a banger in the mouth

Sun, 31 Dec 2017 02:15:56 GMT

Maybe 2018 is the year I remember to visit DW on the regular?

Here's where I am at the end of 2017:

Same day job, as of now, but as always in corporate America: who knows how long that lasts

Still writing!

No paid published fiction yet, but circling ever closer to the not-bottom of the slush pile

Calling my elected officials way more often than I contact any loved ones or friends

Doing stuff to be healthier in mind, body, and spirit

Wholly consumed in every waking moment by Star Wars

I'm going to sign up for some fic exchanges this year because I miss fandom. Well, not fandom; it's being engaged in something other than real world concerns that I miss, really.

I think we're coming up on the end of eight full years of not smoking? I've lost track, something that seemed utterly impossible when quitting.

Hope you're all well!

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THE LATEST CHOCOLATE BOX REC IN THE WORLD

Wed, 11 Oct 2017 23:20:34 GMT

HI I'M A COMPLETE MORON WHO SOMEHOW WENT EIGHT MONTHS WITHOUT NOTICING SHE GOT A PERFECT AMAZING FLAWLESS GIFT FROM BURGLEBEZZLEMENT FOR chocolateboxcomm

IT'S ELEANOR/CHIDI FROM THE GOOD PLACE AND DID I MENTION IT'S PERFECT AMAZING AND FLAWLESS

The Good Place Is Wherever I’m With You

Chidi and his faux-mate are out in the big park in front of Tahani’s house, reading poetry to one another. Chidi’s on his back with his head in his faux-mate’s lap. Vicky’s looking down at Chidi with a soppy expression on her face, and Chidi looks alarmed. Maybe even vexed.

Just like Vicky, Eleanor thinks. Always overplaying it.

I COULD HAVE BEEN FREAKING OUT AND REREADING THIS ALL THIS TIME nooooooooooo ;_____;

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Yuletide!

Tue, 03 Oct 2017 00:39:21 GMT

Hi there, Yuletider! I'm so excited to see what happens this year, so THANK YOU FOR WRITING FOR ME <3

This is my *mumblety* year doing Yuletide, and I love it, but it's kind of terrifying, too! I absolutely love fics of all kinds, most especially when you write a story you're excited about. Please don't stress the details. Remember that optional details are optional!

Here's my annual blanket LIKE/NO LIKE thing. (Bottom line is really: if it serves the story, do what makes you happy!) ( Here it is: )

If you have questions, I'm happy to answer through the mods :)

So, these requests, in no particular order whatsoever other than the order in which they occurred to me. (Also please please don't think that because there's a ridiculous amount more rambling about one request than another, it means I want one more than another. I love all my children equally; there is not a Gob among them. The only thing is that 2017 continues to sap all of my will to have a good time so I'm choking on writing this letter. I'm sorry.)

( KING CREOLE (1958) )

( BACK TO THE FUTURE )

( THE GOOD PLACE )

( 14TH CENTURY CE RPF )

( CORMORAN STRIKE SERIES )

( TRUE GRIT (2010) )

Okay, sorry, every year I get more obnoxious, but I'm done now! Happy Yuletide!! I hope it's everything you hope for as a writer and a recipient ♥

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kissin' valentino by a crystal blue italian stream

Mon, 09 Jan 2017 21:31:56 GMT

Watching the Golden Globes wasn't anywhere near my plans last night, but Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal went together and tweeted photos from the car, so obviously I was honor-bound to sit on the couch all night to see them in their tuxes. The only things likely to still be stuck in my memory years from now are Meryl Streep's speech, Diego Luna chastising the room in Spanish, and the absolutely ridiculous casual dismissal of black performers and creators and their work by white presenters. (The last is a perpetual memory of almost all awards shows!)

Sunday nights are supposed to be for taking stock of the past week and setting out a plan for the week to come in the bufo (what I'm calling my faux-bullet journal because it's not a bujo and also I can't stop saying bufo! all the time, a leftover symptom of my last trip to Florida when horrible loud screaming murderfrogs kept me awake all night). So, obviously on the second opportunity of the year to do so, I did not. But as dolorosa_12 reminded me, it's a faux-bullet journal, not a beat-yourself-up journal. So, adjusting those expectations a bit. I'd like to find some open calls for fiction and set some deadlines, but that would involve, you know, effort. Maybe tomorrow.

