Self-Promotion and Community Lurve
Apr. 27th, 2004 03:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
Finally saw 21 Grams last night -- great film. It was different from what I had expected it to be. I also saw The Heart of Me recently, and it's actually a great little movie that got no hype at all (Helena Bonham Carter, Paul Bettany, Olivia Williams). Lastly, I saw About Adam, which I would not recommend unless you really, really love Stuart Townsend or want to see Kate Hudson speak in an Irish accent.
And now ... two memes:
1) All about me: Here are select passages from stories I've written, but I don't tell you which. <g> I'm sure some of them are incredibly obvious. I'll link them eventually, but now I'm hungry and must go to lunch.
Fic Bits
Exhaustion seeps into her bones and resides there with anger and sadness. All she thinks about during the day is going to her room and crawling between the sheets of her bed so that she can sleep until she has slept away the darkest of her emotions. But at night, listening to the soft chuffs and lazy wheezes of her roommates, she can't sleep. When she closes her eyes she is plagued by visions of trophies and hands she'll never feel again.
Draco brushed her away. "I don need helb."
"You do need help. You're weak as a kitten."
Draco glared.
"Weak as a ... little baby dragon?" Ginny amended.
The scowl did not let up.
"Weak as a ... Oh, get your arse in the tub."
Only when Ginny has been hauled out of the bed by her brother does Draco Malfoy let up on my wrist. I pull away, but he doesn't seem to notice anymore.
Ron holds Ginny by the waist, and his stunned expression probably matches mine when he correctly identifies his sister's bed companion. "You," is all he says.
But Malfoy isn't looking at him; he's looking at the girl in Ron's arms.
"I asked you a question," he says, keeping his voice calm. Considering the circumstances, he is being extremely civil. Part of him hopes that she will take this opportunity to defend herself. To tell him that all is not as it seems. To soothe his temper and his pride, as she has done dozens of times before, and show him that she loves him above all else, above all other things. That she would never betray him.
The words do not come.
As if Draco could feel her studying him, he lifted his head sharply, and their eyes locked for a split second before Ginny looked away. Although she could happily stare at him for hours as long as he wasn't aware of it, she couldn't meet his steel-gray gaze directly; it mortified her. The first place she looked happened to be her brother's scowling countenance.
"What the devil are you looking at him for?" he asked.
"Just admiring your handiwork, Ron," said Ginny with a wan smile.
This seemed to cheer him, as he grinned smugly. "Yeah, we really gave him what for. Doesn't look so bloody pretty now, does he?"
Ginny didn't answer, and Ron didn't seem to need one. Privately, she thought that if Ron had believed he was making Draco Malfoy less attractive by giving him a few rakish cuts and bruises, he was very sadly mistaken.
"I might be pregnant, you know," Ginny said, sitting up suddenly. "You might have gotten me pregnant."
He drew in a sharp breath. "Don't say things like that."
"Why not? Because it scares you? Because you hate the idea?" she demanded, her eyes feverish and wet.
"Because I want too much for them to be true," he said tightly.
"Hermione doesn't know I'm going," Ginny confessed. "And I didn't want to have to deal with all the disapproving sniffs I'd get if she did know."
"You mean she wasn't all for it?" Amelia asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "Hmm, I thought she was a progressive sort of woman."
It was a little girl's room, but she hadn't noticed it until now, when she saw it through the eyes of a stranger. She could feel herself burn with embarrassment. She spent most of her time at Hogwarts now, Ginny defended in her head. Besides, if she'd known she was going to have visitors she would have cleaned a little. No one had asked Draco or his overwhelming boy presence to invade the sanctity of her little girl's bedroom.
She stared at him in dismay. He was too tall, too male, too wealthy, too blond, too everything.
"Fizzing Whizbee?" he offered, holding out the bag.
She thought about it for only a second. "Okay," she replied, sounding less confident than she would have liked. Before her fingers could touch the bag, however, he pulled it out of reach.
Ginny dropped her hand, frowning. So it was just a trick. She should have known.
