icepixie | Entries tagged with tv: china beach

[Note: I am icepixie across LJ, DW, and AO3.]

Dear Yuletide Writer,

THANK YOU for writing for me! I love all these fandoms and characters dearly, and I know I'll love whatever you come up with for them. I'm offering specific prompts for each fandom if you're the kind of writer who prefers them, but please don't feel constrained by them if you're not.

( General likes/dislikes )

( China Beach )

( Cupid (TV 1998) )

( Northern Exposure )

Current Mood: excited
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/1001495.html

No Cheap Thrill (2545 words) by icepixie
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: China Beach
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Colleen McMurphy/Dick Richard
Characters: Colleen McMurphy, Dick Richard
Additional Tags: Romance, Episode Related
Summary:

"Make you a bet. If the war's really over, you come back with me to Boston."

What might have followed if a certain late-night conversation in "A Rumor of Peace" had zigged instead of zagged.

Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/999764.html

Yaaaaay, I finished editing the non-linear longfic!

The Future an Affirmation (40281 words) by icepixie
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: China Beach
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Colleen McMurphy/Dick Richard
Characters: Colleen McMurphy, Dick Richard, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Angst, Romance, Marriage, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Medicine, Babies, Pregnancy, Vietnam War, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Linear Narrative, brief appearances by other main characters
Summary:

"How'd you do it? What does it take to stay married for twenty-five years?" From 1994 to 1969, McMurphy and Richard figure it out as they go along. Backwards structure stolen with love from the season three episode "Holly's Choice." A post-series AU where Richard never got the call from Boston in "I Could Have Danced All Night...But Didn't."

Current Mood: accomplished
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/986405.html

While my China Beach epic is in its second round of beta, this came to me. I guess you could say McMurphy and Richard get an angry warrior moment. Also a "but with great composure" moment that I stole shamelessly from Cordelia's Honor.

While the moon her watch is keeping (1809 words) by icepixie
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: China Beach
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Colleen McMurphy/Dick Richard
Characters: Colleen McMurphy, Dick Richard
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Banter
Summary:

Richard visits McMurphy while she's in the hospital with dysentery in "Dear China Beach."

Current Mood: accomplished
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/981205.html

Song/Artist: "Are You Out There," Dar Williams
Fandom: China Beach, McMurphy-centric gen with appearances by basically everyone
Length: 3:03
Summary: "And though the static pulsed around me / you were out there, and you found me." Or, we get by with a little help from our friends.

( Streaming embed and download links under the cut )

Current Mood: accomplished
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/970742.html

Yuletide reveals are up! To the surprise of absolutely no one, I wrote the following:

And One More for the Road (2318 words) by icepixie
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: China Beach
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Colleen McMurphy, Dick Richard
Additional Tags: Drinking, Friendship
Summary: "You've never actually been drunk, have you?"

Colleen McMurphy loses a little more of her innocence in Vietnam. Or, how McMurphy and Richard became drinking buddies.

*

This has certainly been a successful vacation so far. I have:

1. Gotten to a point where I consistently get 2-3 revolutions on a forward scratch spin, and can usually enter it with only a half-revolution on two feet,

2. Finished a complete draft of the angst!fic (uhhh, except for these two scenes that popped into my head last night and insisted they would be good additions, but anyway),

3. Rewatched all of CB S4 and catalogued good/useful shots for vid-making purposes.

I'm off work through the end of the week, so hopefully I can make some headway on revising this angst!fic and on making the first of two vids I have planned.

I thought about doing an end-of-year meme, but really, what is there to say that hasn't already been said here in the past twelve months? 2014 threw a lot at me, from a promotion at work to a nasty series of health problems to my first foray into private skating lessons. (It's hard to believe I only switched from group classes to privates in February. It feels like much longer.)

Admittedly, many of the health dramas were of my own making, because I decided that 30 was the year I was going to fix myself and clear up all the nagging problems that had been plaguing me for decades. So the laparascopic surgery was on me, the allergy shots (and thus reactions) were on me, and in some respects the giant hemorrhaging episode was on me, since I did request bc that did a better job managing my endo (though I don't think I should be held accountable for the antibiotic interactions that screwed things up). Bronchitis and one ER visit were totally not my fault, though.

May 2015 bring you all good health and great joys.

Current Mood: accomplished
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/969517.html

I made myself a to do list of scenes to finish (or write in the first place) in the China Beach angst!fic, and wow, it is so satisfying to cross those off! I'm making so much progress!