I did manage to get a surprising amount of day job work done today. Mostly because I made up my mind to ignore it all and sneak in an hour or two of writing instead. Which backfired spectacularly. It's like a whole new level of procrastination! Very exciting.

Cool thing from Twitter: there's a new graphic novel treatment of Kindred out this week!

Also I'm way behind on the Snowflake Challenge this year, so here's a couple of days worth:

Day One: post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created

Every Day Is a Reminder - a Calvin & Hobbes grow up fic I wrote for Yuletide in 2009. Okay, it's actually Calvin/Susie grow up fic. It's far and away the most popular thing I've ever written, by a factor of holy shit. There was almost no planning involved. The whole thing just fell out of my head into the keyboard over a day and a half.
Let's Fell Our Withering Tree - okay, contrary to my thing on the friending meme, we will talk about this Big Bang Theory fic. I think it was my first attempt at a long(ish) apocalypse story! (Which definitely shows!) But I really like the atmosphere of it, which was almost entirely an attempt to capture the feeling of an Elvis Perkins album.
Do What You Must - fic for Spy, the Melissa McCarthy action movie! It's pre-canon, and indulges my headcanon that Jason Statham's character is slightly less idiotic than he seems in the movie, which is almost entirely down to the fact that he's been super pining after Susan for years and can't stop acting like a total moron because of it.

Day Two: share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life

In an airport last year, I checked Twitter and clicked a link to an article that went into some detail about how climate change is accelerating, which was also discussed in a private Slack by a friend who is a climate scientist. And of course I was following the election, obviously, which had recently officially narrowed to Clinton v Trump. And then I boarded the plane, opened up my tablet, and started Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower, which is set decades into the slow and total collapse of American democracy and the election of an autocratic demagogue, amidst catastrophic climate change.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA jfc. On the plus side, I felt energized by the incredible swell of panic and fatalism and futility it caused?

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weekend bullets!

Sat, 07 Jan 2017 23:39:38 GMT

So I started doing this pseudo bullet journal this year which is basically a giant mess because lol structure or consistency, but I've managed to fill it out for an entire week now, which feels like an Accomplishment. I mean, I accomplished almost nothing on the day it's written down to be accomplished on, but still.
My Dear Chocolate Box sign-up and letter are done, though! I'm way out of practice at talking about why I like a thing as a fan, though. Good excuse to DW more, right?
There are still plenty of days to ask a question for January!
Today's question is from cyprinella: Favorite state to visit that's not Ohio.

One of my big goals the last few years is to travel more. I spent a long time thinking I couldn't, because money and time and no one to go with, which is all ridiculous, because none of those are things that actually prevent me from traveling at this point in life. So, I decided that I would work on going to all 48 contiguous US states by [culturally significant date], and as of the end of 2016 I have only like 12 to go?

The absolute best of all the states I've been in at this point is Oregon. Visiting there for the first time was revelatory. So was every other visit, for that matter. An ancestor of ours moved there from his farm in Ohio more than a hundred years ago, but came back because it wasn't right for him (and he gave up on a dream he didn't even really have to begin with), which speaks to every level of my being in ways I couldn't describe if I had the talent of every writer in history combined. I've never smelled anything half as good as driving through miles and miles of pine forest in the middle of the summer and winding up standing on a beach with the stink of salt and rotting kelp soaking into every bit of hair and skin and fabric. The parts of the state that aren't coast or forest are just as striking and beautiful and filled with such amazing light that got into my head like almost nothing ever has. Even the ugly parts were gorgeous, which is the case in a lot of places, but there it felt like it meant something.

At one point, I realized that I was driving at full speed with both hands wrapped around the steering wheel and just shouting HOLY SHIT and OH MY GOD and ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME and THIS IS AMAZING and HOW DO PEOPLE LIVE LIKE THIS at everything within view, and by "one point" I mean literally almost every moment I was driving around in Oregon, or sitting looking at a view of anything, or lying in bed at night thinking about what I'd seen that day.