About to get up and snatch the parcel right out of his hands, she was stalled when he popped the proffered sweet into his mouth, said, "Come and get it, then," and set the bag aside.
Snape reached into his trousers and pulled out a snake.
Lupin gasped in delight. "For me???"
It took Ginny a second to process what he was saying. She made several fragmented sounds of rage. "That wasn't from me, you git!" she said. She had told him countless times to stop stealing kisses from her, as she simply did not feel that way about him. "As if I would ask you to--"
"Wasn't it? I didn't quite reach the end of the letter," admitted Draco unrepentantly.
Malfoy had removed his robes and was dressed in grey trousers, a white Oxford shirt, and his school tie. He was undoing his cufflinks when he turned around and saw Ginny. His movements were arrested, and his stillness rather made me feel self-conscious for Ginny. At this point, I would have been scrambling to cover myself, thinking that I'd made a fool of myself, I looked like an idiot, I should never have done this. Ginny had no such insecurities. She grinned impishly at him and took a step forward. Then another, until she was only inches from him.
"Looks like you need a little help," she said softly, almost a purr. I'd never heard her use that tone of voice before, and no wonder. If Ron ever heard it he'd have an apoplectic fit. Ginny took Malfoy's hand in hers and gently undid the cufflink, then did the same for the other one. She put her hands on the waistband of his trousers and he sucked in a breath, but she was only teasing; her hands traveled slowly up his chest until they reached his tie, and she began to unknot it.
Tonight is different, she can tell. He climbs into bed, and somehow, though the air is cold, all he brings with him is heat. He fills nearly every nook and cranny of her bed, and there is barely room enough for her. If someone were to walk in, she feels that they wouldn't be able to see her, and she likes that. She disappears.
Tick. Tock.
Enjoy his body. Use it every way you can. Don't be shy of it or of what other people have probably done for it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever know.
"Can you take care of Ladybug tonight?" she murmurs. The t-shirt is modestly covering her pert little bottom, and he's fascinated by the sight of his hand disappearing underneath.
"Yes," he says automatically, though after a moment he asks, "Why? Are you going to your brother's?" He doesn't specify which; after all this time, he still can't tell most of them apart, and he knows she doesn't mind. None of the Weasley men approve of the fact that Ginny isn't married and has had a child out of wedlock, and she prefers not to remind them of these things with her daughter's presence when she visits.
"No, I have a date," she says, still in the same absent-minded manner.
"Why don't you just tell her you like her?" Harry suggested.
Malfoy whipped his head around to glare at Harry. "Who? Weasley? I don't like Weasley. I don't like her name, or her hair, or her eyes, or her smile, or her voice, or the way she looks in a Quidditch uniform, or the way she can't eat a pumpkin pasty without dropping crumbs everywhere so she has to lick the corners of her mouth, and I never, ever think about her while looking at dirty magazines!"
"Yeah, all right," said Harry.
2) All about you: Ask me, and I'll tell you at least one thing I love about you. I'll probably have more to say if I know you well. <g>
And now ... two memes:
1) All about me: Here are select passages from stories I've written, but I don't tell you which. <g> I'm sure some of them are incredibly obvious. I'll link them eventually, but now I'm hungry and must go to lunch.
Fic Bits
Exhaustion seeps into her bones and resides there with anger and sadness. All she thinks about during the day is going to her room and crawling between the sheets of her bed so that she can sleep until she has slept away the darkest of her emotions. But at night, listening to the soft chuffs and lazy wheezes of her roommates, she can't sleep. When she closes her eyes she is plagued by visions of trophies and hands she'll never feel again.
Draco brushed her away. "I don need helb."
"You do need help. You're weak as a kitten."
Draco glared.
"Weak as a ... little baby dragon?" Ginny amended.
The scowl did not let up.
"Weak as a ... Oh, get your arse in the tub."
Only when Ginny has been hauled out of the bed by her brother does Draco Malfoy let up on my wrist. I pull away, but he doesn't seem to notice anymore.
