 I'm hoping nothing else happens, but I tell ya, I'll be on the look out.

It's the third full day at Disney! Damn, we've done a lot already, even though it suddenly feels like we're abruptly coming to an end. I keep forgetting where the day started because we're bopping all over the place and my feet are aching and my back's sore. We've been having a blast, though!

Attractions:
* (Hollywood Studios) Star Tours will be closing next year (2010) in October for a revamp. ;_; I'm sad about this because I've always loved Star Tours and it harkens back to the original trilogy. Yeah, it's wearing down and probably needs to be refitted, but it's hard for me to image it gone.
* (Studios) Toy Story Midway Mania. Oh. My. God. Most awesome fun interaction ride ever. Better than Buzz, which I loved last time we came, this thing is just way too cool. My latest two scores were ~102,000 and 120,000. I dont' know how people have managed triple that.
* (Epcot) Spaceship Earth has been refitted, which I hadn't realized that was why it was closed a few years ago when I came. The revamp is fun and the interactive part near the end of the ride? Holy crap! I will be posting pictures because it is AWESOME.
* (Magic Kingdom) Peter Pan ride still the fav. Pooh Bear is also sweet.
* (Animal Kingdom) I <3 Dinosaur and crack up that Hodges is in the intro. XD And Everest? We tried it this year and it was awesome.

Ok, trying to plan our last 24 hours or so. Will write when I get back home!

The Weakness
Shook the Bones 5 (find the previous 4 stories via journal tags or on ff.net)
By Clarity Scifiroots
Fandom: Criminal Minds (Disclaimers apply! This is a fan’s work.)
Characters: Hotch, Rossi; team
Genre: AU, (pre-)slash (Hotch/Reid)
Rating: Teen
Summary: Reflection and conversations in the wake of the undercover case. (An interlude.)
---
( take a look at my body look at my hands there's so much here i don't understand )

Wooho, I'm going to Disney World! =D I love Disney World. It's the classic family vacation for Mom and I since we used to go yearly when I was in elementary school. We had a long hiatus until a few years ago in college. Now we're going again before I'm tied back to grad school and a job! We're leaving crazy early tomorrow morning and coming back on Sunday - November 1st. Yup, I'm beginning NaNoWriMo in the airport/on planes. Maybe that will help inspire? Oh, and not only are we doing Disney, we'll be bringing back our new puppy with us! Since we've got a foster dog in the house, we'll be up to five dogs again. (Sadly we had to have Tansy - our oldest, and very senile/blind/anxious dog - put to sleep last Wednesday.)

NaNoWriMo prep has gone pretty well and I've got a ton of graphics going on. O_O I've got most of my graphics posted on deviantArt and of course everything's going up on nano_scifiroots. On the NaNo site I've got a brief summary of my plot plans & posted my cover art.

Now - Shook the Bones! I've been struggling with this for the past week and a half and wow did evil_killer_cat need to be tossing out any sort of encouragement she could. (Thanks dear!) I cut a significant portion of a Morgan and Reid (and Garcia for some of it) scene that no one's seen, even though I did save it into another file so it's not "gone-gone". I'd also written a Reid scene on WriteOrDie, did some cleaning-up, and then thought I'd be deleting it. With a little more fixing-up (at EKC's encouragement) I think it'll stay. (I do still feel weird having a Reid pov suddenly appear in the 5th part.) Guest appearance by a certain cast member who hadn't appeared in previous parts also features in this part! =D

I'll be posting part 5 tonight before bed. I'm wondering if I need one more scene to wrap it up. This part is shorter than the others, I'm sorry to say, but not anywhere near as depressing or character-whumping as previous parts. =p I need to end on an optimistic note. Remember, NaNo dominates November and I'm denying myself the ability to write anything but the NaNo project -- which will be Criminal Minds, team-based but certainly with H/R stuffs. ^_~

Hey, hey, hey! Guess what? I've been translated into Chinese! *squee* The lovely wobbly_bobbly (LJ) translated 3 of my CSI Gil/Greg drabbles. =D =D I'm so ridiculously flattered and excited by this! First time someone's translated any of my stories (er, that I know about). =D See it here~!.


Wow, it's Sunday already! SEVEN DAYS TO NANOWRIMO! A forum thread on the official site sparked the creation of post secret cards for WriMo's characters. Of course I had to get behind this. I've completed two thus far: Hotch's and for one of my unsub's. (See graphics tag on nano_scifiroots)

Shook the Bones update: I leave Tuesday morning for Disney, so I'm getting down to the last minute to post. If worse comes to worse, I'll be posting the first half of part 5 before leaving. Actually... *debates* Maybe that's not a good idea as much as I know how some of you want to read it - this will be on the back burner while I'm doing NaNo. *facepalm* Look, I'll do my damnedest to finish this part. Basically anything I wrote through write-or-die has been scrapped now, lol. I have a better flow now with the scenes I've kept, at least, but this part still has me struggling. The good news is - Rossi! Also good - no case! Triple good - no Reid whumping! Erm, so this part seems to be an anomaly.

Chau~!

 I wrote another 600-something words last night for the next part and really had to push myself not to pause on Write or Die so that I was meeting my word-count. I ended up writing more after that, and eventually gave into my sleepiness and went to bed. But what I realized when shutting down is something I still agree with this morning... I need to return to the story and cut out seven pages. The bulk of what's written so far. Everything but two scenes. *sighs*

But somehow the Morgan pov scene ran away from me and he and Reid stumbled through weird crap that I didn't really want to happen, or at least not see in detail, because this is a Hotch/Reid fic, damn it! And I don't even like the M/R pairing! *cranky face* Yeah, I'm really irritated about the (lack of) progress. Drr.

Okay, well for some miraculous, unknown reason I woke up at 6:30 a.m. today so I'm hungry and also have a lot of extra hours to work with. Cheer me on for writing StB.... properly, this time.

 So I did end up making a separate journal for NaNoWriMo. I'm pretty sure NaNo things will still appear here, but the bulk of it will be over on nano_scifiroots. Notes, distractions, snippets of my story, and probably grumblings will be posted there. =)

Also, I'm on Tegaki E now. *facepalm* Why am I suddenly into computer art and my Wacom tablet again?! Not the time! (Lordy... I've got the next part of Shook the Bones to write / fix the tangent plotline.) Pfft.

At this time next week I'll be in Orlando, Florida squeeing excitedly about being in Disney! =D =D *loves Disney* I'm dreading how much money will be spent, though, because I was just paying bills (and loan interest) last night and my checking account is sadly depleted. =(

Caffeine stock update: Picked up two 12-packs of Pepsi Max today, have on upstairs and the other downstairs on the table I'm thinking of working at for some of the time. I shall also be frequenting the Starbucks on the corner a little more often, methinks.

I mentioned posting notes about my NaNo fic project, and that's what I'll do. =p I truly have no sense of what will come out or what storyline(s) I'm going to be writing. =\ If you have suggestions, shout 'em out!

( timeline / canon decision )

( potential relationships )

( some character notes )

( possible cases )

( misc )

I would love any songs, lyrics, and quotes you can come up with - funny, serious, things that make you think of certain characters... I'm writing these down, folding 'em up, and tossing them into a bowl so that I pick something out every time I sit down to write.

Thanks, all!