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quinaraI did this last year and stultiloquentia talked me into doing it again. Of course, the list I'd tried to keep was practically useless, but I did some research into Places I've Been and think I've found a vaguely representative (though almost certainly still lacking) bunch of lines for where I found myself this year. Hope you enjoy! And do it yourself (maybe not on such a large scale even - what are five lines you loved this year?), because I want to read things...
2010
Queen Mab met bold Titania
In grosgrain and green pearls
She opened up the diner door
She winked at all the girls.
She ordered cherry pie with a
Stiff crown of cream in whirls
She waltzed across the chequered floor
Her skirts came out in swirls. (The Changeling Quickstep byfulselden.)
.
Halfway through dinner, Spike realizes he's being seduced. (Take Five, Everybody bystultiloquentia.)
.
Wait. What?
Buffy looked down. A shard of glass poked out from her stomach. Blood gushed red and hot from the wound. It streamed down her front, obliterating the cherries printed on her apron.
That wasn’t ... that wasn’t how it went. Ever.
She looked up. Banana Cream had picked up another piece of glass. The pie held it like a throwing dart, a smile creasing its jiggly filling. “What? You think we don’t learn stuff?” (Where Pies Go When They Die: Chapter Seven by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ghostyouknow27.)
.
Jiaming, light of the house. He has not brought much light or glory. He does not even know the dialect for 家明， even though 谭 is a name that comes out of an ancient state in 山东， which journeyed into 湖南， and which has persisted long in his family's old home of 香港。
Well, he can make a start now. Take River – take Hena-mei – and run. Make a clean break. Here I draw the line. (春雨 (Spring Rain) by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
mercredigirl
.
Then war happened, and he became River, and rivers have lots of voices, certainly not just BBC English. He put on his full repertoire when he was on air, and Fred once asked him if it was for disguise.
"No," he shrugged, "no, it's just a thing."
The twins were very good at accepting things that were just things. He wasn't really sure how to explain he was trying to give torn-up families a sense of - togetherness, community, roots, something (Lee wasn't good at words like that). And diversity, which is another one of those ill-used wishy-washy words he grew up resenting, that too. It was a war of intolerance, after all, and if there was any way to sound Muggle, Lee would have done that too. ([voices] bylaeria.)
.
Follow the river.
In the lowlands, the river was wide and sun-warmed, and there were boats to be commandeered, or heading upstream to empty their nets or trade reed-work for pottery, willing to take a slim woman's weight, for a fee. Upstream, the boats were smaller and nimbler, built for rapids, and then they turned back altogether as the mountains rose like the backs of lion turtles from a cloudbank main. When she told the last man of whom she begged a craft, "I am making a pilgrimage," he looked at her with clear, dark eyes and said, "Then you'll row yourself," and gave her his own boat, instructing her how to bank and conceal it, below the falls. "You'll know the falls," he said. "You might portage them, but it'd do you no good." She thanked him and tried to give her last coin, until she saw it would be insult. Then she rowed. ([steel in cold water] bystultiloquentia.)
.
After checking the maps in the castle library, xe follows the river out of the city, knowing that it will lead to the marsh and the underground tunnel that leads to the Outer Continent. On the way, xe notices how the plants near the river change, and tries some of them. Xe makes notes in xyr book about the nice ones, and collects some of the really nice ones, putting them in xyr mu-skin bag for later.
At South Gate, xe stops for some of their famous bundt cakes. (Finding Flavour byangelikitten.)
.
They walked together up the bright sucking corridors. (I Could Sleep for a Thousand Years byfulselden.)
.
"Not very assertive, are you?" The dragon huffed and blinked slowly at him.
"I am too! I'm..." He pulled himself up straighter as he struggled to think of an appropriate adjective.
"Quite frankly," the dragon yawned and set off a gust of wind that nearly toppled Buffy off the balcony, "I'd expected more from the Dungeon Master." (Dungeons & Dragons bydaiseechain.)
.