Ron holds Ginny by the waist, and his stunned expression probably matches mine when he correctly identifies his sister's bed companion. "You," is all he says.
But Malfoy isn't looking at him; he's looking at the girl in Ron's arms.
"I asked you a question," he says, keeping his voice calm. Considering the circumstances, he is being extremely civil. Part of him hopes that she will take this opportunity to defend herself. To tell him that all is not as it seems. To soothe his temper and his pride, as she has done dozens of times before, and show him that she loves him above all else, above all other things. That she would never betray him.
The words do not come.
As if Draco could feel her studying him, he lifted his head sharply, and their eyes locked for a split second before Ginny looked away. Although she could happily stare at him for hours as long as he wasn't aware of it, she couldn't meet his steel-gray gaze directly; it mortified her. The first place she looked happened to be her brother's scowling countenance.
"What the devil are you looking at him for?" he asked.
"Just admiring your handiwork, Ron," said Ginny with a wan smile.
This seemed to cheer him, as he grinned smugly. "Yeah, we really gave him what for. Doesn't look so bloody pretty now, does he?"
Ginny didn't answer, and Ron didn't seem to need one. Privately, she thought that if Ron had believed he was making Draco Malfoy less attractive by giving him a few rakish cuts and bruises, he was very sadly mistaken.
"I might be pregnant, you know," Ginny said, sitting up suddenly. "You might have gotten me pregnant."
He drew in a sharp breath. "Don't say things like that."
"Why not? Because it scares you? Because you hate the idea?" she demanded, her eyes feverish and wet.
"Because I want too much for them to be true," he said tightly.
"Hermione doesn't know I'm going," Ginny confessed. "And I didn't want to have to deal with all the disapproving sniffs I'd get if she did know."
"You mean she wasn't all for it?" Amelia asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "Hmm, I thought she was a progressive sort of woman."
It was a little girl's room, but she hadn't noticed it until now, when she saw it through the eyes of a stranger. She could feel herself burn with embarrassment. She spent most of her time at Hogwarts now, Ginny defended in her head. Besides, if she'd known she was going to have visitors she would have cleaned a little. No one had asked Draco or his overwhelming boy presence to invade the sanctity of her little girl's bedroom.
She stared at him in dismay. He was too tall, too male, too wealthy, too blond, too everything.
"Fizzing Whizbee?" he offered, holding out the bag.
She thought about it for only a second. "Okay," she replied, sounding less confident than she would have liked. Before her fingers could touch the bag, however, he pulled it out of reach.
Ginny dropped her hand, frowning. So it was just a trick. She should have known.
About to get up and snatch the parcel right out of his hands, she was stalled when he popped the proffered sweet into his mouth, said, "Come and get it, then," and set the bag aside.
Snape reached into his trousers and pulled out a snake.
Lupin gasped in delight. "For me???"
It took Ginny a second to process what he was saying. She made several fragmented sounds of rage. "That wasn't from me, you git!" she said. She had told him countless times to stop stealing kisses from her, as she simply did not feel that way about him. "As if I would ask you to--"
"Wasn't it? I didn't quite reach the end of the letter," admitted Draco unrepentantly.
Malfoy had removed his robes and was dressed in grey trousers, a white Oxford shirt, and his school tie. He was undoing his cufflinks when he turned around and saw Ginny. His movements were arrested, and his stillness rather made me feel self-conscious for Ginny. At this point, I would have been scrambling to cover myself, thinking that I'd made a fool of myself, I looked like an idiot, I should never have done this. Ginny had no such insecurities. She grinned impishly at him and took a step forward. Then another, until she was only inches from him.
"Looks like you need a little help," she said softly, almost a purr. I'd never heard her use that tone of voice before, and no wonder. If Ron ever heard it he'd have an apoplectic fit. Ginny took Malfoy's hand in hers and gently undid the cufflink, then did the same for the other one. She put her hands on the waistband of his trousers and he sucked in a breath, but she was only teasing; her hands traveled slowly up his chest until they reached his tie, and she began to unknot it.
