sunhawk16: (Default)
sunhawk16 ([personal profile] sunhawk16) wrote2008-12-31 10:00 pm

New Year and The Fic That Must Not Be Named...

Yeah. That fic. The one we don't talk about. The next chapter is going out tonight. If I get this entry typed before midnight, it will still be 2008 and I can still say it's only been two years since the last chapter... right?

That's an estimate; the save date on the final version of Connections is March of 2006... so unless somebody wants to smack me with the actual posted date, I'm counting from there. Ouch. >_<; Been a long haul on this sucker, and all I can do at this point is stop stalling and just post the stupid thing... I'll have to accept the reassurances I've been given that it does not suck. Because I really just can't tell any more.
There should be some sort of deep philosophical end of year stuff here, but I have to confess that 2008 pretty much did not meet my expectations and leave it at that. Not really anything I much want to 'remember'.

So I'll look forward to 2009 and in my vaguely naive way, believe that this silly date that is probably pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of things... will actually make a difference to some pissy deity somewhere up there, and hope for the best!
2009, I will woo you and court you and bake you cookies, if you will only be a kinder, gentler year for us all! ^_______^

So this here fic thing goes out with huge thanks to [livejournal.com profile] lavendarlizard who did the beta without so much as crying at the size, and to [livejournal.com profile] colorfulshadows who was kind enough to take time out from her hugely busy world to let me poke at her for medical details. Thanks to you both!

As you may have guessed, this thing is way too big to post here, but as has become tradition, I will post a bit of a sneak peek and then it will be going out to the archivists as soon as I'm done here. Assuming I can stay awake that long... >_>
Kidding. ^______^

Thank you to everyone who has hung in with me, waiting for this thing... I will do my best to not take this long on the next one. *knocks on wood and rubs the lucky bunny*
So happy New Year and I'll be shutting up now...




Warnings : Yaoi of the 1x2x1 variety, angst/sap/romance/bits of violence/moments of citrus, OOC, language, Duo POV, unrepentant use of pet-names and anything else I forgot.
Thanks to Plaiddragon for the beta read, prodding, and chocolate, and Dev_Basaa for allowing me to pick her brain for medical details. Any face-saving is theirs, any mistakes are mine. Thanks guys!
Feed-back is a dream I have.
And I don't own anything in this series, either.


Directions


So, anyone surprised that I got a cell phone from Heero as a sort of congratulatory gift for my grand art gallery opening? It was a couple of days after he returned home, and he had the most sheepish look on his face when he handed it to me, but I suppose I should have expected it. Hell, not like I hadn’t thought more than once during that time period that I ought to get myself one, but you know… I have to confess to a vague feeling like being tied down just a little bit more. Must have been my Spacer sense of freedom getting pinched, but I did manage to ignore it. Accepted it with quite a bit of good grace, I thought. Took me a while to get used to carrying it, but I’ll even go so far as to admit it’s come in handy a couple of times.

The only other ‘gift’ I got for my efforts, was one of those weird-ass little artist’s beanies. I think there’s a name for them, but damned if I know what it is. But if you stick one on a guy in the movies, the audience can immediately identify him as the artiste. It was sitting on my tool box the Monday after the opening. Still not sure who did it, or if the whole damn garage was in on it. I think they were sorry though, after I put the thing on without batting an eye and worked the whole day using a cheesy French accent. Hey… you don’t grow up under the tender mercy of the Sweepers and not learn how to handle teasing. Though, to be honest, it was a huge relief to find myself dealing with teasing about the art thing, and not dealing with teasing about the evening news thing. I have no doubt that it was a conscious effort on the part of the guys, but it let me just pretend that they hadn’t seen it. Made it a hell of a lot easier to deal with what could have been a damned humiliating situation.

As for the opening, it went pretty well, really. Aleyah even said so, in her quaintly caustic way. At least, I assumed that’s what her declaration of ‘I think you just might work out after all’ meant. I didn’t quite make enough for Allison’s surgery, but I made a damn sight more toward that goal than I had thought I would, so I suppose I’d have to say the venture was a success. Still reserving judgment on whether it was actually worth the ulcer and gray hairs. Could just as easily have sold a kidney, and I still maintain I could have made just as much money, but that comment makes Heero look at me strange, so I sort of gave up mentioning it. I don’t get him sometimes… it’s not like I don’t have two of the damn things.

