Chaucerettescs

Katelyn stayed over last night! Huzzah! We ended up watching Labyrinth since, unbeknownst to me, she had never seen it before and so I had to let her experience the weird. We also watched Sleeping Beauty since neither of us had seen it in yonks and were quite embarrassed to discover that we still know all the words to the songs, even the more obscure ones.

This morning we watched A Muppet Christmas Carol because we'd been laughing over that old dream I had...the Swacit/Muppet Christmas Carol one with Ben as Scrooge...which, really, never stops being amusing. And Alan is Bob Cratchit and Geoff thinks he's Charles Dickens and goes around narrating with Gael at his side and Lena has to wear a silly bonnet and Adge looks pretty stricken at the end when Ben hugs him and it's one of my favorite dreams ever.

And "I don't even like Dickens."

I think seeing Roger and John as singing puppet ghosts would've been more than enough to set Ben on a path of redemption.

Also, Ru and Nik are Bunsen and Beaker. Hee.

Beaker: *gives Scrooge his scarf*
Katelyn: *beams* BUH BUH BUH BENNY AND THE JETS!
Me: ONE OF US! ONE OF US! GOOBLE GOBBLE GOOBLE GOBBLE! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!

Anyway, it reminded me to post this mix that has been cumulating on iTunes for freaking months. I mean, I've been building this one bit by bit since August and keep not bothering to post it because it's so freaking long. But I have to say in all honesty, even given the subject matter, it's one of my favorite playlists. It has a ton of my favorite bands and songs on it and as far as storytelling goes, it's the most complete. I need to stop storyboarding via fanmixes. Lol, oh well, Ben and Lena don't need a book now, they have this big honking thing. It covers from the time they met through their years together in Paris to their breakup to their reconciliation five years later.


Feat. Interpol, The Wombats, Scissor Sisters, Peter Bjorn and John, Goldfrapp, The Pierces, Pelle Carlberg, Duran Duran, Pink Floyd, Heather Nova, Anna Ternheim, Stereophonics, Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, j. englishman, The Raconteurs, The Cardigans, Hera, Jeff Buckley, People in Planes, Placebo, Shiny Toy Guns, VAST, The Smashing Pumpkins, Fiona Apple, PJ Harvey, My Brightest Diamond, Kings of Leon, Imogen Heap, Death Cab for Cutie, Snow Patrol, Neko Case, Trespassers William, Garbage, Beck, Sarah McLachlan, Turin Brakes, Mute Math, Guillemots, Flyleaf, Bell X1, Tom Lehrer, and some other people...

( Entree: I've met someone that makes me feel seasick )

( Intermezzo: There is no pain, you are receding... )

( Pas de Deux: I Know We Could Be So Happy (if we wanted to be) )

( Adagio: I'd break the back of love for you, I'd break the back of love for you )

( Le Paroxysme: There's a ghost in my bed, she cries in her sleep... )

( Debut de la Fin: I just couldn't breathe with your throne on my chest )

( Le Denouement: If the world ends, I hope you're here with me )

( Another familiar type of lovesong is the passionate or fiery variety, usually in tango tempo, in which the singer exhorts his partner to haunt him and taunt him and, if at all possible, to consume him with a kiss of fire. This particular illustration of this genre is called The Masochism Tango. )

ZIPS:
Parts I & II
Parts III-V
Part VI
Part VII

Presentations in college are so much more entertaining. Yesterday in Shakespeare, Tom (The Juggler) did his presentation on hired fools and court jesters and did it all in Old English

Tom: In other words, n'uncle... thou should have as much beneath the scalp as on it. *doffs the hat he'd been wearing all day to reveal he'd shaved his head like a monk*

That class is by far the best way to end the day.


Today is Ryan's birthday, so that means another of those oh-so-anticipated pizza parties at Grandpa's. Mum and I decided from now on we are only buying those children books and art supplies. Period. Connor's birthday is coming up, so I helped mum pick out books I loved at his age: HP, Roald Dahl, The Wayside School Series, The Watsons Go to Birmingham

I don't think Aunt Lori will be thrilled with the last one, but I honesly don't give a shit. God forbid, the child learn anything about race relations.


