wherein Liz thinks about "Guardian"

"The Guardian in Spite of Herself" is now up on AO3 through ch. 14, and I've fixed ch. 15 to take care of the mysterious vanishing raven glitch (don't ask) so it is all nice and ready for posting Monday afternoon.

I have also done the initial scene-by-scene breakdown for ch. 17, in hopes of preventing myself from stalling out again. It is a much vaguer breakdown than I often use -- one or two sentences per scene rather than one or two paragraphs -- but since I end up ignoring at least a third of my breakdowns anyway, I don't think this is a great loss. As long as I hit the key points and keep my timeline in order, it's all good.

I really do need to make some decisions about the plot, though. At the moment, I have not even decided who lives and who dies (beyond the obvious survivors who have turned up in chronologically later ficlets: namely, Yukiko, Kakashi, Naga, Naruto, and Sasuke). I am also undecided about a couple character arcs. I mean, I know roughly where I'm going -- it is pretty obvious we are headed for an 'everybody crashes into everybody else' endgame in Tengai -- and clearly I need to resolve A) the hunt for Itachi, B) the mess with Eiji & Co., C) the involvement of Akatsuki, D) Sasuke's issues, E) Naga's guilt, and E) whatever may or may not be going on with Seichi. And while Yukiko doesn't have a driving character arc here like she did in "Apartment Manager," she does need to do some coming to terms with what a career as an active ninja entails, and also perhaps admit that there's a reason Sarutobi thought she was the right person to take care of Sasuke even though she likes to think of herself as a grumpy and misanthropic cynic. (Naruto may also need to come to terms with what ninja actually do, but he is again serving more as a catalyst than anything else.)

...

It is very strange to be actively thinking about this story again, you know?

solstice

I went to a solstice ceremony/service at church this evening. The Wednesday small-group ministry group has been putting it on for the past six years, and while I am not deeply moved by the results, I greatly appreciate that such a thing exists and would like it to continue existing next year.

It's basically a bunch of readings about seasons and light/darkness, interspersed with some communal singing and chances for people to share their hopes and fears for the coming year, and a candle-lighting session. Then we 'jump' over the 'burning' Yule log for good luck, after which we break for cookies and wassail.

I think I would find the service more meaningful if it included more music and fewer readings, and also if the candle-lighting were organized such that we end that part with everyone holding a candle rather than having banks of candles on tables at the edge of the room. But perhaps that is simply because that's what my childhood church's Christmas Eve services are like, and so I have an emotional attachment to such things. *shrug*

Also this year everyone received a partially sprouted narcissus bulb, as a symbol of hope and new growth. I don't have any potting soil in my apartment at the moment -- I used it all up repotting my snake plant last month -- but perhaps I can take my bulb to NJ and pot it there. It doesn't need to be dealt with right this very second.

...

The funny thing is that when I went to drop my wassail mug off in the kitchen, I somehow ended up washing all the dishes, even though I am not part of the Wednesday small-group ministry group and there was no formal call for volunteers. I think it's sort of a conditioned reflex at this point -- enter church kitchen, wash all the things -- because I have also had to forcibly stop myself from just diving in and taking over from members of the other three hospitality teams at normal Sunday services.

Ah well, there are worse reflexes to have. *wry*