I still need to rewatch S4 for vid-making purposes over this vacation. (Did I mention I have this week and next off? Since we can no longer roll over PTO days, I have to use or lose something like 45 total by the end of June, so I gave myself a Christmas break. Too bad it won't happen again next year, sigh.) I'm trying to get up the mental fortitude. It's so depressing.

In skating news, I maaaay have done something resembling a real Salchow yesterday, maybe, perhaps? It was so tiny you could barely slide a credit card under it, but...I think I hit all the right parts? I'll have to show P and see if I'm doing it right. I also managed a full revolution of a backspin despite a right blade that may still need a touch more adjustment, and, uh...interesting things are happening to my forward scratch spin. I got it to a point by the end of the session yesterday where the circles were really small because I was basically on the right part of the blade--but now I'm a world traveler. My tracing looked exactly like the red one here. (Well, except for the three turn to start it off, because I can't do a one-foot spin entrance yet, but anyway...)

Sigh.

So, hey, Yuletide goes live in, like twenty minutes, right? I'm about to sit down to dinner and other Christmassy activities, but writer, if you're reading this, I promise I'll be reading the fic you wrote me in a few hours and I am really looking forward to it! I had to default for personal reasons this year, but I did write someone a full-length treat. No points for guessing it, because it's so ridiculously obvious. :D

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: "Ruby Slippers" - SHEL
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/969101.html

[Note: I am icepixie across LJ, DW, and AO3.]

Dear Yuletide Writer,

THANK YOU for writing for me! I love all these fandoms and characters dearly, and I know I'll love whatever you come up with for them. I'm offering specific prompts for each fandom if you're the kind of writer who prefers them, but please don't feel constrained by them if you're not. Follow your inspiration wherever it takes you.

( General likes/dislikes )

( China Beach )

( Corner Gas )

( Northern Exposure )

( Robson Arms )

Current Mood: excited
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/962942.html

Oh God, I have the creeping crud. Sooo much crud. My head hurts. My joints hurt. My eyes hurt. My hair hurts. But most especially my throat hurts. It requires an act of will and courage just to swallow. I am considering a spittoon so I don't have to.

Despite said crud, I somehow not only made it to the rink and out onto the ice this morning, but I had a stellar lesson today. I have finally, finally, more than six months after beginning to attempt a one-foot spin that does not suck, FIGURED OUT HOW TO SPIN CORRECTLY!

*blows horns and whistles*

It happened in the last minute of my lesson, and P and I both clapped and cheered. (Heh, her probably more than me, because I'll bet she's heartily sick of trying to teach me how to spin.) It's far from perfect, but at least I'm getting my weight over my left leg and hitting the right spot on the blade, neither of which have ever happened in combination before.

Other achievements:

My toe loop is actually 75% of the way to being a jump! Okay, so I still pre-rotate a lot on the pick in, but there's a hop at the end, dammit. That counts. The arms are getting there too.

I managed a hook into my salchow pretty much the first time trying to get one. I...okay, it won't make sense to anyone who hasn't tried it, so I'll spare you the technical explanation, but it's a big step on the way to having a real salchow that takes off from a back edge and does a full rotation.

My Waltz 8 is an entirely different animal than it used to be. I think I've finally stopped being afraid of the three turns. Now I can go straight from one circle to the next, and then repeat the whole figure, as one has to do for the test.

We worked on waltz jump-toe loop and toe loop-toe loop combinations as well. I...need to check my toe loop landings better to do that, but the first one's all right. Waltz jump is getting better now that I'm concentrating on keeping my head and shoulders up.

*

I watched the China Beach finale last night. ( A couple thoughts )

Current Mood: sick
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/961977.html

( China Beach 4.13-4.15 )

Current Music: "Oak" - Zachary Bruno
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/961536.html

Does my entire musculoskeletal system, like, hate me or something? According to the orthopaedist I saw today, apparently I have developed hypermobility of the sacroiliac joints. This explains the lower back freakouts I get every year or two. Getting older and less resilient explains the fact that it's moved from acute to chronic over the last month, as well as the new and exciting hip pains that have developed in that time frame.

The answer, as it usually is, is strengthening the associated muscles through physical therapy to stabilize the joint. Another regimen of exercises to add to the two sets I already do, hooray. On the other hand, at least it doesn't require surgery! It could be worse.

