I also enrolled for a 10 week creative writing course today. It's time I tried to make my stuff good. It's kind of scary though, haven't really written anything apart from fanfic and a porn story I wrote for a dare
Finally set up a wishlist at Amazon. For anyone who cares do a wishlist search under the name of Hils to see the sort of rubbish I read when I'm not writing fics ;)
This is a dream flickums had and it made me chuckle
Basically, the whole thing took place in our back garden...and it was all bathed in this really odd red light. Anyway, Dru and Angelus was there and Dru told me that if I could overcome Angelus' strength, he would sire me. So while she was siring Hils, Angelus and I had a very VERY mini-fight and he ended up siring me.
Now I can't actually remember why Jonathan, Andrew and Giles had to die. But Hils ended up killing them in our garage. Once she un-vamped out she started to panic saying she couldn't remember anything and didn't know what had happened. So when people started turning up, we told them that Xander had killed them using this sort of....claw thing on his hand. Just as we started to go back inside, the sun was coming up and Hils' skin started to shine really brightly and she complained to me that it was burning.
Next thing I know, we're on this old fashioned Victorian-ish train. The sky outside is still dark red and I'm not sure where we're going. I'm sat by myself but I can hear Hils in the background talking about her con. Then a voice comes out saying that Vampire Hunter D is on the train. Ecstatic, I rush towards the back of the train and sit down opposite him. Ignoring the fact that his hair is now bright red instead of the usual black, I start asking him for his autograph. He nods and I hand him the ace of hearts out of a pack of playing cards I have in my hand. He scribbles his name down in green ink and I take one last look outside before......I wake up.
Video night was fun. Spinal Tap was funny, although not quite the raging hilarity that I expected. Maybe I need to watch it again. Did laugh out loud a few times though, especially with the elves dancing around the mini Stonehenge
We then watched the first episode of Ultraviolet. Pardon my raging hormones but OMG Jack Davenport is hot in that!!! So pretty! I like!!! I think Dave got a little annoyed by my constant drooling. LOL
Doctors appointment in the morning. Have to get my blood pressure taken before they'll give me my next batch of the pill. So I get to be poked and prodded for a little bit. Still, it gets me time off work.
We're going to brighten up our office a bit and the woman who sits opposite me has instructed me to provide posters. So far we have one of Spike and she has demanded I get a Legolas one on my way in tomorrow. Hehe. She has good taste. Spike and Orlando with me at work. I like!
Right, off to bed now. At least I get to lie in tomorrow
Woke up from a rather bizzare dream this morning where I was at a con with a girl I went to uni with. As we were queuing up to go into a Q and A session I realised I hadn't brought anything for James to autograph. Panic mode. So, I got a seat right at the front but there was this bunch of rowdy guys sat around me. One of them shoved his foot in my face so I wouldn't be able to see James.
My response? I bit his foot. Hard. LOL
I then yelled at him a lot and he was nice to me after that. Hehe.
So then I decided I NEEDED to get a pic of James for him to sign so I headed off to the dealer room with my friend. On the way I passed James and Mercedes who were stood in the hallway to welcome people.
"You're not leaving already are you?" James asks, dressed in early Spike garb with leather duster and red shirt. "It's not going to be that bad."
I grinned and replied. "Well, someone told me it was going to be really boring."
James chuckled, and I carried on. "So we figured we may as well go and see a good film. James Marsters, Pirates of the Carribbean, what's the difference?"
This time he DIDN'T laugh and I shuffled off feeling all embarassed.
So, then we got to the dealer room and there was just one guy in there. I asked him if he had any pictures of James or Spike and he said no. I was mortified. I looked around the shop and found two binders FULL of pics. On the top was a note saying that they weren't for sale in case it caused a surge of people in the shop.
"Come on!" I pleaded. "You must have SOMETHING!"
He reaches under the counter and hands me a crumpled picture of Spike in Intervention where he's standing in the elevator with all his wounds. I've just resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to look a total idiot (forgetting the incident in the hallway apparently) when I wake up.
Me and the woman I sit opposite at work clubbed together to buy a couple of posters to put up in our work area. On the way in after my Doctors appointment I bought one of Spike and one of Legolas as requested.
