Hi! This is my (queenitsy's) writing journal. If you are looking for anything about me and my life, or general fannish squeeing, that's probably where you want to be. This is where I post fic. It's also where I post about writing, both fanfic and original stuff. A lot of it is very self-indulgent and pretentious. I only really write about the original stuff under friendslock -- the only stuff that's friendslocked -- but I will friend back anyone who friends this journal.

Ushering in 2010, I wrote:

- Domestic Dispute (950 words)
- Blog Post (1000 words)
- Book Review (700 words)
- Complete nonsense #1 (2,200 words)
- Complete nonsense #2 (2,500 words)

TOTAL: 7,350

I still owe Annie V her ficlet.

Title: Domestic Dispute
Rating/Warnings: NC-17 (cursing, smut; despite the title, only arguing, not abuse)
Notes: For ienablu ♥; 900-something words.
Summary: It's the little things that make living together hard, especially after a bad day.


Living together, it turned out, was not actually that easy. Ryan was aware that he squeezed the toothpaste from the middle, always stole the sheets, and took up about 9/10ths of the closet space, all of which probably annoyed Chad a little. But those things were small. And not terrible.

Terrible was that Chad had to have the remote in his hands at all time, even when Ryan was the one watching TV. Terrible was when Chad didn't hang up clothing after he washed it, so all of Ryan's shirts got wrinkled. Terrible was Chad's inability to do the fucking dishes.

( Read more... )

The thing about vacation is days run together. Yesterday was Sunday, huh? Fine.

Basically, I wrote:

- Secret slash: 950ish words
- Overheard: 2000 words

And that's it. Boo for my attempts at productivity. I still owe two friends ficlets, and then at least I'll feel caught up. Everything else... *shrug*

I'd like to work on the fic I was super duper inspired for a couple of weeks ago, but never actually wrote. And I have an original-type idea that I might play with just for fun, to take the stress off of things I feel like I should be working on. IDK. We'll see. I think I'll probably keep track out of habit, but I may attempt to be more low-key about writing stuff in the coming year.

Title: Overheard
Rating/Warnings: Heavy-ish PG-13, for some cursing and lots of references to sex
Summary: In the midst of a bad day, Chad overhears Sharpay and Ryan gossiping about Ryan's current crush.

When Gabi needed more towels at the pool, she told housekeeping; housekeeping got them ready, but was too busy to deliver, so they called on the wait staff. Chad had basically had a day from hell and was about three seconds away from spitting in Mrs. Delvish's liver, telling off Mr. Kane, and getting himself fired, so he jumped at the chance. It would only take about five minutes, but it would get him outside where he could get some fresh air and cool off.

( Read more... )

Meme! Because I am too lazy to write actual things. From liketheroad, ( fanfic year in review: )

Wow, I have some kind of amnesia this week. I know I wrote that ficlet for Jen (~800 words) and about 600 words of some PWP, but I'm sure there were other things. I just haven't got the vaguest idea what they were.

Huh.

I know I'l be more productive this upcoming week, though; I've got to write my secret slash fic (I know what's going to happen, I just need to write it out -- it's a sort of perfect prompt for the pairing and the season :D), plus I still owe ficlets to Iena and Annie V, and I have a pretty fantastic HSM plot bunny.

I mean, seriously.

No one has written "they have to do a health project where they pretend an egg is their baby" fic in this corner of the fandom? SERIOUSLY? *pounces on the idea like whoa* I LOVE CLICHES SO MUCH.

Also, four days of work and then vacaaaaatioooooon~~~

( Ortegaverse, part b )
In case you are wondering, in part three (Title: "Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other"; part one was "His Eyes Are Blue (In Case You Couldn't Tell)"), after some awkwardness, David dumps Ryan because, even knowing Jack is straight, he realizes that as much as he likes Ryan, he's in love with Jack, and that's not fair to Ryan. (Oh, David, always being mature…) Ryan gets upset, has a one-night-stand with Chad, who of course would like that to become something more, and when it doesn't, it basically wrecks their friendship.

A few weeks later, Jack turns up, totally wasted, at a cast party for a show Ryan was working on, and in his drunken state it turns out he's not nearly as straight as he'd like to pretend. He just can't tell anyone, particularly not David, because of his dad. Ryan gets pissed off, threatens to out Jack to David, and Jack finally manages to do it himself, and they, of course, get together. (Because they are Jack and David, and that's just how that works.) And then, weeks later, Chad and Ryan finally work their shit out and get together, though I never worked the details of that out, which is a large part of why the fic was never finished back in the day. So everyone is happy, the end!