Tonight is different, she can tell. He climbs into bed, and somehow, though the air is cold, all he brings with him is heat. He fills nearly every nook and cranny of her bed, and there is barely room enough for her. If someone were to walk in, she feels that they wouldn't be able to see her, and she likes that. She disappears.
Tick. Tock.
Enjoy his body. Use it every way you can. Don't be shy of it or of what other people have probably done for it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever know.
"Can you take care of Ladybug tonight?" she murmurs. The t-shirt is modestly covering her pert little bottom, and he's fascinated by the sight of his hand disappearing underneath.
"Yes," he says automatically, though after a moment he asks, "Why? Are you going to your brother's?" He doesn't specify which; after all this time, he still can't tell most of them apart, and he knows she doesn't mind. None of the Weasley men approve of the fact that Ginny isn't married and has had a child out of wedlock, and she prefers not to remind them of these things with her daughter's presence when she visits.
"No, I have a date," she says, still in the same absent-minded manner.
"Why don't you just tell her you like her?" Harry suggested.
Malfoy whipped his head around to glare at Harry. "Who? Weasley? I don't like Weasley. I don't like her name, or her hair, or her eyes, or her smile, or her voice, or the way she looks in a Quidditch uniform, or the way she can't eat a pumpkin pasty without dropping crumbs everywhere so she has to lick the corners of her mouth, and I never, ever think about her while looking at dirty magazines!"
"Yeah, all right," said Harry.
2) All about you: Ask me, and I'll tell you at least one thing I love about you. I'll probably have more to say if I know you well. <g>
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
I'll take door #2, Monty...
Date: 2004-04-27 10:27 pm (UTC)Re: I'll take door #2, Monty...
Date: 2004-04-27 10:35 pm (UTC)It's nice to have a friend who knows shit. (Er...in the good way.) If I ever have a question about something, I know I can come to you and you'll either have the answer or know someone who does. You're generous and fun, and you're someone I can go to sushi bars (or really, any restaurant) with, which is a benefit I don't take lightly. When we go out, you're game for just about anything, even if it's a work night. Plus we have similar tastes in music!
Speaking of, it's been far too long since we've done that. :D
Re: I'll take door #2, Monty...
Date: 2004-04-27 10:45 pm (UTC)Yeah, speaking of...is that coupon for Kyoto still good? You know what we should do--a spa day! Have you heard of the Olympus spa down here in Tacoma? It's pretty much across the street from that restaurant. It's a Korean style spa, iirc (no clothes, baths and saunas and body scrubs and massage. $25 to enter and then the massage/scrubs are extra) I've got leave coming up in June, unless you want to do it sooner.
We could go for a sauna, scrub, whatever, then sushi! *g* Or we could just skip the spa altogether and eat sushi! (ate there this last Sunday--mmmmmmmgooood. They give you pickles too! I love pickles! *g*) And then noodle around the south end.
Re: I'll take door #2, Monty...
Date: 2004-04-27 10:53 pm (UTC)I haven't heard of the Olympus spa, but who cares? It's a spa. I love that shit. It'd be awesome if we could do it toward the end of May, but June works, too. I'm so flexible. And sushi afterward! Ahhhh! I won't want the day to end! <g> And yes, the Kyoto thing should still be good.
Maybe we ought to get together for sushi to plan out the Spa & Sushi Day. ;)
Re: I'll take door #2, Monty...
Date: 2004-04-27 11:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-27 10:30 pm (UTC).....
Oh, I don't even care how it sounds anymore.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-27 10:40 pm (UTC)Seriously (though really, I was serious before), I adore that you "get" me, and I can talk to you in shorthand. Sometimes you finish my sentences (incorrectly, but at least you tried). :)) You're always game to rush headlong into some disastrous thing that I've gotten us into, and will just be there for the adventure. I love you because you're an awesome writer and an even better friend, which is quite the bar.