My show ran for three weeks and I sold just over half of what was there. And I really can’t tell you how I felt about that. It was this strange mix of exultant… and sick to my stomach. I had the horrid urge the day the show closed and I realized what all was missing, to track all those people down and demand the pictures back. ‘You can’t have it! It’s mine!’ I would yell, and they would have me hauled away by the little men in the white coats. It was somehow a very large shock. Especially considering what some of those pictures had been. All of the paintings sold, and I honest to God don’t know where they all ended up. That pains me somehow… like I let Jensen loose on the world, all unknowing. I had a couple of bad nights because I couldn’t shake the feeling that the psycho was ‘out there’ again. Heero noticed I was a bit twitchy, but I couldn’t even begin to explain it to him… it just sounds nuts. I was very damn glad he was home though; would have been a stone cold bitch to get through those days if he hadn’t been there to distract me. I have something of an overactive imagination, in case you’ve never noticed.

There was some consolation in that Quatre and Trowa had been able to snag the picture they wanted, and I caught the picture of Wufei and Beowulf for Sally. Quatre had worked the deal for their portrait before I had a chance to intervene, but I’d at least seen to it that Sally’s was a gift. I hated when my friends paid for my work… it just didn’t seem right. Sally had been thrilled, though she was still holding me to the promise of a painted version. Woman had been something of a tactician in her day, and it showed sometimes; you didn’t out-maneuver Sally Po.

The Case of Flight 1410 ended up being rather anti-climactic in the end. Leslie had indeed come forward, cutting a deal and confessing. Once she talked, the other members of the crew folded one after the other. Spencer followed almost instantly, and I suspect the poor kid had been relieved that somebody else had bucked Daddy-dear so he didn’t have to keep up the lies. By the time the bartender talked, even the good up-standing Captain Gray gave it up and made a full confession. Ended up charged with negligent homicide and a host of other lovely things. Lost his job, lost his license, and wouldn’t see the outside of a prison for a number of years. Spencer would never own a pilot’s license, but since he’d never really wanted to fly in the first place… I don’t think that aspect upset him overly much. I got a post card from the guy addressed to me, care of Preventers’ headquarters, with a half-assed apology. Kid really is kind of weird. I imagine Heero will know where he is and what he’s doing for the rest of his life; he uses the word ‘stalker’ a lot when he mentions him.
Bobbi, the last I heard, had been ‘let go’ from her position, but had managed to parlay the whole thing into a stint on the talk show circuit. Leslie was the only one to keep her job. So I guess everything worked out ok, which was a pretty damn good thing considering that Heero had somewhat exaggerated his standing on the investigation team. Turns out that his hip-deep involvement was pretty much against policy, and while Une had given him the go-ahead, it had all been under the table, and had things actually gone to trial, Heero would have been in a world of hurt, because she couldn’t have backed him publicly. I suspect he would have had to bow out of the trial and hope it didn’t come to light. Part of why the guy had been so… on edge during those weeks. Part of why he hadn’t been willing to talk to me much on the topic. We’d had words when I’d found out, but I can’t say I really blamed him; not sure I could have stayed out of it either, had I been in his place. But I’d been more upset that he hadn’t told me about the limb crawling, than about the actual limb.
But he is nothing if not a stubborn bastard. In the end, I’d just decided to file the whole mess away under ‘worked out in the end’ and tried to forget about it.

Which hadn’t been easy when the phone calls had started. Bobbi wasn’t the only one the talk shows were interested in. We’d finally gotten an answering machine and pretty much stopped picking up the house phone. Everybody who mattered knew to call the cell phones if they really needed to talk to either of us anyway. Frankly, I was ready to completely rip the regular phone out and be done with it. The first couple of weeks I was deleting a hand full of messages every freaking day. It took forever before the damn fervor waned a bit and then I was pretty much down to just ignoring the darling of the Rising Times; Mizz Angie Masters. I didn’t even listen to the damn things anymore since the woman had tried to pull the ‘I thought we were friends’ shtick after a dozen or so ignored messages.

