Ficlet Exercise

I was in the mood for something random tonight, so here we go.  I did this once before for Charmed, and I thought I'd try it again tonight because it's kind of a fun challenge.  The rules are:

1. Pick a character, pairing, fandom you like.
2. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle.
3. Write a drabble related to each song that plays. You only have the timeframe of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over.
4. Do ten of these and then post them.

Originally I snagged this from a NCIS fanfiction site.  I chose to do it for Desperate Housewives because that's obviously my fandom of choice at the moment.  So here are ten random ficlets inspired by my iPod.

I'm going to set up a poll on the journal.  Whichever ficlet gets the most votes, I'll turn into an actual fic.  I'll keep voting open for a week.

Thanks to anyone who participates!

I Was Made for You – She and Him

They run into each other accidentally at the grocery store.  It’s been a couple of days since their first kiss, and they have another date planned for Saturday night, but the moment Bree sees Orson carefully shaking a cantaloupe, her heart flutters right up into her throat.

It feels like it’s been so long since she’s felt this way that it’s like she’s feeling that excitement for the first time all over again.  Potential for love.  She can’t remember the last time she felt that.

 ~*~

When Your Mind’s Made Up – Once Soundtrack

Tom shook her shoulder like they were both pretending that she wasn’t already awake.  “Are you sure you don’t want to come today?” he asked quietly.  She wasn’t able to tell if the hope in his voice was because he wanted her to change or mind or because he hoped she wouldn’t.

“No,” she mumbled.  “I don’t feel well.”

That was true.  It felt like a cold creeping up on her.  Or maybe her period was about to start.  Or allergies.  Whatever it was, it made her not even want to move from this bed for the entire day.

She couldn’t remember the last time she spent an entire day in bed.  She never did this.

“Well,” said Tom slowly, “okay.  We’ll be back tonight.”

“Okay.”

He bent down and kissed her cheek.  He'd just shaved; his chin was smooth where it rubbed against her skin, and for a second she shut her eyes.

 ~*~

I’ll Stand By You – Glee Cast

Until she moved to Wisteria Lane, Gaby never had any friends she cared enough about to cry over.  Now, for the first time in her life, she has friends that can hurt her badly enough that she wants to fall to pieces sometimes.  Friends who love her enough that their compassion moves her to tears.  Friends whose own heartbreaks break her heart as well.

That’s how she feels right now—like her heart is breaking—and she has no idea how to make it better. 

She and Lynette sit in silence, clasping hands so tightly that it feels unbreakable.  At this moment, Gaby very desperately wants to believe that their bond is unbreakable, but she’s not sure that’s the truth.

 ~*~

Rhythm of Love – Plain White T’s

At the beginning, there’s something tentative about being together.  The looks they give each other and the way her hand sometimes brushes against his and the soft smile that lights up her face—it all seems very ephemeral.  Like at any moment it’s all going to dissolve and it will be like he dreamed her up.

Tom finds himself wondering that maybe if he’d just actually touch her with some kind of purpose, she might become more real.  She might become something that could last.

He’s both eager and scared to death to test this theory.

 ~*~

Summer Skin – Death Cab for Cutie

One day when Andrew was ten, he wandered away from home. 

Ran away, he knew his mother believed, but it wasn’t running.  He just got lost in a moment.

Of course, then he didn’t want the moment to end. 

Eventually he ended up in this little public park that he knew he mother would have hated.  She would never take him there; her eyebrows would raise sky high just at the sight of the slightly rusted swings.  But Andrew just walked over, sat down, and began to swing so high that he thought he might get lost in the sky.

 ~*~

Catch the Wind – Donovan

Carlos doesn’t just watch Gaby very often.  It seems like such a contradiction—a former model, someone so beautiful; most people would assume that just staring at her could be enough—but the truth is that Gaby is almost impossible to just gaze at.  She’s constant movement.  A leaf caught in the wind.  And that’s not the kind of thing a person thinks to sit and watch incessantly.

~*~

Spring Street – Vanessa Carlton

Lynette remembers that her mother wasn’t there to watch her move out.  When she packed up every last possession she owned, ready to leave and never, ever come back, her mother left the house.  And mostly she didn’t care, but there was this little part of her that hesitated, lingering a minute longer than necessary just in case…

But eventually she just had to hug her sisters goodbye, climb into her car, and drive away.