Sacroiliac joint problems are, to what I can't say is my surprise, fairly common among figure skaters because of the stress of landing jumps when your body is fairly twisted. Apparently my body wants to have ALL the common overuse injuries RIGHT AWAY, despite the fact that I only have two half-jumps that even get off the ground right now.

They are also much more common in women than men, much like my particular kind of knee problems are, not to mention the endometriosis. I suspect my body may be trying to tell me it wanted to be a man.

*

( Some thoughts on China Beach 4.09-12 )

Current Mood: morose
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/961443.html

( Yeah, the no binge-watching resolution lasted all of three seconds. Spoilers through 4.08 )

Current Mood: melancholy
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/961113.html

Eeeee, my China Beach S4 DVDs are here! I will try not to binge-watch this weekend, but I suspect that's a lost cause.

( Notes from a rewatch, spoilers through S3 )

*

Today I learned a toe loop! My inside three turns have actually stuck around for more than two weeks, so I can do the entrance and the jump! Hahahahaha, okay, it's totally still a step at this point, but my half flip went from a step to a jump eventually, so this'll happen.

My proto-salchow is inching toward being a real salchow. Today we positioned my feet better in the middle part. Give it another year, maybe.

Speaking of proto-moves, I learned a proto-sit spin, which to my great shock and astonishment is easier than the proto-scratch spin I've been working on since February. Keep in mind, I am in no way doing a real sit spin, and it's unlikely I ever will given my knee issues; I just don't think I'll be able to get my butt at or below the knee of the spinning leg, given the pain my attempts at a shoot the duck have caused. But bending my knees even a little bit and hunching forward actually keeps me on the right part of my blade for more than a microsecond. WHO KNEW.

Current Mood: excited
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/961003.html

The China Beach Rewatch and Scene-Marking For Vidding Purposes Extravaganza continues apace! I must say, the first third of season three goes by faster when one speeds through any scene containing Smug Bernard and Stupid Vinnie and their smug, stupid faces, their smug, stupid plotlines, and their smug, stupid interactions with McMurphy.

Have I mentioned I hate them both? I feel that really needs to be emphasized.

(Love triangles are bad enough anyway, but they are excruciating when neither Choice A nor Choice B are a main character. At least with a normal Two Regulars and a Guest Star triangle, I'm usually rooting for the regular. This one, all I wanted was Choice C, both of them take very long walks off of extremely short piers into lakes filled with snakes and grenades. Also possibly sharks.)

(P.S. to all the people I've been trying to talk into watching this show: Smug Bernard and Stupid Vinnie actually do quite a bit to advance McMurphy's characterization, and there are essays to be written on how her handling of it reflects and is affected by the ongoing changes in feminism and gender relations at the time, but I have to admit, they are annoying to watch on all levels but the intellectual. That said, 80-90% of each of the 9 episodes they're in are actually good. The other characters still have great stories! Except for "Independence Day." You can totally skip that one. K.C.'s story is mildly interesting, and there's a fun scene with Holly and Hong, but mostly it's preachy and also a ripoff of Jane Eyre, which is about the least relevant novel they could've ripped off, I mean really, what were they thinking?)

The angst!fic also continues rapidly, now clocking in at 11,000 words and some change. My outline also keeps getting longer, which is not so pleasing. It's just a numbered list of scenes, and it started out at 15. Then it jumped to 23, then to 28, and now I'm up to 31. If I'm lucky, it'll stay there.

In other news, I leapt up to the next concentration of allergen serum with no issues today. So far, anyway. Woooo, immune system! Getting less crazy!

I also had a nice practice this morning. I skated two sessions, which I don't usually do on weekdays but this week I'm vacation, so I did. I ended up working on counters, brackets, and choctaws in the second half, which I rarely fit in around moves, jump, and spin practice. I think I might be 50% of the way to getting outside counters on one foot. Maybe. Having freshly sharpened blades helps a lot.

They announced the date for the Christmas show this week. It's the second Sunday in December again. I have been promised that the adult number will have very, very simple costumes this year to avoid a repeat of last year's debacle. I told a couple of the people in charge that I'm in favor of nice sweaters and black leggings. They seemed taken by the idea.