On a brighter note, my writer's block is slowly going away.


Gael shrugged. "I try to understand. I mean, out of the five of us, it's just Mel and I who even have brothers and sisters."

"What do you have?"

"Older sister, younger brother. Bernardo and Maria." When Lena's mouth quirked into a smile, he shrugged again, "...My parents were big fans of West Side Story."

"Really?"

Thoughtfully, he tilted his head. "...No..."

Gael, stop making me love you.

Since the next mix is going to be about, you know, murder and stuff, I wanted to squeeze in one more fun one.

And Lena is always fun.


Peter Sarstedt, Gabriella Climi, Scissor Sisters, Poloroid, Imogen Heap, Lily Allen, Sia, Goldfrapp, The Magnetic Fields, Mirah, The Cardigans, The Dresden Dolls, Bat for Lashes, Air

( If you really loved me / you'd buy me a beautiful pearl / But you've already bought me / all of the pearls in the world / So there's one thing I crave / When my days become ho-hum and blah ... ... I want a zebra... )

ZIP
Other Lena mix: Old Love Haunts Me in the Morning

Lol, that "Fuck You" song is so versatile. And so bouncy!

I am convinced the only way Lena can stand being in the same room as Roger is by imagining him like this:

and smirking incessantly to herself.

Which is the sort of reason why Lena and Rufus make such good friends.

I'm glad it makes them feel better, because it certainly does nothing for my sanity.

Ugh, these stupid allergy meds have me feeling so tired.

I had my Psych mid-term Tuesday and did pretty well. I have a pretty solid A in the class, so that's good. It's nice having Steven back. That sub was just... ugh.

You know what I missed about school? Getting essays back. That is still inherently awesome. (I'm not terribly crazy about writing them though). On that note, my Shakespeare teacher and I have a very good rapport. I rocked the shit out of my Anti-Semitism presentation. It's probably very sad that Shylock is one of my favorite Shakespearean characters. Deborah gave me a rec for a book called "The Turquoise Ring" about Shylock and his wife Leah in their youth. It's quite romantic and devastating, given what's going to happen.

We're doing King Lear now. Lol, I love this class sfm. We get to do all the plays I wish we'd done in high school. I still sort of wish we were doing The Taming of The Shrew, just for the sake of discussion.

I've having more ideas for the book, but as far as actually writing...nil. I don't know why I have such a bad block. I think I'm just feeling overwhelmed with everything that needs to be included and all the things I love that may need to get cut. One of the general rules in publishing I've found is that first novels should try to stay under 450 pages (even though fucking Twilight is nearer to 550). I think I'm going to try drafting a proper timeline for the first book and see where that goes.

In the meantime, I will continue to post weird shit

( Three Telegrams That Geoffrey Would Actually Be Quite Likely to Send )
Lol, I blame Katelyn for making me giggle at such an abhorrent act of arson.

In other news:
Oh, Texas
Dallas school accused of staging cage fights among students

Right, so lately I've been making myself miserable trying to think of a possible new title for Swacit (since "Somewhere a Clock is Ticking" is the name of a Snow Patrol song). I'm not sure you're allowed to name a book after a song that isn't yet public domain, even though bands steal names from books all the time (My Chemical Romance comes from an Irvine Welsh novel and Steely Dan is the name of the dildo in Naked Lunch, which, heh...)

The trouble is I now have the title so interwoven into the themes of the book that I don't want to change it and even if I did, wouldn't know what to change it to.

How about...

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill... and Came Back Down Dead.

Wait... shit...

Chase's suggestions: Someplace A Clock is Ticking or A Clock Ticks... Somewhere
AHA! I see what you did there.

Lol, I'm screwed when it comes to naming the second one.

I did go ahead and change Adge's last name to Landau. It needed to be more Jewish. I've been writing a scene with his grandma, btw. All I'll say is that it includes a good deal of Yiddish and the line "Mama, please don't rub Melanie's uterus." Good times.

When Katelyn was over the other night, we started weaving plot bunnies which I'm going to post here lest I forget them:

( Kippers, Confession, Portraits, Marzipan, and Sex Talks )

Lol, I love riffing with Katelyn about this sort of crap. I always end up laughing until my throat hurts. Often, the voices are the best part, not that you can tell here. (btw, the priest occasionally sounds inexplicably like Yoda).

