andrew_in_drag: (despot)
Beautiful songs for what I hope are some beautiful chapters.

It's struck me I am listening to the same music over and over again, writing House of Cards. It's as if it's a movie in my head, so some songs become "Toshiya's theme" and some become "Kyo's theme", and some start to get associated with certain settings, and so on.

So maybe they add something; who knows?

If you feel like having literally MINUTES of fun you can try and match up the song with the character or setting. Har har har.

1. The Rip - Portishead (low fi 101, perfectly simple)
2. Gentle Hour - Yo La Tengo
3. Try Try Try - The Smashing Pumpkins (and it's simpler alternate version. its redneck cousin, if you will. and YOU WILL.)
4. Something In The Way - Nirvana
5. Ana - Pixies
6. Afraid of Everyone - The National
7. Falling for You - Weezer*
8. E-bow - Sigur Ros**
9. Amber - Dir en Grey


*'Pinkerton' is the best Weezer album, and I ain't even mad
**Sung in a made-up language based on the vocal sounds of the band's native Icelandic, and all the better for it
andrew_in_drag: (Default)
Some sad sad songs (oh dear). 

Also, some limited information about my upcoming fic has been added to the archive...

Still don't know how long it will be, sorry! But my last midterm is tomorrow so hopefully I will really be able to get something done soon. 


1. Gloomy Sunday - Bjork
2. Dance With My Father - Luther Vandross
3. Helicopter - Deerhunter
4. Basement Scene - Deerhunter
5. Hold My Hand As I'm Lowered - Noah and the Whale
6. Norwegian Wood - The Beatles
7. Something In The Way - Nirvana
8. Agoraphobia - Deerhunter
9. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles
10. Amber - Dir en grey
andrew_in_drag: (Default)
A right motley collection of tunes for Chapter Six, which I'm writing at the moment. I'm just over 600 words in, and there is draaaamaaaa! 

Also, totally weird musical crossover that happened: so I was searching on youtube for samples from Animal Collective's first album, Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished, hoping that I could sneakily find an upload of the whole album*, and one of the results on the first page was...the entirety of X Japan's The Last Live?! What?! These are two bands that have very little in common. The only similarity in the search criteria was the repetition of the word 'spirit'. Huh, youtube?! Whatchoo trying to tell me about my roots?! 

But anyway...

*I couldn't, by the way.

1. Peeping Tom - Placebo
2. Bye Bye Blackbird - The History Boys 
3. The Damned Don't Cry - Visage
4. Europe - Allo Darlin'
5. Boa Constrictor - The Magnetic Fields
6. Softshock - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
7. Ticket to Ride - The Beatles
8. Lion In A Coma - Animal Collective
9. Black-Eyed - Placebo
10. Temptation - New Order
andrew_in_drag: (Default)
Kyo's voice is finally out of my head!

Happily, I am now welcoming back Kaoru's...so hopefully my next KT won't be long. I've been suffering for inspiration, but I think I finally got there. Anyway, sweet songs. 

Also, still looking for a title...something about seeing someone again after a long time. Or coming back again and again. Or lost things. I dunno. 
This time next month, I'll be in Canada! Oh em gee. 


1. Softshock - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2. Hysteric - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3. Let's Get Lost - Bat for Lashes & Beck 
4. Come Back From San Francisco - The Magnetic Fields
5. Walk In The Park - Beach House
6. Songbird - Fleetwood Mac
7. Goodbye Horses - Q Lazzarus
8. Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
9. Scatterheart - Bjork
10. Joga - Bjork

andrew_in_drag: (Default)
Because I'm back in the office!

Productive(ish) day today. Giving one fic the planning stage it so desperately needs, and also wrote 1700 word prologue. Third potential prologue for the same fic, so maybe I'm not being productive at all, and I'm actually going in circles. If it gets written, though, I think this version is the keeper. Occasionally I have these times where I think "no, it's all shit, abandon it", which is actually what happened with AMLOR three years ago. So my own self-confidence is the hindrance at the moment, because producing stuff which I deem inferior severely bums me out. 

