Dear Torchwood,

OUCH. DO IT AGAIN.

Yours,

Ash

( really though )

1. Went to the dentist entirely too early to the morning. Am apparently genetically predisposed to cavities. Hooray.

2. They took molds for my new flipper. I kind of, er, lost the old one. It didn't fit anyway. > > (If I could eat with the damn thing I wouldn't have had to take it out in the first place.)

3. Want to tag, but having trouble with focusing my brain without hurting it. Hopefully they will clear up soon.

4. Also want to catch up on flist. Working...slightly better but I MISSED A LOT OMG.

5. One of my best friends is having a baby shower soon - she's almost at nine months, though the doctors don't think she'll quite make it, so he could come at any time. So far I have these mirror frames that hold pictures for each age, and a nice blue blanket. ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS? (This is her first child, and she's twenty-one.) I'm thinking one of those books with parenting tips - a good one, though.

6. Still ought to start watching Children of Earth, if only to understand what my flist is talking about. Have the first one, just...eh.

7. Finished my set of Sookie Stackhouse books! NOW I NEED TO GET THE NEXT ONE. I love them a bit too much. They have their flaws, but they're so much fun. Interesting plots, interesting characters, that's all I need really.

8. The Potratist

Mostly accurate, I think! Well done, quiz. (My biggest problem with plots is that - I'm still a bit insecure and hesitant which makes it a bit difficult to actually do things? IDK, I'm much better than I used to be. When I first started out I could barely post.)

1) I think Verizon is coming. Slowly, as my mother fears change, but I have hope.

2) The Middleman is so lovely and hilarious and epic and geeky and fun. I am watching slowly, though, as there is sadly not much of it. (This is possibly one reason why I suck at TV. Most everything I love gets canned. I am still boycotting Fox. ...Okay, that's mostly because of Fox News, but still.)

3) One of the best things ever? Is looking through crack_van recs - something I kept meaning to do, but didn't - and seeing one of your fics there. Dorky grin is go. (Lovely timing, too, as I have been having Doubts again lately.)

4) Library was flooded today, but I didn't get too anxious. Probably because it was a library.

5) Okay, LJ's habit of freezing to show me new features? Is getting really irritating.

6) EATING HALF OF MY ENTRY WAS ALSO NOT APPRECIATED. I shall now attempt to recreate it despite the double vision.

7) People can apparently discourage bears from attacking by speaking soothingly. I want to do this and be called the Bear Whisperer. Sadly, I do not think this would work with sharks.

8) Bears apparently do not like trail mix. Not this one, anyway. (Yes, I do watch Animal Planet obsessively, why do you ask? ...It's been rekindling that desire to work with animals.) Awww, now he's licking the predator cage.

9) Speaking of, DRO I SAW GROWING UP: HYENA AND THOUGHT OF YOU.

10) Double vision. Should stop now.

/remembers to Ctrl+C this time

1) My internet connection seems to work much better during storms. I don't know if the blackout helped or what. It's back to normal now, of course. (We might be switching to Verizon, since Comcast just raised their prices again and that may have been the last straw for my parents.)

2) Said parents got this lovely big porcelain cat for me at a yard sale. Theo has claimed it. He licks it, snuggles next to it, and will not let Theta near it without growling and pushing him away. (He also stole my mother's hat and brought it to the cat's corner.)

3) Knee hasn't got better, also hasn't got worse. I wish it would just do one or the other already.

4) Stomach has been - usually it's okay, just background pain really, then I get these half-hour bursts of intense pain. No rhyme or reason that I can figure, though there never is. Been getting more headaches lately, but it's still not as bad as it was a few months ago.

5) BRPS really irritated me yesterday, but then nymosy made it better. ♥

6) Speaking of RP. Can anyone recommend a game for Five and/or Remus? I don't want something really fast - mellow is good. I'd prefer for Five not to be trapped somewhere. It's just not good for him. (RS would have been perfect for him. He is possibly bitter that his evil self got there first.)

7) I still want to write that Erimem/Nyssa fic. And the AU where Five stays to be President. And write some actual Five/Turlough. And maybe publish more kink meme stories. Putting them on the fic journal would be easier, I think. (I also need to fill that up more, come to that.)

1. They interact in canon, preferably in a significant (apply your own interpretation of such) way.
2. They are not related. They can, however, view each other as surrogate family.
3. Neither has confessed or implied romantic love for the other in canon.
4. They have not dated, been married, had sex, or made out in canon, on purpose, and of their own free will.
5. A popular fanon ship is ok (though preferably not your ship) but a canon pairing you wish were just friends is out.
6. Try to avoid using the same character or series twice.

