Buggery ...

[blamebrampton]

It has been a while since LJ ate one of my posts ... This is now a recap of a longer post consigned to pixel history.

* marguerite_26  and I often have very similar tastes. Because of this, I believed what she told me about two great Beltane pieces in this post. One art, one fic, both brilliant, you should believe her, too.

* Alas, I have not been following Beltane, but I do think that everyone should also look at these pieces of art, A chance meeting at the Fires has the first H/D meeting after the war and is simple and stunning. And The First Day of Summer is still making me giggle weeks after the first time I saw it.

* HAPPY BIRTHDAY to bewarethesmirk  and sachael , may you both have a wonderful day!

* The Demon's Lexicon STILL not in shops (they hope for Saturday), though my new Frances Hardinge book has finally arrived, only three months after ordering.

* I have accidentally seduced one of my friends into H/D fandom. (NB, VERY important to read the whole of that sentence!) She is quite talented, the rotter. If you come across treacle_tartlet , make her right at home.

* I do NOT need to do the HD Careers Fair, but it may be that you do. In particular, I do not need to write about Harry being a Zombie hunter and Draco being a cat-loving librarian, Harry being a novelist and Draco being a mean critic and DEFINITELY not about Harry being a political cartoonist. Watch me resist!

* Australian Family First Senator Steve Fielding is too stupid for words. He has just attended a Climate Change Skeptics conference in the US, and has now realised that it is all caused by sunspots. For fuck's sake. It's not 1978!

* June 4 marks the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. I remember watching, horrified, as Kate Aide reported from China; weeks of hope and excitement vanishing as bullets flew and bodies fell behind her. The only thing more heartbreaking than the sight of twisted young bodies on makeshift stretchers strung across bicycles was the sense of loss of hope.

And then I saw one of the bravest men I have ever seen walk out in front of a row of tanks and stop. And the commander of the leading tank also stopped, and would not run him down, and he pleaded with him to clear the way, and the man on foot, who was carrying a plastic bag, would not move. And the tank commander, even knowing that he was likely to be punished severely given the climate of that day, would not run over him. The man with the bag was swept away by a group of bystanders. Reports from that day suggest that they could have been government officials who took him away, but just as many reports say no, they were ordinary Chinese who wanted to save someone and who saw that they could. I have always hoped that the latter was true.

Comments

[vaysh11.livejournal.com]

Dear Brammers -
if there ever was a story that you need to write, it's the one with cat-loving librarian Draco. (We won't mention the Zombies.)
Continuing to wear down your needless resistance to the inevitable,
sincerely yours
Vaysh

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

But I have to go to Latvia for August ...

[bryoneybrynn.livejournal.com]

seconded! Write it, woman!!

[maya231.livejournal.com]

*random flister respectfully agrees with this comment*
*imagines librarian!Draco's reaction to cat surfing*

[waterbird.livejournal.com]

I remember it, too. Still sends chills down my spine. The NYT has a piece today about the four existing photos of the tank man in Tianamen Square.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Khomeni died on the same day; I remember wondering how such good news and such bad news could coexist. Thank you for the link, it was fascinating to read their comments!

[faynia.livejournal.com]

* I do NOT need to do the HD Careers Fair, but it may be that you do. In particular, I do not need to write about Harry being a Zombie hunter and Draco being a cat-loving librarian, Harry being a novelist and Draco being a mean critic and DEFINITELY not about Harry being a political cartoonist. Watch me resist!

*watches with a smirk* Oh really?

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Oooh, Bradley! *Wanders off distractedly*

[potteresque_ire]

* Yes, it's one of the Beltane Tree fics! I will soon get to that ... maybe. *Sigh*... it looks so attractive but I have to write first. When I have fics to write I can't read and vice versa, when I read I don't have time to write *dies*

* Speaking of writing ... Career Fair!! Yes. Do it do it do it. *nudge*. I want to write for that but the timing is a problem, and I'm such a horrible prompt writer in that I tend to drift away from it. But ... *nudge you further*

* Will definitely read Demon's Lexicon, but not in a hurry. Travel reading at some point, likely. I will have to wrap the cover up first though because I really ... don't like it. I want to punch the guy every time I see him, and the urge is getting stronger

* June 4th ... *Sighs*. It was so close to us, not only did it shatter the heart of everyone in our city, but it brought about so much fear. We were dubbed "The Anti-revolutionary Base" by the Chinese officials at the time because our donations basically financially support the whole movement towards the end and we demonstrated to show our support with a peaceful march— 1 million people on the street, which wasn't much until one found out that the city's population was ~ 6 million; and the fear, of course, was because we were due to return to our "motherland" in 8 years and so many of the folks had opted to stay, thinking the country had been heading along the right path.

One of the local stations became one of the few news agencies around the world that stayed in the Square when it happened. The footages ... were the most difficult to watch. I think my home still had a library of all the news and videos collected at that time. It was almost in the media round the clock and we taped everything. I don't think I need to see much of it yet though because I remember the details so well; I was 11 then and so my memory was good, and of course, these aren't things that one forgets easily.

The tank man—that's Mr Wang Wei Lin, supposedly. Yeah, no one knows what happened to him, which can be a good thing. I'd hope it's the ordinary folks who dragged him away too. He was a symbol; there were actually quite a bit of problems towards the end of the movement, but he was always the one who tried to do it with all that he had.

Even within the government the opinion was split ... half of them were against violence to the students as well, and they lost both their power and freedom. The Chinese newscasts at that time were sad to look at too, the newscasters sounded so flat and looked so expressionless... I would bet they didn't buy a single word they had to say, especially in the aftermath, when they had to report that only 23 (or 36) students died (!!) and these student violently attacked the soldiers, who were forced to defend themselves—and they only had three tearbombs (!!!).

