All the RomCom of Qi Xi

I think fandom has lost one of its best people. shouldknobetter was an amazing person who was always witty, funny, supportive, friendly and willing to go WAY beyond the call of duty for everyone he met.

The first time I met him, I was completely shitfaced slightly intoxicated and, within 10 minutes, he was insisting on walking me to my hotel room so I got there safely. We talked about working for non-profits and animal rescue and accounting and everything and anything, every con we went to, we'd meet up for at least lunch somewhere during the convention. We'd talk about other things, more personal things that I'm not going to talk about here, but I'm going to miss those conversations so much.

And now he's gone and I know a lot of people are mourning for him but there are plenty of people that don't know how awesome he is and I think that's a shame. I think that if you had ever gotten a chance to meet George, you would've immediately loved him. He lurked at the edges and he was so quiet that it was almost too easy to overlook him. We'd have a room party and he'd end up on the edges but he was there, a constant and friendly presence.

Others have better stories about him, ones that don't involve a very drunk and loudmouthed bitch named wook but I just wanted to add in my own two cents on the fact that fandom is missing a giant heart that was one of its best.

So, George, I hope you're at the most amazing convention of all time right now and you're looking at us and wondering when the fuck we're going to show up and hang out with you again because you're having an amazing time of it.

In the past 5 days, I have purged 9 garbage bags of shredded papers, 4 garbage bags of misc recycling, 2 garbage bags of clothing and one teeny grocery bag of trash. All out of my bedroom. Add in that I have a box of collected misc stuff that I'd meant to mail to people and hadn't and, well, hello purging.

My bedroom walls had been a beautiful robin's egg blue. BUT that color has, over the past year, started to drive me insane. So I decided to use my 4 days off to paint my bathroom and my bedroom. Unfortunately, I don't know how long this new color is going to last in the bedroom as it turns pink when the sun hits it instead of the deep tan I'd chosen.

Regardless, to paint, I needed to move my bed which necessitated the sorting of papers that had been hiding under my bed for the past few years. I found cable bills from 2002, water bills from 1999, student loan papers from 1996, the title to my car (received in 2005), the last Christmas card my Uncle Matt sent before he died shortly after Christmas four years ago, the last Christmas card my Great Aunt Helen had sent (three years ago) and a condom that expired in 2006. All of it mixed up in the same box.

There were empty envelopes that I had paid to move from PA to AZ - which means that I paid, per pound, per mile to move empty envelopes.

I found the paperwork from when I adopted Cisco in 1997. The paperwork where the guy said he was getting rid of Cisco because "he licks all the time". How the hell you can get rid of a dog because it licks, IDEK.

I found photos from when I was in college (including my student ID from 1995 and OMG PERMED LONG HAIR) and my engagement photos from my first engagement. I found photos of parties and friends that are no longer on this earth. I found the birth announcements for a friend's first through fifth children. I found novels I'd written in seventh grade and the first paper that I'd ever been graded harshly on, the giant red "B.S." shining through the back of the paper. I found a watch-face that my grandfather had given me and the cords to my Gamecube.

I found notebook after notebook documenting my performance at my previous employer, just in case they decided to be dicks. I found emails I'd printed off about what assholes they were when it came to making arrangements for doctor's appointments to help support a lawsuit. I found write-ups and citations. I found training documents and Bluebooks I never used. I found my first speeding ticket (and my most recent). I found ticket stubs to movies I'd seen in college, after I moved home, and just two weeks ago. I found my first dollar I'd ever earned. I found a drawing that a Flist Member's son had done for me of Seamus.

All of these things mixed in boxes together in a hodgepodge mishmash of history and life. It's been an interesting journey into the past, all hidden under my queen-sized mattress. Crazy what you find when you go through boxes, isn't it? I wonder what I'm going to find in my closet.

Title: The Way It Is
Author: wook77
Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Pairing: Chris Bradley (Bolt)/ David North (Agent Zero)
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Spoilers for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Canon Compliance
Wordcount: ~1440
Summary: Bradley has doubts. Zero has no humanity.
Author's Notes: Set after Lagos and going into the movie, this has spoilers for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I've taken a bit of liberty with the comics canon where Bolt and Agent Zero have more background. Commas wrangled Beta'd by why_me_why_not and elanorofcastile.