It felt like forever, but of course it wasn’t.  Nothing is.

Now she is sitting here, watching her own daughter pack up her room as she gets ready to leave for college, and she can almost understand why her mother had to leave.  Anticipating a goodbye is almost as painful as saying goodbye.

 ~*~

Stardust – Nat King Cole

Bree lies in her bed and wonders—maybe wishes—that it had been her instead of Rex.

She feels wicked thinking it.  Such morbidity should be punished, and it feels evil to think that death might be preferable to life.

Or at least to this life.

But she moves past the feeling of guilt and actually considers it because it’s an obsessive thought.  A world with Rex, but not with her.  Such a place never existed.  It never will exist. 

But what if it did?

~*~

These Arms of Mine – Otis Redding

They all ache in different ways.  Ache for love.  Ache for acceptance.  Ache to belong.

Tom looks at Lynette and thinks a chasm divides them right now, and he wants so much to cross it and take her in his arms.

Orson thinks that Bree is fading farther and farther away from him—or maybe he is fading farther away from her.  Either way, it scares him.

 ~*~

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa – Vampire Weekend

When Carlos whispered in her ear that they should have sex on the beach, Gaby really thought that it was a good idea.  The sneaked out of the hotel room late at night when it the world was lit only by a full moon and stars and went down to the cool sand.  For a few minutes, it was utterly romantic.  The sound of the waves crashing against the shore echoed the feeling in her mind like she was stumbling toward some inexpressible joy. 

Reality set in all too fast, as it was apt to do.



Poll closes on 4/17/2011 at midnight.  Please vote!

Fic Request Round 2

We're coming up on another hiatus, and I've hit a wall with some of my fics, so I think I'm going to do another request round. It probably won't be a fic per day like December, but I'm going to try to stay close to that. So if you have a request please let me know in the comments.

Master List of Fics

I finished my goal of doing a fic-a-day for December. Here is the breakdown for anyone interested:

1. Lynette's reaction to Tom and Renee's alleged affair for CharadesNinja
2. Lynette while she was pregnant for Jaz
3. Lynette and Paige for Jaz
4. Bree and Orson at Christmas for xoCupcakexo
5. Lynette and Tom break up and then get back together for Meg
6. Tom and Lynette's honeymoon for Maddy
7. Tom and Lynette's anniversary for Amy
8. Lynette's birthday for Amy
9. Tom/Lynette aftermath of the Renee/Tom affair (sequel to #1) for Sarah
10. Sappy Bree/Orson for Edna E Mode
11. Bree and Lynette being snarky for Jen
12. Edie and Mrs. McCluskey at Christmas for Edna E Mode
13. Lynette with postpartum for CharadesNinja
14. Tom recreates his and Lynette's first date for CharadesNinja
15. Gaby and Carlos' first new year's together for SydneeeyGrant
16. Tom and Lynette's first kiss for Rebecca
17. Bree/Katherine for K
18. Orson and Andrew in cahoots for Jen
19. Bree/Orson season four Christmas for Edna E Mode
20. M-rated Tom/Lynette for Maddy
21. Tom visiting Kayla for jazmyn-96
22. Bree/Orson after he's released from jail for Coco Saugatuck
23. Fallout of Kayla leaving for Meg
24. The girls visit Lynette after she's shot for FelicityKHuffman

Merry Christmas!!

First Fic!

Well I jumped the gun a little and already wrote out the lovely little request Jen gave me. And I had a lot of fun doing it too.

Untangling the Knot

Enjoy!

Fic Requests

So the past few Decembers I've tackled projects that involve me writing a short fic for each day of the month. Every time before this I've picked a theme and ran with it, but this year I thought I'd see if anyone had any requests for fic. I've done request fics for Charmed in the past, and I'd like to open that up for Desperate Housewives too. I figured I'd post about it on here, because I'm assuming that a lot of people have been referred to this blog through my fanfiction.net account. I've never tried anything like this before, so I'm kind of curious to see if anyone is interested. If not I'll just think of it as a failed experiment.