P.S. I've decided I still want to do the Ben/Lena book. Tonight I discovered tha when Paris was bombed in 95, the first station to be hit was literally right across the street from where I had them living. I am intrigued.

And it's, like, long. Eleven pages, about 3800 words (so not long-long, but still long).

I am so glad to be done with this chapter since it took fucking forever to write. It's what I've been writing bit-by-bit since I've been sick (along with some other odds and ends) and I finally finished it this morning.

Things you should know so it makes sense:
1. Lena is awesome. That is all. She is also French, but you probably got that.
2. The chapter title and vaguely nauseating nickname come from the fact the Fairchilds' (is Fairchildren phonetically correct?) crest is a black rabbit (because I am easily amused). It'd be used in the emblem for the hotel, on their business stationary, etc. etc. "The Black Rabbit" was the name of the original inn, trust me... it's hard to miss.
3. This takes place May of 1995. So, right after Ben's 19th birthday. Mel and the boys would be fifteen.
4. This is before Gael came out. I imagine Lena's arrival as a bit of a catalyst in that department since Geoff and Alan's schoolboy crushes on her leave Gael more or less baffled. "I don't see what the fuss is."
5. You don't get much of a vibe from this chapter but Mel has a big I'm-fifteen-and-awkward hero worship of Lena going on. They have scenes of their own and it's really nice to have Mel interact with another girl for a change, lol.
6. Lol, apparently that May was actually pretty cold. This is one time I'm glad I was anal enough to look at old weather forecasts because apparently 95' was mostly cold as shit in England up until August.
7. Lena's mom is American, hence her very good English. She should have a strong accent, but I still don't know if I should actually write out her dialogue the way she'd pronounce it. It's sort of a pain in the ass that way and is tedious to read. All of Fleur Delacour's "Arry"'s and "eemprove my Eenglish"'s made me want to kill her, so I'm going to vote no.


Chapter (as yet unnumbered): Le Lapin Noir:

( Mel imagined, for a moment, something tentacled and bewildered flailing somewhere on a beach… but shook it off, knowing that if she laughed Ben would feel ethically obligated to kill her. )

Oh, Mel. If you only you knew what's going to happen when you start having sex, I think you'd feel less guilty.


Mel: 1
Ben: 0

That's better, bb.

I have to admit, I really love writing Ben/Lena dialogue. All they do is snark at each other when they aren't being gross.

However, I don't think I have the fortitude to give them their own book, interest in their backstory aside. They... touch each other too much. They just have one of those relationships where sex is hugely fundamental and out of all my pairings they probably have the least vanilla sex life and I wish I didn't know that, but I fucking do. It's just one of those things: Geoff's a manwhore, Rufus loves musical theatre, Ben and Lena probably have lots of weird, B & D sex. I don't care if they're physically attractive and I don't care if I do find them sort of sweet in a slightly whacked kind of way, my brain just cannot cope with that shit. Seriously, the mild touching in this was quite enough to make my mind recoil in horror and they're not even doing anything.

Lol, Katelyn, the sketch pad you gave me enabled me to do some procrastinating yesterday.

( Lena Moreau's Field Guide to Local Villainy )

New mix! w00t! This started off as a challenge to myself to see if I could make a Ben & co. EP with one song for each member of the gang but without any crazy hard rock. It went pretty well, so I made a Swaciteer one to match (you know, I really wish they had a proper canon name, but I can't think of anything that fits... plus I rather like Swaciteers).

I'm rather pleased with both EPs. I succeeded with the Scion one... most of the thing is just downright mellow. Lots of songs that sound pretty or bouncy... until you actually listen to the lyrics.

Gary Jules, Coldplay, Belle & Sebastian, John Lennon, Jump Little Children, Rufus Wainwright, The New Pornographers, Sufjan Stevens
vs.
Brainclaw, Iron & Wine, The Flaming Lips, Sunna, Firewater, Tori Amos, Neko Case, MCR

( All the Trees of The Field Will Clap Their Hands )

LOL at everyone being so pretty.

