In no particular order

[petronia]

Haven't been blogging very much for the past week or so. I do have the excuse of working on SSBB but this must be remedied as I'm getting too used to it - everyone's had this experience, I think, if you don't blog for an extended period you can't remember what you wanted to say and what you do remember doesn't seem worth setting down at all. ^^;

Did want to note that I got all the texts, drabble requests and sundry. ♥ There are way more Viewfinder ones than I would've imagined likely; I'd suspect a conspiracy if they were all for the same pairing, which they're not. XD This may be one of those cases where it was unwise to let it be widely known that one is capable of a task in the first place.

Nevertheless I endeavour (I suppose this counts as my annual Tanabata drabble request?). Which brings me to:

You, the reader, get to ask me, the author, what happened after the written end of a story. It also gives you the chance to volunteer your opinion. (last seen at incandescens but has made the rounds)

Excepting current WIPs: f'instance I'm obviously not going to say what happens after the first couple of chapters of Traffic, because I'm still writing it. XD

***

SSBB:

• 20 approvals, 19 stories, 1 comic, 6 illustrations, 2 betas, 0 bounces/holds/rejections
• cover design: 85% complete
• to do: complete cover, sequence stories, post issue

...I think the rant last round put the fear of editorial repercussions into the submission pool. XD;;

***

Real life: went to the tam-tams Sunday before last, with Erin, because as aforementioned I'd never been. It kind of messed with my head due to all the polyrhythmic microbongo techno schtuff I'd been listening to; basically the tam-tams were the maximalist non-programmed version and people of all ages were dancing to it quite happily, barefoot, in trod-out dust bowls, which made me feel less weird for loving dance music that has no melody in. XD

(For people who don't live in Montreal: every Sunday in summer, a lot of people gather in the park at the eastern foot of Mount Royal and play drums. Colloquially it's called "the tam-tams" but apart from tam-tams there are also bongos, steel drums, tambourines - basically bring your own percussive instrument, sit down and play, with or without friends. Apparently this started in the 1970s when an African percussion study group starting taking their afternoon practices to the park. Now hand drums are a twentysomething life accessory, you find them on sale anywhere you can get tie-dye tops and hand-made messenger bags.

The drummers do converge in knots and play off of one another, so as one wanders around the park the rhythmic pattern shifts, organically. It's kind of hard to describe; to be honest I always knew it was there but on some level had never believed it was there. XD;; It seems non-normative for an East Coast North American city, a bit... Gibsonesque? Or just way too California. There are vendors lining the sidewalk selling tie-dye and crafts and incense and so forth, which settles the mystery of where they disappear to when they're not at the Saint Laurent Street Fair twice a year. XD When we arrived there was also a jam band practicing in the kiosque, which reminded me of Brussels.

Here's a rather professional Flickr set documenting the tam-tams, with emphasis on the attendees who as depicted tend toward Urban Hippie (Hour should profile Old Dude With Harp, it's amazing how you can rub shoulders with the same people day in and day out but never learn the least thing about them). Of course not everyone drums, most people are just there to lie around on the grass and smoke weed picnic, or dance, or play frisbee, or practice kendo.

Then there are the LARPers. XD)

Last Sunday we went to the Jazz Fest, mostly to catch the Cat Empire set. Headed there again tonight for the Paul Simon tribute show, as long as it doesn't rain again. :P Had Monday off and lay around the house variously napping, eating, reading the JoJo novel, watching March of the Penguins and working on SSBB.

Penguins are such an odd and delightful shape. They're perfectly made to do everything that penguins do - and nothing else - and nothing else is made in such a way as to do what penguins do.

Comments

[supplanter.livejournal.com]

You, the reader, get to ask me, the author, what happened after the written end of a story. It also gives you the chance to volunteer your opinion.

I have such a one-track mind; would be on this one like white on rice 'cause I know I want to ask a question, but I don't actually know what it is.... ^^;;;

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, well, to be honest I think anyone could ask me anytime and I'd answer to the best of my ability. XD

[akatonbo.livejournal.com]

...I should stay away from this meme. (I bet you can guess what story I'd ask about, anyway.)

Say, has the theme for the next regular issue of SSBB (i.e. not the femflash one) been set?

[petronia.livejournal.com]

It's been set til December, actually. But suggestions are always welcome, just mail me at the shousetsubangbang address. *g*

[akatonbo.livejournal.com]

Er, I meant I want to know what it is. ;) (That's probably what canis_m meant too.)

