Vicissitude and Season

avanti_90 just did this meme, which reminded me of how much I enjoyed it the first time around, and I could use some ridiculousness to help jump-start more serious plotting. So:

1) Make a list of fifteen characters first, and keep it to yourself.

2) Ask your flist to post questions in the comments. For example:
'One, Nine and Fifteen move in together. Is this a really bad idea?'
'Under what circumstances might Five and Seven fall in love?'
'Which character on the list would you most want on your side in a zombie invasion?'

3) After your flist has asked enough questions, round them up and answer them using the characters you selected beforehand, then post them.

*runs off to concoct list of characters*

I wish I could do the "Share three passages from three WIPs" meme in the spirit in which it's probably intended, but it doesn't mention fanfic in particular, after all. So, have something from the fic I hope to finish someday, plus a bit from early in Not Time's Fool (which counts as in-progress because I still have plenty of editing to do) and the opening of Book Five.

1. "They got all this out of our heads?" he wondered. "I mean, it's not very Betan, all the water. But…"

"If it was the Barrayaran seaside the waves would be bigger and colder and there wouldn't be… pelicans? Albatrosses? Whatever those are."

"Exactly. Where in my subconscious or yours did those come from, I ask you."

"Simon, dear. Don't be more paranoid than you… obviously require yourself to be. It's a generic Earth fantasy, I expect. Collective ancestral memories." She smiled. "Adam and Eve. Aquatic and geriatric version thereof. I have to say," she added, looking down at herself, "it's pleasant to negate the effects of gravity somewhat."


2. ( cut for length )


3. The muffled oars whispered secrets to the river as the boat slipped downstream at dawn, returning Major John André to the safety of the Vulture.

Rinaldo’s back and arms ached. They’d already done the long pull to and from the British sloop once; yes, it had been hours earlier, and he’d killed some of the boring and uncomfortable wait with a nap while André and Benedict Arnold had their chat, but the shoulder muscles he’d strained fighting the current were screaming at him now. He tried imagining just how good it was going to feel when Pasha had him facedown and naked in their bed, kneading at every sore bit of him with enormous and clever hands, but it was a dream, another world, the imaginary future it should have been to the man rowing the boat. The muscle strain was pretty much real; the boat wasn’t, and neither was the Hudson, even though he could taste its spray on the wind and feel it splashing on board when George’s oar cut into the water at the wrong angle.

They must have put the chilly splashes into the program on purpose, along with the tedium and the uncooperative current, just to weed out those rookies who expected time travel to be a non-stop adventure, instead of painful, cold and mostly dull. No wonder the Colquhoun brothers, who’d done the first leg of this horrible trip in real history, had balked at repeating it; no wonder it had been so easy to talk them (or their computerized avatars) out of the honor of influencing the outcome of the American Revolution. And here, provided with the bona fides required to pass as slightly more enthusiastic but equally gullible patriots, were George Merrill and Rinaldo Dickinson in their places.

Now that the (absolutely delightful) houseguests are gone, and I can breathe a little in between bouts of exhaustion, powerpoints and seed-starting, I can do a meme.

Gacked from mmegaera: to celebrate Women's History Month, ask me something about my female characters (either my original characters or ones I've written about in fic). Questions can be about the characters themselves (backstory, goals, personality, etc.) or about my own writing choices. (In other words, a female version of "Watsonian or Doylist." Russellian or Kingly?)

It is also a good month to write something spontaneous and profound about women in history and/or female characters, and perhaps I will manage that. The spontaneous part, anyway.

I decided I'd do this meme again, and since I have about five times as many songs as I did last time I tried it, it seemed reasonable to limit things to one playlist. So - Geography, which has 84 songs in it currently, all with names of places or types of places or geographic features or just place-related ideas. The meme goes:

1. Open up your music player. Hit shuffle.

2. Record the first few lines of the first thirty songs that come up that do not give away the name of the song (note: I interpret this as "skip the songs that have the name in the first few lines"). Skip instrumentals, but don't skip the embarrassing ones.

3. Make hapless flist guess the song names and artists (where artists are not multiple in possibility). Google is cheating.

So if you'd like to guess, chime in. Some of these are really easy and some I'd be surprised if anyone got, but who knows. [Editing to add correct guesses as they come in.] [Now edited to reveal answers.]

*
1. Some folks have the same song and dance, downtown bars and cheap romance, getting off not getting far alone. "Ohio," honeyhoney.

2. Take to the highway, won't you lend me your name? Your way and my way seem to be one and the same. "Country Road," James Taylor, guessed by ailis_fictive.

3. Well, east coast girls are hip, I really dig those styles they wear. "California Girls," The Beach Boys, guessed by arduinna and penwiper26.

4. Down the way where the nights are gay and the sun shines daily on the mountaintop. "Jamaica Farewell," Harry Belafonte, guessed by isis.

