Never let the truth get in the way of a good story

...don't ever change.




Though I really don't know what to think about it, so I will laugh until such time as I know better.

It's been a while and I haven't written anything. Honestly, I have no excuse. Have I really been that distracted? I think not.

Firstly, zootyzoot and I had our engagement party last weekend. (Hooray!) It wasn't very fancy: just a BBQ in which I got to cook for everyone  while Al served drinks. Highlights included Al's cosmopolitans, triple chocolate cheesecake, my mum singing along to "Living on a Prayer" on Guitar Hero: World Tour, and my sister playing with my cousin Rachel's little boy, Corey.

Sadly a lot of people couldn't show even though I tried to give advance warning. I'm trying not to be too bitter about it, but it was a big deal for me. (Who would have thought that your own prospective marriage would excite you so much, right?) Oh well. I guess I know who I'm not inviting to the wedding, unless you pikers make it up to me somehow. MWAHAHAHAHA! (just kidding... maybe.)

Secondly, a resolution: I'm going to take a more active part in fandom. *firm nod* There are too many awesome people out there that I do not know or am otherwise too nervous to approach. It's time to take a stand!

Veering away from making DC/Marvel the majority of my reading/viewing has helped as well. Right now I'm on a steady diet of G-Force: Guardians of Space, Astroboy, Space Ghost, Birdman, the Galaxy Trio and Phantom 2040 between Champions Online and my return to Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich: harking back to the days when being a Nazi really meant something, and not just being a Republican.

I think this is what LJ is for: releasing all the pent up superhero talk that I struggle to edit out of real life conversation. Thank the gods as well for a partner who doesn't seem to mind when I recite entire volumes of comic book trivia.

I should really talk about food more often, like I do here. It's what I'm good at, and the only thing I feel I can ever really talk about with any confidence.

Yes, yes. I know that drumming on Guitar Hero: World Tour is nothing like drumming on a real kit, but hot diggety was that fun! I honestly would have thought that I would have liked singing the best, but nope. For me it was pounding the crap out of drums, working my way up from beginner to easy. (Shut up. I'm new at these sorts of games. I avoided them much for the same reasons I avoided DDR.)

Al, babe, seriously the best impulse buy we've done so far! Half of my housemates crawled out of their room to play as well, and were for the better part of the night. I honestly don't think we've done such wholesome group activity like that in a while.

The reason why I'm writing this right now instead of playing? It's 7:30 in the morning and people are asleep. Bah! I want to drum again! Even though my arms were dead and felt like they were falling out I'd groan, then lift my head and say "hey, let's play another set." Heh heh.

Sometimes I'm more machine than woman, I swear.

I think I now have a vaguely sexual fetish for chaste, pure-hearted, muscular, blonde Edwardian lesbians wearing men's clothing. (The mask, highwayman's hat and cutlass only add to the effect.) A little specific, perhaps? Fantastical to boot. All I know is that Lionheart is haunting my dreams now...

Damn it! I thought I was over having crushes on fictional characters! Oh well. Maybe it just means that it's time I start writing Harley/Batgirl femmeslash again. It's not like I have anything else on the boiler... like Shimmer or something.

Today on Facebook I posted a rather well-known quote regarding the nature of God by the Greek philosopher Epicurus in my status bar. Almost immediately my cousin, Rachel, a funny, sharp and all around wonderful chickie (as well as a born-again Christian) conceded that I had an interesting point and asked why I am not a Christian.

Sitting across my bed from me my boyfriend (and soon to be fiance *angry poke*) zootyzoot asked "isn't the question more why should you be a Christian?"

Both are fair questions. I was raised in a family of Christians, all of whom are very deeply married to their beliefs. Coming from the home that I did it seemed that becoming a Christian and being a "great man of God" (as my grandmother chronically professed I would be) was an inevitability, but in true black sheep fashion I veered away from that and today I profess to be an "agnostic quantum theist."

( Cut for religion talk. WARNING: just in case some find this disturbing. )

So I went and saw Terminator: Salvation last night. Honestly, I was going in with high hopes. Christian Bale, Helena Bonham Carter, for some reason these names lead me to think that perhaps I'm going to watch a very indepth film with a lot of time-travelish twists a la T2 or the Sarah Connor Chronicles (both of which I love, btw.) Instead there was a lot of grunting, a lot of coincidence and a sense of "not sure if want."

Oh well. What can you do?

Though the thing that really bothered me about Terminator: Salvation was the lighting. Something about it was off, I mean REALLY off. It was ultimately very distracting and detracted from the overall enjoyability of the film. I hope that someone brought the issue up with the director so that they could have that lighting guy fired.

This Terminator fangirl gives it three stars because she likes watching things go 'BOOM!'

The gods of fanfiction are calling to me, and yay, I will reluctantly answer. My brain can never stop processing ideas. Seriously, I lose so much sleep this way.

It's been haunting me for days now: the prospect of writing a Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover. Actually, I'm thinking about writing three. In all likelihood there's probably going to be several written by fans in the wake of the new film, but deep down I'm a TNG fangirl at heart.