Basically, I will write just about anything, but I am a stickler for canon pairings (so I won't write something outside of what the show has established). I'll be willing to do DH or Charmed, as those are the two fandoms I'm most comfortable with (although it has been awhile since I've played in the Charmed universe).

I'm pretty excited to see how this goes. Please just post a comment if you're interested. Thanks!

Charmed ficlets

After losing interest in my original pre-Charmed epic fic, I started a new version that would follow Patty through her pregnancy with each of the girls. I never got very far, but here are the excerpts I wrote from Victor and Patty's wedding.

Nine Months

January 1970

The invitations were homemade, written in Patty's loopy handwriting.


Her mother and grandmother made all the food. With only sixteen guests a caterer was unnecessary.


They decided to marry in Victor's spacious backyard; he spent most of the day before hanging paper lanterns throughout the yard.


Though it was old-fashioned, Patty decided to wear her mother's wedding dress. Inexplicably, the feel of stiff fabric against her skin made her feel closer to her father.


Those were the wedding plans.


Victor had been surprised, she knew. After she'd accepted his proposal they'd lain in bed together and she had whispered simplistic thoughts in the morning light. "I've never wanted a big wedding. Just my family and my close friends. Then it's more personal, you know?"


"I want whatever you want, Patty. Just say the word."


She had kissed him then and smiled. "And sooner rather than later."


"I'm completely on board with that!"


Standing in Victor's sister's old bedroom, looking at herself in a full-length mirror, Patty felt the same mixture of emotion churning inside of her that she had felt that morning. There was excitement and wonder and some starry-eyed romantic cliche about love. Yet at the same time that undertow of fear sucking her down: too fast, too fast, too fast.


Everything about her relationship with Victor was fast-paced, and slow, methodical Patty still felt lightheaded and caught up in the wild ride. She'd only known Victor for six months, but that time felt stretched out and prolonged by the depth of her feeling for him. The first time she'd seen Victor was when he'd entered the little book store where she worked. Not being one to squander potential when she saw it--especially since she didn't get to college, still lived at home with her mother, and didn't have a stupendously active social life--Patty hadn't been opposed to flirting with the young, attractive man who didn't look particularly apt to pick up a book.


"I saw you from outside," he later confessed. "And I just knew I had to meet you."


The whirlwind simply escalated from there.


Patty loved how contrary they were. Victor was sharp where she was soft. He was out to prove something to himself, his parents, the world, while Patty was more content with the status quo of her life. She knew who she was. She knew what she was meant to do and always seemed to have known. Her mother had raised her on that knowledge. Finding someone who had questions about everything and anything had been such a turn-on.


He loved easily where she had more trouble. Perhaps this was the characteristic she loved most in her soon-to-be-husband. Victor's parents, somewhat distant, had left Victor with a hole he constantly sought to fill. Never in her life had Patty met someone who needed her in that way and though she had been overwhelmed by the grandiose nature of this need at first she had soon grown to love her role. She could fill the empty spaces inside of Victor without question.


Yes, when he had proposed she'd gone with her gut and said no. That ever-present undercurrent of too soon, too soon, too soon had been swifter than her heart that day. When the fates conspired, though, they did so in big ways. Her aunt--really her distant cousin--had died only days afterwards and left Patty her journals, complete with a true story of how her grandmother had missed out on true love. After talking with her grandmother, Patty knew: love was once in a lifetime; you couldn't let it pass you by.


So here she stood, nearly overwhelmed by the love and happiness that burned inside of her; at the thought that she finally had a new adventure and a destiny that hadn't been laid out for her from birth. These thoughts were nearly enough to quash her doubts; the too soon, too soon, too soon.


____________________________________________________________________


"Congratulations to both of you." Sylvia Bennett grimaced more than smiled at Patty and Victor as she said the words. She stood with one hand on her husband's shoulder, the other clasping a flute of champagne. Neither Patty nor Victor was overly fond of the drink, but Sylvia had insisted. A quaint, backyard wedding was not what she had envisioned for her son. Patty may have been able to literally freeze time, but surely Sylvia could do more damage with her icy blue eyes.


"Well thanks, Mom," said Victor dryly.