Got to work, put them up and about ten minutes later my boss told me to take them down. He didn't give a reason. Just said that I should have asked everyone else in the office first and that decisions such as what goes on the walls were up to him.
Posters came down. Other woman took the Spike one for her daughter since I already had one and I kept the Legolas one even though I don't really want it. Quite disappointing really. All we wanted to do was brighten up the office.
Oh well.
Went out for a meal with my friend Matthew tonight a he's moving to London this weekend. Discovered a yummy cocktail called a Zombie where the main ingrediant is two different kinds of rum.
It's going to be a quiet day today. jacqui_hw has gone home for the weekend so it's just me here. I think I'm going to spend the day doing all those little jobs I've been meaning to do for ages and have never got around to. I REALLY need to update my site, I've got a challenge to answer on truest_slayers and I want to get some writing done. I worked a bit on Press-Ganged when I was at my parents last weekend, but I really want to get this chapter finished over the next couple of days if I can. Jacqui and I also need to work on Episode 5 of Season 8. People keep e-mailing us about it :-S
Finished The Amber Spyglass last night. REALLY excellent series of books. I can tell why they were in the top 5 of The Big Read. Onto Jasper Fforde now. Finally.
For some reason my broadband modem seems to be overiding all my other USB ports so I can't plug my digital camera in. Or I can, but the computer isn't registering it's there. I don't want to have to un-install my modem every time I want to download a few photos.
Grr! This stupid thing is bringing me nothing but trouble!
Back from Whitby. Absolutely PERFECT weather. It was a wonderful day out. Took lots of pics of the scenery but first the reason for the visit. No dialup friendly I'm afraid
I'm in a very silly mood tonight. I'm currently planning with drbillbongo 5 deaths Sean Bean's character will never have....but it would be damn funny if he did
I've been seriously dropping hints to friends and family that I would like Series 1 of Battlestar Gallactica for my birthday. Watch as I end up with about 4 copies. LOL
I've got some Hornblower (ok, Archie) bases that I want to make into icons and it's occured to me that I really don't have that much skill in the icon making field. I know how to make the icon 100x100, sharpen it, fiddle with the contrast and saturation and add text but that's about it
Can anyone point me in the direction of some simple Paintshop Pro tutorials that will help me jazz up my icons and make them look a bit prettier. The icon I'm using in this post is about the extent of my ability at the moment
Sorry about the attack of rage last night. I was just looking foward to a nice quiet evening after my long train journey and I didn't get it. Feel better now
I actually set my alarm half an hour early this morning, with the intention of going for a jog before work. I was quite looking forward to it. Unfortunately when I woke up it was throwing it down with rain and there was thunder. I might go to the gym after work if I'm not too tired.
This morning I wrote a snotty letter to GNER. My train was cancelled on Friday so their solution was to just shove everyone from the cancelled train onto the next one. So I went from having a seat booked to having to stand up on an extrememly overcrowded for an hour and a half. I doubt they'll give me any money back but writing the letter made me feel better
I've also finished my application for Dave's boss's job. I really want it (it'll mean working with computers. YAY) but they have said they want someone with a driver's licence. I'm just hoping my application will be good enough that they'll want me anyway. There's nothing in the job description about travelling so I don't see why I need it really. We'll see I guess.
Weather is nice and sunny now so I might go for a jog after work since I couldn't go this morning
For those of you who are new to my LJ I have a little (and sometimes big) get together for my birthday. We all go to Old Orleans, quaff many cocktails, stuff ourselves silly and then come back to mine for general loitering and silliness
This year it will be on Saturday September 16th. Interested? I know it's a bit early but I want to start to get an idea of numbers. I'll need to book the table in a couple of weeks at the latest since there will be a lot of us. I'll post another reminder a little nearer the time
Someone with the yahoo name stripped_for_the_ladies has randomly started to talking me. Since I'm bored I'm setting myself the mission to scare him away
Intended to go to bed early last night but instead got distracted by making icons, chatting and posting in LJ. Now I feel even more tired than I did yesterday.
Weird dream last night that it was my birthday party and a convention at the same time. flickums and richess were there as well as Hiro and Ando (the characters not the actors).
Best head off to work now. Got my weekly meal with Ros tonight and she's cooking for me. Should be fun.