Some people just seriously don’t know how to take a hint. What in hell did she think a total lack of response meant? There were days I feared her just showing up on our front porch, since that tactic had worked so well for her the first time.


[identity profile] nimaime.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooo yay~! ^^'' I remember this one. :D
Nice to read some more. ^^''

[identity profile] marasmine.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 03:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Yay! More Ion! You are a wonderful person and may 2009 be amazing for you!

(Anonymous) 2009-01-01 03:55 pm (UTC)(link)
You cunningly turned off comments on the post that succeeded this one - are you feeling stress and pressure, you poor dear? *fiendish grin*

Right now, I really want Aleyah to pop out of thin air, smirk at you in that almost condescending (but not quite) way, and say: "relax, you silly thing. It's wonderful."

It is wonderful. Duo is healing, but you work this in so subtly that the realisation only really hits with that last line. And what a line. Sorry to psych you from a distance, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the stress you say you feel is from investment in you character - you feel like you need to do him justice, as much as us, and yourself ^__^ sorry, creepy spiel over.

Although if I'm right...why did you put him through a kidnapping? O_O *wobbles* I was so tense through that part. Argh. Arghhh.

I'm going to start a Jack Lee fanlisting. Just so you know.

You manage to set down all the abstract worries and fears that come with being in love on paper. I don't know how you do it, but their relationship is just so perfect, without being cheesy. They are right for each other, is what comes across through reading. So as a reader, you can get so incredibly gooey without having to put up with actual goo on the screen. I want a Heero, goddammit!

Thank you so much for keeping it up. I'm one of the many people who are going to contact you and say 'well as far as we're concerned, this is so fucking worth anything. I hope it helps to calm any stresses you have...

...and motivates you to keep writing. I'm so sorry, I had too....

[identity profile] katleap.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)
THANK YOU!!!!!!!! Its the bestest est New Years gift ever!!!!!!! *HUGS* Now I just have to decide if I'm going to start at the begining or with this one. I think I just might have to start at the beginning. THANKS!!!! *HUGS*

[identity profile] chaoticbeauty21.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)
OMG yay! My husband is now going to have to pry me away from this computer >_>

Hehehehe glad you posted it and I love it so far ^_^ You always write such wonderful things =)

Happy New Year!

[identity profile] infini-t.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
'Stalker' *giggles*

Hey i'm glad you updated The Fic That Must Not be Named ^^...
Happy New Year!

[identity profile] epona34.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 05:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I just spent most of my afternoon reading it! And, just as always, I loved your characters and the way they interact. And Duo's painting for Jake is just great.
Thanks for taking the time to write more of this fic and for sharing it with all of us unable to write something si meaningful.
Thanks again!

[identity profile] soriano76.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Happy New Year and tx!

[identity profile] amet.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Eeeeeeeee, so excited! Congrats on getting a piece out! ♥

[identity profile] laie-himura.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
OMFG!!! 2009 starts off GREAT, if I have an update on these series!! I love, love them so muuuuuuuuuch! Thank you very, very much for writing this!

I hope you have an awesome 2009~
(deleted comment) (Show 7 comments)

[identity profile] nitelyfe.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
*spasms* Finally! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!! *_*

[identity profile] bashful-spirit.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
I've just spent my entire day reading this WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL chapter which is a novel unto itself! The depth of your writing just never ceases to amaze me - you put so much emotion into your words that my chest physically aches as I read them! I don't know what you do for a living, but I hope with all my heart that you get paid for your creativity, because while your fanfiction is a blessing to all GW fans who read it, you deserve as many zeroes on your paycheck as Duo received from Mr. Lee for YOUR amazing talent.

I just can't even put into adequate words how amazing this chapter of Ion was - I wish that I could! I don't have enough room here, I'm sure, to detail each part that I loved. It goes without saying that your Duo voice is impeccable, but your grasp of Trowa was just amazing! I loved him SO much in this chapter, and Wufei and Sally (and Dr. Devant - she was a hoot!), too. It may have been a two year wait, but this chapter was worth every second of our patience. I know that I'm going to have this story in my head for at least the next few days, if not longer!!