"I'm sure you'll be as happy as we've been."


Without meaning to, Patty's eyes flickered to Ivan, trying to gauge his reaction to his wife's words. He remained as stony-faced as she'd ever seen him. Victor took after his father in looks, but he had an ease and charm about him that Patty doubted Ivan had ever possessed. For a brief moment she wondered if Sylvia and Ivan could even pretend to be happy anymore.


Patty, your manners. The sound of her father's voice in her head jarred Patty from her contemplation and she looked back at Sylvia. "Thank you, Sylvia. And thank you so much for letting us have the wedding here. It couldn't have been more beautiful."


"Well for what you aspired to, I'm sure that's true."


Abruptly, Ivan wheeled away from the scene, leaving Sylvia's hand to drop ineffectually to her side. Victor looked after him for a moment and Patty squeezed the arm she had wrapped around his torso more tightly against him. Go ahead, she though, and Victor seemed to read her mind, heading off after his father. Patty kept her eyes on him as he walked away, and scarcely acknowledged when Sylvia said, "If you'll excuse me," a moment later.


"Please tell me you didn't meet her before the wedding." Susan Lark, Patty's best friend since high school, crept up behind her and looped an arm through Patty's. "She is an ice queen if I've ever met one. I can't believe you would knowingly choose her as a mother-in-law."


"I didn't choose her. I chose Victor."


"They're a package deal. You can't just pick and choose his family."


"It's not like we're going to be living with her, Sue."


"If she has her way you'll be gone by next Christmas."


"Then she obviously doesn't know much about how stubborn I am."


Susan continued to chuckle even as Patty's mother approached, looking like a Fury. "That woman," Penny hissed, merely increasing Susan's humor. "I've met people like her before. Thinks she owns the world!"


"Mom."


"Oh, Patty, hush. As if you and Susan weren't talking about her too. I'll tell you right now, you make a stand at the beginning of your marriage or else she'll walk all over you."


"What do you know about it, Mom? Dad's parents were dead when you got married."


"That's besides the point! I know what I'm talking about here. Ask Susan."


Susan grinned and nodded. "In my experience, Patty--"


"Shut up, Sue." Patty sighed. "Can we talk about something else on the happiest day of my life?"


For a second, Patty could physically feel both her mother and Susan restrain from comment. Neither of them had been ecstatic when Patty had first announced the engagement. Susan had always expected Patty to end up in college with her, although she had understood why Patty felt the need to put things on hold after her father died. Patty knew this permanent end to that idea had Susan more put-out than she cared to admit. Her mother, possibly unlike any other mother in the world, just didn't seem to like the idea of her daughter marrying. Still, they were trying. Kind of.


"What's your song?" Susan asked after a moment. "Please tell me you're not going to dance to something super sappy. I will be forced to intervene."


"'I'll Never Fall in Love Again,'" said Patty dryly. Susan snorted.


"No dear, that's my song," said Penny.


Susan smirked. "Last I heard that wasn't true, Mrs. Halliwell." Patty pinched her. "Ow! Don't make a fuss! You're the one who told me."


Penny shrugged a shoulder. "I don't kiss and tell."


"Thank God," said Patty under her breath.


"Okay. Enough, enough, enough. Let's get some dancing going. I want to dance." Susan grabbed Patty's hand and twirled her around. "Where's that husband of yours anyway?"


"He's--"


"Look, you go get him and I'll get the music started. Come on, Mrs. H."


Patty watched for a moment as her mother and Susan walked away and then headed in the direction she had watched Victor go earlier. Night had fully set in, but the yard was well-lit and Patty didn't stumble as she made her way across the lawn. Still, she was nearly ten feet away before she spotted Victor alone underneath a rather large tree.


"Where'd your father go?"


Victor shrugged. "Inside? To bed? Who knows."


"Are you okay?"


There was a pause, just enough time for Patty to grasp Victor's hand and squeeze, and then he said, "Yeah, I'm great."


"Susan's starting up the music. Do you want to dance?"


"Yes."


And just then the love theme from Romeo and Juliet filtered through the backyard. Victor laughed and Patty rolled her eyes.


"I'm going to kill Susan."