I can't wait to get paid on Thursday so I can buy new games for my DS. Although I should probably wait until after my birthday. Then maybe I won't need to *g*
Deluge by suaine In the aftermath of Merlin's battle against Nimueh, the rain seems a minor complication, perhaps even a cleansing influence. When the rain doesn't stop, Camelot is pushed to the brink once more. This time, Arthur may be in over his head.
Flesh and Blood Dance by lilithilien The 21st century is still a land of myth and a time of magic. The spells and enchantments that Uther banished are gone, but myths and magic live on, conjured on screens large and small with scripts and CGI. But one day, inspired by boredom and not a little mischief, an entertainment mogul (who might just happen to be an ex-evil sorceress) decides it might be a lark to tell the Arthurian legend—as it really happened. It's just a little BBC series, just something to amuse herself (and to annoy Merlin, of course). But when they awaken the Old Ways, not even the greatest Seer of all can foretell what awaits them. This is a story of destiny and choices, about what happens when sorcerers and kings collide with actors and beasts, and just how bad morning breath would be after a 1500-year sleep.
Mægencræft by miranda_skye (Merlin/Will, Merlin/Arthur pre-slash) The life of William of Ealdor, and how he met a sorcerer called Merlin along the way and learned to hate arrogant princes.
The Mirror, The Sword and The Shield by aelora Fate is a fickle mistress – or rather, the Fates are. When the Wyrd Sisters offer Nimueh a second chance to fulfill her destiny, she takes the opportunity to seek revenge on Merlin. When Uther enters the equation, Nimueh's victory seems certain. Loyalties and allegiances are tested, making Merlin question the lengths that Arthur will go to in order to protect him. Through daring escapes, attempted coups, and fierce battles, Merlin and Arthur discover that the twisting threads of fate are not easily understood, and that the webs they spin cannot be readily escaped.
So, I spent a chunk of yesterday spamming Twitter with Misha stuff and then I had a dream that I won a contest to spend a couple of hours with Jared and Jensen by myself. I think they were giving me a tour of the set or something. Evidently my brain did not like me devoting my attention to just one of the SPN boys
Speaking of: Aren't they the cutest
Was going to complain about the lack of Misha but it's probably because he's too awesome to flub lines ;) Or something.
Was supposed to be going to Newcastle to visit Dave this weekend but I called off yesterday when I was ill. I'm feeling mostly better today actually after masses of sleep, just quite run down and tired so I don't think I'd have had the energy for travelling and doing social things
Going to spend the weekend working on my rpf_big_bang. I'm hoping to have the first draft finished by Sunday but we'll have to see how it goes. I will also be watching more SPN S4 as I've realised it's less than three weeks until S5 starts
I'm also thinking of changing my header. Probably to another picture of Misha, maybe one of Misha with Jared and Jensen. I don't know. Really, there's no need for me to change it. I just start thinking about these things when I get bored
1. Need to rant away from Twitter. Really, you do not need to keep tweeting Misha the url of your minion website. Tweeting him with the link every day and sometimes more than once a day is not going to make him more inclined to reply to you and will in fact probably have the opposite effect
2. My deancastiel Renegade Angels fic is finally done! Beta did a wonderful job and after all the tweaking I've done under her guidance I'm very pleased with it. Will post it on here once the author reveal has been done
So, hello again. I said I was going to try and post more so here is me posting more.
I have to say I didn't realise how much I missed LJ until I came back to it. Tumblr is fun but it's so hard to actually have conversations with people over there. The only person I've properly befriended over there is so_shhy and we switched to email pretty fast because the Tumblr messaging system is crap.
Twitter's where I do most of my social interaction these days but those 140 characters can be limiting.
So dusting off the old LJ is definitely overdue, even if most of my flist has moved on in recent years. To those of you who are still here (or who I've just recently friended) hello!
I can't guarantee I'll be as prolific on here as I used to be (which will likely come as a relief to most) but I am going to make sure I check my flist every day and post at least once a week with something other than my fic rec post. Even if it's just screenshots of Illya Kuryakin ;)
But here's a meme thing to start with which I shamelessly stole from hobbituk
Age: Let's just go with mid-30s
Myers-Briggs (if you know it): It's changed over the years but last time I did it I was INTJ
How long have you had your LJ: SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME! Or more accurately since November 2001
What does your username mean: My LJ is so old I actually got to choose a username that is actually my name
What is your favourite thing about LJ: Social interaction for sure. What's the point of having things to squee about if you don't have anyone to squee about them with.