Why does my brain keep giving me ideas for Sonny With a Chance fics? I really have no intentions of writing about the hijinks when Mackenzie Falls loses its #1 spot in the ratings and Chad Dylan Cooper goes slowly mad until it turns out it was just a glitch in the computer software that counts votes (because that's how ratings work!); or about how Chad's parents are pushy and think Hollywood is evil so he accidentally told them he's dating Sonny because she's so wholesome and now they need to pretend they've been together for six months, whoops!

...

THIS IS WHAT MY BRAIN DOES, IDEK.

Anyway, a handful of people on my flist have declared it WIP amnesty time. I have many unfinished fics and scenes on my hard drive, but only a few that I really had hopes for turning into anything. Realistically I know probably none of them will ever actually get finished, but I have a hard time declaring projects dead forever. But... (sigh)

So here's the middle section of the Ortegaverse (au!Newsies/HSM crossover), the only section that was mostly coherent and any good at all, upon rereading. The entire fic started like this (and I know I posted other random pieces as snippets through the years), and because it was well before the third movie came out, Chad and Ryan are at NYU. Essentially, in part one, they became good friends, Chad introduced Ryan to his baseball teammate Jack, who subsequently introduced Ryan to his BFF David, who goes to Columbia. David has a massive, unrequited thing for Jack (who is allegedly straight, but... he's Jack, so...), but he and Ryan end up sort of dating, secretly, because David doesn't want to tell Jack about it. Part 2 is what happens over winter break.

It is melodramatic, unedited (at least a few lines repeat twice because I hadn't decided where to use them yet), and I've already cannibalized pieces of it for the frat!verse, now that I think about it. I'm also too lazy to format it properly, despite my general love affair with italics. Also, this middle section alone is 14,000-ish words, so I have to turn it into two posts. (The total of what I wrote was about 26,000 words.)

So, for your reading pleasure (or not): ( Part 2: Vacation, All I Ever Wanted )

I am a very structure-based writer, and also someone who, to paraphrase David Eddings, needs a hundred pages just to clear my throat. Fic is the only way I've been able to write short form, and let's face it, even many of my one shot fics are pretty lengthy. I think the two are related: structure means build, and building things to my satisfaction takes a long. frigging. time.

Which is on my mind because I've been poking at the superhero 'verse. (And considering the frat 'verse.) And I think it's why I have such a tendency not only towards long fics, but also 'verses. Part of that's that I just can't leave well enough alone and I enjoy fiddling with things like that for the same reason I enjoy writing fic in general; when I love something enough to play with it, I don't really want to stop playing just because the (well, a) story is done.

But it's really easy for me to get fixated on what I wan to happen someday, days/weeks/years after the fic I've written has ended, but for me it's not satisfying to have just that scene by itself. What makes it satisfying for me is how the characters got there. So it becomes a whole 'nother story. And another. And so on. So it becomes a universe.

This is biting me in the ass a bit with the superhero 'verse, btw. The reason I have not finished the Go/Scuro porn I super wanted to write? What makes it work for me is not what they're doing so much as how they got there; how screwed up Chad is after everything he and Taylor have gone through, how Ryan's control issues make the whole idea of being blindfolded into a Big Thing, and how it actually changes their relationship. The actual sex? *shrug*

(And it means I can't write the other fic I'm planning until I write the fic before that because if there's no build up of the character relationships, things like unmasking and acknowledging feelings for one another has no impact. The problem? I don't know what happens in the fic before that; I just know how it sets up their relationships.)

(Translation of the whole post: my life, so hard!)

Title: Big Dreams
Rating: G? Fluff.
Notes: For harmonyangel. ♥
Summary: Jack dreams big, but it's different when he has a chance to make it real.

Jack Kelly dreamed big. There was no two ways about it.

For so long, it had been Santa Fe. Not just working as a ranch hand, but owning his own ranch. Maybe the biggest ranch in New Mexico. He was sure that if he'd gotten on the train, he could have done it. But he couldn't just leave his boys, could he?

( Read more... )

So this week, I basically blew off the novel. Not sure what's going to happen with that in the long run. Oops.

I wrote:
- Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome: 4,500 words
- Unwrapping (Javid ficlet): 400 words
- Unfinished W/W fic: 900 words
- Unfinished C/R fic: 1,100 words
TOTAL: 6,900 words

So despite my novel-related neuroses, I'm being productive. I just need to figure out what I want to focus on. (sigh.)

Title: Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome
Rating/Warnings: R for (non-explicit) sex; contains major embarrassment squick.
Notes: Takes place in the same 'verse as Wildcats: Beginnings, a month or so later. It probably won't make much sense unless you've read that first. Thanks, as always, to poisonivory, harmonyangel, second_batgirl, and magickalmolly.
Summary: In which Sharpay decides to seduce Zeke, Chad jumps to an impulsive conclusion, and Ryan amuses himself at other people's expenses.

