Our moron affiliate has a new moronic idea. I'm not surprised. But I'm beginning to think I should bring Tylenol to the office. When what he wants up starts with "[his country] is strategically located in [region]," you know you're in for a headache of a time. Dude. Forts are strategically placed. Tricorders when on a nudist planet are strategically placed. Countries? Not so much. And it just goes downhill from there. He has an ego the size of fifty countries, really.

Oh well. I'll be meeting with the two pipers again tonight who are planning their competition next year around mine, and we've found one lovely tune already. They're still looking for more, but the tune they found (hills of gilliecraic, something like that?) has suggestive swoops that would be perfectly complimented by twirls and flourishes. It's also an older tune, so theoretically no one else would be playing it, and judges like variety.

And, of course, since Monday night practice is at the normal place, I'll be venturing to the anime store to see if they have gotten in a Quincy cross or a Zaraki plushie. And now I'll be checking for anything YYH, too, since I'm in love with it. I don't recall seeing anything before, but since I didn't know the characters before, I doubt I would have noticed.

This week is going to be insane. We have a working-lunch meeting tomorrow, and a conference/seminar this weekend. I might be scarce from Thursday through Sunday, I don't know what my schedule will be like, or when we'll be getting back. Add to this that MarioKart for the Wii comes out on Sunday... heehee.

I need to finish my magazine article. It's not cooperating, though. I know what it's going to be about, but the first line is just being evil and stupid. I'll get it worked out.

The BleachMob seems to be up for movie cosplaying. :D I've talked to most of them except Lisa. This will rock. :D

So Tri's been feeling ill lately, and wasn't having a good morning. She requested that I write a ficlet Janet and I sort-of discussed on Janet's LJ, and gave me permission to post it.

Title: Four Captains, Zero Inhibitions
Author: Me/Nadat/Jackie
Word Count: 615
Rating: PG
Characters: Kisuke, Isshin, Shunsui, Jyuushiro
Summary: Streaking.

( 'I don’t think any of us even want to forget.' Isshin grinned. 'Though I bet the Old Man does…' )

Spring cleaning update: Dresser complete now too.

This morning there was a sign put on the front doors with a grammatical error.

Just went by it, it has already been edited. Twice.

I don't feel quite so odd, hee.

Edited to add: Someone accidentally printed out something in wingdings (symbols) on the printer. One of my coworkers was apparently as bored as I am, and started it through editing. I got to use my 'No smileys in articles!" rant. Hee. Now it's going around the office. :D


Also, I wote a very fluffy, G-rated Hanatarou/Hinamori piece. This is likely my muse striking back because of writing too much Kenpachi. That and the fact that Mishima Kenpachi is very, very moody at the moment. It can be found on Bleach_het.

And the third entry in the Drabble Challenge: ( Ricochet )

Niggsy's icon for this prompt is here.

I can't remember how to spell proportions. So you get 'size' instead.

niggsyisabore and I are starting a 100-prompt challenge: her with icons, me with drabbles.

( The first prompt is Snake Eyes )


____________________________________________________________________________

Also on the topic of drabbles, I hit chapter 100 on my fanfiction.net story and celebrated with a set of 14 - an intro one and one on each of the 13 fukataichous in The Fukataichou's Badge, similar to the set of 16 I did, one on each taichou I did for my 50th chapter, The Captain's Haori.

____________________________________________________________________________

And last but not least, a rather long meme ( stolen from Oceanica )

Title: Good Morning!
Fandom: Bleach
Rating: PG
Characters: Aizen Sousuke, Urahara Kisuke, others mentioned
Words: 466
Summary: Kisuke decides to take matters into his own hands.
Warnings: None
SPOILERS for Soul Society Arc, Hueco Mundo arc... basically everything out so far.
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters.

( Gin’s smile was mild compared to the genuinely cheerful expression on Kisuke’s face. )

So, even though four other people said they were going to dress up in the office, I am alone. But that's all right. I'll be overly cheerful and Kisuke-like and shall ignore comments inquiring if I was a leprechaun hobo. I know I'm Irish, you know I'm Irish, and it's green. But come on, people... and someone called my Cloud-purse scary. :( Oh well.

I get to go trick-or-treating for the second time in my life tonight, hee, with Lisa and Andrew. I like dressing up, I like candy. What's not to love about this day?

My lead NaNoWriMo character has a name now: Julius Alexander Renhowl III. And yeah, he's as pretentious as he sounds. I'm still working on figuring out the rest of the cast. Tselenar, the Left Hand of the Elf Queen, will be there. He's rather omnipresent in my stories set in this world. But I don't think the rest of his odd group will show up. I'm thinking I want more royal advisers in this party. I have to select what race, though. And I have to find my notes on Satyr genealogies.

The fear house went well last night. No one hit me or the clowns. :D More people scream when they see you right behind them than when you jump and yell at them. However, I have absolutely no voice at this point in time. I'm downing cough drops like they're going out of style, hoping that I can have something tonight. One girl in particular was a lot of fun: I made her yelp when I popped out and roared, but then I followed her. As they went around a corner she saw me, and screamed extraordinarily loudly, and took off RUNNING. She didn't stop screaming until she was out. Long scream, breath, long scream, breath...

