Mab's Mad Musings

Hey all!

I really have been away for a while and I'm sorry for that. I've been engrossed by the PJO/HoO (Percy Jackson and the Olymians / Heroes of Olympus) fandom and they're all on tumblr. - If ever you're looking for me, you can find me there as mab-speaks. I also run a ship blog for the fandom's ultimate bromance to romance duo - jercyjuice and I've taken up Arting in an effort to grow my skills and have a creative outlet when the words just aren't coming. My art blog is mabscribbles.

I've been writing up a storm the past several months. I counted my words made so far in that fandom starting 7 months ago and it's: 190,365 ... so yeah, a lot. I've also made a few podfics and started a PJO writer/artist 18+ chat room. It's keeping me very busy.

In the world of HP, the third annual HP Horror Fest just posted reveals at hp_darkarts and it was a blast to mod. I made art for it. Disturbing art. I kept with my tradition of torturing poor Teddy Lupin. (I only torture my favorite characters)

I'll stick it under a spoiler tag if you'd rather not see. TW: blood, self harm.

Summary: As a Metamorphmagus, Teddy Lupin has always struggled with what he "actually" looks like. In a moment of insanity he decides to find out for himself.







See it on Ao3

It was my first attempt ever at using a tablet to color - and my tablet is obsolete. Still, I think it effectively got the horror message I was going for across. *wry smile*

In other news related to art, there's a new daily drawing community on dreamwidth started by a local writing buddy of mine and I'm having fun participating and drawing for the prompts. All doodles are PG-13 and under and can be from any fandom. There's no limit to how often or infrequent members participate either.

So check it out if you're interested. I see a lot of improvement in my ability in just the past month from drawing something every day.



Here was my doodle for today:

This is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, just waking up. He's normally pretty brooding and not a morning person. Just figures that the only clean mug he can find was left by Will Solace, son of Apollo. Maybe after he's had his morning coffee, Nico will be in more of a sunshine mood. :P



...

I've booked my tickets for my summer fangirl trip to London! I'll be staying with writcraft and have plans to meet up with some other UK-rs too! Can't wait. I'll be flying out on 30 July and coming home on 7 August.

All right. I think that's enough for an update right now. I have to run my daughter's friend home in a sec. I miss you f-list, and I promise I'm not going to be away forever. I'm just following where my muse is leading and I trust that eventually it will return me to HP. Hogwarts will always be home. XD

Reveals happened at hd_owlpost and I'm feeling so very thankful today!

Thank you to enchanted_jae, capitu, and anemonen for the wonderful gifts! I really appreciate them! *holds them close*

A Glut of Gifts Drabble and art! By enchanted_jae

The Mirror by anemonen A fan art gift to go with my fic Broken Dreams And as soon as reveals go up, I'm going to add it to the fic because it's too perfect not to display and share with future readers!

capitu gave me beta assistance as my hd_owlpost gift and I cannot thank her enough!

And thank you, too, mods, kitty_fic and vaysh. You are such wonderful people to bring fandom together in creating and sharing. I appreciate your hard work and dedication!

Hello f-list!

I'm sorry I've been so distant the past couple of months. I do this every year, but this year I've been feeling especially hermit-like. My time alone is really short lately and as much as I'd love to be around more in fandom, I just can't right now. Life things are looking up, but they're taking a hell of a lot of time and attention to make sure they keep going in a forward direction. I know you all will understand that. XD *hugs all the lovely people* If you're curious as to what's been happening to draw me away so much, I'll give a quick rundown in the spoiler cuts below. If you're not really interested in some areas, and would just like to know what the heck my plans are for future HP fandom participation, skip to the cut: Harry Potter Fandom.



My daughter: She's doing really well since we started in DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy). Most of the kids in her therapy group are going through it because of eating disorders or self-harm, and she's not in that boat at all, so I'm very thankful. I am attending the therapy as part of a parent group, which is really helping me a lot to brush up on the skills I learned (that really got me started out of my darkest days in the mental health system). I like that the teen group isn't allowed to talk in group about why exactly they are there (so they don't feed off each other's maladaptive behaviors, but they do also have individual sessions, so those things are addressed. I get weekly email reports from her advisor at school and since we've started this therapy, she's only had positives to report.

Exercise/Fitness: I've not been doing fantastic with keeping up on this, but as of Tuesday, I'm still heading in the right direction. Since my last measurements I'm down a bit, but not at the pace I had been going. Still, I think it's healthy to slow up every so often, let the body find its normal, then start again with the intense training. I will write up a fitness post for those on my weightloss filter in a little while. Not gonna go into detail here.