( Bradley can't remember what it was that got him to sign up for Stryker's team… )

Title: Keeping Time
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Snape/Teddy, Remus/Sirius
Rating: Hard R
Warnings: sexual!Snape, adult characters with crossgen of a major age gap (~40 years)
Wordcount: 5600 words
Summary: A watch, a kiss, a spell, a chance encounter, a hidden voice.
A/N: Many thanks to elanorofcastile for putting up with my flailing as the first file disappeared on me and the beta and djin7 for her beta and AWESOME suggestions. Written for chibitoaster's birthday. Way back at Terminus, I promised her a Snape/Teddy story for her birthday and this is what came of it. I'm not at all certain this is what she was envisioning but... even though the story isn't all that happy, I wish you the happiest of happys, chibitoaster!!! May you have plenty of success, love and happiness in the future! To reiterate, both characters are of adult and legal age of consent within the United States. (Teddy is ~23 and Snape is ~60)

( Keeping Time )

Title: Tapestries, Meetings and Kisses
Author: wook77
Pairing: Theodore Nott/Seamus Finnigan
Wordcount: ~7300
Rating: R
Warnings: DH Compliant
Summary: A seventh year for Seamus means no Dean, no peace, quite a bit of pain and one confusing mess with Theodore Nott.
Author's Notes: Please note that I copied, word for word, one pivotal moment from Deathly Hallows. This section is marked in italics. Obviously, this section is not mine and no profit is made from this. Many thanks to my betas and cheerleaders, yodels and janicechess, without whom, this story wouldn't be nearly as good. All remaining mistakes are, of course, my own. Originally written for hp_springsmut and posted here.

( Tapestries, Meetings and Kisses )

Got dropped from a newsletter with no notice whatsoever. No discussion, just looked and there they were advertising for someone to cover my day. I haven't received a response to my email yet. I guess I wasn't active enough in the fandom or something :/.

Submitted my rs_small_gifts and emailed my yuletide to beta take 2. I'm pwning the deadlines. Started working with kethlenda on our project which is, also, pwning. I had this idea brewing just after reading DH, shelved it and then both of us came up with the same idea when chatting. We rule.

I've started working on my January daily_deviant story and though the pairing is sort of cracky and so is the premise, the story, so far, is made of win and not of crack.

Just passed the 38k mark of the monster Deamus-ish story from Hades. You guys will read it, right? Even though it's a rarepair and stuff?

Also just realized that I forgot to post the update on my vacation. That shall get written up tomorrow. Unless I have fic to beta. You know who I'm looking at Icee. And just now realized that I forgot the final resolution reviews. Crap, I really am failing at this whole updating thing, aren't I?

Spent the day shifting boxes of financial records around. There were over 130 boxes and the stacks go up about 10 or so feet. So, lots of time on ladders with heavy boxes. Gee, I have an exciting job, don't I? But, at least, things are now organized so that when purging 1999's records, I can find them all together and then slide 2008 right in there. So, a little work now saves a lot of work later. But, gah, my back and neck ache. And I'm sleepy. And dirty. God, that storage unit is absolutely filthy. There were dead bugs, 7 years worth of dust in places and mouse poop. (and in case you're wondering, yes, I really am the only one in the office capable of moving these boxes. Everyone else I work with in the office has health issues that keeps them from doing it.)

I'm getting the most horrendous cold. My throat is really really sore and I'm sniffly. *whinges*

SLL is getting sacked. This means that right before Christmas, I will have assloads of work to do. It's a good thing I didn't plan on taking a vacation between the holidays. However, I will now be supervising the two other people in the office (obviously I won't be supervising my boss *winks*). So, management experience here I come.

The girl I tutor is amazingly smart. She's just a smart cookie (I make her say that when she uses the word 'stupid' as I HATE that word). Tonight, I walked into her house and without even saying hello, she spelled out the hardest spelling word she had from memory. She is 2 for 2 weeks at getting 100% on her spelling tests. Plus, she got all of her subtraction right. I'm so proud of her! AND - her mum baked me cookies cause her mum thinks I'm a smart cookie *beams*.

I bought stamps for the christmas cards today, so, if you want one - fill out the poll. Go on, I won't stalk you unless you want me to. I will be emailing my address to those that asked for it tomorrow, hopefully. Cards will go out in December so you have some time yet. Don't be shy, please!

How the heck is everyone?