Arms and many women I sing, who first from the shores of California
Or more accurately a really big crater
exiled by some really big evil came to Italy and then to Scotland
Where it is very cold and my ink keeps freezing
But I shall persevere, even if my eyelids freeze shut
And I am like Homer, only writing in Latin
And also writing in general
Maybe I should get Vi to take dictation. (a series of verses that didn’t get translated into Latin byladyofthelog.)
.
Then I may have got a little weird.
I found myself looking at every man I knew… consideringly.
Not Giles – he’s practically my dad. Not Xander – way to piss off Spike. Not Andrew… no. (And I’d honestly never thought about how physically alike Andrew and Spike were before. But still: no. Shudder.)
Not Erik: highly creative ginger-freckled stoners not high on my pick-up list.
Not Silking, Spike’s SSO buddy: too bald.
Not Gunn. He’d be ideal – faraway, trustworthy and fit. I did think about this a lot, mainly because Spike likes him, which might help. But Gunn couldn’t be more physically different to Spike, which wasn’t going to fit with my idea that Spike-alike sperm might help him bond. Dammit.
Still, thinking about how great Gunn would be as a candidate gave me another option: faraway, trustworthy, British, Spike likes. Check, check all the way. A little too tall, dark and short-sighted (though Spike actually needs glasses, if he’d only admit it), but none of it totally un-Spikeish.
And the best thing? I had never, ever had a sexual thought about him. Which is more than you can say for Xander or Gunn. (Winds Blowing Chill bybrutti_ma_buoni.)
.
The remaining survivor of the Camden Town squat watches the sun rise over the Pacific as he eats his airline omelette from an aluminium tub. The white noise of the aircraft's movement drowns out the sounds of his plastic knife and fork on the metal. The airline pilot calls out the weather forecast for San Francisco: "Cloudy, and with early-morning fog." (Halfway There: Chapter Thirty-Five – Bicycle byindri.)
.
Spike settled himself on the sofa and turned on the telly, propping his boots up on the coffee table. The DeSoto wasn't just a car, though. It represented madness and mayhem and freedom - everything he used to be and wasn't anymore. And now it was gone.
He could hear popcorn popping in the microwave, and Dawn humming to herself in the kitchen. (Microwave Meals (Quick Easy and Sometimes Satisfying) – The I Can’t Get No Satisfaction Remix bycindergal.)
.
Clearly, Ron thought, Hermione's sexual obsession with arachnids was somehow caused by her being Petrified at an extremely impressionable age. ([Spiderman] bycaboca.)
.
“And so it bloody would with you, you git, if someone asked you what you remembered of something that happened before you were born. I do not remember Keats, the Prince Regent or Jane Austen. The Brontes croaked five years before I was born. And, chip or no chip, the next buffoon who sends the Bit to ask me for eye-witness reports of the Spanish Inquisition is going to get a serious neck injury!”
The wounded vampire retired to snarl and sulk in his corner. Buffy and Giles tiptoed up the stairs. Perhaps it had been wrong to represent Spike as such a good source of material for history reports. But it was funny. (Do the Math bygillo.)
.
The Deeper Well sure was no ordinary boneyard. (Working my Way Back to You: Chapter Thirty-Two – Into the Abyss bybogwitch.)
.
"I'm sorry, Simon," she said.
Big sleepy brown eyes blinked at her. "How come?"
"About you not believing in Santa anymore." It had saved them all, but it was kind of sad anyway. (He Sees You When You’re Sleeping byrahirah.)
.
On a voicemail far, far away...
This is Illyria, the God King of the Primordium. I wish to leave a message for Spike.
Wesley is sad. Buffy is sad. You are a fool.
That is the end of my message. (The Wide and Starry Sky bybrutti_ma_buoni.)
.
It was the prophecy, he realized as he straightened his lexicographies and his translation of the Book of the Dead. It was the moment he’d told Buffy she would die. Some unfelt loyalty had stretched and snapped.
He finished tidying his desk. (At Last bysnickfic.)
.
A slow smile spread across his face. He shifted lower, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling her ear. "Let's go break in and roll around in his special dirt!" (Dracula’s Castle byhello_spikey.)
.
