there will be a fish

Have I mentioned that spatz and I signed up for smallfandombang? We decided to commit to finishing off our Mission: Impossible monster. So it's kind of hilarious, because we're just shy of 15,000 words and it's not even the first check-in yet, and five months until final draft.

There are at least seven more largish scenes/sequences to write, so it's going to be looong. It sort of resembles MFU more than M:I in tone, but I'm okay with that, because M:I4 was also a little more MFU than M:I.

Apparently I'm really in the mood to write spy shenanigans, because I just finished Dungeons & Hawkeyes and have been poking at an old MFU draft (which, hilariously, ALSO starts in a dungeon; that was not intentional), and we've got wacky shit going on in the M:I story (SO many tropes. SO, SO MANY).

You know what sucks? When you get done with work at 2:30am (12 hours after you started being on your feet non-stop) and start doing your checkout and start realizing that somewhere, something's gone terribly wrong. As far as we could tell, it was nothing I did, and I'm pretty sure I know who fucked it up, but I walked out with NINE DOLLARS in cash tips after a VERY busy night, knowing I made more than that in tip off my last tab alone, and I really was having trouble not just bursting into tears. I'll probably get some of it back once our manager sorts things out, but a lot of I just won't, because there's not going to be a way to account for it.

So I'm going to go make myself a drink and take a shower and eat birthday cake (courtesy of my dad turning 61) for dinner.

And also do a meme:

1. Go to page 77 (or 7th) of your current ms
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines – sentences or paragraphs – and post them as they’re written. No cheating.

From mine and Katie's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol fic, which is at almost 12k words, thanks to being largely fueled by our frustration with the fandom to provide lots of clever spy shenanigans or awesome team interactions. So we're writing our own.

"[...] .But, it’s just-- Ethan was a big part of why I became a field agent in the first place. After the thing in Shanghai with Julia, I just kept thinking, how what I was doing wasn’t just on the computer or in the lab, that it was people’s lives, and I’d known that before but it hadn’t been real like that, you know?”

Will nodded, thinking about the first time he’d run up against it, the feeling of living something he’d only read reports about before. He’d read the report on Shanghai, as well as Ethan’s personal statements about Benji’s “invaluable assistance and integrity” in an operation that neutralized a highly-placed traitor and saved an innocent civilian life.

“I didn’t know that was why you started training for the field,” he said.

“Well, basically. I hadn’t thought about it before then. [...]"

I'm kind of sad this missed the best parts of this conversation, and instead hits the exposition paragraph I am plan to fix, but damn is it fun writing Benji dialogue. ♥

You know what I love about my dad? That conversations with him when we are both hungover and sleep deprived often end up full of references to things like Dyson spheres, the Kardashev scale, and Santa Claus machines.

From Cracked.com:

The 6 Most Impressive Cases of Identity Theft Ever Pulled Off

The 5 Most Half-Assed Scams That Were Shockingly Successful

These are both a) hilarious and b) make the Mission: Impossible movies seem a million times more plausible. :)

(ugh, LJ just did an obnoxious thing and stripped out all my coding, and I'm too tired to go back and fix all the italics tags, so just imagine they're there making my prose even more flaily, okay?)
(also whoops, I posted this last night and then private-locked it because LJ fucked up my cuts and I didn't want to spoil anyone, and then of course I forgot to make it public again. SIGH.)

1. The Hobbit trailer! I'm sure you have all seen it by now. I've seen it many times, including in 3D, because my place of employment is awesome. The song gives me the shivers every time, and MARTIN FREEMAN'S EVERYTHING makes me happy, and god it looks gorgeous. I AM EXCITE.

2. Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol. PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING ABOUT IT, OKAY. This is sort of like when Live Free Or Die Hard came out, and it was a huge shock when it was actively good. I want to go back and see it again! Brad Bird's direction is excellent; the action sequences were tight as anything (like, he doesn't just planting Chekhov's gun and then fire it, he shows you the gun and fires it, and then uses it as a hammer, and then five minutes later as a doorstop, and then... and it's all unexpected and realistic and creative), and marvelously innovative. But I love that he's kept the Pixar tendency to keep everything character-based, and character-driven; even when the characters are fighting people in Big Fight Scenes, it's still about them. And I really loved the team! Jane was awesome: kick-ass, vulnerable when she should be and competent when she needed to be, smart and funny and good at being a spy. I want her to come back! Which is entirely possible, since they also brought back Simon Pegg's Benji from #3, and his face is worth the price of admission alone. God, I love Simon Pegg, and the man is a genius comedian. And then there's Brandt, who was awesome (more on him later). It just had such a sense of fun to it, which is what I want in my action movies. I mean, I want be thrilled, too -- and let me tell you, I was clutching Katie's hand until it lost circulation during ( that one sequence, you know the one ) -- but I want it to be in a fun way; I want breathless joy from people throwing themselves through the air in unbelievable ways, and adrenaline-inducing explosions, and fighting people who need to be fought with a team of decent people, and winning. And I think Brad Bird is in agreement with me, and J.J. Abrams as well, so this was just really good for me. ( spoilers! )

3. Jamie Bell. There was a trailer for Man on a Ledge before MI4, and basically Jamie Bell + heist = key to my heart (with bonus Sam Worthington and apparently them being brothers). But then it also appears that he's going to be in a movie with James McAvoy in which they will both be Scottish and cops (and, in James McAvoy's case, batshit crazy) in a story written by the same guy who did Trainspotting. All this in addition to Tintin, which I am super duper excited about. WIN ALL OVER.

Speaking of, Tintin was excellent! It's very much a Stephen Spielberg movie, if you know what I mean -- in the 'teenage boy (and his dog) fight evil-doers and have wacky adventures while uncovering a sekrit treasure!' sense, complete with Rube-Goldberg-like chase scenes and plenty of swashbuckling slapstick. I personally really enjoy that, in moderation, so I had a great time. The animation/motion-capture stuff turned out very nicely, IMO, and it let them do some really cool stuff with the camera (or, "camera") during action sequences; there's one long chase that is entirely one shot, which would've been completely impossible in live-action, and makes for a really awesome effect. Jamie Bell is marvelous as Tintin; I love the "intrepid reporter" character type almost as much as con men and thieves/rogues with a heart of gold, AND the Tintin books were childhood favorites of mine, so it was just really delightful to see. And they curse like The Middleman ("Great snakes!" LOL) and Tintin nerdily talks to himself Snowy while investigating things and being a giant geek, and Haddock is a big, drunk-ass teddy bear of hilarity. Basically, I had a lot of fun. :)

4. Also Michael Fassbender. Is the man in every movie that's coming out? It's like I turn around, and he's in yet another trailer. Or article. Or something. AND he's getting to play with all the cool kids, it's awesome.

For the record, I am totally okay with this state of affairs. :D

THINGS STILL TO SEE (when I am not working and/or staring in despair at my Yuletide story and/or not working opposite schedule to Katie):
- Sherlock Holmes (I KNOW OMG)
- The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (once I read the book...)
- Hugo (I hear it's adorbs, plus Martin Scorcese does 3D, I am intrigued)
- Shame (HI MICHAEL FASSBENDER)
- Arthur Christmas (MAYBE. This has nothing to do with me realizing James McAvoy voices the main character, nope...)
- Young Adult (because Charlize Theron. Don't judge me.)

5. ...Okay, and also some fanfic things! Nine Eleven Ten updated yesterday, so I feel a great need to press it upon everyone again. But if you like The Dresden Files (or even if you don't; it's a pretty accessible AU, now that I think about it), and have somehow missed the Stars & Scones Bakery AU, hie thee over there now, because she just finished! AND IT IS DELIGHTFUL. The whole wacky ensemble is there, and Harry is faily and damaged and utterly endearing, and Marcone is delightful, and basically it will make you want to curl up with a cup of tea and some spice cookies and sigh happily. It's perfect for cold weather and the holidays, is what I'm saying. GO. READ. *shoos*