What is your least favourite thing about LJ: It's pretty quiet these days. I think a lot of people have either moved on to other places or left fandom entirely.
What is your motivation on Live Journal?: It's a procrastination tool just like any other social media site
Have you ever met anyone on your F List in real life?: Oh, yes, lots over the years.
Do you have a paid subscription? Is your LJ private/friends only?: It was paid and friends only but it's now a public plus account. I went friends only when I started getting abuse and harassment from people in the Supernatural fandom. Since that's no longer my fandom and no one really gives a crap about what I'm doing anymore I figure it's safe to go public again.
Where do you live: York which is in the North East of England for those who don't know
Do you have an accent?: I have an English accent I guess. No, America, it's not a British accent. Britain is a collection of countries and doesn't have a single accent #PetPeeve
Do you have pets?: Jacqui has two bunnies but personally no
Do you/Did you go to school: You say that like it was a choice! Yes, I did.
Do you work?: I'm at work right now. Oops.
Where/What do you do: I work in IT Security which is nowhere near as exciting as it sounds but it pays the bills and my boss mostly just leaves me alone to get on with it
Do you have more drama at home or at work?: I actively avoid drama
Who do you often write about?: Right now? Ridiculous spy boyfriends
What else should readers know: Uh, I don't know! Ask me if you want to know anything. I'm very chatty as my Twitter friends will attest to.
God, where to even begin. I can't even remember what I was up to last time I did a post that wasn't fic recs.
Have a new job which I started a couple of months ago. Am off the 12 hour shifts and back to working Monday to Friday which is lovely. It's totally different to what I was doing before (service desk) so I'm learning a lot but my new boss is lovely. She's based in Manchester while I'm in York so we mostly chat via Skype and she leaves me be to manage my own workload and ask her if I need help with stuff.
Because it's not a customer facing job I'm allowed to work from home if I want so I've started doing that on a Friday which makes a nice peaceful end to the week.
I'm so lucky to have this job. They're investing a lot of time and money in me, training me up and giving me valuable skills to put on my CV. Even though I've been doing it since the start of July it still doesn't quite seem real. Am off down to London for a meeting next month and because it's more than 2 hours on the train I get sent first class. Wowsers.
In non-work stuff I can't remember if I told you my BFF from Uni had a baby. Well, he's 3 now so not really baby. I've been visiting every week since just after he was born and it's been so wonderful to see him grow up. We may not be related by blood but I very much consider him my nephew and he calls me Aunty Hirree. He's unbelievably cute.
What fandom are you in/do you spend most of your time in?
In fandom stuff been mostly playing in the Marvel sandbox. Winter Soldier ruined my life because it was so perfect and gave me so many feels. I'm not sure any other Marvel movie is going to live up to it to be honest, Civil War may come close. We'll see I guess.
And then just before Christmas I bought Dragon Age: Inquisition and lost several months of my life. I have been a fan of the Dragon Age series since I bought the first one not long after I got my PS3 and I play them to death, forget about it for a while, and then get reminded how much I love them and play them to death all over again. This is the first time I've been properly involved in the fandom though. I wrote a fic back in Feb and had ideas for more which sadly never really progressed beyond writing some notes. I made some wonderful friends in the fandom, though, and have got quite pally with the voice actress of the female Inquisitor (the character you play). She lives down in London and we've made vague sort of if we're ever in the same city at the same time we should get together sort of plans. May never happen but it's kind of nice that she suggested it.
And then, as is probably obvious, I have suddenly and unexpectedly fallen hard and deep into the Man From UNCLE fandom. I used to watch it on TV (well, repeats anyway) with my mum when I was a kid and jacqui_hw and I decided it would be fun to rewatch it all before the movie came out. Didn't quite work out as there's a lot more than I thought there was so we only made it to the end of S2 before the film was released
But, wow. I have been so amazed at how GOOD this show is! I'd never seen any of the black and white episodes before so that was fun and I love that it's actually pretty progressive in terms of gender at least for a show that was made in the 60s. It has more well-rounded and well-written female characters than some modern shows and movies do. In terms of racial representation it's pretty terrible sadly but for a 60s show it stands up pretty well.