I have to add that my biggest laugh from the whole thing was the bit about who was it that looked at snail and thought to eat it, because I've ALWAYS said that about lobster! They're so UGLY!! Who would look at that nasty critter and think ooooh, YUMMY!?!

Anyway, thank you for the obvious hours, days, weeks of devotion that you spent on this amazing bit of fiction. What a wonderful start of 2009. ^__________^
ext_30096: (Default)

[identity profile] yanagi-wa.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 11:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, man, I am so stoked to see this, I'll have to run and read it all. Is it on Kracken's site? Thank you so much.

[identity profile] kat-lady04.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
This officially makes 2009 better than 2008 already! Best thing in the world to wake up too. Sososo good and when Duo and Wufei were talking about Wufei's painting I almost cried. I knew that no matter how long the wait was, it would be worth it...and it most definatly was!
Thankyouthankyou and Happy New Year!

[identity profile] velaro.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, this made my day ... and I notice you haven't really tied up any of the major 'loose ends' ... excellent :D

[identity profile] arielhime.livejournal.com 2009-01-02 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
YES!!! I guess this will be my new reading material!

Happy New Year hun! *huggles tightly*

routhier says...:

(Anonymous) 2009-01-02 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
i haven't read it yet... still waiting for it to load... uber wicked happy it seems to be all on one html page so that i don't have to do any creative dancing to get it over to my laptop... which, every time i plug the thing in, proceeds to blow the ground fault in my room and kills my alarm clock... i'm rambling from happy due to new chapter. don't mind me. ;)

*yay*

Oh My GOD!!!

[identity profile] yen420.livejournal.com 2009-01-02 09:10 am (UTC)(link)
Happy New Year indeed!!! Okay, I have just gotten back and lo and behold, a gift from you. I haven't read it yet but I will, just after I post this, this... THANK YOU!!! *off to reading*

[identity profile] ennaeverbright.livejournal.com 2009-01-02 11:15 am (UTC)(link)
OH my, I started reading your announcment and thought: Long chapter? GREAT!!! Than I read: Medical details and thought: OH NO what is she going to do to Duo this time? He nearly died in a fire, nearly died in space, nearly died after the space accident, nearly died in that bus-car-crash, nearly was shot and not to mention all those other little nearly died of embarassment parts when Heero managed to be to cute for words.... There isn't much left other than... erm,nope, better not giving you any more ideas, lol. Getting him druged and kidnapped was bad enough.

I loved the mail he got from Hayden and Toria, they both care a lot for Duo and it shows.
The bit with the opposum was so funny, lol, Duo really needs to learn something more about wildlife on earth and what else might inhabit his garden. Not that he faints when he sees a raccon, lol.

Wufei should have known better than to touch Duo without announcing himself before and making certain that Duo is awake. That was really close. And sending Heero away was a heartbreaking scene. But it was the only way to warn Quatre and Relena in time. And this stupid "safe the animals" organisation, sigh.

Again Duo had to save the day and Relena, lol. And that made her undoubtle one of his, giggle. He can try to deny it, but sooner or later he will have to admit it to himself. She doesn't know the wizard of OZ? Looks as if Duo has to see to her aducation a little. And maybe introduce Kelvin and Hobbes to her too, rofl. I love that kid and it might give Relena ideas on how to deal with her brother, hehehehe. She defianetly needs a tiger at her side.

I hope Duo's little speech made Zechs think about his relation with Relena. She is a grown up young woman, not the little baby he remembers or a soldier to be comanded. Someone had to kick him hard and Duo was the right one to do it.

The part about that comission was funny. Painting a ball room to make it look like a bathroom, rofl. But he will have a lot to do to finish it. Next weekend, lol. This Jack Lee has a weird kind of humor. Those poor tadpoles. I hope they survived the ivent.