If I could eat the state, like the entire state, I would. I would arrange every piece of Oregon* on a plate and put my silverware on a cloth napkin and pour a glass of wine I don't even drink just so I could put that state in my mouth and taste it and grind it up with my teeth and swallow it to live inside me forever.
I have had a lot of sugar today.

*Except the white supremacy, which goes right into the garbage disposal, which gets chucked right into the sun.

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dear chocolate box!

Sat, 07 Jan 2017 03:51:42 GMT

Hello fellow Chocolate Box person! I'm excited to be doing this again. Here's my letter from last year if such a thing interests you.

And here are my blanket like/please-don't things:

LIKE: fight scenes that make me ache; snappy dialogue; character studies; narrative-heavy stories; missing moments; AUs both serious and crack; apocafic, both hopeful and bleak; bickering for bickering's sake and UST-y banter; road trips; what-ifs; fix-its; tropes played straight and subverted; canon-compliance; crossovers; original characters; experiments in tone and tense; mood pieces and action-tastic epics; SCIENCE!; friendships romantic and platonic; history stuff; worldbuilding and backstory explorations; that kind of fic where you spend six hours researching something that winds up being two words out of the whole story. I generally prefer het and gen unless otherwise specified, and I am terribly vanilla when it comes to kink.

PLEASE DON'T: animal deaths/cruelty are hard nopes for me; non- or dub-con, rape, abuse, and/or incest glamorized or done up as ~romance~; a/b/o; gratuitous character-bashing; treating female characters like crap for no reason (but again that goes back to: if it serves the story, as not every story treats its female characters nobly or well). Other than that, it's pretty much all fair game.

Okay! Some of these are repeated requests from last year's chocolateboxcomm and some are from other exchanges. Some have resulted in fantastic gifts already! But I'm greedy and always want more of my faves, so.

I don't remember what the rules are about contact, but I'm always happy to ramble about why I like a thing or person or ship if you've got questions.

( Fandoms: True Grit; Star Wars Original Trilogy, Rogue One, The Force Awakens; Star Trek TOS; The Good Place; Dragon Age; Stranger Things )

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y halo thar

Fri, 06 Jan 2017 00:23:32 GMT

Hello! Welcome, especially if you're here from st_aurafina's friending meme! It feels weird to write one of these under a name I've been using online for a decade!

I'm ishie, or Lisa. ~~You can call me Al.~~ I'm in my late thirties. I've been online since, uh, the early 90s? I am an old, in all the ways. I grew up and live in southwestern Ohio, where my day job is in marketing. The rest of the time is filled up with writing and reading original fic. Some of that reading is for a couple of really cool scifi mags, where I volunteer as a submissions editor/first reader. It's super illuminating!

Right now I'm obsessed with being politically active enough to make my electeds not vote for things that will hurt people, and Star Wars. My two media goals for the year are to watch 365 movies in 365 days, per the Doug Loves Movies podcast, and to read 60 books in 52 weeks. Bonus points for the reading challenge are earned by reading things by people who aren't white cis dudes. (One of the last books I read in 2016 was Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy, which I highly recommend.)

This post is rapidly running out of steam. How about a good old fashioned get-to-know-me monthly ask meme instead? ( Pick a day, ask a question! )

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yuletide the recs!

Sun, 01 Jan 2017 04:06:34 GMT

My first time ever doing a Yuletide recs post after reveals! What a strange new world this is.

I got two incredible gifts from the exchange this year, both for Sicario. I don't know what to tell you about them that isn't just OMG GO READ THEM ASAP THANK YOU AND GOOD NIGHT:

The first crosses over with World War Z, with Kate detailing the last 10-20 years as she and Alejandro (!!!!!) built a new life after the zombie apocalypse omg: Only What You Can Carry. AND IT HAS MY FAVORITE LIFE-IN-A-DISASTER DETAIL OF ALL TIIIIIIME.

The second is a perfect canon follow-up, with Kate melting down before she finally gets down to hunting Alejandro, who's openly embraced his new position: You and I Go Hard. I LOVE IT. YOU LOVE IT TOO OKAY.