Son: My son is going to be 13 in 2 days! OMG! I can't even believe that he'll be a teen. He is my child who has high-functioning autism. I went to his student-led conference last month and then had 2 conferences with the school board about his qualifications for special services. (they do this every few years). I'm so proud of how far he's grown and how much he's improved regarding school performance since we started him at the private school. His private school is tailored for kids with learning differences and most of the kids are somewhere on the spectrum. He's recently decided he wants to wear his hair long-ish. I think it looks great. Considering my husband's hair is down his back, I have no issues with how a person wants to wear their hair. I'm loving mine short, and eventually I plan to shave it all off again, just because I can, and because I love rocking the bald head look. :P (it also grows insanely fast and the bald look never lasts long for me.)

Toddler: The toddler has been a handful lately. He's three and a half and doesn't want to potty train. He's still nursing a couple of times a day, which is fine, I have no problems with going at his pace, but I am looking forward to reclaiming my boobs as MINE. It will happen. This too shall pass. But overall, he's a smart little duck and comes up with the most interesting observations. Last night, after a drawn out refusal to go to sleep in his own bed (which he later changed his mind about) he was lying beside me and pointing at the shadow cast by the ceiling lamp. He said goodnight to me, daddy, the pictures, the window, the door, and the (fish robot) he swears the shadow looks like. XD

Housemate: Our housemate is still with us and I am glad of it. She watches the toddler while I take my daughter to our group sessions on Thursdays. My husband is also home (as he works from home) but it's a real blessing to not have to figure out child care. She was 257 on the waiting list for the women's shelter back in September and has now moved up to the mid-40s, so this too is a good thing. When she gets a spot, they'll be able to help her with getting the services that just aren't freely given in this fucked up world we live in and I'm happy she won't have been on the streets during the winter season of waiting.

Husband: Husband is plugging along, doing his thing. We chat in the evening before bed and catch up on what's what. We're dealing with unexpected expenses from my emergency root canal and an insurance company refusing to cover them, but it could be so much worse, and we're thankful and fortunate to not be in a real hardship.

The hugest time suck of my day to day is driving. I loathe driving. Ever since I was hit by a car at 18, I swore I'd never drive ... and then my mom guilted me into doing it when I was pregnant with my daughter (because you have to be able to drive if you're a mom). Anyway... Now I'm driving nearly 3 hours a day, just taking my kids to school and back.. and on therapy days, it's more like 4.5 hours because of traffic and everything is on opposite sides of town from everything else. Blah. Humbug.




The Harry Big Bang is gearing up! OMG! I'm way excited about this! I am looking forward to submissions coming in and preparing to find every single spare minute I can to start proofreading! It's gonna be awesome!

My goal for podficcing the 300+k fic Turn by saras_girl all in 2014 is now complete! Turn the Podfic! I've sent the sound file to my lovely hosting person and will have it posted after she gets back to me with the link. I have so many feels about finishing this project. It was a true labor of love. I think the entire thing maxes out at almost 37 hours. It took at least 4 times as many hours to record and edit (and that's being generous with estimating, it was likely more). So, yeah... Whew! *wipes sweat from brow*

And now for some sadder news. I'm going to be using 2015 as a sort of hiatus year from fests. I'm still planning to co-mod hp_darkarts with writcraft and the hp_podfic_fest with starduchess, but as far as writing goes, my muse is not on HP right now. I do have several HP podfic projects planned for this coming year, but I will likely not be taking on any more until my hiatus ends. I'm also still going to the the hp_uk_meetup this summer and cannot wait to meet all the fandom friends that will be there. I suspect my HP squee will be back up in full force by then! So this hiatus is really only a break from participating in fests and it will end in 2016 in time for Leviosa the Harry Potter 2016 convention in Las Vegas! I'm so there!

I don't think I'll be in my quiet space for much longer. I really love all of you on my f-list and enjoy keeping up with all your news and chatting, etc... So even though I'm taking a break, I'm not leaving.

And I sent the last of my holiday cards today, so if you haven't got one yet and signed up for one, it's on its way! And my goal of beating last year's number of cards sent was met and more than doubled! So thank you for that! Sending cards is something that makes me so happy!





For those of you who follow me on tumblr at Mab-speaks or Mab-shares will have noticed, I've fallen into a new fandom as far as writing goes. I seem to have an all or nothing muse, and I can't juggle more than one canon and set of characters at a time. I completed my first fic for the Percy Jackson fandom late last month. It's called Shelter and is 71,505 words. I wrote it a chapter a day from mid-October through November and I haven't let go of it yet. I had to end it where I did to free up December and January for the Harry Big Bang, but I have three Shelterverse one-shots planned, the first is posted: Atonement and it pairs the greek god, Apollo with Zephyros, the god of the West Wind. The next will be my first go at a femslash pairing and the last is going to be the main pairing that featured in Shelter. After that, in February, I'm planning to begin the sequel.

