Tweets and Twitterings from the Matrix Refugee

• 09:14 Good morning! :: Cough-cough:: I'm up and about at least, let's see how well I do at work... #
• 09:47 Ever noticed how it seems every time a shot of the moon appears in a TV show, it's full? Odd. #
• 14:30 Gugh... got stuck bagging by the door today, even after I told my boss I wasn't feeling great... off to take a nap... #
• 16:58 Hot chocolate and a coconut cupcake: that makes me feel a little better... #
• 21:17 Back from picking up the half-rimmed glasses: been told to wear my old ones the rest of the night and wear the new first thing tomorrow #

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12 Fanfic Roses: "Bleach" -- "Where She Belongs" (PG)

I have mixed feelings about "Bleach": I like a number of the characters, but sometimes the execution feels a bit problematic for me (pacing issues, absurdly overpowered villains :: Glares in the direction of the Bounts::, plus it's soooo loooong. 167 episodes, two movies and it's still in production. Eesh...). But I like it enough that it's inspired me to write one or two character sketches, including this one...

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A red rose and a white rose tied together with a golden silk ribbon, for Henry and Monica Swinton;
A tiny pink rosebud and a thick thorny stem without any blossoms at all for Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru

"Where She Belongs"

by "Matrix Refugee

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Bleach", it's characters, concepts or other indicia, which are the property of Tite Kubo, Masashi Kudo, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, TvTokyo, Studio Pierrot, et al.

Rating: PG (brief language)

Author's Note: This is one of those ideas that was just too damn cute not to write, though I imagine if the guy involved knew that anyone found out about it, he'd likely find a way to put them through their paces, especially if they teased him about it. But it seems I like writing incredibly scary anime guys having Pet the Dog or Pet the Morality Pet moments.

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( 'You have your own bed to sleep on: sleep there' )

Goof-off day...

I just needed a day to goof off and since I haven't been feeling well, today was the perfect time to do it. Thus I spent parts of the day napping or curled up in bed reading, in this case "A Game of Thrones", which is off to a chilling (and impressive) beginning!

I did manage to get a few bits of writing jotted, though nothing major: a few paragraphs here and there on several fics, a few ideas jotted down for future stories. I'm about a third the way through Mercy Falcone's backstory, and I have a feeling I'm going to get gnawed on by Tatsumi fangurlz, since I'm seeing Mercy and him eventually hooking up, "friends with benefits"-style (though it's more of a result of Mercy going into starving to death energy vampire mode and "vamping out" on the poor guy -- and him actually enjoying it in spite of himself. Well, there's a Tatsumi/OFC fic that's at the top of the listing on ff.n, so I'm not alone.

I'm still open to more ideas for the 12 Fanfic Roses. Right now I have about a half dozen between other folks' ideas and my own, but I'd like to make it a full dozen.

Good news re: the alleged MMR vaccine/autism link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/health/8493753.stm <-- I heard about this on the news recently and it's something that has me breathing easier, though as one doctor in Boston pointed out in local news coverage, "People will still worry about this and worry comes from fear that is often mixed with a misunderstanding of the facts." Good that the fellow who came up with the loopy idea has retracted his "findings", though apparently he did so mostly because he's been called out for ethics violations in collecting control samples of blood used in the study. I hate to wish this on the man, that he's removed from the field, but I hope that he has the decency to turn in his medical license so that the board doesn't have to take it away from him.

I've noticed similarities between some forms of autism-like symptoms and the changeling of legend (ie. the European folk belief that faeries would steal babies in the night and leave faery children in their place), and since these legends go back to the Dark Ages (ie. between 400 and 700 C.E.), well before vaccination was developed, much less common-place, I started to personally discredit the connection. I know it's a parent's right to choose how to raise their kid and what measures to take to keep that child healthy, however, I think it's a bit irresponsible and alarmist not to take measures to protect them from life-threatening illnesses because there's (an alleged) risk that the child could develop autism. People like me might not be the easiest to deal with, and I find that the hardest person to live with is often myself for this very reason, but it bothers me that this condition which I live with is treated like something worse than death. And yet... when someone steps up and makes a case for people like me, this gives me hope that a balance can be found, that people will choose to treat the worst symptoms and try to leave the better aspects intact.