Also did research into the availability of cars in pre-war Japan, conscription in WW2 and 1930s pornography. 

The latter was necessary but so funny. Silent movies are kind of campy as it is, so a silent movie porno only makes everything that much stranger. Quite a surreal experience. Also flicked through some samples of 1930s pin-ups. Concluded that the research was not  actually all that vital, because naked people are basically the same today as they were eighty years ago. 

Anyway, the plan at least is helping, because if this fic gets written then the timeline stands to be very jumpy indeed. Almost as jumpy as my shitty internet connection.

I was going to type a fairly long-winded rant about the Olympics Opening Ceremony, but I think a simple LOL will suffice. What was with the fucking sheep? And the "industrial revolution" dancing?? And Kenneth Branagh?! Also, the fact that they used a New Order song instead of a Joy Division song irritates me. I like Blue Monday as much as the next person, but hello? Love Will Tear Us Apart? Transmission? Disorder?! 

But anyway...


1. Lucky - Radiohead
2. Help! - The Beatles
3. Lull - Radiohead
4. Orenji No Taiyou - Gackt & Hyde (really)
5. Kasumi - Dir en grey
6. Amber - Dir en grey (still)
7. With Whom To Dance? - The Magnetic Fields
8. Railroad Boy - The Magnetic Fields
9. Transmission - Joy Division
10. The Ghost of Tom Joad - Bruce Springsteen
andrew_in_drag: (Default)
For writing new things!

Sometimes it's really hard to get out of a particular frame of mind. I've had so much trouble getting out of Glasshouse Kyo's head! It was making everything I wrote really somber and kind of repressed. Writing Toshiya through somebody else's point of view seemed really manufactured, so that was seriously pissing me off. Even if it's just fanfiction, I take it very seriously. Not being able to write properly gets me very upset! 

Today I finally broke the cycle though! I started on something much more light-hearted, which helped a great deal. I only got the idea for it this afternoon, but it's one of those things where I just know it's gonna be something I stick with. It's got some of my favourite things in it, including sociallyawkward!Kaoru. Die's eyebrows are also likely to return for an encore after their ground-breaking performance in AMLOR. 

All I'm gonna say is that it's called 'The Meaning of Happiness' and that it's going to be...sweet, maybe? There are a few more details (vague synopsis and additional pairing, hurrah!) in my archive...for all you thrill seekers. 


1. A Reminder - Radiohead
2. Amber - Dir en grey
3. Kasumi - Dir en grey
4. Dancing With Myself - Generation X 
5. When My Boy Walks Down The Street - The Magnetic Fields
6. All For The Best - Thom Yorke
7. Egnirys Cimredopyh +) An Injection - Dir en grey
8. Just Like Heaven - The Cure
9. Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead
10. Lucky - Radiohead

Lots of DEG, lots of Radiohead. Hey look, it's my roots! 
andrew_in_drag: (cosmology)
So today I wrote the penultimate chapter for The Glasshouse, and I'm currently just over 1,000 words into the last chapter. 

Being the jittery soul I am, I'm already thinking about what should come next...whether I want to start on the AMLOR sequel straight away, or give sequels a rest for a while...on my hunt for inspiration, I placed an ad in dir en grey yaoi, asking about favourite pairings, so it's be really cool if any of you would fill that out

I also went to Hard Rock Calling yesterday, so I'm really tired...but it was cool, it was a pretty chill day.

Honestly, I'm really sad to be almost done with The Glasshouse. It's sort of the benchmark of a new era in fic writing for me; it's a lot darker, the subject matter is a lot more mature, and...well, whether or not the ending is happy depends on how you define happiness. It certainly does for Kyo. (Har har.) 