5. We lived our little drama, we kissed in a field of white. "Stars Fell on Alabama," awesome version with Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.

6. Up in the highest of heights, O'Hara blinks and fights, this land is yours, this land is mine. "No Man's Land," Sufjan Stevens.

7. Start tearing the old man down, run past the heather and down to the old road. "Omaha," Counting Crows, guessed by yunitsa.

8. I come from the moor and the mountain, from the waterfall and stream. "The Plainsman," Fairport Convention.

9. It was a cold and wet December day when we touched the ground at JFK. "Angel of Harlem," U2.

10. I want to run, I want to hide, I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside. "Where the Streets Have No Name," U2.

11. I sold my piano, it couldn't come with me, I locked up my bedroom and I walked out into the air. "Washington Square," Counting Crows: another of those "makes me think of Person of Interest" songs.

12. Those mountains in the distance might be our salvation, if we could just get through tonight. "Guatemala," Randall Williams.

13. Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my ma and pa, not the way that I do love you. "Home," Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, guessed by arduinna.

14. When you were a child, you were a tomboy, and your mother laughed at the serious way that you looked at her. "Home Life," Shearwater.

15. You were so smart then, in your jacket and coat; my softest red scarf was warming your throat. "Goodbye England," Laura Marling, guessed by raven and yunitsa.

16. Brooklyn, I'm broken, I'm breaking apart; Greenpoint pins down my hand, Red Hook pierces my heart. "Tourniquet," Hem. Oh, this is gorgeous, people. Makes me wish I lived in Brooklyn.

17. As a young girl, Louis Vuitton, with your mother on a sandy lawn. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," Vampire Weekend.

18. Sitting in a park in Paris, France, reading the news and it sure looks bad. "California," Joni Mitchell, guessed by kivrin.

19. Flew in from Miami Beach, BOAC, didn't get to bed last night. "Back in the USSR," the Beatles, guessed by penwiper26.

20. Along the trail you'll find me loping, where the spaces are wide open, in the land of the old AEC. "The Wild West is Where I Want to Be," Tom Lehrer.

21. I believe, I believe, I believe I'll go back home; I believe, I believe, I believe I'll go back home. [sorry!] "Western Horizon," Robert Junior Lockwood, and anyone who thought "probably a blues song" scores here. :)

22. Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take you; Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama. "Kokomo," The Beach Boys, guessed by giandujakiss and penwiper26.

23. To lead a better life, I need my love to be here. "Here, There, and Everywhere," Beatles (or Paul McCartney in this case). I mean, come on, people.

24. It's over, hang your gun down and eat this simple fare. "Walk Your Valley," Indigo Girls.

25. Away with the buff and the blue, and away with the cap and the feather. "The Hexhamshire Lass," Fairport Convention.

26. Looking at the world through the sunset in your eyes, traveling the train through clear Moroccan skies. "Marrakesh Express," Crosby, Stills & Nash.

27. The circus is falling down on its knees, the big top is crumbling down. "Raining in Baltimore," Counting Crows.

28. Often she has gazed from castle windows o'er, and watched the daylight passing within her captive wall. "Fotheringay," Fairport Convention.

29. Summer journeys to Niagara and to other places aggravate all our cares. "Manhattan" (Rodgers and Hart), sung by Ella Fitzgerald.

30. Alabama's got me so upset, Tennessee made me lose my rest. "Mississippi Goddam," Nina Simone, guessed by nnozomi.

Last two ficlets! (Except for one not requested directly in the meme, which I am still thinking on.)

For raven, Simon and Alys, Vorberg's POV.

For pendrecarc, Sam Shaw and unexpected affection.

This was fun, thank you all.

ETA: Put all of the POI ones up in a collection at AO3.

I'm working my way through the suggested ficlets slowly, but I'll get to them all, I hope. So far:

Part of a version of "Anecdotal Evidence" set in an AU where Gregor/Ekaterin works, for avanti_90.

Finch and Reese pick strawberries, for yunitsa.

In other news, here's a link to entomologist Mike Raupp talking about cicadas on Jay Leno the other night (with bonus Russell Crowe). I have the distinct pleasure of getting to listen to this guy once or twice a year; he's our extension's version of a rock star, or at least a standup comic.

This is a very multi-tasky sort of day, so while I'm doing other stuff I'll throw this meme out there:

I currently have 48 works archived at the AO3 [oh my God how did that happen, no this is not part of the meme]. Pick a number from 1 to 48, and I’ll tell you three things I currently like about the fic corresponding to the number you have picked.

I just realized I've written a heck of a lot of fic since I last did DVD commentaries, so if anyone's interested I'm up for it.

Pick any passage of 500 words or fewer from any story I've written, and comment to this post with that selection. I will then give you the equivalent of a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what's going on in the characters' heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the fic, lots of awful puns, and anything else that you’d expect to find on a DVD commentary track.