Charlotte loved Maria, and Elizabeth, very dearly. But there were some things they did not understand about one another. Charlotte had long ago given up trying to bridge the gap; it was one she was well used to. She was not romantic, and never had been. Her mama, Lady Lucas, attributed this to a sensible character, good upbringing, and a disinclination towards novels. (A Comfortable Life bybeatrice_otter.)
.
Quina stops looking through the cupboard, so that xe can look at Zidane in shock. "They no like Gysahl Pickles?!" xe asks, taken aback. "But they Lindblum delicacy!!!" (Green-Skinned Feast byangelikitten.)
.
When Mary Jane's grammar-school-boy had come for her six months gone, face freckled, mouth full of South London, he had been the first man she had seen for almost a year who did not wear a cream lounge suit or a white uniform with cuffs worn to a shine. Brass buttons. Mr C’s tastes are particular, he likes his rum white but not his boys, he says, he taps his cigarette box, lines them up level. Mr C believes jeans are uncouth, he holds their passports in the safe behind the liquor cabinet. (A Thousand Dreams that Would Wake Me byfulselden.)
.
"Not like this one," the Gnobold said. "This is a wishing-comb, made of moonbeam and chalcedony, with tines of amber and mother-of-pearl. It will grant you your heart's desire." (The Tale of the Vampire Slayer’s Daughter byrahirah.)
.
The day that Xander died, that was a good day. (Come Crashing Down bydeird1.)
.
She drew closer to Randy instinctively. “Oh look, it’s the forces of darkness.”
“Don’t worry. We can take them,” he replied. “Together.”
She rolled her eyes.
Then, to her confusion, a line of music started playing in her head. “Did you ever know that you’re my hero…”
What. The fuck. (Under Any Circumstance byohwaluvusbab.)
.
He had to look away when their meandering progress towards the front door came to a dead halt for yet another bout of the endless canoodling, but as he glanced sidelong at them, he had to admit that they made quite a handsome couple. Or they would have done, if Spike weren't an evil, unrepentant bloodsucking fiend who couldn't resist being rude to everyone. (Marriage of Convenience byshapinglight.)
.
“The line grows weak. Flesh is fragile and bloated. This creature is an abomination, yet it is of my issue. Something of Illyria resides still inside.” Illyria straightens, breaking away from the inter or maybe not so inter-species connection. “It sees beyond the boundaries of your small, limited minds.”
Spike snorts. Dawn might be impressed by Illyria’s talk, but he’s heard it all before. “Yeah, but I still bet it can’t pick the winner of the World Cup…” (Eight Legs and Legacies bybogwitch.)
.
"They aren't exactly going to julienne themselves, are they? Anyway, I like doing it. Get them exactly the right length and thickness, and you can watch all the ones who are trying to give up smoking go bonkers trying not to pick them up between their first two fingers. Marvellous thing, compulsive compensation. With any luck I get the boss and the freak at one fell swoop." (The Affair of the Asphyxiated Acafan byAJHall.)
.
A girl who holds her stake straight in a fight
She leaves a rim of lipstick on her glass
She moves through death and pries apart the night. ([BUFFY – lol!villanelle] byfulselden).
.
...Before the sound of the explosion reached her, Caroline felt the girl-who-was-not-Iris flooding through her. And she thought, remember me. (Alive, Child of Awake bybobthemole.)
.
stultiloquentia talked me into doing it again. Of course, the list I'd tried to keep was practically useless, but I did some research into Places I've Been and think I've found a vaguely representative (though almost certainly still lacking) bunch of lines for where I found myself this year. Hope you enjoy! And do it yourself (maybe not on such a large scale even - what are five lines you loved this year?), because I want to read things...2010
Queen Mab met bold Titania
In grosgrain and green pearls
She opened up the diner door
She winked at all the girls.
She ordered cherry pie with a
Stiff crown of cream in whirls
She waltzed across the chequered floor
Her skirts came out in swirls. (The Changeling Quickstep by
fulselden.).
Halfway through dinner, Spike realizes he's being seduced. (Take Five, Everybody by
stultiloquentia.).
Wait. What?
Buffy looked down. A shard of glass poked out from her stomach. Blood gushed red and hot from the wound. It streamed down her front, obliterating the cherries printed on her apron.
