My characters aren't speaking to me.

To be fair, they aren't technically my characters. But that's never been a problem in the past. Right now, though, the whole lot of them (and there are quite a few, let me tell you) are giving me the cold shoulder. Even dear Sam Gamgee, my standby, the one character that ALWAYS talks to me, is being slightly guiltily and apologetically standoffish.

It's not a lack of plot bunnies AT ALL. If anything, I have too many of them. In the past three days, I've worked on two separate LotR fics, done some preliminary sketch/outline work on the Merlin fic I'm rewriting to make better, written random lines that MUST go into my planned Harry Potter fic (does anyone else use this method?), and asked more "what if" questions in the Star Trek verse than can possibly be healthy. I have time, I have plot bunnies, I have endless supplies of iced tea...

AND NO ONE WILL SPEAK TO ME.

Everything comes out in an awkward, stilted Ashlee voice instead of Estella, or Merry, or Merlin, or Draco, or Spock. And even when I have a plot bunny (MUST...WRITE...MINDMELD...FIC), I'm having so much trouble getting into character's heads, the plot goes nowhere. "The Quiet Hobbit" is practically written for me, for crying out loud, but I still can't get anyone to behave.

Does anyone have any ideas for appeasing my distanced cast? Anyone? Anything? I need some serious help.

New layout courtesy of tasha, banner by me.

Wow. Wow.

My dad was a Trekkie, and so when I was young, I was exposed to the whole gamut of the series. I don't remember a lot of it, but I do remember some key details, like practicing for hours to do the Vulcan hand thing, scrunching my face down to be a Klingon, and loving Data with a seriously irrational passion. When I saw they were making a remake, I groaned.

Surprise, surprise. It was excellent. It appears J.J. Abrams only has one Weapon O' Doom (am I right, Alias fans?), but other than that, warp speed to your nearest theatre because it really is that good. And Spock is attractive, which was strange, unnerving, yet thoroughly enjoyable.

And though it pains me to say it, I can suddenly see where the Kirk/Spock shippers are coming from. Scary, but true.

I'm going to preface this by saying I am in no way an expert, either in homosexual cultural history, homophobia, psychology, or anthropology. Therefore, it is completely legitimate to read the following, shake your head at the delusional little girl, and move happily on with your life.

( Thoughts on homophobia, lack of authority aside, below the cut. )

Right. So, now that B2MEM is over, I have fic. My Fanfic Fridays didn't exactly work to plan...RL got crazy, and we all know I'm absolute pants at deadlines...but to make up for it, here are three more installments of my "Kindred Spirits" series. I also plan on continuing Fanfic Friday to the best of my ability, including another installment of "Kindred Spirits" and another chapter of "The Quiet Hobbit." Now that March is over, FFs will also include my Merlin WiP and maybe a little bit of Holmes action. (My apologies to those people who have my fic journal and regular journal on their flists; I promise not to spam any more today.)

The links:

Merry

Pippin

Goldilocks

The other chapters/installments/children can be found by clicking the "kindred spirits" tag at my fic journal.

Okay, really? Has NO ONE in the ENTIRE INTERNETZ taken on the task of drawing Sam's kids? Because I can't find a single fanart, manip, or stick figure drawing of anyone. *pouts*

Consider this a challenge, all ye artists: I want the Gamgee family portrait. I'm willing to trade fic for it, and I'd like to make a banner out of it to post with my "Of Kindred Spirits Born" series.

And since my journal isn't exactly at the crossroads of LOTR fandom, you people who know people who should know about this...get the word out! This is an insult to the Gamgee family that must be avenged! And really, you know you want to see all the little Gamgee fauntlings in one picture! I cannot be the only one who needs this.

Am I right?

Okay, not really. But between midterms this week and the new Merlin fic I'm writing, I only finished one installment in my "Kindred Spirits" series. Alas.

Rose

Because this new fandom is like crack. This is short, but it's just the prologue, so there will be epicness to follow. (Why oh why am I not in bed?)

All That is Gold - Prologue

But it's good fun. Dreamflower reminded me of this poor abandoned ficlet. I finished it, and here it is!

Explaining Protocol

It's a Pippin and Sam interaction fic. Dreamflower deemed it sweet, which means it's mostly fluff.

Yay! Fanfic Friday #1, and my first contribution to B2MEM!

Today, I bring you two sets of five drabbles each. They're the start of a series; there will be one set of drabbles for each of Sam's children. For today, we have Elanor and Frodo. (As for why they're so...fluttery...blame all this existential Brit Lit weirdness I have to read.)

Elanor

Frodo

As an added bonus, I simply *have* to share this vid. It's hysterically funny. I've watched it several times, and the hilarity never goes away.

A Musical Tribute to the Fellowship of the Ring

Now, depending on how my evening goes, I may be able to post the next chapter of "The Quiet Hobbit" today as well. But this isn't bad, for a start.