Sharpay breezed into the bakery, all smiles and flash. She had one goal: Zeke Baylor.

He'd been avoiding her, and she had no idea why. But he was basically the definition of tall, dark, and handsome. And he was funny -- wry and cynical, but hilarious -- and he baked. Every single time they'd gone out, he'd greeted her with another delicious homemade good.

( Read more... )

I did basically nothing this week. Today I finally finished a chapter of the novel, but that's it. Fail.

The Novel: I'm still behind on where I should be, and am not striving as hard as I could on it. But I did make progress this week; I got another chapter and a half cleared (maybe two? I also don't keep excellent track). I'm actually very near the end of my second act, which is at least 90% rewriting, and I've realized that in the last month, while I feel like I've got nothing done, I've actually written and edited quite a bit. Again, not as much as I should have, but not so little I'm scoffing at myself, either.

Fannish: There was that tiny ficlet (300 words), and then, uh.... 8,000 words of Sky High fic. THIS SHOULD BE AN ENORMOUS SURPRISE.

Snippet! Warren and his mom prepare for a party at the Strongholds' house:

Warren stared at his mom. "You're wearing that?"

"Hm, my teenage son disapproves. That means either it's embarrassing, or it's sexy." She looked at herself in the mirror and did a slow turn. And yes, her shimmering silver dress was by far the nicest thing Warren had seen her wear in years. "I'm going with sexy."

He snorted disdainfully. "It's embarrassing when old ladies try to be hot."

"Thank you. And that's what you're wearing?"

He looked down at his outfit. Not that it was an outfit. It was jeans, a t-shirt, and his leather jacket, which is what he'd been wearing all day. "Uh, yeah."

"You can't dress up a little?"

"For Stronghold?"

"For the party," she corrected. "You could at least wear pants with no holes."

"I like these pants."

"Go. Change."

He gave up. His mother had lot her mind, and that meant there would be no arguing with her. He changed into a slightly nicer pair of black jeans and walked back out. She sighed.

"Wearing a shirt with a collar would have killed you?"

"Yeah, I really think so."

"Well, at least you're presentable. You need a haircut, though."

"Mom."

"I'm just teasing, sweetie."

"Don't call me sweetie."

"So you're wearing that to the red carpet. Really, Sonny? Really?"

Sonny looked at herself in the mirror and tried to ignore Chad, because he was just trying to psych her out, playing his evil little reindeer games. "I look good."

"Eh." He shook his hand in a kinda-sorta-maybe gesture. "Maybe, but to premier Fashionista, shouldn't you wear something more… fashionista-able?"

"Don't you mean fashionable?"

"You know what I mean." He stroked at non-existent facial hair and nodded. "I mean, your dress…"

"Is pretty!"

"Eh." Kinda-sorta-maybe again. "And those straps kind of give you linebacker shoulders."

"Chad!"

"Well, hey, I mean there's always the chance you'll need to tackle someone on the red carpet."

"Chad!"

"Fashionista herself on the Worst Dressed List. Ironic, doncha think?"

"At least I'm not wearing argyle."

"Argyle is awesome, okay, and I'm not wearing it on a red carpet."

"Because you weren't invited."

"Like I'd even go to your stupid premier."

"Like I'd even invite you."

"Like I'd want you to invite me."

"Like I'd want you to want me to invite you."

"Psh." Chad scowled. "And have you even looked at the back? I mean it's all… low and swoopy and… shimmery."

Sonny turned, trying to watch herself in the mirror over her own shoulder. "I think my dress is fine."

"Really, Sonny?"

"Really, Chad."

"Really. Well, all right. Have fun walking the red carpet. By yourself. In your shimmery linebacker dress."

Sonny sighed. "Chad, do you want to come with me?"

"Psh. No. I just thought maybe you'd want a ride in my awesome convertible."

"Really, Chad?" She rolled her eyes and walked out of the dressing room, then paused. "If you're coming, you're not wearing an argyle sweater vest."

"Got my tux in my dressing room."

"Really, Chad?"

"Really."

I was basically dead to the world for half of this week. I got a little under a chapter done of the novel, all of which was writing from scratch, because nothing in my middle third actually made any sense or did anything it was supposed to in the rough draft. WHOOPS.

But also, I was extremely distracted by Sky High this week. As will happen. Y'know.

Word count:
- Spot/Race ficlet: ~300 words
- Jackson/Cody ficlet: ~300 words
- Various Sky High bits: ~ 3,600 words
TOTAL: 4,200 words (not counting the novel, obvs)

Next week I will totally work hardcore on the novel. REALLY.

Also I will probably write some more ridiculous Sky High fic. I am writing a romantic interest for Mr. Boy. YEAH, YOU HEARD ME.

