laughtersmelody

I always try to make it my tradition to post an entry for the new year. I’m a little late this year, but I wanted to post something anyway. :) (For anyone actually watching my journal - I think there are a few of you still out there, lol *waves* - you can also consider this the long-overdue update I’ve been promising).

Where do I start? 2014 was honestly a crazy year. My mom and I found out at the end of last year that we’d have to be move a second time. Due to unexpected complications, that move wound up being pushed back to the end of February, during my spring break. It was then delayed a little more because on the first night we spent in our new house, we found out there was a gas leak. We had to wait for the leak to be repaired before we could finish moving in. The whole move was like that. For instance, our pastor was helping us with a few things the movers didn’t take, and his van died. (Thank the Lord, we were in the driveway, and not on the road, and he only needed a jump start). The whole move was just nuts all around. But, praise God, we made it through, and we really do like the house we’re in now. It’s very close to our old neighborhood, the one we were in for 23 years before the whole moving saga began, so it feels very much like home. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to stay here for a long time, both because we love the house, and because we’re just so very tired of moving.

The rest of the year is a bit of a blur, lol. School started right back up after the move, and during the summer…well, I’ll be honest. I was so wiped out from the two moves and my classes that I just sort of when into semi-hibernation mode, lol. I relaxed. I read fan fiction. I caught up on much needed sleep. I caught up with my friends (who have all been very understanding when school swallows me). Of course, school began again in the Fall, and my schedule was as busy as ever.

But, praise God, I finished my BA on December 14th, 2014. It’s *such* a blessing to be done with school for now. I love school, I do, but it’s taken up just about all my time for the four years. I’m tired of having to answer, “School,” when someone asks me what I’ve been up to, lol! I’m ready to do something else. At some point in the future, I might try to go for my Masters, but right now, I want to concentrate on paying off my student loans.

But, before the job search starts in earnest, I get to have all four of my wisdom teeth extracted. *grimaces* Not exactly the graduation present I was hoping for, but it needs to be done. Then, the job search begins in earnest. I’m honestly not sure what I will be doing yet. I want to work in the publishing industry is possible, but my first priority will be paying down my student loans. I’m just going to have to trust that the Lord will lead me to where he wants me to be.

2014 itself came to an interesting end. On New Years Eve, my dad wound up needing emergency surgery on a hernia. He's doing well now, thank the Lord, and he's healing, though it will be a 6 to 8 week long recovery, which I know will be tough on him, because he hates sitting still.

Fandom-wise, I’ve honestly left quite a fandoms partly because of being so busy with school and also just a general lack of interest. I haven’t watched Supernatural for a couple seasons because I don’t like where they took their storyline. Arrow lost me as well, and so did Elementary, Person of Interest, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Hawaii 5-0. I did, however, find Merlin on Netflix, and absolutely loved it. I wrote a fic for it (which I really must post here at some point… *blushes*). Merlin and Freya are my Merlin OTP. She was only in one episode, but goodness, it’s such a sweet, genuine relationship. There needs to be more Merlin/Freya fic, there definitely does.

I also got pulled into the Hunger Games fandom after seeing the first movie. I totally wound up pulled into the Katniss/Peeta ship too, and Peeta and his family just fascinate me. It’s a relatively dark fictional universe, but I honestly like that about it. Writers like Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were so convinced that human nature was inclined towards goodness. The Bible, however, makes it clear that humanity is *fallen*. We very often chose evil, rather than good. That is why we need a Savior. Whether it’s intentional or not, the Hunger Games series highlights the fallen aspects of the human heart. I also think that the Hunger Games series puts the audience in a unique position. You know you should hate the idea of Games that pit children against each other in a fight to death, and yet, you can’t stop watching/reading because you want to find out what happens next. In effect, the audience is pulled into the same situation as the Capitol citizens they want to despise - they can’t help but see how *compelling* the Games are. I think it’s a brilliant literary strategy.

I also recently have started to get pulled into the Hobbit movies, purely because of Kili and Tauriel. I’ve never been all that much of an LOTR fan, and know very little about that particular universe, but Kili and Tauriel have perked my interest. I have heard that some Tolkien purists loath Tauriel because she wasn’t in the original books (I know that, essentially, she was put in the movies because producers thought The Hobbit needed a strong female presence to balance things out). But I enjoy Kili and Tauriel’s interactions. There’s such a wonderful magnetic pull between them.

As far as writing goes, my main focus has been working on my Avengers fic, Twenty Pieces of Silver, which I am horribly behind at posting here on LJ. I wrote a couple short pieces for Moonlight, and one or two other Clint/Nat one shots a few months ago, and even a Tony/Pepper piece, but TPOS is still my big project. I have no idea how long that fic will wind up being, but it’s quite a lot of fun to write.

In the next few weeks or so, I also plan to begin working on an original novel. It’s a science fiction story I have had in mind for ages, and it is - as far as I know - fairly different from anything I’ve seen before. I’m going to take my time working on it, and plan to do some really in-depth outlining and planning, which is a little different for me (I don't normally use outlines) but I think the story calls for it. I will have to see where that leads as well. :)

I have no doubt that I’m leaving quite a bit out, and all of that probably seems a bit jumbled. On a personal level, it’s just been that kind of year, lol. (And if any friends are reading this, and I owe you an email, it will hopefully, be on its way soon. I’m still working my way through the school related backlog in my in-box. My sincere apologies that it’s taking so long!)

On a more serious note, what a sad year it has been globally. So very many tragedies and conflicts. Too many to name here. There has been so much upheaval. More and more I find myself clinging to the verse, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11.

May you have a very blessed, peaceful, prosperous 2015.

Lol, alright, I admit it, this is unabashedly borrowed from CC's (candycentric) journal. (And if you'd reading this, CC, I'm sorry I never came up with one for you!)

The idea was to list the first lines from a number of your fics as prompts, so others can use the same first line in drabbles or ficlets of their own. But looking back at my fics, I'm not sure how many of the opening lines in my fics lend themselves well to drabbles and ficlets, so I'm using lines from my unfinished fics pages (I hope you don't mind me borrowing that idea from you either, CC :) ) and a few other random lines that popped into my mind... *blushes*

( This way to the prompts... )

I already wrote a short entry in my journal a while ago about swearing in fan fiction, but I wanted to write a longer entry about it, both for the fan fiction website that I am working on, Not Of This World Fan Fiction, and also because I wanted to give some suggestions about it for anyone who feels like I do, or wants to challenge themselves to writing without it. :)

( Read more... )