"Accidentally" Banging Heads Together

[lls_mutant]

Honestly, some days I just want to bang men's heads together. Specific men, mind you. In this case, fictional men. Remus and Regulus, why must you torment me so???

Honestly, these two are going to drive me insane. They have such a fricking complicated relationship that boils down to the truth that somewhere, deep down, they actually like each other. (NOT in the romantic or sexual sense.) But every time one of them shows that, they both feel the need to scurry back and insult each other, because Regulus still is a pureblooded snot a lot of times and Remus is still a defensive bastard. Which was fine in the last chapter. But now that Regulus has decided to leave the Death Eaters (come on, that's not a spoiler), they're vacillating so wildly that I just want to shake them both or push them off a cliff (did that, actually) or something. Why, oh why, can't I be one of those writers that's content to make them pour their hearts out to each other??? Why am I trying to be subtle for once?

Le sigh.

Valentine's Day was no big deal for us. In fact, we didn't do a thing for it yesterday. Instead, we took Toby to the doctor. Just for a check-up and his shots, nothing was wrong. He's 12 pounds, 9 ounces and 23" now. Still a shrimp- in the bottom 25% for height and weight, but his head keeps growing! (75% for that!) However, I do think I'm going to have to skip youth group tonight. The shots have made him kind of cranky.

So, we didn't really bother with V-day, but on Sunday I did cook us a nice dinner of steak with red wine mushroom sauce and ranch roasted potatoes, and chocolate souflee cakes for dessert. (If anyone wants recipes for the steak or the dessert, let me know. They're diet friendly as well.)

And finally, American Idol is back! It's the one show I tend to watch in real time, although I usually miss Wed. Not a lot of an opinion yet on people I like, because I haven't sorted them out, but there were some real spoiled brats the other night. The twins drove me insaaaaaaaaaaaane. God, talk about an entitlement complex. I was a little disappointed the tall cowboy was cut, because he was cute and I thought he showed a lot of class, especially when he told the little cowboy he didn't let him down and he did the best he could do, and that was all anyone could ask. (I also don't think they were trying to be bad comedians. I think they just weren't that great of singers. All three of the guys deserved to be cut, unfortunately, because they seemed like a pretty class act.) And that Trya/Cher chick... oh, she was really, really annoying! Ugh!

Ah well. Better see what Toby is doing. He was thinking about napping, but I think he changed his mind.

Comments

[brieza.livejournal.com]

You're being subtle with them because that's the way they are. But it would be nice if they would behave for you. I really admire the way you write interpersonal relationships, and I like what you've done with Remus and Regulus.

And I forgot to mention this before - something that really got to me was Regulus' dropping out to follow LV. You can tell he's between a rock and a hard place and that it wasn't a decision he was going to make on his own. He's actually pretty young to be a Death Eater, and you've got me feeling for him. (I had caught the age discrepancy before, but finding out it wasn't really his choice to follow LV was an interesting moment.) You're doing a great job with Regulus.

[medicinal-mirth.livejournal.com]

Eek. Sorry Toby is cranky. My two youngest were like that after shots too, but my oldest would just sleep the rest of the day and night, only waking to eat.

As for Remus and Regulus, I can only chuckle. It's complicated because it would have been. Nothing is simple about the circumstances or the people involved, but I'm sorry they're making you crazy. *chuckles some more* Sounds like it'll be an interesting chapter, though.

I never got into American Idol. It makes me wince. My current addiction is Project Runway, and it's on tonight!

[lupinspatronus.livejournal.com]

Don't give up!! =]

One thing that impressed me the most about AIL (and DTF and Mentors) is your ability to handle so well the relationships between the different characters. I love the best friend relationship between Sirius and James, and even more so how Remus understands it. And of course, the Sirius/Remus relationship .. But by far the most impressive is that between Regulus and Remus because it is so prickly - there's such a fine balance there! - and it's always on edge. You're doing a great job so far!! =D

DON'T make them pour out their hearts to each other.. -scurries away-

Keep writing, I can hardly wait =P

[aome.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised Toby is so small - he didn't seem that small for his age to me. But keep in mind that Two was MINUS 5% for weight, and about 20% for height at one year, and now is 40%/80% respectively. (On the other hand, MiniPlu finally came DOWN to 90% for weight by her 3rd bday.) And I was consistently a midget until I was about 15. So as long as he's healthy, I wouldn't sweat it too much. And he clearly has lots of brains from his parents. :D

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks :)

I was kind of kicking myself early on in AIL when I realized I'd made Regulus so much younger than Sirius. Canon doesn't really tell us how much younger he is, but he's got to be pretty close to Sirius's age, I would imagine. I think I made him too young, because I wanted Sirius to remember seeing Regulus as a baby.

I'm dying for book 7 in that regard most especially- I'm dying to see what JKR has up her sleeve with Regulus! I've seen theories that he's still alive, but I tend to doubt that just because she mentioned in an interview he's dead. (Like, actually said "he's dead.") But I'm curious as to what he was like. I mean, heck, he figured out stuff about Voldemort in a few months or years that took Dumbledore decades. (Reason #56 I'm sad there isn't more Regulus fic.)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

And they're men (thus the use of this icon). And one of the big themes of Harry Potter is the importance of communication. ::sigh::

I hope it will be interesting! I'm having fun writing it, when the boys cooperate. Between Remus and Regulus doing the emotional thing, and Sirius and James saying "enough with the build up, give us our action already!!!", I'm going to throttle all four of them. Thank heavens for Peter, who is off somewhere else for most of this chapter. (Normally, I hate that, because I like including Peter. But this chapter just doesn't have the Peter opportunities. :P )

And yeah, American Idol can make me wince, too. There's definitely a train-wreck issue going there as well. But it's entertaining, especially to critique. (Especially since I can't carry a tune to save my life!)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Don't worry- they won't pour their hearts out! It's just frustrating to take forever writing a scene because the dialogue must convey the key points and emotions, but at the same time must be minimalist unless they're taking pot-shots at each other. Stupid boys :) I can't wait for a Lily scene!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) I'm actually not concerned at all, to be honest. For one, I don't know how narrow those margins are at this point. If he was three ounces more, would he be up in the 45%? Don't know. But the doctor was happy with his weight and height and said he was healthy and growing, so... yeah. Plus, you've seen me- I'm not a tall woman, and I'm the tallest woman in my family. My husband is 5'7", and the tallest men in his family are 5'9". Let's just say I'm gonna knock the head of anyone who gives Toby dreams of professional basketball ;)

[brieza.livejournal.com]

He's probably much closer in age to Sirius in canon, but I really like how you handled it. I also like how smart you made him. In the few fics I've seen him featured in, he's not portrayed well.

[topaz-eyes.livejournal.com]

OMG, Toby's 2 months old already! Oy does time fly.

I wouldn't worry about weight and height percentiles. As long as he keeps on his curves. .It's the brains that matter, and it sounds like he's doing very well there. :-)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I know! Actually, he's more like 2.5 months. Scary, no?

And yeah, I'm not worried at all about the height and weight thing. I just think it's sort of funny. I mean, I'm the tallest woman in my family (at 5'4"), and the tallest man in Howard's is 5'9". Let's just say Toby had better not get dreams of professional basketball! :)