2017 word of the year

I'm too lazy (and tired) to write up an explanation; previous entries with this tag have more backstory.

This year's word: now.

Partly it's about being in the moment. Partly it's about not procrastinating so much -- on hard things *or* fun things. It's about "i have five minutes to do some crocheting, lemme crochet" instead of "my aide wiki be here in five minutes, I'd better not start something" (especially because I never get things done that way). It's about not obsessing about used-to-be, and just appreciating the now.

And because I am a sucker and can't not make a resolutions type list, a few things for this year:

* I am taking part in a year-long online decluttering course (DailyOm's A Year To Clear), along with a group of friends that will serve as a social/support group for each other. I don't know how well it will work, but they had the option of only paying $10, which isn't bad, and if it works out well I can go back and donate more.

* I am still doing GYWO. This is my third year and I haven't come close, but I want to get back to writing. The journaling that I do for the decluttering course will count.

* Craft wise I am planning on cold-sheeping (that is, not buying new yarn no matter how tempting ... and it is often very very tempting!). But that's not really a bad thing, because I have plenty of yummy things in my stash. I have several wips that need finishing up, and several definite projects to make.

* I want to get better about communicating and about responding to emails/comments/etc. this one is hard because I tend to obsess about saying the Perfect Thing, and then I obsess about how best to explain and apologize for being late, and there's this vicious cycle where it's late so I have to explain so I put it off so it's later and argh. This goes back to the "now" word: don't wait, send now.

...so, uh, yeah. Fuck you, 2016; may 2017 be way better.

Also: Yuletide!

Since authors have been revealed, I can say what I wrote:

Unmasked (4459 words) by isabeau
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Mulan (1998)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Fa Mulan/Li Shang, Fa Ping/Li Shang
Additional Tags: Yuletide, Canon Rewrite, Shang is a doofus, Canonical Character Death, emotions are hard, #Yulechat Challenge
Summary:

This is how the world actually works: instead of leading soldiers into battle, Shang is given command over a disorganized bunch of conscripted civilians who don't know the business end of a sword. Instead of fighting to defend China, he is stuck training these misfits into something resembling soldiers. And instead of being devoted to a wife or his job as a soldier, he is becoming attracted to one of his men.

I didn't actually intend to do Yuletide -- I didn't look through the fandoms, I didn't look through the letters, I didn't plan on writing treats -- but as always I'm on the pinch hit list, and when Linsky's came out I went for it, half assuming it would have been snagged (since they were bit the rarest of Yuletide fandoms). I was surprised to get it, but in a good way, and ... rewatching the movie had me realizing how much Shang goes through in a short time (though the timeline confuses the fuck out of me, because they train for like three days and then have a long?!?? march and then everything happens at once and how does time even work) so it was fun to play with that and also with how bad he is at emotions ("you fight good") and ... anyway. Much babble, sorry.