I really need to stop making these but they do wonders for writer's block, which I currently have a small case of. Dialogue and scene-ideas have been coming along brilliantly, but I'm having trouble with prose again. I swear, if this fucking thing was a play, I would've finished it years ago.

Writing the child abuse scenes is leaving me feeling very uncomfortable. I think the reason I've been hating less on Ben lately is I've been too busy despising Noah. Also, Roger. Ben's a complete cock but at least he's never held anyone down and burned them with cigarettes or made unwanted passes at fifteen-year-old girls.

....... Goddamn, do I hate some of my characters. : /

Ugh, I am so sick of moving all this shit. The basement and garage are now crammed with stuff from up north. Mum and I have been sorting through crap for days. The boxes are all obscenely heavy. Mum and I managed to get rid of twelve boxes worth of books. We're quite proud, lol. We're hoping to have the garage sale this weekend, but it may have to be pushed back a few days. I really don't think we'll be ready in time.

Lol, guilt trip of the week.

( Of all my female characters why is she becoming one of my favorites? )

Totally random. This is a bit from a part I wrote the other day that takes place shortly after Gael comes out. I think it's pretty demonstrative for why I love Lena and why Gael is cute.

( Two Letters )
STONES!

Aw, it makes me sort of sad that they were friends : (

Anyway, I have to run and do some more housework. Vacuuming is the most hideous activity EVER.

Note: For some reason, I have an internet connection up here. I must be siphoning off someone's wifi.

....AWESOME

Lol, everybody in the house has skewed sleep schedules right now. Mum and Chase both took naps yesterday. Naps, I say. Probably too much excitement from our epic (read: 2 hour) trip to the zoo XD

Writing continues to be somewhat productive, to which I say huzzah. Some earlier stuff when the Swaciteers are 14-16. Which means I get to have Lena around for a little while...which is ace, because, as I've said before, I am enormously fond of her. Seriously. She told Roger to go fuck himself. I mean... that is just beautiful. I'm pretty sure that's the first fuck-word in the book and it couldn't have been used more judiciously. And she's capable of making Geoff feel embarassed. And it's nice having Mel interact with another girl for once. And writing her and Ben together fills me with amusement. Heh, a lot of amusement.

Anyway, I'm posting her mix because I haven't done one in a while and it's one of my favorite playlists. I was going to do Geoff & Alan's, but I keep changing them.


Marissa Nadler, Feist, Ane Brun, Girls Aloud, The Hush Sound, The Kills, Tegan & Sara, Cat Power, Jolie Holland, The Cardigans, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Trespassers William, Laura Marling...

( And when your ears and your eyes are sore... I'm gonna love you just a little bit more... )

ZIP of all 13 songs
Songs available individually at BOX.net


P.S. Katelyn, I now have tanned feet. Lol, I just thought you should know.

EDIT: I was just eating a Rice Krispies Treat and pulled out one of my fillings.

... Motherfucker.

EDIT: I'm going to the dentist now >:(

EDIT: Whoo, nitrous : ) It's sad when getting your teeth drilled is a relaxing break from thinking about life.

I love the pure crack that's coming out of my brain right now.



Happy Christmas, Ben XD

If this incident becomes canon, Lena may well be on her way to becoming one of my favorite characters ever. She and I share an intense dislike of Roger and an intense love for The Scissor Sisters, Mostaccioli noodles, and making Ben uncomfortable in public.

It's gotten to the point where I like her so much there's a plotbunny chewing on my brain, telling me to let her and Ben have a book of their own one day. One day... far from now... when the other two books are written and my psyche has the emotional fortitude to deal with that much Ben!sex. It'd be very different from things I've written before and it would mean spending an uncomfortable amount of time in Ben's head.

And, again.... Ben... having sex. 0_______________o

Speaking of writing, I wrote about half of a rather long chapter yesterday. I'm hoping to finish it tonight. Hooray for progress.

I really hope I'm going to be able to chew better come the 4th of July. I will be very cross if there is corn and tasty grilled things that are too hard to eat.

My mouth was very sore this morning, but it feels better now.

.......course, I could just be saying that because I'm again high as balls on Vicodin.