I wrote two fics for different fandoms, and had a lot of fun with both:

How Far Away You Roam
While You Were Sleeping (1995) (Mary Callaghan, Ox Callaghan, Midge Callaghan, Saul Tuttle, Elsie, Jack Callaghan, Lucy Moderatz); PG for some cursing; 3900 words

The drive home was much shorter than Mary would have liked.

The request was for some of Mary's life away from the events of the movie, so I put her a few years into the future, when she's getting ready to graduate from college and start a career -- and keeping secrets from the family.

Rise From These Streets
Edge of Tomorrow (2014) (Rita Vrataski, William Cage, Hendricks); PG; 3400 words

Before the war, Rita didn't dream.

I've read some really beautiful pre-movie Rita fics, including the gift I got last year which you should also re-read asap. I went ... in a different direction. Also Hendricks is played by Idris Elba in my head, so.

This might be the year I read the least in the collection, but here are ( 15 recs for 10 Cloverfield Lane, Arrested Development, The Good Place, Selfie, Stranger Things, The Thin Man, Veep, You've Got Mail, Zootopia )

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Sat, 31 Dec 2016 04:00:20 GMT

Pulling the plug on LJ finally, thanks to the server moves to Moscow. I should have done it long ago but still liked the idea of all those old-ass comments still rattling around the place with my name and original icons attached.

Oh, well.

Hi!

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Dear Yuletide!

Mon, 10 Oct 2016 08:48:48 GMT

Hello Yuletider! THANK YOU FOR WRITING FOR ME <3 I'm so sorry this is late. The early signups fucked me up hardcore this year.

So if you're here, you know Yuletide is awesome, but it can also be kind of terrifying. Optional details are optional! I really genuinely just love fics of all kinds, and I will be happiest if you write a story you're excited about. Please don't stress the details. I am rambly and oversharing by nature; you are not beholden to any of this.

I think I stuck all of these in my prompts for some reason but here's my annual blanket LIKE/NO LIKE thing. (Bottom line is really: if it serves the story, do what makes you happy!)( in here )

If you have questions, I'm happy to answer!

So, these requests, in no particular order!

( SICARIO )

( BACK TO THE FUTURE )

( KING CREOLE (1958) )

Okay, sorry, this is all so obnoxious, but I'm done now! Seriously, thank you so much. I hope it's a wonderful time for you and that you get the stories you want, too!! Happy Yuletide!!

EDITED 11/9: UH. So, uh, that Tannens request, if you felt/feel compelled to take your fic in a real-world/post-election-inspired alt-Biff Tannen direction, that whole fictional situation has not yet risen to the level of a DNW but please forgive me if I don't comment on it right away. I'm struggling, and for a while yet, probably.

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Dear Crossovering Writer

Mon, 18 Jul 2016 02:27:37 GMT

Hi there! Apologies if you came here before this was done. Migraines, amirite?

Hopefully you are not finding Crossovering an overwhelming thing! If you are, deep breaths. Optional details are optional! If the story you write makes you happy, then I'm happy, too.

If you need clarification or more info on anything, you can ask the other mods to ask me -- and they'll disguise questions if you want it to be a surprise.

I have only one real PLEASE DO NOT request at this time: animal death and/or abuse. My emotional skin is too thin to deal with that.

PLEASE DO write what you like! I like pretty much everything, although I prefer casefic and plotty gen to romance or smut stuff. (I am not at all opposed to romance or smut stuff FYI.) I'm ride or die Mulder/Scully, though. RIDE OR DIE. Way into ladies getting the hero edit and the hero narrative. Way into villainous ladies, too, don't get me wrong. Villains full-stop, actually.

I'll talk about stuff I like about each fandom if that's okay? I'm really open to anything. My signup should give you an idea of what I'd hope to read for the various matchups, but please follow your heart and write what would make you happy.

Greek and Roman Mythology
New versions of the old stories! New interpretations of! Misinterpretations and setting the record straight. Old gods in new lives! New ages! Reborn! Possession! Inhabitation! Down for whatever, really.

Dragon Age - All Media Types
Have only played the second game, in which I love everyone in this bar and ship Varric/f!Hawke like it is going out of style. Super into the history of Thedas, super into adventuring, super into pirating, treasure-hunting, Deep Roads expeditions, fights where Hawke takes everyone down and all her friends give her heart-eyes, the usual.

Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms
Same with this as for the mythology. Would really love fairy tale characters in new milieus, or dealing with real-world people.

A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
INCOHERENT NOISES ABOUT SANSA STARK. The only thing I can't stand is Tyrion worship. My god would I pay real money for these characters having to deal with living in a world where they can't just murder their way in and out of things.

Labyrinth
I love it. I LOVE IT. As a kid and as an adult, different things ping me about it. David Bowie pings me, obvs. Sarah's determination to make up for a stupid impulsive act, her defiance, her desire to give in to all the romantic notions Jareth tries to play up, the hints that she created the entire thing from the bits of her mother's life she retains. UGH. I love it played as real and as a total fantasy. I love the goblins. I LOVE HOGGLE. I LOVE LUDO. The Bog of Eternal Stench is still the most hilarious thing, especially if you've got closed captions on.

The X-Files
OG FANDOM. I love it all, even that shitty second movie. Loved Mulder way more as a kid than I do now. Scully is the bestttttttt. I'm more of a MOTW fan than the mytharc, even when it made sense, but mmm that tasty angst.

Veronica Mars (TV)
I love V, Mac, Wallace, Keith, Dick Casablancas (I KNOW OKAY). If you want to take the movie into account, please go ahead! I'm not super into Logan but VMars is, and I want Vmars to be happy.

Jurassic Park (Movies)
Dinosaurs, Ellie Satler, Alan Grant, Ian Malcolm, the end. I prefer the book to the original movie but I love both. I even like Jurassic World, kind of! Totally would be happy with anything you want to write in any of the movies, but if something could eat Alessandro Nivola's character, that would be great with me.

National Treasure (Movies)
UGH GIMME ALL THE TREASURE HUNTING HISTORY NERDS. There is nothing I do not love about these movies EXCEPT THAT THERE ARE NOT MORE.

Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Life is too short to tell you what I love about HP, so I'll just say: all of the above plus I liked the epilogue because I am OBHWF trash.

Elementary (TV)
If I had my way this show would be about Joan, Bell, and Alfredo, and they'd probably be making out 90% of the time. One of the best things about it though is that it E M B R A C E S the original Sherlock's compassion and connection with other people instead of going full arrogant misanthropist.

Indiana Jones
As an adult I object to many things about this continent-hopping, artifact-grabbing, handsome, cocky bastard, but I loved the movies so hard as a kid and continue to love them now, racist warts and all. Marion Ravenwood deserves everything. The fourth movie was pretty bad but not so bad that I pretend it doesn't exist. (I mean: MUTT.) I would be so happy to read anything.

Golden Girls
Uh, life lessons and some of my most aspirational female characters of all time? THANK YOU, YES. Dorothy Zbornak is my role model. They're all fabulous. I don't know what else to say. They provided all kinds of moral guidance to baby me, and they deserve to be awesome and have great adventures in fiction forever, amen.

Spy
ALL HAIL. I never thought I'd get the fat lady action star movie of my dreams and YET. This delivered on virtually every level for me. Continued adventures, domestic scenes, friendship, romance, whatever. I ship Susan/Rick, but also Susan/Nancy, Susan/kicking ass, Susan/cakemaking, Susan/kicking more ass, Susan/rejecting Bradley Fine because she recognizes she's better than him in every way and also what a douche, but also Susan/Bradley Fine because ultimately I ship Susan/getting what she wants.

The Mummy Series
How many times can I write "I LOVE IT IT'S GREAT MORE PLEASE" but I love it it's great more please. I'd be happy with anything! I love how the story combines the ancient and "modern". Evy's my favorite but everyone else is a close second.

Houdini & Doyle (TV)
MY FAVORITE NEW SHOW OF THE YEAR, HANDS DOWN. It's really cool how they tie in actual historical fact with outlandish fiction. The relationship between Houdini and Doyle is fun. I like having a hero who believes in things we as the audience know are patently ridiculous. Adelaide is a treasure and like most of my favorite characters she should get to kick ass and get all things she wants.

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such good chocolates

Mon, 22 Feb 2016 03:34:25 GMT

chocolateboxcomm is live and revealed! I wrote one fic and got THREE gifts!!!

