Dear Yuletide Writer,

(Copied near verbatim from my previous Yuletide letter because my preferences haven't really changed.)

( Yuletide Letter beneath )

The first one (an unnamed HP) started freezing up and dying around Thursday which was... obviously not what I wanted to be happening. Fortunately, it was within 14 days of purchase and I was able to take it back and get a new laptop!

It's a metallic blue Dell that I have named Meitantei, by virtue of it being a) bright blue and b) a whole lot smarter than I am.

(I really, really wanted to think of a good name pertaining to the Amestris Military, to go with Black Hayate my iPod, but I couldn't think of one and it's not quite the right color to match the military coats anyway, so whatever.)

The first five people to comment in this post get to request that I write a drabble/ficlet of any pairing/character of their choosing. In return, they have to post this in their journal, regardless of their ability level.

Except you don't have to repost it, I just want prompts to write for to stave off pre-interview jitters.

Fandoms include: Fullmetal Alchemist, Baccano!, Young Wizards, Doctor Who, Detective Conan, Disney (especially ladies, especially princesses), umm, pretty much any fandom you can think of me being in. If I don't know the fandom or don't feel comfortable with the characters, I'll just say something and you can re-prompt if you like.

Also: I am extending an offer of Original Fic. I am most comfortable with the science-fiction/fantasy umbrella, although I should be comfortable with most contemporary and historical settings if that is a thing that you like.

"But it's 2011."

"LOOK AT ALL THE FUCKS I GIVE!"

 

( apparently i am writing a con report this time around. I NEVER DO THIS NORMALLY! )

Front cover's image is an artist's imagining of the largest solar flare Earth scientists have ever recorded, observed on II Pegasi. Back cover is a picture of the Heart Nebula, IC 1805. Representing Roshaun is Boyd Holbrook, who is perhaps the most fabulous male model to ever photograph. Representing Dairine is an unknown redhead from redheadmodels.blogspot.com. She used to be Karen Gillan, but then I changed it. 

All quotes are from Wizard's Holiday and Wizards at War, and except for the first few and the last two, don't go in order.

CONTAINS SERIOUS SPOILERS FOR THE END OF WIZARDS AT WAR!

( so high and honorable an estate )

-Pick up to 15 OTPs.
- Describe them in less than 25 words.
- Have your flist guess the OTP.

1.       1.  Waiting for her forever, because now they have enough time, and he loves her and wants to see her smile. - Firo Prochainezo and Ennis from Baccano!, guessed by dracoprncs1310 

2.       2. He hands her a flower and turns his head away, an apology half said. - Azai Nagamasa and Oichi from Sengoku Basara, guessed by dracoprncs1310 

3.       3. “I want you to watch my back.” - Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye from Fullmetal Alchemist, guessed by dracoprncs1310 

4.       4. He taught her about her magic and he taught her to heal. - Daine and Numair from The Immortals Quartet, guessed by kirinomiaka 

5.      5.  “I’ve got to exterminate the bad rats infesting my city, don’t I? So I keep a cat.” - Lau and Ranmao from Kuroshitsuji guessed by bisouspapillon 

6.      6.  “Someday. I’ll definitely return. Even if I die. That’s why. I… want you to wait for me.” - Mouri Ran and Edogawa Conan/Kudo Shinichi from Detective Conan, guessed by kirinomiaka 

7.      7.  BODICES RIPPING. AUSTRIAN PRINCES TURNING GAY - "Mr." Deryn Sharp and Aleksander Ferdinand from Leviathan, guessed by dracoprncs1310 

8.       8. “I want to know what a person’s weight is like.” - Rossiu and Kinon from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, guessed by bisouspapillon 

9.       9. “[She] deserves somebody young and whole.” / “But she wants you.” - Lupin and Tonks from Harry Potter, guessed by readingredhead 

10.   10. “Thank you.” - Sasuke and Sakura from Naruto, guessed by indira14 

11.   11. “It is utterly dark in the abyss before my feet, but whether there is any light behind me I cannot tell.” - Eowyn and Faramir from The Lord of the Rings, guessed by bisouspapillon 

12.   12. “My boyfriend?” / “Took you long enough.” - Nita and Kit from Young Wizards guessed by readingredhead 

13.  13. "You do have the idea of being ‘just good friends?’”/ “For so high and honorable an estate, ‘just’ seems a poor modifier to choose." - Dairine and Roshaun from Young Wizards guessed by readingredhead 

14.   14. “Born in battle, full of blood and anger and revenge … You made me better, now you can do the same for him.” / “But he’s not you.” - Doctor 2.0 and Rose from Doctor Who, guessed by lostfayt 

15.   15. She walks through all of his carefully constructed plans, with a flute to her lips and tears in her eyes, and destroys them. - Minamoto no Hikaru and Mansairaku from Otogizoushi, guessed by dracoprncs1310 

So, it's the end of the year.