Current Mood: productive
Current Music: "Soap and Water" - Suzanne Vega
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/960693.html

P had me do alternating forward outside three turns all the way down the ice this morning in a bid to get me comfortable with going straight from the forward outside edge that ends the first half of the Waltz 8 into the next three turn. I was skeptical, particularly since the point of the alternating three turns is to do them as quickly as possible, not to have a nice checked runout or anything, which is not the point of the figure. But I'll be damned if fifteen minutes later I wasn't able to do a (terrible, scraggly) Waltz 8 without pausing in the middle to recombobulate for the second three turn.

If I can refine that a lot and get myself to a point where I don't have to slow myself down quite so much before the mohawk in the crossovers, I might actually be ready to take my MITF test. (I think my next opportunity is in February, so I have plenty of time.) P says I can skid slightly with my free foot to slow down a little before the mohawk on the test if I need to, as long as I don't make it too obvious, which is a huge relief.

*

I noticed this on my first run through the episodes, but rewatching has made it even more obvious: Whoever was in charge of timeline management for episodes and the series as a whole on China Beach was terrible at their job. For example, in Part 1 of "Lost and Found," McMurphy wakes up in Natch's room at dawn. When she's telling him off, which couldn't have been more than ten minutes later, it's the middle of the night. There are frequent moments where the lighting suggests hours have passed between scenes, even though the story demands they take place within minutes of each other.

Calendar management was a problem long-term, too, such as McMurphy and Richard arriving on the same day, but somehow her tour is up a year before his is (but she re-ups in the first episode so their tours still end together, technically...although I think they actually spend three years in Vietnam, all total?). I'm fanwanking that doctors were drafted for two-year tours, even though that's at odds with reality, for fic-related reasons.

Speaking of which, I...have 7,000 words on something now. Most of them angsty. I think I need to write something fluffy once I finish this.

Current Mood: good
Current Music: "(We Started a) Fire" - Katie Cole
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/960220.html

Because I want to clip it for future vid-making, I've been going back through China Beach, albeit in a much less frenzied fashion than I inhaled the first three seasons over the past few weeks.

( A couple of thoughts, spoilers through 1.6 )

Current Mood: amused
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/959506.html

Well, after two weeks on the previous bottles of allergen serum, I'm back to the concentration that gave me such problems before. Yesterday was a "test dose," which is even smaller than the typical first dose, but I still had to double up on antihistamines in preparation for it, and it left me feeling pretty spacey all day. I don't think it was helped by the fact that I'm reading a rather depressing book and writing some pretty angsty fic; all of it combined to make me feel, well, rather cranky by the end of the day.

I had a lesson yesterday afternoon, somewhat unfortunately given the above. Usually I kind of drive my lessons and suggest what I want to work on, but yesterday I just told P, "I'm too loopy to think straight. Please teach me something you think is cool." So we worked on counters, back three turns, spread eagles, and Ina Bauers. It's...going to be a while until I do a counter or a back three on one foot, but she taught me a cool sequence involving counters and back edges and snazzy arms that's fun to do. I also worked on going from an inside to an outside Ina Bauer, which I'd never tried before. I actually succeeded for a couple of seconds until I lost the outside edge, which shocked the hell out of me. I think my thighs are getting stronger.

*

I realized I never posted about the last four episodes of season three!

( China Beach 3.19-3.22 )

Current Mood: tired
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/958976.html

( China Beach 3.15-3.18. Long. Squeeful. )

Current Mood: impressed
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/958683.html

( China Beach 3.12-3.14 )

Current Music: "House Home" - Silver Trees
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/958323.html

These thoughts mostly ended up being about McMurphy and the sexual revolution, actually.

( 3.08: China Men )

( 3.09-3.11 )

Current Mood: pensive
Current Music: "Dustpile" - The New Victorians
Crossposts: http://icepixie.livejournal.com/957961.html

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To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive

Entries tagged with tv: china beach

Dear Yuletide Writer 2015

Fic: No Cheap Thrill [China Beach, McMurphy/Richard]

Fic: The Future an Affirmation [China Beach, McMurphy/Richard]

Fic: "While the moon her watch is keeping" [China Beach, McMurphy/Richard]

Vid: "Are You Out There" [China Beach]

Fic and some year-end stuff

Misc.

Dear Yuletide Writer 2014

Bleh and yay

The 80s called, with their malls and their undershaves

New vocabulary

China Beach S4, First Half

My two usual topics these days

Progress

(no subject)

Blah blah

Turn, turn, turn

Magical realism and ballroom dancing

Continuing through season three

Processing feelings through writing