And most of all, I love you because if you weren't around,
I'd have to do double the amount of work for IYOKI'd have gone completely mad long ago. (As opposed to, you know, yesterday.)no subject
Date: 2004-04-27 10:33 pm (UTC)I'd say do me, but unlike Jade, I DO care about how it sounds. So I would like to know what you love about me. Besides my great rack.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-27 10:45 pm (UTC)You're rilly, rilly nice? But even that's not true.
Hmmmm...
All right, fine. I love you because you're wacky and crazy in a totally awesome way. I love your sense of humor and that you understand mine (even when you don't want to). I love that I can depend on you to find freakish things on the Internet and deny it later. You are just a fun, fun, fun person to be around, and that's a quality more people should have.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-27 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-27 10:50 pm (UTC)Plus, you're incredibly hot.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-27 11:13 pm (UTC)*hugs you*
no subject
Date: 2004-04-28 01:05 am (UTC)And you didn't ask, but I'll tell you anyway -- I love you because you're the loveliest, nicest gal around. You're such a generous person that it makes me wish I were the same. For now, I am content to bask in your reflected glow. =)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-28 01:08 am (UTC)And awwwww. You're so, so sweet. What a lovely thing to say! *is chuffed* Love you more :D
no subject
Date: 2004-04-27 11:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-28 01:09 am (UTC)Even with your lemonade-ordering-at-Jamba-Juice ways, I knew you were a chick I could be myself with. And really, that's not as easy as it sounds.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-28 01:23 am (UTC)Damn, but some Jamba Juice lemonade sounds good right now.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-28 01:39 am (UTC)by Ropo
You are pretty and look good in glasses even though you don't think so. You're very very smart and aren't afraid to show it. You wear thongs on your feet in the winter. Your pants are too long. You think far too hard about things, but, you know, in a good way, even if I can't keep up with it. You're a fantastic writer. You love sitting around in your house, possibly as much as I do. You have a lovely laugh. You can be very, very snarky. You are the funnest person in the world to frustrate. You do a mean imitation of Michelle Kwan's spiral. And even though you like coconut, we can still get along! Yay!
no subject
Date: 2004-04-28 12:50 am (UTC)And to reciprocate, here's one thing I love about you - you have a great sense of humor that permeates everything you do. Many of your entries have made me laugh out loud. And even when things are not going your way (like in certain sushi restaurant :p ) you can laugh at them afterwards. And that's a great quality to have.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-28 01:18 am (UTC)See, this is exactly what I love about you!! You are so. damn. cool. You're smart and interesting and thoughtful and kind. Everything I learn about you just makes me want you to have everything you deserve.
I love that even though we traverse sort of different fandom paths, it doesn't matter because what I like about you has little to nothing to do with fandom. It's about real conversation and real people connecting. I think that rocks! I still remember the way we first started talking about Alfonso Cuaron, and how delighted I was to be able to talk intelligently with someone about it -- someone who was clearly listening, but who also made me think. And those qualities are apparent when we're having discussions about books or just about anything else.
In short: You rock!!
no subject
Date: 2004-04-30 04:34 pm (UTC)Hey, let me write that down as another thing I love about you: can make me blush.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-28 01:18 am (UTC)*mwah*
no subject
Date: 2004-04-28 06:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-28 04:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-28 06:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-28 07:21 pm (UTC)Oh - and if you like - tell me why you ♥ me. Besides the fact I can stump you on 'Guess who I am' games - not that you didn't get it eventually! *wink*
no subject
Date: 2004-04-29 07:23 am (UTC)I think you really have to love Stuart Townsend. He's more "clean cut" in About Adam than in LXG or Queen of the Damned, and he's not as attractive (to me, which is saying something because I normally like clean-cut guys). Don't get me wrong; he's not unattractive, but the movie's so asinine that I needed more than that (plus he plays kind of a jerk, and not a jerk in an attractive way). Plus the female characters were so insipid. The one I liked best was the eldest sister, but that's really just relative.