That wasn’t ... that wasn’t how it went. Ever.
She looked up. Banana Cream had picked up another piece of glass. The pie held it like a throwing dart, a smile creasing its jiggly filling. “What? You think we don’t learn stuff?” (Where Pies Go When They Die: Chapter Seven by
ghostyouknow27.).
Jiaming, light of the house. He has not brought much light or glory. He does not even know the dialect for 家明， even though 谭 is a name that comes out of an ancient state in 山东， which journeyed into 湖南， and which has persisted long in his family's old home of 香港。
Well, he can make a start now. Take River – take Hena-mei – and run. Make a clean break. Here I draw the line. (春雨 (Spring Rain) by
.
Then war happened, and he became River, and rivers have lots of voices, certainly not just BBC English. He put on his full repertoire when he was on air, and Fred once asked him if it was for disguise.
"No," he shrugged, "no, it's just a thing."
The twins were very good at accepting things that were just things. He wasn't really sure how to explain he was trying to give torn-up families a sense of - togetherness, community, roots, something (Lee wasn't good at words like that). And diversity, which is another one of those ill-used wishy-washy words he grew up resenting, that too. It was a war of intolerance, after all, and if there was any way to sound Muggle, Lee would have done that too. ([voices] by
laeria.).
Follow the river.
In the lowlands, the river was wide and sun-warmed, and there were boats to be commandeered, or heading upstream to empty their nets or trade reed-work for pottery, willing to take a slim woman's weight, for a fee. Upstream, the boats were smaller and nimbler, built for rapids, and then they turned back altogether as the mountains rose like the backs of lion turtles from a cloudbank main. When she told the last man of whom she begged a craft, "I am making a pilgrimage," he looked at her with clear, dark eyes and said, "Then you'll row yourself," and gave her his own boat, instructing her how to bank and conceal it, below the falls. "You'll know the falls," he said. "You might portage them, but it'd do you no good." She thanked him and tried to give her last coin, until she saw it would be insult. Then she rowed. ([steel in cold water] by
stultiloquentia.).
After checking the maps in the castle library, xe follows the river out of the city, knowing that it will lead to the marsh and the underground tunnel that leads to the Outer Continent. On the way, xe notices how the plants near the river change, and tries some of them. Xe makes notes in xyr book about the nice ones, and collects some of the really nice ones, putting them in xyr mu-skin bag for later.
At South Gate, xe stops for some of their famous bundt cakes. (Finding Flavour by
angelikitten.).
They walked together up the bright sucking corridors. (I Could Sleep for a Thousand Years by
fulselden.).
"Not very assertive, are you?" The dragon huffed and blinked slowly at him.
"I am too! I'm..." He pulled himself up straighter as he struggled to think of an appropriate adjective.
"Quite frankly," the dragon yawned and set off a gust of wind that nearly toppled Buffy off the balcony, "I'd expected more from the Dungeon Master." (Dungeons & Dragons by
daiseechain.).
Arms and many women I sing, who first from the shores of California
Or more accurately a really big crater
exiled by some really big evil came to Italy and then to Scotland
Where it is very cold and my ink keeps freezing
But I shall persevere, even if my eyelids freeze shut
And I am like Homer, only writing in Latin
And also writing in general
Maybe I should get Vi to take dictation. (a series of verses that didn’t get translated into Latin by
ladyofthelog.).
Then I may have got a little weird.
I found myself looking at every man I knew… consideringly.
Not Giles – he’s practically my dad. Not Xander – way to piss off Spike. Not Andrew… no. (And I’d honestly never thought about how physically alike Andrew and Spike were before. But still: no. Shudder.)
Not Erik: highly creative ginger-freckled stoners not high on my pick-up list.
Not Silking, Spike’s SSO buddy: too bald.
Not Gunn. He’d be ideal – faraway, trustworthy and fit. I did think about this a lot, mainly because Spike likes him, which might help. But Gunn couldn’t be more physically different to Spike, which wasn’t going to fit with my idea that Spike-alike sperm might help him bond. Dammit.