So I've been thinking about it and to be perfectly honest I'm spoiled for choice. So many ideas, so little time!

The first is the 8th Doctor with Charlie and K'rizz investigating a time anomaly in the past while the Enterprise-D encounters and investigates a similar anomaly in their present. This of course brings them together, and in typical TNG fangirl fashion I'm going to draw in Q somehow. (I've been watching Q episodes lately and I'm dying to write him.)

Secondly there's the 10th Doctor and Rose on DS9 seeking out Quark to buy black market spare parts for the TARDIS. However Odo had taken the form of a bar stool, grabbed the Doctor and had him locked up. Of course this is right on time for a Dalek invasion. The Daleks steal the Bajouran Orb of Healing and disappear. Where? To the mirror universe where the Daleks serve at the whim of the Intendant (evil Kira) and use the orb to cure her of a deadly poison that would have done her in. The Doctor discovers why the Daleks are there, battle of wits, rah rah rah... much fun.

A quick sample of what I had in mind.

INTENDANT: Seize the terrans!
DOCTOR: Woah woah woah woah! I'm not a terran. Go on, take a look. Two hearts, see?
*they check him with tricorder scans*
INTENDANT: Very well. You may not be terran, but your companion is. Take her to the ore processing plant!
DOCTOR: Ahm, actually, I'd rather you not. You see she's a family pet and I couldn't bear to part with her.
INTENDANT: Pet?
ROSE: *incredulous* PET!?
INTENDANT: Do you have papers?
*The Doctor flashes some psychic paper*
INTENDANT: Very well then.
ROSE: *whispers* We'll talk about this later.

Lots and lots of fun! (Plus Dax recognizing the Doctor as a lecturer from her academy days.)

Thirdly, finally, the Doctor (10) and Donna wind up inside an asteroid within the gamma quadrant. Inside is what remains Gallifreyan matrix. On the outside the USS Voyager duelling with a trio of borg cube ships. This, the Doctor being taken prisoner by Starfleet... again... and Donna making lots of "I love a man in uniform" cracks at Tom Paris, and you have yourself another crossover!

Ugh. My brain is made of fanfiction soup tonight. TOO MUCH CHOICE! Decisions, decisions, decisions. (I just needed to air this somewhere to keep my inner geek from drowning. Hopefully after this I can look back more objectively.)

So far I've found 3 TNG, 2 Voyager and 1 DS9 fics online crossing with Doctor Who, all on fanfiction.net. If anyone could point me at some more it would be greatly appreciated.

[/fake promo]

What a week, what a week. My headspace is absolutely buzzing and I haven't updated this journal in a really long time. I should really make a habit of writing more often.

There's been a lot of writings to do with Shimmer, mostly due to the fact that I'm co-writing a crossover with another serial, the Legion of Nothing by Jim Zoetewey. I am to say the least incredibly excited to be pulling something like this together, especially considering that I'm a sucker for crossovers. (Back in the days I used to write fanfic I pretty much exclusively wrote crossovers.)

( Shimmer, Star Trek, the Bible, Al )

So thanks to something caught on a friend's LJ I've decided on a whim to take a request and write a piece of post-apocalyptic fan fiction as specified by the rules here at apocalyptothon . It should be a blast! Which would in turn end the world and all human life, leaving the survivors to crawl through the wreckage and scrounge for food, medicine, bullets and other supplies...

I've made a couple of requests for Colbert Report fic which I sincerely hope someone takes. Oh, the hilarity!

Well, tomorrow I head off to Supanova to man the Wibbly Press table and whore my wares to thousands upon thousands of conventioneers. It's something of a foreboding task for a recovering agoraphobic like myself, but I'm confident that I'll get through it without a scratch! (Hell, if that guy who looked like me could do it, then so can I!)

Vaguely I fear running into people I haven't spoken with in a year, namely a few former friends who I silently fell out with for a reason that eludes me. Not friendships I'm bothered with fixing, I'll admit, but I worry that with their arrival that drama will inevitably follow. Even worse: what if somebody from way back points and goes "hey, aren't you Opera Guy/Sparta Guy?" *shudder*

Whatever. It might serve as a pleasant distraction from everything else bothering me, namely the red tape that comes with helping Al with his travel arrangements. Even though I've (hopefully) planned for every contingiency I still find myself with this lingering dread thinking 'what if they don't approve his visa?' It's not a thought that sits well with me, even though that's not likely. All I know is that if anything happened... maybe I've hinged too much on this (or maybe I'm just that much in love. Go figure.)

Finally, finally, FINALLY! New Shimmer relaunches next week after a long delay! I'll be updating twice a week on mondays and fridays, and will be sure to post links here on LJ.

That's all from me. Maybe I should get some rest. I can still hear Al's voice telling me "you need an early night, babe" but I've been spoiled. I can't fall asleep without hearing his voice anymore. Damn him. (That's okay. My revenge is that he can't sleep without hearing mine, either. I'll try my best to restrain myself and not gush about how adorable he is, though I fear I may be too late.)

Ugh... Randi, you're such a sap.