Some twerps stole two lights, which were how I could tell when someone had entered my hallway. Gits.

Another group was part of my church, our drummer and his two sons. They came into my room, I roared, the two boys yelped like puppies and clung to their father, who was laughing his head off. I'm pretty sure he knew who I was right away. If the cane isn't a dead giveaway, the black duster is something I wear pretty often because I'm cold in church, and that gives me away too. AFTER they yelped and clung and I followed them, the older of the sons said "Hey! I know who that is!" The drummer said "Yes, yes you do." But they still clung. :D Someone else called my cane awesome. Hee.

I love lurching..."AGH! AGH She's right behind us @*$*###*@&!!! RUN YOU IDIOTS! @%#%#^ YOU! FASTER!!!!"

I have signed up for NaNoWriMo with an idea that's been sitting in my head, waiting to be written, for a while now. I'm Tadandader there, as that's how I signed up in 2005.

It looks like I will be traveling to China in mid-January, and hanging out with sister for about ten days. I kinda want to pet a panda like she did.

My voice is nearly gone. Last night and tonight I'm volunteering in a fear house. I yell/roar as I pop out, and then I lurch after the group. I like lurching. It scares them more than the yelling. Some idiot brat came and hit me, though, because I was following right behind a girl in his party. She was last in line. I can sort-of understand a swing as a knee-jerk response to being frightened, but to deliberately drop back and swing... moron. I hope your brain gets eaten by lurching zombies.

Seen on my friendslist: http://www.freerice.com/index.php Test your vocabulary and get rice donated to the hungry.

The first drabble I wrote a couple of days ago. Niggsy won a bet with me tonight, and I'd bet a drabble, so she requested a sequel to this first one. Both are Kenpachi-centric, rated G, with spoilers up to chapter 297 of the manga.

~*~
( Eyepatch Club )
~*~

( Eyepatch Club II )
~*~

...fall on someone else today.

When it's grey outside, Nadat is sleepy, and not as happy. This whole, entire week it has been grey and rainy. I love rain. And napping while it's raining is the best way to get sleep. But this much... Through the office windows I can finally see a couple of leaves glimmering, and this makes me happy. I might just have to sit on my porch and bask this evening, provided there's still some sun.

In the meantime, I've discovered that I define Ukitake through others. So writing him, alone, isn't easy. He's nice, but that's external, and I don't think he thinks of himself as especially nice. He inspires loyalty, but we see that through Sentarou, Kiyone, Rukia, and Kaien. He's strong, but I don't think he sees himself that way either. He's ill, and ill people with positive outlooks don't define themselves as ill. He's a steadfast friend, takes a stand for his beliefs, etc, and this is all external stuff. I don't think I've ever before gotten into his head, and I'm a bit surprised at how hard it is to do so with my second-favorite Bleach character.

Avast, ye swabs. Today be not only International Talk Like a Pirate Day, but it also be Yumichika's birthday. This amuses the muses.

Title: Hoist yer sails
Characters: Ikkaku, Yumichika
Word Count: 100
Spoilers: None

( Hoist yer sails )
~*~

Now go out there, ye scallywags, and be talkin' like a pirate!

Oy, boss,

When giving me two handbooks to completely rewrite, and a pdf file with handwritten notes as far as directions, please, at the very least, make them readable. I think part of this is in Klingon. I can't read your cursive. Your printing is at least legible, but unfortunately, the few things you put in print are useless. "Fix this please! :P" will get me nowhere. Crossing out two whole pages and simply writing "Help!" Sure. I'll help. But direction would be useful.

And seriously. This one word looks like monkeys. But what monkeys have to do with passports I cannot tell. Also. What does checkmark-arrow-"prayer card" mean?

Did we seriously recommend women bring makeup for trips just two years ago? For crying out loud, people...

Head/desk is my OTP.

Ever since I wrote a Hanatarou/Hinamori drabble for my drabble collection Here, my muses have been poking me to write something rather longer for the two. I've postponed, wanting to wait until I finished Taichous before starting something else. Then, yesterday, bleach_news announced a Bleach Drabble challenge at bleach_het. I looked. My muse tricked me into writing something. And now it looks like I'm starting Hanatarou/Hinamori already.

Yes. I was manipulated by my own muse. I phail.

Title: One step at a time
Fandom: Bleach
Characters/Pairings: Hanatarou/Hinamori
Rating: G. Oh come on. This is Hanatarou we're talking about here...
Warnings: Spoilers for Soul Society arc.
Word Count: 374
Summary: Some wounds heal more slowly than others.

( One step at a time )

I also wrote a Shunsui/Nanao that thankfully will NOT grow more. At least, it better not. I find it harder to write them then Shunsui/Ukitake. But this was bleach_HET. So obviously...

Title: Princess
Fandom: Bleach
Pairing/Characters: Shunsui/Nanao
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Word Count: 500
Summary: Shunsui just wants to play on the beach.

