mllelaurel

You know, there's something very *freeing* about having to write and finish something by a specific deadline. One of the chief reasons I almost never post fic is because I almost never *finish* fic. I start re-reading my own work halfway through, realize it's crap, freeze, try to fix it, fail and give the hell up.

This is the sort of place NaNoWriMo is supposed to carry you to. I'm not sure that it ever did. A month is still a month. Plenty of time to re-read and dub my work crap.

Now, I'm not feeling all that creatively inspired today. But I'm still writing. And that, my friends, is really something.

For mirrored_echo: I've told you this in person, but... I demand Kozue/Juri. Just because.

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The first thing she realizes is all the ways Kozue hasn't changed. Her hair is still vibrant and blue, in a way that doesn't suggest hair dye. Juri's been finding grey strands among her own over the last few years. Ohtori's questionable uniform is long-missing, of course, but Kozue's skirt still slinks up her thighs in a way that makes you look. Her eyes... now those have changed, though Juri can't quite tell how, yet.

"How's Miki doing," Juri asks, cringing inwardly as soon as the words leave her mouth.

Kozue shrugs and smirks. "Hell if I know." She doesn't look away when she says it and Juri catches a split-second flash of regret. It's gone before Juri registers it properly.

"How are you?" she asks; a better question for the occasion.

Kozue leans in, one hand resting on Juri's shoulder, like they're old friends. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

To her own surprise, Juri doesn't flinch away. "Try me."

Kozue laughs. "When you say it like that..." And she tells her.

Juri's not sure what would have surprised her at this point. If Kozue had told her she'd taken over as Chairman - Chairwoman, that is - of Ohtori, hell, Juri would have bought that. Duels, castles, all sorts of the drug-addled things Ohtori was so famous for. Normal, for given values thereof, would have made her blink, but she'd have gotten over it.

Instead, Kozue seems to shine brighter and brighter as she talks. This is a woman who has done a little bit of everything, it seems. She's been to countries barely labeled on the map and walked away from a battlefield, alive if not unscathed. She has met countless people, and if not loved then at least known them exactly as they were.

"Do you still play?" Juri asks somewhat redundantly.

"Not the piano." A beat. "So, how's Takatsuki doing?"

All right. That was probably fair. "I don't know," Juri says, and wishes she didn't care.

Satisfied at something - Juri isn't sure what - Kozue closes the last of the space between them and kisses her, wild, warm and untamed. Years ago, Juri would have recoiled, made an excuse, gotten very polite, or cold, perhaps. Yes, 'cold' would be the better word for it. She doesn't do any of that today. Instead, she returns the kiss, arms wrapping around Kozue's waist.

The wind picks up, sending a nearby pile of leaves flying, and Juri hasn't the faintest idea what she's doing. She'll figure it out later, she decides, and if she doesn't, well, this has nothing on upside-down castles, as far as crazy goes.

The mind of Agnes Nutter was so far adrift in Time that she was considered pretty mad even by the standards of seventeenth-century Lancashire, where mad prophetesses were a growth industry.

Gunpowder, charred wood, smoke, and rusty nails.

In imp: Holy gunpowder, Batman! That cleared out my sinuses but good.

On me (wet): Something exploded and burned a lot. In a spontaneous fit of bad judgment, I tested this one on the top of my left boob, so now I smell like I've been shot in the chest at close range. Oh dearie...

On me (dry): Sharp, woodsy and burned.

Verdict: Way too sharp for my tastes, but the sensory imagery is spot-on!

She finished the drink, hefted the sword over one shoulder, and looked around at the puzzled factions, who now encircled her completely. 'Sorry to run out on you, chaps,' she said. 'Would love to stay and get to know you better.'

The men in the room suddenly realized they didn't want to know her better. She was beautiful, but she was beautiful in the way a forest fire was beautiful: something to be admired from a distance, but not up close.

And she held her sword, and she smiled like a knife.

Red ginger, black spices, patchouli, honeysuckle, and three blood-soaked red musks.