Anyway, the office chart for this week: 

1. Army of Me - Bjork
2. Railroad Boy - The Magnetic Fields
3. Unravel - Bjork feat. Thom Yorke
4. One Slip - Pink Floyd
5. Vinushka - Dir en grey
6. Between My Legs - Rufus Wainwright
7. The Things We Did And Didn't Do - The Magnetic Fields
8. Harrowdown Hill - Thom Yorke
9. Amber - Dir en grey
10. Cymbal Rush - Thom Yorke

Particular lines from these songs that have proved especially inspirational:
"You held me down when I had seizures."
"While you are away, my heart unravels like a ball of yarn."

As well as the general sound/atmospheres of Harrowdown Hill, Cymbal Rush and Amber. Three very good songs. 

Aside from that, I also listened to Uroboros and Dum Spiro Spero all the way through whilst writing today, so that was very inspirational...I don't know what to do next...half my mind is buzzing with thrillers and the other side is roaring with dramas...!

Anyway, I hope all readers enjoy the ending to The Glasshouse. Thanks for reading, guys! x
andrew_in_drag: (cosmology)
So unlike a few days ago, when I was suffering from low self-esteem and general distemper (read: PMSing like a bitch), I am now legs-akimbo in my literary saddle. 

I have a happy 5000-word head start on The Glasshouse, which has that particular box ticked for the next two days, so I've also started the first chapter of my AMLOR sequel. I will never do not yet have a name for it, but I have my plot all laid out, and I'm very excited to sink my teeth into it! I anticipate The Glasshouse being about 15 chapters long, just like Fifteen Years (I find the symmetry quite pleasing), so it will be finishing rather soon. 

I'm not sure how I feel about that! I've really enjoyed writing it, but it's been by far the most challenging fic I've done so far. It has inspired a separate, non-fanfic writing project, called The Fire Tree, which I'm really excited about...so I'm working on that too. Aaah! 

But here's some sneaky titbits about my upcoming AMLOR sequel...


> It features Miyavi as a very famous guest star...so I hope you all are happy with that! 
> Kyo is as bitter and cynical as ever, and has some new horizons to explore
> Kaoru is still clueless and adorable
> Toshiya might be having the momentary lapse of reason, this time...


So the office chart this week is for both fics. See if you can't separate Kyo's wrist-slitty songs from untitled-AMLOR-sequel's more upbeat(ish!) selections...

1. Centrefolds - Placebo 
2. Velouria - Pixies
3. Dig For Fire - Pixies
4. With Whom To Dance? - The Magnetic Fields
5. One Slip - Pink Floyd
6. Kekkon Shiki No Uta - Miyavi
7. Quick! - The Magnetic Fields
8. Grass - Animal Collective
9. Is She Weird - Pixies
10. Cat Walk - Beat Happening
andrew_in_drag: (cosmology)
For applying for my Canadian Study Permit and trying to wrestle out this most recent chapter of Fifteen Years. I'm very slow today. I'm only halfway through! Ulp. 

At least the Study Permit stuff is (finally) going alright. I am slowly wrestling my way through the billion and one pieces of paper they seem to think will certify that I won't mess up their country. 

1. Disorder - Joy Division
2. Don't Look Away - The Magnetic Fields
3. Atmosphere - Joy Division
4. When You're Old And Lonely - The Magnetic Fields
5. Peacebone - Animal Collective
6. Hearing Damage - Thom Yorke
7. Harrowdown Hill - Thom Yorke
8. Beneath the Fire - Evaline
9. Catherine - PJ Harvey
10. This Mess We're In - PJ Harvey

All of them were songs for the writing of Fifteen Years. Apart from 'Catherine'. I was listening to that because I like it. And my name is Catherine. 
andrew_in_drag: (Default)
Today I learned that invigilating exams is lot like watching a very, very bad comedian: hours and hours of tedium, broken by the occasional burst of laughter or disgust. But I need dolla and, in this economy, the only way I can earn it is by slumping in a chair or else slowly patrolling around rows of desks, collecting up exam papers and escorting nervously sweating teens to and from the toilet. 