And oh my did my crush on Illya Kuryakin come crashing back at full force. Only difference is I am now aware of what slash is and BOY is it a slashy show. I really do wonder if they were doing it on purpose, at least to a certain extent.
Anyway in the space of a few weeks I went from watching the show, to reading fic, to writing fic. And then I saw the movie and loved it! Have already seen it twice and am probably going to go again tomorrow. Henry Cavill is so beautiful I'm pretty sure he was grown in a lab.
So that's where I am right now.
Where do you hang out online?
Mostly on Twitter and Tumblr but I have to say I'm enjoying being back here too.
What are you reading?
As much Man From UNCLE fic as I can get my hands on. I'm also trying to get back into regular book reading so I've started reading one of the books on my huge to read pile during my lunch breaks at work. Currently reading Catching Fire. The Hunger Games books are so much better than the movies just in case you were wondering.
What are you watching?
Well due to the whole Dragon Age consuming my life thing coupled with marathoning The Man From UNCLE I am WAY behind on just about all of my shows. So here's a list of what I'm watching at the moment most of which I am behind on
Hannibal Person of Interest Brooklyn Nine-Nine Arrow The Blacklist Black Sails The Musketeers Gotham Elementary Vikings The Librarians The 100 Once Upon A Time Homeland Archer Galavant The Flash How To Get Away With Murder Agent Carter Agents of SHIELD Daredevil Orphan Black Sense8
What are you making?
I don't really do the whole making thing but I am considering getting back into icon making. That was always fun.
What are you writing?
At the moment I am editing a Man From UNCLE movieverse fic. It was just supposed to be something short and silly but it's kicking my ass and I can't seem to get it into a state where I'm even willing to let a beta look at it. I don't know why I'm struggling so much with it. Frustrating.
I've also got a half-finished Man From UNCLE TVverse fic which is equally silly and I'll be finishing that once I can get this other one sorted out.
What are you squeeing about today?
Henry Cavill's chin and Illya Kuryakin in general.
If you could rope old fandom friends into a new fandom, it would be...
I seem to do this just by constantly flailing and squeeing about stuff. I've dragged people into the Dragon Age and Man From UNCLE fandoms by just not shutting up about them. If you are one of them you're welcome ;)
And you should watch The Man From UNCLE (TV show first and then the movie - or the other way around I guess so long as you watch the show)
I should really watch/read/dive into _______ and then come talk to you about it!
The Man From UNCLE
What else is on your mind?
The fact that I am not as young as I used to be and am considering going to bed soon
Oh, and it's writerconuk next month and you should all come and hang out with me there.
And I'm going back to the US in October but more on that in another post I think. I've rambled long enough here. Well done if you made it this far!
It's officially the weekend which means I survived the two weeks of being the boss! I can't shake the feeling that I've forgotten to do something important but that might just be the anxiety. I figure if it was that urgent someone would have yelled at me about it by now, I hope.
And, in other good news, I went ahead and booked the cottage I was talking about yesterday. 3 nights in the middle of September. I can't wait.
Didn't really get much done last night. I always forget that we have a 5pm work meeting on a Thursday which cuts right into my writing/watching time, but I did have movie night and the person whose pick it was finally decided about 10 mins after we were due to start. He chose Role Models which was very silly, a bit crude, but also kind of sweet and charming. I enjoyed it.
Tonight I've got my weekly Zoom call with my Newcastle friends. Nothing specific on the agenda so I imagine we'll just chat and maybe play some games. BTS released a new music video today so I imagine me and my friend Kayleigh will spend some time yelling about that. (Short verdict from me: The video is very pretty, the song itself isn't particularly memorable).
I do need to squeeze in episode 15 of The Lost Tomb beforehand because I've got the livestream of episode 16 tomorrow. I'd better go and watch 15 now before dinner is ready.
This entry was originally posted at https://hils.dreamwidth.org/877034….
flickums
truest_slayers and I want to get some writing done. I worked a bit on Press-Ganged when I was at my parents last weekend, but I really want to get this chapter finished over the next couple of days if I can. Jacqui and I also need to work on Episode 5 of Season 8. People keep e-mailing us about it :-S
busy
amused
pissed off
bouncy
silly
grateful
awake
tired
drained