Still, thinking about how great Gunn would be as a candidate gave me another option: faraway, trustworthy, British, Spike likes. Check, check all the way. A little too tall, dark and short-sighted (though Spike actually needs glasses, if he’d only admit it), but none of it totally un-Spikeish.
And the best thing? I had never, ever had a sexual thought about him. Which is more than you can say for Xander or Gunn. (Winds Blowing Chill by
brutti_ma_buoni.).
The remaining survivor of the Camden Town squat watches the sun rise over the Pacific as he eats his airline omelette from an aluminium tub. The white noise of the aircraft's movement drowns out the sounds of his plastic knife and fork on the metal. The airline pilot calls out the weather forecast for San Francisco: "Cloudy, and with early-morning fog." (Halfway There: Chapter Thirty-Five – Bicycle by
indri.).
Spike settled himself on the sofa and turned on the telly, propping his boots up on the coffee table. The DeSoto wasn't just a car, though. It represented madness and mayhem and freedom - everything he used to be and wasn't anymore. And now it was gone.
He could hear popcorn popping in the microwave, and Dawn humming to herself in the kitchen. (Microwave Meals (Quick Easy and Sometimes Satisfying) – The I Can’t Get No Satisfaction Remix by
cindergal.).
Clearly, Ron thought, Hermione's sexual obsession with arachnids was somehow caused by her being Petrified at an extremely impressionable age. ([Spiderman] by
caboca.).
“And so it bloody would with you, you git, if someone asked you what you remembered of something that happened before you were born. I do not remember Keats, the Prince Regent or Jane Austen. The Brontes croaked five years before I was born. And, chip or no chip, the next buffoon who sends the Bit to ask me for eye-witness reports of the Spanish Inquisition is going to get a serious neck injury!”
The wounded vampire retired to snarl and sulk in his corner. Buffy and Giles tiptoed up the stairs. Perhaps it had been wrong to represent Spike as such a good source of material for history reports. But it was funny. (Do the Math by
gillo.).
The Deeper Well sure was no ordinary boneyard. (Working my Way Back to You: Chapter Thirty-Two – Into the Abyss by
bogwitch.).
"I'm sorry, Simon," she said.
Big sleepy brown eyes blinked at her. "How come?"
"About you not believing in Santa anymore." It had saved them all, but it was kind of sad anyway. (He Sees You When You’re Sleeping by
rahirah.).
On a voicemail far, far away...
This is Illyria, the God King of the Primordium. I wish to leave a message for Spike.
Wesley is sad. Buffy is sad. You are a fool.
That is the end of my message. (The Wide and Starry Sky by
brutti_ma_buoni.).
It was the prophecy, he realized as he straightened his lexicographies and his translation of the Book of the Dead. It was the moment he’d told Buffy she would die. Some unfelt loyalty had stretched and snapped.
He finished tidying his desk. (At Last by
snickfic.).
A slow smile spread across his face. He shifted lower, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling her ear. "Let's go break in and roll around in his special dirt!" (Dracula’s Castle by
hello_spikey.).
Charlotte loved Maria, and Elizabeth, very dearly. But there were some things they did not understand about one another. Charlotte had long ago given up trying to bridge the gap; it was one she was well used to. She was not romantic, and never had been. Her mama, Lady Lucas, attributed this to a sensible character, good upbringing, and a disinclination towards novels. (A Comfortable Life by
beatrice_otter.).
Quina stops looking through the cupboard, so that xe can look at Zidane in shock. "They no like Gysahl Pickles?!" xe asks, taken aback. "But they Lindblum delicacy!!!" (Green-Skinned Feast by
angelikitten.).
When Mary Jane's grammar-school-boy had come for her six months gone, face freckled, mouth full of South London, he had been the first man she had seen for almost a year who did not wear a cream lounge suit or a white uniform with cuffs worn to a shine. Brass buttons. Mr C’s tastes are particular, he likes his rum white but not his boys, he says, he taps his cigarette box, lines them up level. Mr C believes jeans are uncouth, he holds their passports in the safe behind the liquor cabinet. (A Thousand Dreams that Would Wake Me by
fulselden.).