Today I had the fortune to be placed in a two hour English Language GCSE. The school I was working at (my old secondary school, a cool five minutes down the road) splits up the English GCSEs, so that Language is taken in Year 10 and Literature is taken in Year 11. So, I had a bunch of Year 10s on my hands. (That's 14-15 year olds, for you Americans, and GCSEs are the final mandatory examinations in secondary education.)

What a shambles. The boys reeked of cheap cologne, and the girls had a drag queen's make-up bag on their faces. Wandering around and having a little peek at their answers, I almost had a stroke. I'm sure I have grammatical PTSD. 

The occasional giggle came from a choice name or two. Some of the desk labels looked like they belonged to rejected cartoon characters. Christopher Ladyman, anyone? Poor kid. Scarlett Christmas was also high on my list of kids with evil parents. 

Still, at least all that crashing dullness gives me time to think ahead and plan Fifteen Years. I'm sticking to a tight writing schedule: I have to churn out a chapter a day to make my normal 24-hour deadline, but balancing that with a full-time job is tricky! So all I do these days is invigilate, write, sleep. Invigilate, write, sleep. 

I'm very cool. 

But, it is very nice that Fifteen Years is getting such a good reception! It's an experiment for me in a lot of ways, so it's really encouraging, and I'm very grateful! And yes, I'm sorry for cross-posting so much and smearing myself all over your f-lists. But a girl's gotta eat! (And I eat comments.)


1. The Origin of Love - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
2. Vienna - Ultravox
3. Glittering Prize - Simple Minds
4. Zebra - Dream House
5. Never Let Me Go - Jane Monheit
6. Shake the Disease - Depeche Mode
7. Disorder - Joy Division
8. Namamekashiki Ansoku, Tamerai ni Hohemi - Dir en grey
9. I Looked All Over Town - The Magnetic Fields
10. 24ko Cylinder - Dir en grey
andrew_in_drag: (Default)
The office chart for my days of revision, laptop withdrawal and...revision again. I do a joint honours degree in English Literature and American Studies, so my mind has been going kind of crazy with very old bad poetry, critical theorists and wicked novels relating to hyphenate American identites.

I've had to make some more academic choices recently. My dissertation proposal needed revision, so I've been writing that up in a frenzy, and I'm presenting it tomorrow to my head of department. She's a scary lady. I'm scared.

It's kind of typical English Admin sloppiness. I met with my personal tutor yesterday and he fiiiinally saw fit to let me know that, since I'm going abroad, my dissertation must be related to American Studies rather than English Literature. This would have been a wonderful thing to know in, say, February, when I began planning the academic focus of the next two years of my life.

Luckily, I keep a backup plan at all times, so my new (pending) dissertation topic is an examination of the roles that liminality and transformation play in the development of Sylvia Plath's female. Praise god for American literature, because I am not doing a dissertation in history! I considered film options briefly, but I guess I am (and always will be) a book girl. And Sylvia Plath is very close to my heart, so I can't honestly say I'm unhappy with how this has turned out. I do love me some Angela Carter though, so I shuffled her gender-bendingly awesome novel, The Passion of New Eve, to my Critical Theory essay. So...huff, huff, huff, so much work...!

Oh, and the AMLOR sequel grows in plotting. It needs a guest star...and I have some plans about that. Ahahaha...
Most of all, I am scuffling around for a name for it.

So a two-part office chart: one for music, and one for book recommendations - both newly discovered and old favourites.

1. Andrew in Drag - The Magnetic Fields
2. Honeycomb - Animal Collective
3. I Spy - Pulp
4. 100,000 Fireflies - The Magnetic Fields
5. I've Seen It All - Björk feat. Thom Yorke
6. Take a Walk - Passion Pit
7. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
8. The Headmaster Ritual - The Smiths
9. Promises of Eternity - The Magnetic Fields
10. Gotham - Animal Collective


1. The Passion of New Eve, Angela Carter
2. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison
4. Jasmine, Bharati Mukherjee
5. The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston

Okay, so I'm finally done. It's hard not to ramble when you're in the uni library at one in the morning. There's an uncommon amount of people still around. Damn it, exams!
andrew_in_drag: (Default)
...To ease my hangover.