I don't absolutely promise the awful puns, but just now I happen to be writing yet another story from John Reese's POV, so perhaps I can promise lame jokes.

(It would be tremendous fun to do this for "Children of an Idle Brain," but anything is fair game. I think it was all Vorkosigan stuff last time, so I'm glad I have more of a mix now. Feel free to ask for more than one and I'll get to them as I have time.)

Oh, I'm going to do a music meme, Because I Can, and because I'm sure everyone's got nothing better to do than spot songs in my eclectic music collection. Which is really slightly more eclectic than it appears here.

1. Open up your music player. Hit shuffle.
2. Record the first few lines of the first thirty songs that come up that do not give away the name of the song. Skip instrumentals, but don't skip the embarrassing ones.
3. Make hapless flist guess the song names and artists. Google is cheating.

Some of these are incredibly obvious, but it was a random selection, WTF really...

1. Jumping up and down the floor; my head is an animal. ("Dirty Paws" by Of Monsters and Men, guessed by yunitsa)
2. Here come old flat top; he come groovin' up slowly. ("Come Together" by the Beatles, guessed by swooop)
3. Don't worry about a thing; 'cause every little thing gonna be all right. ("Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley, half-guessed by lydaclunas)
4. I was a stranger in the city; out of town were the people I knew. ("A Foggy Day (in London Town)" sung here by Ella Fitzgerald)
5. When ever skies look gray to me, and trouble begins to brew… ("I Concentrate On You" ditto)
6. It's been a while now since you held me, and told me what was on your mind… ("I'll Always Be Waiting For You," Sierra Hull)
7. Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream… ("Tomorrow Never Knows," the Beatles, guessed by swooop)
8. Oh naive little me, asking what things you have seen… ("Rambling Man," Laura Marling)
9. Did you say I've got a lot to learn; well, don't think I'm trying not to learn… ("Teach Me Tonight" as sung by Dinah Washington, OMG baby yes)
10. I won't go traveling tonight; I won't go back to the wolves, now. ("White Waves," Shearwater, guessed by penwiper26)
11. Before this dance is through I think I'll love you too… ("I'm Happy Just to Dance with You," Beatles)
12. Things have come to a pretty pass; our romance is growing flat. ("Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," guessed by swooop, here sung by Ella Fitzgerald)
13. I've sung this song but I'll sing it again, all the people I've met, the places I've been… ("So Long, It's Been Good to Know You," The Weavers)
14. Way down here, you need a reason to move, feel a fool running your stateside games… ("Mexico," James Taylor)
15. We were forty miles from Albany, forget it I never shall… ("Erie Canal," The Weavers)
16. I hear a wind, whistling air, whispering in my ear… ("Roam," B-52s)
17. When it rains five days, and the skies turn black as night… ("Back Water Blues," guessed by swooop, here sung by Dinah Washington)
18. As I write this letter, send my love to you… ("P.S. I Love You," the Beatles, guessed by lydaclunas)
19. So one, two, three, take my hand and come with me... ("Are You Gonna Be My Girl," Jet, guessed by lydaclunas)
20. Oh yeah, all right, are you gonna be in my dreams tonight… ("The End," Beatles, guessed by penwiper26)
21. You say you love me and you're thinking of me but you know you could be wrong. ("Most Likely You Go Your Way," Bob Dylan)
22. Once there was a way to get back homeward… ("Golden Slumbers," Beatles)
23. You got me running, going out of my mind, you got me thinking that I'm wasting my time. ("Don't Bring Me Down," ELO)
24. It was a cold night, and the snow lay round, I pulled my coat tight… ("The Crane Wife 1&2," Decemberists, guessed by yunitsa)
25. On the first of May, it is moving day; spring is here so blow your job, throw your job away. ("Mountain Greenery," sung by Ella F)
26. Color me your color, baby; color me your car. ("Call Me," Blondie)
27. And under the boughs unbowed, all clothed in a snowy shroud... ("The Crane Wife #3," Decemberists, guessed by yunitsa)
28. Oh I could hide neath the wings of the bluebird as she sings... ("Daydream Believer," The Monkees, guessed by swooop)
29. Hold me close, hold me tight, make me thrill with delight... ("I Want You, I Need You, I Love You," Elvis, guessed by swooop)
30. Old Father Time checked so there'd be no doubt; call on the north wind to come on out… ("'Tis Autumn," sung by Nat King Cole)

Guess away!

I can keep on doing these forever, so if you still want to request something, go ahead.

Penwiper26 asked for a clip from "Offerings," and then mentioned the boat scene as well, so I went ahead and did that too.

First of all, L, you know me too well; this is one of my favorite bits in one of my favorite fics. I loved writing this story: the snappy dialogue and the friendship relieving Gregor of all that darkness, and the chance to write Gregor POV in a not-horrible situation.

( First clip )

( Second clip )