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

If it's already set, please to cough it up. ^^; (Keep trying, akatonbo, we'll get through!) Or is it posted on the comm somewhere and we're all just blind?

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Ohh. XD I'll post it after the issue goes up.

[akatonbo.livejournal.com]

Ah, darn. Odds are not great that I'll ever manage to write a story, but I was hoping a head start might improve my odds of meeting a deadline. I gather that off-theme stories may be permissable, but themes help with coming up with ideas. Then again, the idea I had for the magic theme was funny enough that it's probably worth writing just because it's funny.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Well, the issue is up tomorrow, so it's not a long wait either way. XD;; I just figure I should be fair is all.

[jokersama.livejournal.com]

sabina joiiiiiin usssssss on irc~ ♥

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I will! Er, tomorrow XD

[canis-m.livejournal.com]

I second and briar_pipe thirds the request for the next SSBB theme. ^^;

Would jump on the meme except if I pick something like "Midwinter" the answer's going to be something like "They got out of bed and went to work," which is not very titillating.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

What, as in to be able to request or...? XD Just send me suggestions at shousetsubangbang gmail, it's been operating on an informal basis for a whle. quixotic_sense was a step ahead of you guys re September, and I think last issue's theme was actually suggested by serendip. XD

Ahaha yeah come to think of it I prolly don't write many open-ended stories. XD

[serendip.livejournal.com]

Remind me to plan my NEXT trip to Montreal in the friggin SUMMER. *is dumbass* XD~

[petronia.livejournal.com]

You should! People never seem to come up for the summer when it's awesome, is v. odd. XD

[dipping_sauce]

Yeah, there's much less snow and ice in the summer XD

[sesame-seed.livejournal.com]

You, the reader, get to ask me, the author, what happened after the written end of a story. It also gives you the chance to volunteer your opinion.

Q: What happened after Yin-Yang? And my fic onna card?

A (mystyle): In both cases, 50k more words of love and hate and despair and angst and of course lots and lots of manly sex, and then the happy ending. Which you should still write! *makes Takaba eyes JUST FOR YOU*

Or, y'know, Feilong quaffs down a potion that's supposed to, like, give him endless virility so that he can finally take that sucker down, but the potion takes one look at him and gives it up as an impossible task, so it decides to go in the opposite direction. So Feilong becomes a woman, Asami marries him, and together they strike fear into the hearts of the denizens of Asia's underworld.

And then Feilong can change back and they can have lots and lots of the manly sex.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

XD XD XD WHY SHOULD I ANSWER THIS QUESTION WHEN YOU HAVE DONE SUCH AN EXCELLENT JOB?

...Then they had sex. Assumedly. I would think. The fics cut off before because they're basically fragments of complicated AUs and if there were sex it would be a fragment of plot leading up to a longish sex scene, which structurally speaking is silly. Worry not, I see your tezukaface already. XD

It's just better left to the imagination because is the sort of situation one can only resolve once as a writer. You can read five or ten takes on it by other ficcers** but at the absolute point where push comes to shove they're going to turn out about the same, what differs is the twenty chapters of plot it takes to get the characters there and the twenty chapters of plot it takes to keep them from getting killed after.

**theoretically, of course, if they existed. XD

[marej.livejournal.com]

what differs is the twenty chapters of plot it takes to get the characters there and the twenty chapters of plot it takes to keep them from getting killed after.

OMG WHERE ARE THESE TWENTY CHAPTERS OF PLOT!!!!!!!!! Because OMG WE WANTSSS THEM PRECIOUSSSSSSSSS> OH YESS WE DOESSSSS.

which structurally speaking is silly

is.not. now tell me more about the plot. and winston! i want to know more about winston. will feilong screw with his mind? will he develop a crush--AND HE SHOULD--on feilong?

JUST TELL US MORE ABOUT TRAFFIC, PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE.

*lovesalot*

[dipping_sauce]

We're still going to the Niyaz thing tonight?

[petronia.livejournal.com]

We are still indeed! Call/email me. :)

[one-if-by-land.livejournal.com]

I have been agonizing over this meme for days, Sabina. Days! I've scoured your fiction website and reread favorites and have finally come to terms that your writing has this habit of being self-contained and tied up and I can't seem to ask what would happen next without devolving into a new plotline. (Your writing is a little episodic, now that I think about it.) I feel cheated out of an opportunity. ;_;

[petronia.livejournal.com]

*pats you* Well, if you think of one, ask anytime. XD I guess I do try to tie things up as much as possible.