"Not like this one," the Gnobold said. "This is a wishing-comb, made of moonbeam and chalcedony, with tines of amber and mother-of-pearl. It will grant you your heart's desire." (The Tale of the Vampire Slayer’s Daughter by
rahirah.).
The day that Xander died, that was a good day. (Come Crashing Down by
deird1.).
She drew closer to Randy instinctively. “Oh look, it’s the forces of darkness.”
“Don’t worry. We can take them,” he replied. “Together.”
She rolled her eyes.
Then, to her confusion, a line of music started playing in her head. “Did you ever know that you’re my hero…”
What. The fuck. (Under Any Circumstance by
ohwaluvusbab.).
He had to look away when their meandering progress towards the front door came to a dead halt for yet another bout of the endless canoodling, but as he glanced sidelong at them, he had to admit that they made quite a handsome couple. Or they would have done, if Spike weren't an evil, unrepentant bloodsucking fiend who couldn't resist being rude to everyone. (Marriage of Convenience by
shapinglight.).
“The line grows weak. Flesh is fragile and bloated. This creature is an abomination, yet it is of my issue. Something of Illyria resides still inside.” Illyria straightens, breaking away from the inter or maybe not so inter-species connection. “It sees beyond the boundaries of your small, limited minds.”
Spike snorts. Dawn might be impressed by Illyria’s talk, but he’s heard it all before. “Yeah, but I still bet it can’t pick the winner of the World Cup…” (Eight Legs and Legacies by
bogwitch.).
"They aren't exactly going to julienne themselves, are they? Anyway, I like doing it. Get them exactly the right length and thickness, and you can watch all the ones who are trying to give up smoking go bonkers trying not to pick them up between their first two fingers. Marvellous thing, compulsive compensation. With any luck I get the boss and the freak at one fell swoop." (The Affair of the Asphyxiated Acafan by
.
A girl who holds her stake straight in a fight
She leaves a rim of lipstick on her glass
She moves through death and pries apart the night. ([BUFFY – lol!villanelle] by
fulselden)..
...Before the sound of the explosion reached her, Caroline felt the girl-who-was-not-Iris flooding through her. And she thought, remember me. (Alive, Child of Awake by
bobthemole.).
(no subject)
Date: 09/01/2011 02:09 (UTC)It's lovely to see two of mine up there; thanks a lot. It's funny and telling, though, to see which lines pop out for you -- because they're never my own special pets!
(no subject)
Date: 09/01/2011 10:40 (UTC)It always seems to go that way, doesn't it? When looking for these, I find it's often not the actual line I remember, but the impression a paragraph/scene/story left on me, so I try to seek out lines/bits that sum that up. Some of these are definitely the words that are knocking around my head, but a lot of them come in image form, with this the closet to verbal representation I could filch. Your Spike line (for example!) is definitely there as prose, but it comes with the whole image of Spike sitting at the table with a bowl(?) of blood and this huge array of condiments, looking up at Buffy who's nervously glancing to find out whether he wants for anything. It tickles me! My fun with juxtaposition is also an attempt to re-create the connections.
(no subject)
Date: 17/01/2011 16:32 (UTC)(Well, you fixed my confidence anyway, which has been slipping and which I need very much, being unable to study without it. You hence are my favourite person forever for a while.)
(no subject)
Date: 17/01/2011 17:44 (UTC)(Be confident! Rock the studying!!)
(no subject)
Date: 17/01/2011 19:27 (UTC)Mm, I'm also caboca - I know it's the height of uncool to retroactively claim long-abandoned journals, but I don't even care, my ecstasy at my dubiously-moral double inclusion remains untarnished.
(no subject)
Date: 17/01/2011 19:38 (UTC)Ah! I did wonder. This is what logically made sense, but then I didn't want to say in case, through some quirk of fate, you were mistaken and it came across like I was saying 'YOOOUUU??!! In my list TWICE???', which is clearly not the sentiment I want to get across at all, because I love your fic (even in a blind taste test)!
(no subject)
Date: 16/02/2011 06:35 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 16/02/2011 09:54 (UTC)