(Note to Self: Practice drawing different feminine facial shapes... If Lena's eyes were closed in that pic, there'd be no way of telling her apart from Mel. That is so not on.)

The bird returned this morning. Lol, what does he want from me?! Is it my Cheez-It's? Everytime I have Cheez-It's he becomes more persistant. I am beginning to fear he is not a bird-friend after all.

Writing is going pretty well. It would be better if I weren't in the grips of some sort of catatonic panic attack over that stupid acceptance letter. According to the site, the last of my materials were received January 24th(!), which would mark today as the beginning of Week 11. I miscalculated. I have another 1-3 weeks to wait. D: Do. Not. Want.

New Fanmix tiems! Yes, Lena & Ben actually got a fanmix. That must mean I like them. I think it's Lena I like. She's so level-headed (surprise, ha), which is very relaxing to write (especially come the second book). She is most of the time anyway, hee. I also appreciate how under the wire their relationship is (like Ru and Nik's, only...not at all, lol).

In any case, I must like them because I gave them music I love. Rufus Wainwright, Ok Go, Scissor Sisters, Keane, Elliott Smith, Patrick Wolf...on a playlist that has something to do with Ben? LOL, what is this madness?

( Crashed )

ZIP of all the songs

Lol, that took longer than I thought it would to post. I wrote like an essay, lol. But it is one of my favorite playlists and I love character analysis/music, so...deadly combination. I also like playing with photo manips (HEE, can't you tell?) It was good to write all of that out, though. It makes things a lot clearer. I don't know just how much of this subplot will actually be seen. Very little probably, hee. What we know of their relationship comes from talks Lena has with Mel and oneshots from the POVs of other characters.

Still, they've caught my interest. Perhaps because they're completely different from any other couple I write (despite the weird similarities to Mel/Adge). Their relationship is less obvious to me. When I think about the other couples and ask "why are they in love?", the answer is always pretty clear. With Ben/Lena, not so much. They're a challenge. I like that ^__^

The next playlist will probably be Alan & Geoff's which... hee.

This morning, I was again visited by a bird friend. Perhaps they are trying to make a connection. Someone needs me! I shall whisper this to my horses...see what they think....

Anyway. I've been attempting to plot out a Swacit timeline since I'm having a lot of problems with the plot/pacing of the second novel and things that happened between the first and second books. Things include: their educations, careers, when specific hookups/breakups happened, how many years the second book covers, blah blah blah. All that stuff has been a little too fuzzy. I'm thinking parts of book 2's plot will need to be seriously reworked.

While I was doing it, I noticed another spooky Ben & Mel correlation that I hadn't meant to happen. Now, I'm totally pleased with it (because it makes me laugh):

( It must run in the family )

Why Racists Should Wear Ties by ~swacit on deviantART

It makes rebuking them easier.

In the midst of wooing a girl, it might be a good idea not to reveal yourself as a rascist dickhead.

Drawn for the sole reason that I liked the idea of Ben getting throttled with his own tie. >XD

I've been trolling around DeviantArt, trying to find better ways to shade and whatnot like the dork I am. So this one looks a bit different...in that there's actually some shading, lol.

( Ben & Lena )

I don't like admitting it, but I really like those two together. Probably because when they're together Ben is either a) not acting like an utter dickwad and/or b) getting pwned by Lena... which I must admit, pleases me. So, rather...I really like Lena and Ben just doesn't bother me as much when he's around her.

Hee, they were supposed to be older. They look fourteen, lol. Ben totally has wolverine hair, bahahaha. Lulz, what a spazzoid.

Where's everyone been lately? Nobody's ever on AIM. Or at least, I'm never managing to catch anybody on. : (

I Think Someone Needs A Nap by ~swacit on deviantART

Lol, this is why I actually really like Ben's love interest, Lena. I swore that if Ben ever got married, it would be to somebody who could totally buffalo him. So, that narrows it down to pretty much Oliver and Lena. And since Ben/Oliver is more squickiness than I could ever handle in this lifetime, it falls to her.

She's actually really nice. And well-balanced. That's what gets me. Anybody who can make Ben look like a total dope (not to mention act human once in a while ) is a-ok in my book.