1) Barbara and the First Doctor in Doctor Who. Barbara is the reason the Doctor is the man we know. She made him a better person – by being determined and compassionate and brave and not taking his crap. He kidnapped and scared the hell out of her, but also showed her the universe, put her in positions she'd never have been in, made her grow into someone even more magnificent. Also, she reminds him of his wife.

2) Tobias and Cassie in Animorphs. If Rachel is his connection to human interaction, Cassie is his connection to human compassion. She's so very strong, and so very kind; the combination assures him, and inspires him. Tobias, in turn, reminds Cassie that predators are predators, and she can accept that. She understands him in ways others don't, and he her.

3) Remus and Harry in Harry Potter. I really wish we'd got more of them, after Prisoner of Azkaban. Remus was someone who cared about Harry for himself, not his destiny, who became a solid, comforting presence, who taught him valuable lessons in and out of the classroom – deliberately and not. Harry reminded Remus of his parents, yes, but he was also someone else entirely – someone Remus could love again. I think Harry was the first person in decades he allowed himself to become truly close to.

4) Wesley and Gunn in Angel. Two very different people, united in a common cause and bonding as they fight side by side. There are issues, of course – foremost Wesley having to be a leader first and a friend second – but that just makes it better. It's spoiled in season three by the tedious love triangle, but it was awesome while it lasted.

5) Tara and Dawn in BtVS. They both lingered on the outskirts of the Scoobies; Willow's girlfriend, Buffy's sister. Tara took Dawn under her wing, assured and comforted her, made an effort to understand. When Buffy died, it was she and Willow who became her guardians. I think Tara became the most important person in Dawn's life after Buffy.

6) Xavier and Jean in X-Men. "I like to think Jean knew. Knew, and understood."

7) Sookie and Terry from the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Terry is a minor character but a resonant one, and his quiet fondness is sweet. They accept each other, something they both need more of.

8) Future Gohan and Trunks in Dragon Ball Z.

9) Geordi and Data in Star Trek TNG.

10) Eric and Sarah in The Crow.

Excluded: Tobias and Ax as they're technically related, Cordy and Angel because season three sucks they end up falling in love, Remus and Sirius since I can go either way, Remus and Peter since it's mostly in my head, Angel and Kate because I do think they started to fall for each other. (Really, Angel and a lot of people. Wesley had a major crush, Spike so shagged him at least once, etc.) Nico and Karolina as the latter has a possibly unrequited crush, Sookie and Sam as they're very definitely attracted to each other, Ed and Winry as I hear it gets romantic, NCIS because I ship everyone...

I shall now resist the urge to do an entirely Doctor Who version.

1. My knee has been hurting for four days, now. It hasn't given out on me for a couple of years, maybe it's making up for lost time? I've no idea, I just wish it would decide if it wants to fail or heal. In the meantime I'll just keep using it and see what happens. (What? I have stuff to do.)
2) Been volunteering at the library for the summer, two hours a day as that is their scheduling. It's nice – mostly instructing people how to participate in a summer reading program, and tidying up the library. I do wish more people would put books back neatly, but then I always have. I'm one of those people who neatens up shelves while looking for books.

3) Also been going to bingo with my mother once a week. It is Quality Bonding Time, okay. So was that Celtic Women concert on Tuesday, though it was very awesome for other reasons. …Really made me want to sing in front of a crowd again, too.

4) The warnings debate is just painful to read even for me; I can't imagine what people who truly need those warnings are going through. I've both seen and had these arguments before, and this is the worst I have ever witnessed.

It cannot be that difficult to take the emotions of other humans beings into account, and taking five seconds out of your day to type a few extra words to save them a horrible experience. This is not because they're fragile or entitled; this is because they've gone through something terrible, and it has affected them.

I bet you warn for spoilers. Clearly, the trauma of knowing something you didn't want to about a television show far outweighs flashbacks of abuse.

I am so, so tired of victims beings blamed and dismissed and shunned. I wish I could smack these people over the head until – actually, just smacking would be nice. I don't really expect anything to come of it.

5) Been trying to write – Remus' fic, mostly. I've managed a few words here and there. I just – they don't come at all easily, right now. "Writing through it" has never really worked for me.

6) Working on that "ten favourite canon friendships" meme. There shall be rambling. Shocking, I know.

List 10 of your favorite characters from different fandoms, and ask people to spot patterns in your choices, and if they're so inclined, to draw conclusions about you based on the patterns they've spotted.

ANIMORPHS | Tobias
DRAGON BALL Z | Future Trunks
DOCTOR WHO | Five
HARRY POTTER | Remus
LIFE ON MARS | Sam
NCIS | Gibbs
SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES | Sarah Connor
SOOKIE STACKHOUSE | Sookie
STAR TREK TNG | Picard
WICKED | Elphaba

I have just realised I cannot decide on a favourite character in many of my fandoms. Hence the stretching of my definition.