I saw Avenue Q yesterday, and it was SO FUNNY, but somehow we all ended up drunk. Long story short, I was surprised and impressed to wake up this morning in my own house, with my pyjamas on. I'm a very functional drunk. My housemate was not so lucky. 

1. Bachelorette - Björk
2. The Rip - Portishead
3. Jóga - Björk
4. Aurora - Björk
5. When Anger Shows - Editors
6. Three-Way - The Magnetic Fields
7. Never Let Me Down Again - Depeche Mode
8. Dozing Green - Dir en Grey
9. Stupid Girl - Garbage
10. Go To Sleep - Radiohead 

As you can see, a lot of Björk. In terms of my iPod, she's like the current artist in residence. I LOVE her. She's not to everyone's taste, but 'Bachelorette' is highly recommended. It's been inspiring the first bits that I've been writing towards an AMLOR sequel. 

"I'm a tree that grows hearts, one for each that you take."

It's really lovely! Quite angry, which happily happens to suit the Kyo I'm writing right down to the ground. Yeah! I can't really give any dates on when I'll be able to start posting, though. It's exam season here of course...and I would reeeeally like to pass, so I can still do my year abroad in Canada. All this Björk is making me feel...wintery! 
andrew_in_drag: (Default)
The office chart is in a little state of flux. 

The songs I've been listening to are those that apply to projects both present and upcoming. At present I've almost completed chapter 23 of AMLOR, and I've put down the first notes for my new fic plan. 

I'm quite excited about it. It's a Kyo/Die, which is something I've never written before - so that'll be interesting in itself - and it's also a good deal less cuddly than my previous fics. The plan is also to make it a bandfic, which will be another new experience. The only bandfic I've written before is Break the Limits - which, you may be aware, was X Japan - because I could make my own myths with that one. DEG bandfic has flummoxed me more than once before though, so I'll have to be careful. I think having a concrete plan will make things a good deal easier. I'm basing a lot of it around characterisation more than events, too, so that should help. Dunno!

I'm in the process of trying to think up a title for it. I was lingering over 'No Other God' for a while - a song I've been listening to a lot, and also it just fits well. Don't know though. Ag, ag, ag. So my mind is full of potential titles concerning false prophets and idols. And the like. 


1. The Rip - Portishead
2. Goodbye Horses - Q Lazzarus
3. Unravel - Bjork
4. No Other God - Kristen Young feat. Brian Molko 
5. Fuck U - Placebo
6. Ambulance vs. Ambulance - The Blood Brothers
7. The Headmaster Ritual - The Smiths
8. Like Spinning Plates - Radiohead
9. Human - Human League
10. Land of Confusion - Genesis

andrew_in_drag: (Default)
The top ten for AMLOR, and also for Fifteen Years. I had a breakthrough with the plot for that one (for some reason I find bandfics harder than your regular, common or garden AU) so whilst I don't have anything written (yet...) I do have the complete breakdown of events. And I'm kind of excited!

The only bother is the chronology...the plot line is linear, but contains gaps. It's the nature of the type of fic I'm planning, but might not be to everyone's taste. I hope it's...enjoyable! Or at least bearable. 

So a slightly odd, disjointed office chart for this one. 

1. Lovefool - The Cardigans
2. Glittering Prize - Simple Minds
3. Velouria - Pixies
4. Amber - Dir en grey
5. Nothing Else Matters - Metallica
6. 
I Don't Believe You - The Magnetic Fields
7. I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges
8. Venus As A Boy - Bj
örk
9. I Thought You Were My Boyfriend - The Magnetic Fields
10. Superstar - Sonic Youth



andrew_in_drag: (Default)
A soundtrack for rewriting AMLOR. My parents have gone to China (I'm totes jelly) so I'm taking advantage of having an empty house. Blasting music, strutting around naked, you know the drill. 