Honestly, my thoughts haven't been in this country for months. Ever since being introduced to this possible reality of life in another country, and what's more a country that I've always had a strange admiration for (even though some people might say I'm crazy for it) there's been little else I can focus on.

October can't be close enough, and yet it can't be far enough away. Am I crazy!? What the hell am I doing!? Is this even real!? My life over the course of the last two years has taken a turn for the unbelievable... but I don't want to go back. Scary and as mind-blowing as it is I know I'm going to be disappointed if I listen to the panic.

For now I guess all I can do is prepare so that I'm not taken off-guard. Still, reading through all of this visa and green card information at midnight is just going to send my brain into a spin...

Maybe I need sleep. I'll probably dream of stars and stripes (and... well, you know who, who really I should thank for making all of this possible. (Thank you, baby! Love you!))

Night, all!

So he says to me "babe, you should post on LJ. You haven't posted in like... ten years."

Okay, okay, fine, I'm posting, rawr, here I am writing something like I've meant to, but it just hasn't been coming lately. A lot's been happening and inspiration is running dry.

So, babe, I promise one day that I'll write something and give you yet another insight into all things Randi, k? :P

Moving day tomorrow. Countless boxes packed, still much to do.

Humidity bites like mouth of a dog. Muscles aching, enthusiasm fading. Process frustrating. Struggle to keep from exploding at earliest convenient target.

Hrmmm.

Will be away from internet for three days. Know that I'll starve like a junkie. Will look to screen and beg for service. Screen will look down and whisper "page not found."

(Can you tell what I've been reading?)

Usually I spend most of my time banging away at Shimmer as I try to make it even better, but a majority of the comments I receive about my writing are about Good Kitty Bad. Most of them seem to consist of a universal line of thinking that basically goes "WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE MORE!?"

Alright, people. Fine. I cave. I'll write more. I'm halfway through the first chapter and will post it on LJ when it's completed. (I know I sound frustrated, but it's actually come as a refreshing change, but I'm not giving up Shimmer for it. No way, no how.)

In part this is my gift to sakenichi. Yes, Jules, I'm writing Good Kitty Bad mostly for you. All of your LJ entries lately say depressed, and you are for good reason all things considered, and while there's not much I can say I figured 'hey, at least I can do this' and hope you smile a little because of it.

I hope the rest of you enjoy it too. You all nagged me for it, so you probably will. :P

For those of you interested I've decided to post the first part of the new Shimmer rewrite. It's not been announced on Wibbly yet, and I swear I'll get around to that sometime.

It's been a lot of hard work starting again from scratch, and for the most part I hope it pays off. I don't know if it's better than the original or not, but I do know that this version is going to be a lot cleaner and a lot more coherent.

Think I should keep posting these on LJ too? Or maybe I could just link them from Wibbly. That is, once they reach Wibbly...

Anyway, for your reading pleasure, my comic book opus in prose form. Ladies, gentlemen, and distinguished others, I give you Shimmer #01...

EDIT: Please keep in mind that I may choose to scrap this new version entirely, but for the sake of my sanity let's hope not.

 

( All that Glimmers (Part 1) )

Nirvana, Aneurysm.

My lyric: "She keeps a perfect stain in my heart."
Real lyric: "She keeps it pumpin' straight to my heart."

My version kinda sucked...

Either Jesus or Megatron/Galvatron: perhaps a combination of the two. I wish that were a joke answer.

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me!"
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will post the answers to the questions (and the questions themselves) on your blog or journal.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

1. When are you posting more of Good Kitty Bad on your LJ?
2. What is your favourite item to spread on toast?
3. Are you going to go to Brisbane Supanova? (tickets are on sale now~! :D)
4. If you answered yes to the previous question, are you going to cosplay this year?
5. Who would you love to see me cosplay for you?

About a year ago I started writing a web serial called Shimmer. The premise was rather ambitious at best, needless complicated at the worst:

Kaira Cade and her brother Justin were superheroes, Glimmer Girl and Flashbolt. Justin, being the adventurous type, was the first to put on tights and a mask, while Kaira being the overprotective big sister that she was did the same for no other reason than to watch his back. Eventually, there was an accident, the two switched bodies, had to live each other's lives, then Justin was killed and Kaira was forced to spend the rest of her life as him. After a long, angsty grieving period she decided that if she wanted anything of her old life back she'd have to do it the hard way, with hormones, surgery, etc.

Part of the reasoning behind this was to tell the story of a cis person going through a semi-realistic trans experience, but I doubt it was anything like that to begin with. I got lost, the plot became too muddy, and after fleshing out the verse I found that I loved it, but I couldn't continue. Why? Because I hated my protagonist the way she was.

So I've decided to start over and make things simpler. I'm getting rid of the body-swap angle to start with. That's just... well, a little bit shit. Now it's probably just going to be about a trans teenager using her powers to escape her dreaded everyday male life into a superheroic female one that she prefers. Last I checked that still hadn't been done in the mainstream comic book worlds, so for as much as I can be I'm being original.

*raises my glass* Here's to Shimmer Mk II!