Snippet (unrelated):

Layla loved the holidays. She loved them so much she had volunteered to stay after school to decorate, even though it meant getting a ride home from Mr. Boy. That was a major disadvantage to Sky High -- students who stayed late, be it for detention or to volunteer, had to find a way back down.

But it was totally worth it. She walked down the hallway, arms outstretched above her head, feeling the rush of power and the smell of sweet, fresh greenery.

"You know, Hippie, you're awfully inconsistent about that no-power-use policy."

She twirled to see Warren leaning against the mad science lab doorway and smirking. Which was his second-favorite facial expression, she was pretty sure. Right after scowling.

"What?" she asked.

"You say you don't use them unless absolutely necessary, but…" He gestured at the holly she'd been growing above the row of lockers. "You do. All the time."

"This is necessary," she said. "Christmas is next week. I'm decking the halls, Warren."

"Yeah. Necessary. Right."

She walked over to him, rolling her eyes. "It's holiday cheer. It's important. And hey, look at that." She pointed up, and he looked where she pointed. And once his gaze was up, she grew a tiny sprig of mistletoe.

"Shouldn't you be doing that over Stronghold's head?" he asked.

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "I don't need mistletoe to get away with kissing him."

He scrubbed at his cheek with one hand, like a little boy who resented his mom kissing him. "Do that again, and I set your boughs of holly on fa-la-la-la-fire."

100 words, Warren/Layla:

Warren never told Layla that he'd recognized her the second she walked in the Paper Lantern's door. He saw her sit down and knew Stronghold was coming, but Stronghold never showed up. Warren watched her wait, and sip tea, and mope. And Stronghold still didn't show.

But Warren didn't sit down out of pity, because he didn't recognize her first as "that girl who follows Stronghold everywhere." He saw her as "the cute redhead with the permanent smile."

He hated that she wasn't smiling.

He hated Stronghold for that way more than anything involving their fathers.

So Warren sat down.

Title: Five Times Warren Lied, and One Time He Told the Truth
Author: queenitsy
Pairing/Character: Warren-centric gen (overtones of Will/Warren/Layla)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It's always about Warren's father.
Spoilers/Warnings: Some language.
(Thanks to poisonivory for the beta.)

5.

Warren Battle is six years old. It's the middle of the night, and his father shakes him awake. He sits up, confused. His father sits on the edge of his bed, but doesn't turn on the light. Just holds out a hand that glows like magic.

"Do you like the stories I tell you?" he asks, smiling.

Warren nods sleepily. ( Read more... )

So I did work on the novel this week. I did. In fact, I got about a chapter and a half done. I'm just that point in the cycle of such things where I hate it and it's like pulling teeth and it sucks and I want to set it on fire. You know, as you do. I know I'll swing back around, so I'm trying not to beat myself up or stress myself out (hi, I'm crazy, have we met?), but... Bleh.

So while I wasn't working on the novel, I wrote about 2,700 words of Chad/Ryan nonsense that will never see the light of day and isn't even worth snippeting, and then today I wrote 2,000 words of Sky High fic. And also mainlined about 15 Sky High fics, reading-wise.

Basically, I had forgotten how freaking much I love that movie until I watched it last night, since I was sick and it is definitely a comfort movie for me. YAY MOVIE. (I also discovered that I ship Layla/Warren almost as hard as I ship Will/Warren/Layla, which surprised me, but darn it all, the scenes of the two of them flirting awkwardly are so freaking cute. I also sort of ship Warren/Magenta, because she would put up with none of his nonsense, which I appreciate. But I totally love Zack/Magenta, and the afore mentioned Warren/Layla and Will/Warren/Layla, so it's not like I ship it super hard or anything. I JUST HAVE A LOT OF OPINIONS, OKAY.)

Uh, snippet. This is not actually a Warren/Magenta fic, it's just a scene of her being sassy.
--

Magenta is made of pure evil. Usually Warren enjoys that. Right now, not so much.

"It's not like I'm asking you to go," Magenta says. "I have a date, if you hadn't noticed. I'm asking you if you're going."

"And I'm telling you, no I'm not," Warren says.

Magenta gives him one of her patented Magenta Looks, which says much louder than words that she is not at all impressed with him. Warren tries to ignore it. He hates Magenta Looks.

"Lots of people go to school dances without dates," she finally says.

"And that is relevant to me how?"

"Just saying."

"Well, don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't -- don't say things! Jeeze." He glowers.

Too bad glowering doesn't work on people made of pure evil.

"I'll say what I want," she snaps. "Like this: you are so not fooling anyone, Warren."

For a second he tastes adrenaline, feels the tingle of heat in his hands. He clenches a fist and puts it out. Magenta is pure evil, but she's also his friend, and friends don't set other friends on fire, no matter how annoying they are.