The one I wrote, which also fills a spot on my trope_bingo card:

Do What You Must
SPY; Rick/Susan (pining) & Sharon; PG-13 for language; pre-movie; 2700 words

Ford wasn't a big believer in the whole teamwork thing. He preferred to do his derring and to hell with the rest of it.

The ones I got!!!!

For The World's More Full Of Weeping Than You Can Understand by shewhoguards
Labyrinth; Sarah & Toby; PG; several years post-movie; 1200 words

“I wish the goblins would take me a-”

Sarah had never moved so fast; not when he was two and headed towards the open oven door, not when he was four and had escaped the safety of her hand to sprint for the road. The distance between them seemed like nothing, and she slapped her hand over his mouth before the words could be completed.

When my Orpheus sings by GreenPhoenix
Greek/Roman Mythology; Hades/Persephone; PG; 200 words

Hades and Persephone make an unusual couple.

Kathodos by avani
Greek/Roman Mythology; Hades/Persephone; PG; revisionist myth; 600 words

"I chose you, you know."

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naming a star wars coffee shop without calling it java the hutt

Wed, 27 Jan 2016 18:24:05 GMT

Hey, I wrote Star Wars: The Force Awakens fic, from a prompt by damalur! Even managed to make it work with my trope_bingo card aw yiss. Unfortunately it's not in the bingo line I was planning to complete lol

FIC: Sweeter Than Zingbees (Star Wars barista AU; Rey/Finn; trope: SELFIE; 1100 words; PG)

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dear shipswap

Sun, 24 Jan 2016 22:57:01 GMT

S H I P S W A P

Hi there! I haven't done this exchange in a while but couldn't pass up the chance to do it one last time.

General stuff
I am super into ladies doing things (and doing dudes) (I am mostly into het ships fyi) and comedy and romance and feelings. And adventure. All the things! I like porn but I like plot more. I love tropes. I adore tropes being fucked with. I don't mind gore and violence but I would prefer not to read any sexual violence.

Here are my requests in no particular order:

Cormoran Strike
Cormoran/Robin
I'm real into these two as a ship - unrequited, requited, banging, just friends (who lonnnnng for each other? :D? :D?), happy, unhappy, whatever works! I'd prefer no AU or non/pre-amputation, though. I like them as they are. If you don't want to make the ship the focus I'm down for the mystery/detective equivalent of curtainfic too :) Or a casefile, if you're feeling ambitious!

Labyrinth
Jareth/Sarah Williams
This movie remains one of my favorites. It's a wonderful mix of whimsy and gross, as appealing now as it was when I was eight. I like that Sarah has all the power over Jareth, even before she knows it. A years-later reunion would be cool; the age difference creeps me out while she's still so young. While I don't mind creepy and fucked-up in other fandoms, here I'd prefer ... not that.

Also, obviously, David Bowie's recent death casts a bit of a pall on this one, so if you find you're tilting sad or mournful, please feel free to indulge that. I'll join you.

Star Wars
Finn/Rey; Han/Leia
My non-dark OTPs! I actually love that TFA gave Han and Leia a not so happy ending; it felt true and real, and the sadness felt earned, and I cried a lot but not bitterly so. I'll love anything about them and their lives together/apart.

REY/FINN IS THE GREATEST GIFT TFA COULD GIVE ME. I love these two beautiful space babes and how they glow in each other's presence, and the caring and concern they share, and how instantly they connected, and how loving they were toward each other immediately, and Rey's understanding, and Finn's willingness to come clean about his identity without it needing to be dragged out of him, and their beautiful space babe faces and selves. Also this fanart on Tumblr is the greatest thing I've ever seen, please let Lucasfilm option it for Episode IX: http://thirddeadlysin.tumblr.com/post/137788748182/this-is-my-finnrey-blog-she-picked-it-up-from

(My new hopefully-eventually-canon OTP is totally Kylo/redemption, but if you need to play up his evil, I totally understand and you should go for it!)

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the force awakens au gifset

Sun, 24 Jan 2016 02:28:05 GMT

logging a post so i can find it later for my trope_bingo claim

GIFSET: a long time ago in a clowder far, far away (Star Wars; Poe Dameron, Kylo Ren, Snoke, Rey, