I'm back, I'm back! *bounces up and down*

... Actually, I got in a couple of days ago? But have kind of been recovering, heh. I lost five more pounds on my two-week blitz of a trip, despite completely abandoning my diet, so that should give you some idea of just how crazy it all was. It was amazing, though. We took about 600 pictures, so here are a few of the highlights:

( Kayaking in Florida! )
( Visiting the Calamity Jane in Mobile )
( Lounging in Mississippi's Petrified Forest )
( Pausing in Memphis... )
( At the Capitol Relics in Nashville )
( Checking out Kentucky's Stonehenge )
( A random geocaching moment in Indianapolis )
( Visiting with Sue in Chicago )
( At Lincoln's Tomb )
( At the St. Louis Union Station )
( At the St. Louis Arch! )
( At the 40th Parallel Marker )
( Outside Wall Drug in South Dakota )
( At Mt. Rushmore )
( At the abandoned Black Hills Ingersoll mine )
( At Devil's Tower in Wyoming )

PG-13, Star Trek XI, Winona POV; gen, 2500 words.

In some ways, she's been bracing herself for this call from the day Jimmy was born.

(Set just after "But Not Jim Kirk" in my sequence of gap fillers).

( The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time )

(x-posted to st_reboot & where_no_woman)

*yawn* I am so freaking exhausted, you have no idea. But at least it's a good-exhausted!

I've been busy every single evening for the last I don't know how long; I've been trying to pack for my vacation all week but things like Relay for Life, my dryer breaking down, stopping up my toilet by accidentally flushing one of those disposable scrubby things that aren't supposed to flush, a last-minute geocaching run, Father's Day, etcetera, and so on have totally gobbled up my time. I get home from work today at 6, I have to be at Mom's so she can drive me to the airport at 6:30, and the packing's still not done. Argh.

At least I have all of the necessaries bought (including smaller clothes!) except for some cleansing face pads and sunscreen, which I just remembered on the way to work this morning and can totally be picked up when I get to Florida. I'm going to be Internet-AWOL tonight and all of tomorrow; I'll have a few hours on Thursday on my brother's laptop while he's doing his last full day at work; and then my connection's going to be really spotty until about July 10. (Basically, a few borrowed minutes at whichever hotels we stop at on the drive back which happen to have wi-fi).

So. I hope to post another short fic today; but then I'm gone, and I'll probably miss most of what happens while I'm on our Grand Cross-Country Adventure. I'll have to ask for Recs of Awesome (including self-recs, for those of you authors reading here) when I get back. Don't have too much fun without me!
~

PG-13, Star Trek XI, Pike POV; gen, 4900 words.

By the fourth morning Christopher Pike wakes up in the sickbay of the USS Enterprise, he is heartily sick of his surroundings, his circumstances, his own emotional reactions to the above, and just about every other facet of his current existence.

(4th in a series; falls between "Pressing Sail" and "But Not Jim Kirk" in my sequence of gap fillers).

( Relieving Pressure )

(x-posted to st_reboot)

(being an organizational post for the Reboot stories by Jedi Buttercup, listed in timeline order, most of which are standalones-- but all of which occur in the same continuous fictive universe).

Last Updated: 7/10/2009
Current Story Count: 11
Current Word Count:  22,100

---

2255: Jim Kirk, meet Captain Pike

No Compromises -- PG; Kirk POV; 1000 words

2258: Jim Kirk, meet Captain Nero

The Press of Duty -- PG; Pike POV; 1400 words

Pressing the Point -- PG-13; Pike & Jim Kirk; 3400 words

Pressing Sail -- PG-13; Pike & Admiral Barnett; 2600 words

Relieving Pressure -- PG-13; Pike & Dr. McCoy & Jim Kirk; 4900 words

But Not Jim Kirk -- PG-13; Jim Kirk & Gary Mitchell; 2000 words

The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time -- PG-13; Winona & Jim Kirk; 2500 words

2258: Back on Earth

Just Doing Her Job -- PG-13; Gaila & Jim Kirk; 1400 words

2258: The Voyage Begins

Giving Her All They've Got -- PG-13; Enterprise/Everyone; 10 x 100 words

Throwing Down the Gauntlet -- PG; Spock & Jim Kirk; 1400 words

A Most Dismissive Manner -- PG; Uhura/Spock; 500 words

~

PG-13, Star Trek XI (and TOS), Jim Kirk & Gary Mitchell; 2000 words.

He hadn't thought about what it would sound like to Gary, who had four more years' service under his belt and not a chance in hell of following the same meteoric track.

( But Not Jim Kirk )

(x-posted to st_reboot)

PG-13, Star Trek XI. 10 x 100 words.

... or, Ten People who Were Seduced by the Starship Enterprise, Enterprise/Everyone.

( Giving Her All They've Got )

(x-posted to st_reboot)

Expletive-deleted allergies: my throat is swollen and sore and my eyes all itchy, and that's even after I've taken Claritin. The heavier stuff always knocks me for a loop, so I daren't take it at work; this is going to be a very long day.

Bright light at the end, though! maevebran and I are going to be watching "Star Trek" again this evening. It'll be the tenth viewing for me, third or fourth for her. Mom teased me the other day that I'm going to have it memorized long before it comes out on DVD, and I told her, that's kind of the point; all those years of Shatner and Nimoy have engrained their voices on my muse, and if I want to be able to consistently "hear" Pine, Quinto, &etc. instead, I need to imprint them thoroughly, too. How's that for a logical excuse? ♥

In other Trek news, my "Could Kirk be an empath?" rewatch of old TOS continues to find solid support. He fought off the effects in "The Naked Time" better than even Spock did, I don't even know what to say about his interactions with himself in "The Enemy Within", and in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" his reaction to the androids was really interesting. He knew something was off about the first one before even Christine (who'd known the scientist it was portraying) did; and later, his response to "these are machines, not men" wasn't to treat them as machines, but to (successfully) appeal to their emotions, *lol*. Also, the whole "Spock got my message" sequence was bizarre in its complete lack of explanation and yet complete success. Reminded me of the whole, "Let me stun this Romulan and tell Spock I have his back, by which I expect him to understand that he is to interrogate the dude with a mindmeld, despite the fact that this Spock doesn't even know I know what mindmelding is" incident from XI. Awesome.
~

PG, Star Trek XI. 1400 words - Spock POV, gen.

(Also linked @ the Journey to Drabble challenge: #46 -- Kirk, Spock, provocation)

( Throwing Down the Gauntlet )

(x-posted to st_reboot)

PG-13, Star Trek XI. 2600 words, Pike POV; angst and politics. (3rd in a series: Part 1, Part 2).

There was more in play here than just what Kirk might or might not deserve on his own merits.

( Pressing Sail )

(x-posted to st_reboot)

( Cut for rambling ST:TOS thinky thoughts... )

Also: damn, there's some excellent fanwork coming out of the Reboot. I'll have to assemble a recs list at some point with my favorites. I've stuck my toe in the pool myself (obvs.) and got some excellent reviews and feedback, but I'm positively shallow compared to some of these people, and it's just a bit... well. Seven years writing fic, more than half a million words, and I still feel like an intimidated newbie sometimes. *shakes self* That said: more Pike fic this weekend, I swear, and a Spock-POV conversation with Kirk immediately post-XI movie. I just-- I'm going to see it one last time before I post anything else, I think, to clear my head and regrasp my own interpretation of the characters.
~

Is there anybody out there writing John Connor & or / Marcus Wright AU fic set after "Terminator Salvation"? Preferably non-porn? I can't be the only one completely fascinated by the dynamic there. I am completely a John and Kate fangirl, I never disowned T3 the way many of the series fans did, but damn. They did something really interesting with Marcus; if we couldn't have any Cameron, he was an excellent substitute. More, plz.

Still writing gen Trek-fic myself, of course. Am working my way through the next Pike segment at present. Oh! And the strangest thing, I was at the parents' house for Memorial Day barbecue and Mom was like, "Are you in a good enough mood today to watch one of my fave natural-disaster-apocalypse movies?" And I said, "Oh, sure, it's been ages since I've seen The Core, I think I can enjoy the characters enough today not to completely cringe at all the made-up movie science." And lo, I had forgotten that was the one with bonus Bruce Greenwood! I gasped, "It's Captain Pike!" the minute he came on screen, and my parents gave me this look. *lol*
~

PG, Star Trek XI. 1000 words - James T. Kirk.

(Linked @ Drabble on the Edge of Forever challenge: #5 -- Kirk, Pride)

No Compromises

I'm watching a few old TOS episodes to refresh my memory today. For various reasons, I've started with "The Conscience of the King", and OMG. *laughs* I'd forgotten just how accurate Pine's portrayal of Kirk's behavior with women really is.

The science can still go hang, but every time I watch the movie I get even more impressed with all the love and detail they lavished on the remake in other ways. I love this 'verse, I really do.

... The adolescent Hogwarts escapees writing "Supuhura" and "Spirk" fanfiction, however? *wince* Overall, the quality of new Trek fanfiction on LJ has been extremely high and very enjoyable, but there are already a couple of comms I think I'm going to have to defriend before they harsh my squee.
~

PG-13, Star Trek XI. 3400 words, Pike and Kirk; follows The Press of Duty.

"And would you do it all again? Exactly the same way?" Pike asks, his tone a challenge.

( Pressing the Point )

(x-posted to st_reboot)

PG-13, Star Trek XI. 1400 words - Gaila, James T. Kirk.

(Linked @ Drabble on the Edge of Forever challenge: #88 -- Kirk and Gaila, Awkward)

Just Doing Her Job

PG, Star Trek XI. 500 words - Uhura, Spock, Kirk.

(Linked at the Journey to Drabble challenge: #14 -- Uhura, unlikely friends)

A Most Dismissive Manner

PG, Star Trek XI. 1400 words, Pike introspection.

There were other things to be done before he let himself dwell on the lives consumed in the fires of Nero's insanity.

( The Press of Duty )

(x-posted to st_reboot)

*facepalm* In case any of you were wondering where I've been all week, I've kind of. Um. Discovered the wonders of Delicious link indexing, only a couple of years behind everybody else.

I have, oh, nearly a thousand favorited pages and link files and lj memories scattered around; several years' worth of fic reading and thinking, "y'know, I should make sure I can find this again later to share". And I keep getting sucked into rereading as I click my way through to rebookmark everything. And branching out to see what else that author may have written since I last checked.

I have a feeling I'll be going back through it all again to add more tags once I'm done, too. Which I'm not nearly. 500 bookmarks so far, at least as many to go. I'll link over to it when I'm finished, in case anyone's curious.

*rubbing face* I'll try to post some actual content tomorrow-- er, later today. But if I don't. I'm still, y'know. Here. Just very, very distracted.

*clicks another link*
~

Ho-lee carp. How am I going to manage to be coherent about books #7-10 and the sundry short stories after finally getting through Turn Coat? As usual with Butcher, I saw some of it coming, was blindsided by other bits, hurt and/or cheered along with Harry & co., boggled at the worldbuilding, and can't want to see what happens next. Next April. Argh.

So you're just getting the list this time. Sorry! ♥ ♥ ♥ Jim Butcher.

17. Dead Beat by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 424pp. 7th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
18. Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 479pp. 8th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
19. White Night by Jim Butcher. Hardback, 404pp. 9th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
20. Small Favor by Jim Butcher. Hardback, 420pp. 10th of the Dresden Files. Reread.

21. Six Dredsen-verse short stories, comprising a total of 290 pages, as follows:

• "Something Borrowed", from My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, by Jim Butcher. 32pp. Reread.


• "It's My Birthday, Too", from Many Bloody Returns, by Jim Butcher. 47pp. Reread.


• "Heorot", from My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon, by Jim Butcher. 47pp. Reread.


• "Day Off", from Blood Lite, by Jim Butcher. 26pp. Reread.


• Backup, by Jim Butcher. 70pp. Reread.


• "The Warrior", from Mean Streets, by Jim Butcher. 68pp.

22. Turn Coat by Jim Butcher. Hardback, 418pp. 11th of the Dresden Files.
~~

PG-13; Dresden Files/B:tVS fusion. 4000 words, reward-fic for polgara_5.

She might as well have worn a sign reading 'Danger to Life and Limb' in large, neon print.

( Handle With Care )

(x-posted to df_crossovers)

PG; B:tVS/Dresden Files. Challenge drabble, 200 words.

Harry would put up with a lot for monster-hunting backup as capable as she was.

( Sticking With What Works )

(x-posted to tthdrabbles)
~

PG-13; Dresden Files AU. 2400 words, follows "Five Crosses Michael Carpenter Never Bore".

Harry never could give in graciously, even when faced with something he wanted dearly.

( What Matters Most )

(x-posted to dresdenslash)

So. Not going to finish all 4800-some-odd pages of the series by Tuesday. I'm still going to buy #11 the instant it comes out, avoid spoilers, and read furiously until I get through it all of it.

14. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 371pp. 4th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
15. Death Masks by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 374pp. 5th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
16. Blood Rites by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 372pp. 6th of the Dresden Files. Reread.

( Dresden Files 4-6: What Doesn't Kill Me )

Grown-up Harry, here we come. *reaches for Book 7*
~

"Dedicated, honorable, courageous, self-sacrificial loonies are absolutely the worst people in the world to go up against."
-- Harry Dresden, Death Masks

........ Just a little bit ironic there. Huh. I wonder just exactly how many of my favorite fictional heroes or heroines that descriptor could also apply to?

How many of yours? =)