I have too many feels and ideas and my head is just brimming to the point I have 3 documents filled with notes, canon/head canons, and partial outlines. I've never felt so freaking prolific in my life and it's just something I can't ignore or stifle. So I'm going with it and will find out where it gets me.

And see the pretty cover art made for me for Shelter... The artist is called St00pz and can be found on tumblr.



Another artist was inspired by the fic too and created this art Nico di Angelo gets a new jacket. And I've had two other people ask permission to fan art from the fic. OMG... so much squee!



All right ... and if you made it through all that, thank you. If you didn't, I don't blame you. Please don't feel guilty. I just want to give you all a heads up as to where I've been, why I'm quiet, and what my plans are. I love you all and I hold the fact true to my heart that Hogwarts will always be home, and I can never stay away forever.

Come and visit the information post for artists interested in illustrating for the 2015 harrybang!

Click the banner to read more and be sure to watch the comm for more information!


Art by 8c banner by capitu

I'm just cracking along with my fic for harrybang. I've been working on it pretty much non-stop since last Sunday and my current word count stands at 36,426! I'll be up all night in the srs room on chatzy.

Come and write with me if you're up for it! SRS Room hd69

winnett just posted a lovely spot of HD porn as a gift fic for me! It's hot and filthy, angsty, but with a huge amount of under the surface sweetness...

Stop and have a read if you have a minute. It's a quickie and I loved it.

Anyone But You.

I want to say thank you to the mystery person who nominated my fic Like a Moth to Flame for the drama/angst category, staff/spirit division at this years hpfanficfanpoll

I'm truly touched to have placed. Thank you!

It's been quite some time since I've done a rec post and I figured it was about time to fix that. I do have several more squirreled away that I need to finish writing, but that will have to wait for a bit.

Please enjoy the following recs for fic and art and other things if you haven't already seen them!



( Recs )

These recs are crossposted to my tumblr rec blog mabs-recs Be sure to follow me if you don't already. 420 followers now, and counting!!! I also have a personal blog where I post things from other fandoms, about feminism, writing, activism, etc… mab-shares

Damn... Life has been busy lately.

I'm planning to write up another weight loss/fitness update soon. (If you're not on my weight loss filter and want to be, let me know in a comment or by PM)


I've been working hard at getting my daughter enrolled in high school and making sure she gets all the support that I can get for her. I'm looking into a summer program for kids her age that addresses social anxiety in a therapeutic/group sort of fun setting.

She's mentioned that she wants help with overcoming her shyness. This weekend my mom took her to see Maleficent and they ran into three girls she's been friendly with since kindergarten, one of them she counts as her best friend, but mom told me she just froze up and couldn't really talk. That she wanted to, but later told mom she's afraid of saying the wrong thing and sounding dumb. :( These are all girls I know personally too and they aren't the judgy-pushy types. They're all proud feminists and are receptive to hanging out with Gwen. It kills me that it's so hard for her, but I really have to swallow it down and just support her in finding her own way. I can't fix it for her. And really, there's nothing wrong with being introverted. I just worry that it might begin to overwhelm her to a point where it is not healthy. *sigh* parenting is hard!





I broke my vow to not participate in writing for fests this year and claimed a prompt for Glompfest at serpentinelion It will be my third time participating. This has always been one of my favorite fests to write for and I'm really pumped about the story I'm working on. That said... Anybody willing to alpha read/cheerlead for me while I write it? (sorted) I'm hoping to get it all done this month, since I'm on a mod vacation from hp_darkarts. If you are willing, let me know either in a comment, PM, or email. Qumabh@gmail.com



Hrm... what else.

I've not had much time at all for reading/commenting and that makes me sad. I'm hoping that once school is out for the summer, I'll have more time again. I do have several recs I need to finish writing and post them here and on my tumblr.

I've been hard at work on podficcing chapter nine of Turn this month. I finally finished the 2nd round of edits and sent it to saras_girl for pre-listening. One more round of edits when I get it back and it will be up and posted. Chapter nine is the longest one yet. Nearly 3 hours!

I'm getting really excited for the Harry Big Bang at harrybang! We're making plans to fancy up the comm and start pimping hard! Our next Author spotlight is coming up on 10 June and if you're not already watching the comm, I encourage you to start!

All right. That's all for now. I don't want to talk your ears off.

I saw this on my f-list and thought I'd borrow it. Sounds like fun, yes? If you see it here and want to do your own, link me in a comment so I can read it! XD Additionally, if you're not a writer but still want to play, just list snippets of other people's fics (credited) that fit the descriptions!

— Mab

Meme originated by vmsteenbeans. Post snippets of fics of something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.

( Follow the LJ Cut )