[identity profile] teagoblin.livejournal.com 2009-01-02 12:28 pm (UTC)(link)
You knew this was coming.

http://teagoblin.livejournal.com/220016.html

Thank you, as ever, for a fantastic read. I hope I got it right. *hugs*

[identity profile] iniq.livejournal.com 2009-01-02 03:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey~ *beams*
I saved the htm file you linked to in the next post to the laptop and started reading yesterday and finished on the train today. Oh~ the memories. :D Memories of staying up till five in the morning to read one of those... back when I first discovered them. I'm not sure I stopped reading for days. Except for pee breaks. (Real pee breaks... not just rolling over to pee off the side of the bed.)

Anyway. So, awesome! I love it. No details, just the whole thing. Although maybe the moment with the "although you have a squirrel infestation and a raccoon in the shed". One of my favorites.
And of course Trowa and Duo. You know me and the fierce burning love I have for their interaction. Awww, Trowa~ I bet those two get excited over new issues of the Hellbound Beavers together. And maybe Trowa will start feeling useful now. In the... next two years. :D
(But, seriously, if the result is this and the length and the awesomeness... you shouldn't worry about people pressuring you. :D Just tell them it'll be worth it. *g*)

Anyway. wonderful new part. I loved the idea of a Martian caterpillar, though. :D

♥ Lots of love!

[identity profile] rochan01.livejournal.com 2009-01-03 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
Yay! Shiny thing!
I was late to the party and have now gleefully stayed up waaay too late to savor this in one go. Had to interrupt myself a few times to go reread other parts to refresh, it's such a rich story line :-)

Love all those little details that enrich Duo's world - his online comics that parody politics, the contrasting groups of buddies from the different lives he's led, his wondrous t-shirt collection (Note the hamster T - http://www.threadless.com/submission/149637/It_s_Just_A_Summer_Job), the grotty details of living in an older home (ie random vermin, funky neglected yard...) all the things that color in the blank spaces of a world. *hugs fic*

and Kudos to the hardworking archivers who help spread the fun

[identity profile] turnippatch.livejournal.com 2009-01-03 08:13 am (UTC)(link)
'They drugged me and hauled me away like a load of turnips. I was actually kind of embarrassed.'

Hey, if one turnip is good (and surely it is), surely a load of them must be great! ^o^ What's with this embarrassment, Duo?  If you have anything to be embarrassed about, it was being taken down by a damn PETA agent!  (okay, so maybe that one dude wasn't reeeeally a peta agent, but until we find out what he was actually up to, that's what we'll call him!)

So... I thought you were trying to tie up loose ends, not create new ones? ^____^

[identity profile] tkmaxwell777.livejournal.com 2009-01-03 08:30 am (UTC)(link)
*blinkblink* Ion? *blinkblink* Really? *blinkblink* For True?

*bouncebouncebouncebouncebouncebouncebounce*

I finished it already, but Hubby had to take meds for his knee again and fell asleep,
so we still have a ways to go for him to be able to comment. As for me... all I can
say is... *wibbly* Or as Ms. Aleyah would say, "You simply never fail to impress
me, dah-ling!" The final line of the story just had me... I don't know what... feeling
empowered? Feeling challenged? It was very affecting... like the rest of the story.
Anyway, we will reply again with our complete feedback (because mine won't be
half as entertaining without Hubby's *wink*). Until then, here is a little gift poem
in honor of the posting... Enjoy! *huggles* TK ^___^

True North
by tkmaxwell777

Different paths are calling
Different roads to tread
Different stars are falling
To wish upon instead

Sunlit dappled morning
Twilight darkness hued
Midnight clear adorning
Each with lure imbued

One promise to protect
One to honest toil
One brought by sense of debt
Can bring about pride's foil

Like a phoenix reborn
Like a bright new moon
Like a pure oath forsworn
In time destiny's boon

The mold is cast
The stone is set
The fire's amassed
With life's mere breath

Taking all the pieces
Fitting them in place
Love that never ceases
Fills the missing space

On the course to riches
Or the way to fame
Enduring pain's ditches
Finds potential's claim

True North simply beckons
Leading lost souls home
A heart's compass reckons
The paths to faith unknown

Cross-hairs focus with fate
Yet hope can't be shaken
Directions may seem innate
But chances must be taken

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