( Princess )
~*~

Because niggsyisabore was feeling down about trying to figure out facebook, she asked for Kenpachi drabbles. Wanted mayhem and comedy. I succeeded in making one of them comedic, but at least they both have mayhem...

Title: Experimentation
Word Count: 100
Characters: Kenpachi, Mayuri
Rating: G
Warnings: None

( Experimentation )

~*~

Title: Raining Blood
Word count: 100
Characters: Kenpachi, Yachiru
Rating: PG for, well, raining blood.
Warnings: Guess what? Raining blood. Yeah.

( Raining Blood )

For two weeks I've been dealing with acheyness and scratchy throat. I think my body actually wants to get sick. I've fought as hard as I could, but my throat is now sore too. I think I'm losing. :(

Oh well. At least I have cough drops.

We have changed around how articles go through editing here at work. This is good, because our website content-manager was getting a little... heavy-handed. Changing titles, teasers, ledes, anything he felt like it, when he felt like it. So this should make all of us writers/editors happy, which is not an easy thing.

I've also moved desks. This makes me happy. Instead of being shoved into a back corner, I am now near the other writers. This is also closer to the chocolate stash, which may or may not be a good thing.

Taichous Invade is going to kill me. Szayel's release is just obnoxious. I realize the evil creatures have to get more and more powerful, but... Agh. Oh well. At least it's Byakuya against him. If it was Shunsui, I'd end up spending hours just writing suggestive dialogue between the two.

Oh, and look! Moodtheme! Bleach! Made by niggsyisabore and myself. Not quite done, but close, and so pretty. Now I've just got to choose whether to really use what mood I'm in, or go for a pretty picture. So full of our four favorites: Kisuke, Kenpachi, Shunsui, and Ukitake.

Forget this. Have a pretty. Favorite mood, right here. Yay CloudPurse!

I am published. Both things are small, and they're through work, but it's official enough to make me happy. I have an article in the magazine we put out, and one of our brochures to my name. Also, my article for the next magazine is ready.

'Tis a good day in Jackie-land. :D

It's been a very slow week at the office, and at the moment it does not appear that this will change. Don't know what it is, maybe it's just end-of-the-month slowness with news. Due to this, I am rather bored. So, on that note, I open myself up to drabble or ficlet requests.

Is there a character (or pair of characters) you want to see something of? Request and I shall do my best. This is open to anyone. The fandoms I think I know enough about to tackle are: Bleach, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Full Metal Alchemist. Suggest a character (or two) and a prompt word.

Edited to add: No more crossovers. They're not good for ficlets and drabbles as I have to get the characters in the same world first, and THEN try to write. If ever I do a story thing, then maybe crossovers.

I'm nearly halfway done with Chapter Four. It's going a bit slower than I'd like because it's so much more description instead of dialogue this time. It's already up to eleven pages.

Question, though, raised by my beta and for anyone who might know: Can plushieCloud transform into full-size people? I believe he can, and he would just be weaker, but I can't bring to mind any times that he has gone from purse to person. I'm hoping someone knows offhand so I don't have to watch the Bount arc over. Yes, it's better than the current fillers, but still... heh. If he can't... shoot. I'll be redoing four of those eleven pages, then.

When Lisa and I shop for something I'm wanting to find, I find nothing, and she ends up buying all sorts of stuff.

When we're shopping and she's wanting to find something, she doesn't find it and I end up buying stuff.

She was looking for the My Neighbor Totoro soundtrack last night. Guess who ended up finding stuff?

However, the two things I did get were nice - volume 14 of Full Metal Alchemist, and the soundtrack from the first Myst game. Now I've got to play the games again. It's such a gorgeous series. It should have been long enough that while I'll remember the basic gist of how to solve the puzzles, I won't remember the solutions. Riven's the only one I might not want to play again. Got stuck with that horrid marble-placement puzzle for DAYS. Ran back and forth between the islands (which meant switching discs too), trying to figure out the right spots, kept trying... only puzzle I broke down and got online help on. Uru's a dangerous one because I don't know how long I spent sitting in the Kadish Tolesea gallery just listening to the music. But free movement through D'ni... so awesome. [/geek]

Finished the first draft of my first magazine article. It's one thing to have lots of articles online, but this is gonna be in print. I'm only slightly excited. :D Got it back from the other editors, and now I've got to refine it, but it's on its way. :D

Title: Initiation
Fandom: Bleach
Rating: PG
Characters: SoiFon and Nanao mostly, others are there.
Words: 633
Summary: It's SoiFon's first Shinigami Women's Association Meeting, and Matsumoto wants some fun.
Warnings: Mentions of nudity, nothing graphic, though.


( Initiation )

Yikes. At this rate I'll have to start a ficlets thread instead of drabble on ffnet...

Title: Needing some help
Rating: G
Characters: Hitsugaya, Ukitake, Shunsui
Pairings: Shunsui/Ukitake
Warnings: None
Word Count: 140
Summary: Hitsugaya is tired of Ukitake's candy.


( Needing some help )