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Oh PI ... How brave of your community. I always worry about China, there seems to be so much power over the average individual, and yet those same individuals are so full of strength and resilience as history shows again and again. Through my life it has always been two steps forward, one back. I hope that one day soon those steps forward will start becoming easier.

[fourth_rose]

I find it hard to believe it's already been twenty years, since I remember those days so vividly. Here in Europe, 1989 is of course mostly remembered as the year the Iron Curtain fell, which seemed even more of a miracle after the events in China, but still...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I was SO upset that I couldn't get to Berlin that month! What a brilliant time it was! And then Mandela being released at the beginning of 1990 -- I really thought that everything was finally coming together. Hasn't quite worked out since then ... but still, at least some of the protesters have been able to return to China and are still free and unmolested these days.

[bryoneybrynn.livejournal.com]

Seriously, how can your POST take me through so many emotions all at once? Honestly, when even your point form recap post is making me all emotional, either I'm in trouble or you need to write more fic because you're too good. And while the former is probably true, I think the latter is the more important point.

Also, thank you. ;)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Oh Bry ... *hugs you*

[hollyxu.livejournal.com]

I've missed your posts!

Harry being a political cartoonist would mean lots of stick figures. (But the cat-loving librarian!Draco, now that has possibilities. :P)

Bought Demon's Lexicon but keep getting distracted by stuff I have to do, woe. I don't know how I managed to resist dumping everything on the floor and reading...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

HEE! Your assessment of my artistic skills is uncannily accurate. And yes, cats and zombies, it's SOOOOO tempting.

I hope to get my copy this weekend, and I suspect I may just dump everything on the floor ;-)

[goddessriss.livejournal.com]

Demon's Lexicon = love. I really enjoyed it. I'm on my 2nd read now, as I always speed read first then read again to absorb the story if I like it. So far, it's holding up pretty well to my initial impression of it.

YOU MUST DO H/D CAREERS FAIR!!!!! Either prompt will be fine. Fics by appointment, remember? ;-)

Good lord. Can't believe Tiananmen Square was so long ago. I was almost 17, watching the news with horrified fascination *shivers*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Oh dammit! I AM by appointment to you! We'll see what can be done ;-)

DO NOT TAUNT ME! I have high hopes that I will have a copy by Saturday. Fingers crossed!

[bewarethesmirk.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much, darling! ♥

I couldn't find TDL in stores here yesterday, but I shall search again today. :)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Hope it was great!

I sympathise with you on the TDLlessness of life. Damn bookshops!

[thisgirl-is.livejournal.com]

Beltane standout fics for me were A Very Walpurgis Night's Madness, A Fruit Tree in Winter and A Potion and a Buddy.

It would be a travesty for anyone but you to write Political-Cartoonist!Harry. *makes puppy eyes*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I've offered to write the cartoons!

And thanks for the recs, I have this beta-ing I need to finish first!

[treacle-tartlet.livejournal.com]

Don't be such a fic-tease! Thankyou for the rec, mwah, mwah, but you can't just give us a few tickles like that then not follow through on at least one of them!

[maya231.livejournal.com]

Welcome to H/D fandom! And, omg, your icon! Hee!

[treacle-tartlet.livejournal.com]

And also, why do you write 'buggery' like its a bad thing? ;p

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It could be, if you weren't expecting it.

[oldenuf2nb.livejournal.com]

The image of that man, standing in front of those tanks, is one I've never forgotten.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I often think of him, and know that I could never be that brave.

[jamie2109.livejournal.com]

You're just a girl who can't say no...which is terribly lucky for us. *beams* Am looking forward to reading your contribution, written while you are in Latvia. ;p

And Tiananmen Square horrified me, too.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Oh god, I learned my lesson about writing while travelling last year while trying to write Darkfest in Italy. The horror! If I succumb, it will be quick and early (no, really, I CAN finish things early, I just often don't).

Yet another appeal

[suttonwriter.livejournal.com]

I want to add my voice to those who want you to write H/D career day fic. Any prompt is fine. As far as the traveling goes, the nice thing about writing is that it's portable (this is coming from someone who tends to haul a notebook with him).

On a different, but related, note, when will _Fathers Who Could Do with a Spot of Sinning_ be finished? I was rereading the last section (and the teaser about the Weasley family) recently and got nostalgic.

Re: Yet another appeal

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I am working on Fathers now in between beta-ing, working and being seduced by fest fics. It is one very large reason why I should say no to Careers fest, though since the zombie fic has mostly written itself in my head, as has the critic one, that resolve may crumble. It's so shameful to me that it's late enough to induce nostaligia! But thank you so much!

[jadzialove.livejournal.com]

I second third eighteenth *nods* your doing the Career fest thinger, though if I have a vote (and I do expect to be betaing it, so possibly I might have at least half a vote, yes?) I'd rather see the political cartoonist and/or the cat loving librarian. Not a huge fan of zombies, though I've never read your zombies, so...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I see the zombies mostly as slathering OCs off in the distance. Once you've covered off the first few classic brain jokes, there's not much you can do with them as characters ;-)

[meredyth-13.livejournal.com]

No, you need to write about DRACO being an anonymous political cartoonist who plagues Harry (and his failing relationship with his young wife, and his friends, and everything about the slightly dodgy 'new order'). *nods* - Yes, that's what you need to write about. :D

*huggles*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It's not the prompt! though I could write about it next year after finishing everything else ... *hugs back*