(Apologies if I accidentally made any of you picture me naked.)

1. Exile Vilify - The National 
2. I'm Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage 
3. Why Do You Love Me - Garbage
4. Kodou - Dir en grey
5. Little by Little - Radiohead
6. Lovefool - The Cardigans
7. I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones
8. Supervixen - Garbage
9. Push It - Garbage
10. Andrew in Drag - The Magnetic Fields

As you can see, there's more than enough Garbage in there. For some reason they are the voice of AMLOR's Toshiya. I don't know what to think about that. 



Also, slight spoiler: in order to write a recent chapter of AMLOR, I had to fucking google 'best ways to have sex in a car'. I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY.


Also today, facebook is giving me "your account is temporarily unavailabe; please check back in a few hours" notices. Obviously I'm freaking the fuck out, as I'm a child of the golden age of technology, and without facebook I start to visibly go through withdrawals - shaking, frantic swearing, stomping on thriving plant life, etc. 
I already miss my student house a bit. I don't know why, because it's frankly disgusting and overrun with unusual wildlife (we have begun making up backstories for all the animals that get inside our house, particularly the slugs). The problem is that the house was 'built' by somebody very drunk in the 1930s, so the walls aren't so much walls as holey pieces of supporting shit, with the occasional brick thrown in for luck. Our house is not really a shelter from the elements, but more a meeting place for wildlife. Sometimes squirrels come in to get out of the rain, which is adorable but probably quite unsanitary. 
But whatever, I live upstairs, where it's slightly less gross. 

I am enjoying the functioning heating system in my family home though. Jesus fucking Christ, I'd almost forgotten what warmth was. 


andrew_in_drag: (Default)
My house has been a full-on party zone this week, so all writing has been done whilst swaying gently to chill-out tunes. 

1. This Side of the Blue - Joanna Newsom
2. Superstar - Sonic Youth
3. We've Only Just Begun - The Carpenters
4. Songbird - Fleetwood Mac
5. Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode
6. Sad Little Moon - The Magnetic Fields
7. Ask For Answers - Placebo
8. How to Disappear Completely - Radiohead
9. Hysteric - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
10. I've Seen it All - Bjork and Thom Yorke

I'm home for Easter now, so - alongside the the masses of revision I have to do - I'm hoping to kick-start a new fic, since I am officially done and dusted with Protect Me. I have a few ideas, but I'd really like to know what sorta thing people want to see. I don't know if anybody really reads these office charts, but if you do, drop me a comment and let me know what sort of themes you might be interested in seeing! xx

andrew_in_drag: (Default)

For the final week before the holidays!


1. Cat Walk - Beat Happening
2. I'd Go Anywhere With Hugh - The Magnetic Fields
3. Lotus Flower - Radiohead
4. 凌辱の雨 - Dir en grey
5. Crazy For You (But Not That Crazy) - The Magnetic Fields
6. Vanitas - Dir en grey
7. Hombre - M.I.A
8. Twenty Years - Placebo
9. 太陽の碧 - Dir en grey
10. Glittering Prize - Simple Minds

andrew_in_drag: (Default)
The chart for the week, brought to you from my "office" (bed) on a slightly warmer Thursday afternoon. 

1. Born for Love - The Magnetic Fields
2. Kigan - Dir en grey
3. Exile Vilify - The National
4. Just Like Heaven - The Cure
5. Cat Walk - Beat Happening
6. One Song Glory - Rent
7. KR Cube - Dir en grey
8. The Only Boy in Town - The Magnetic Fields
9. Children of the Revolution - T. Rex
10. Fukai - Dir en grey

On closer inspection there appears to be a theme. 

This is just my top ten for the music I've been listening to whilst writing this week, in case I (or anyone else, for that matter) requires an inspiration injection this week. 

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andrew_in_drag: (Default)
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