In imp: Surprisingly sweet and foody

On me (wet): Sweet and smooth. I'm getting a hint of ginger. Which is good, as ginger's a listed note. Clearly, my nose is not entirely on crack.

On me (dry): Ah, there's the spiciness. It's not murderous, though. A bit like eating ginger snap cookie dough.

Verdict: I didn't think this'd be my thing, but it so is. Go bloody figure. Lily likes~

Tell me a character, I'll tell you three things from my personal canon about them.

For x_bluerose_x: The Doctor

1. The leather jacket Nine wears once belonged to Fitz Kreiner, a companion of Eight's. Fitz was the companion who stuck with him through the Time War. Probably died in it, in fact. But don't expect the Doctor to ever mention any of this. He just wears the jacket and remembers.

As Ten, he didn't wear the jacket anymore. The Time War was over, he thought. It was time to put old ghosts to rest.

2. He's occasionally tempted to cross his own timeline; go back to a time when he and Romana were travelling together. Those are the only places she exists anymore. He knows better, though. Besides, if she recognized him, he'd have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.

3. He's read most of the books published on Earth. Hey, the man's got time and lots of it. Which isn't to say he hasn't given up on a few halfway through. Just get him started on Danielle Steel. I dare you.

For nevacaruso - HP. Tonks and Ginny, at any point in the series.

( Some spoilers for Deathly Hallows )

For nevacaruso: Five things Utena loves about Miki.

1. The whole tutoring her in math thing doesn't hurt. Really, really doesn't hurt.

2. They're both duelists. By all rights, this should make him her enemy. Instead, Miki keeps turning up as one of Utena's staunchest allies. Even when he challenges her, she never gets a sense of malice or resentment from him. Maybe all this means is that he's better at hiding it than any of the others. Maybe she's being naiive. Maybe... But Utena doesn't like to think that way. She's sure she wouldn't like the sort of person those kinds of thoughts would make her.

3. Out of everyone who vies for the Rose Bride, Miki seems to be the one to genuinely want the best for her. And maybe Utena doesn't believe he's right about what he thinks is best for Anthy, but the thought counts for something. It counts for a lot, in fact.

Besides, it's Anthy. If Utena is being honest with herself, she'll admit even she can't predict the mysterious girl. What's best for Anthy? What does Anthy want? Only Anthy knows for sure.

4. It's a strange thing to love, but she loves the way he makes her feel protective. It's almost like having a younger brother of her own.

5. And to follow up on that, she loves watching him and Kozue together. They may bicker, they may take to ignoring one another, but they're a family - something Utena craves desperately for herself. It hurts a little to see that, but there's more good to it than bad. Whatever her misery may be, big or small, she's not the type to want company in it.

wired_lizard: Mmm, sensory deprivation. Tastes like chicken.

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[Context is for the birdies]

'song: We live by the tits! We die by the tits.
Rafaela: Noo, we do not live by the tits!
Tory: ...No Gellert, that is not your evil overlord motto. You're gay.
'song: Ok, fine, we live by the ass.

---

More to come...

Just so you know, I have Captain Jack in my lap, and you all should be very jealous.

...For the record, Captain Jack is one of shadesong's adorable cats. And lemme tell you, he's very much a Captain Jack. Very nuzzly, gives kisses - he actually licked my hand! I'm full of kitty squee now, enough so that I don't even care this post is utter filler. :p

In bottle: Astringent. I'm pretty sure there's some kind of citrus in there. It leaves me confused.

On me (wet): Sweeter, but still confusing. This baby's the acid trip of BPAL. Definite citrus. rafaela says it's lemongrass, and she is far more knowledgeable than I.

On me (dry): Hooo, this has turned bitter! coughsputteruck

Verdict: Meh, with a side of yuk. Hey, there needed to be at least one LE I didn't love. Otherwise, I might have cried. And you wouldn't like me if I cried. I get blotchy and then I hit people.