It's seemed really scattered to me, to be honest. Lots of ups and downs, lots of goods and bads. I don't thing that any one of them outweighs the others, and I don't think that it's a bad thing.

I guess if there's one thing that this year is marked by, it's cosplay. I first decided to dress up as a character amongst a bunch of other people in January a year ago, I think, and I first did so in February. I don't think that I ever really dreamed that I would do this, but it has been a truly rewarding experience. I have met some lovely people who I never would have met through this, and I value and treasure every one of them for what they mean to me personally. I've also learned a thousand new skills, which in the coming year I hope to put to much better use.

I don't know where I'll go with this. Right now, I'm enjoying it so much - much more than I ever expected. Where I'll be with it in a year? Well, who knows. I think that I am a better person, for all of the new friends I have made and all of the new things I have learned - not least of which is the ability to look and be ridiculous in the midst of people I have only just met, but soon come to love dearly. I have never been a very open person, least of all with people I have never met before, and I think that the ability to just be my ridiculous, over-excitable, space-cadet self around others is quite the treasure in itself.

Closer to my heart, this year also heralded the return of my muse. I'm so glad to be able to write again, when I scarce could before. It's been difficult. I'm not sure that I like most of what I wrote, but then, I seldom do. But I managed to finish things, and start others, and that is an accomplishment in itself, I think. I'm sitting on the brink of two new and wholly original stories, which I won't talk about much yet. One is a fantasy and the other is sort-of, as well. I hope that they come to fruition, or at least that I learn something from attempting to craft them.

As for my personal, less-nerdy life (haha), I'm not going to talk about it much here. It is, as I said, filled with many ups and downs and goods and bads, and I think that maybe I stand on the brink of something new in my life. I'm still in the process of figuring out me, as you might say. Maybe that will be my project for the new year - though its successes will, in all likelihood, vary. I've found a lot, and learned a lot, already, but definitely not all.

Well, here's to 2011, and the awesomest birthday ever! (I still need to figure out what to do for that one.)

1. Reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter.
2. List (and upload) five songs you love that begin with that letter.
3. Post them to your journal with these instructions.

bisouspapillon  gave me N. Unfortunately Megaupload is being wonky, and I don't have an account on any other filehost and honestly I don't care. SO I AM GOING TO STEAL FROM JAZQUI, HAVE SOME YOUTUBE LINKS. (Honestly, wouldn't this meme be better for Tumblr or something? Oh well.)

01. Nagai Nagai Yume no Naka no Utage from the Baccano! Soundtrack - should it surprise any of you that I am starting off with the Baccano! theme?!
02. Nara by E.S Posthumous - are you starting to understand how much of my iTunes library is riddled with ridiculous soundtrack instrumentals?
... actually, I wonder if I could do this entire meme of instrumentals from soundtracks. JUST TO PROVE A POINT.
03. Nathaniel & Pip from the Enchanted Soundtrack - lololol, yesihavetheenchantedsoundtrackshutup.
04. Nigram Clavem from the Kuroshitsuji Soundtrack - LOOK IT'S A PRETTY SOUNDTRACK.
05. And, just to damn myself further, a Disney song. From the Lion King sequel. Not One Of Us from The Lion King II Soundtrack (I only have the song itself, not the talking, but hey it's a good video.)

Title: Blue Jade, Part 5
Fandom: Kuroshitsuji
Author: Araine
Rating: M
Word Count: 6,710
Warnings: Prostitution, non-explicit, consensual sex between an adult and a minor, some blood, lots and lots of opium
Summary: As a serial killer hunts down Chinese girls in London's East End, Ranmao remembers how - from a Taoist temple in the Kunlun mountains - she became a prostitute in Shanghai, met Lau, and how together they left China.
( London, 1889 and Shanghai, 1884 )

Fin

Title: Blue Jade, Part 1
Fandom: Kuroshitsuji
Author: Araine
Rating: M
Word Count: 7,286
Warnings: Prostitution, non-explicit, consensual sex between an adult and a minor, some blood, lots and lots of opium
Summary: As a serial killer hunts down Chinese girls in London's East End, Ranmao remembers how - from a Taoist temple in the Kunlun mountains - she became a prostitute in Shanghai, met Lau, and how together they left China.
( London, 1889 and China, 1882 )
Part Five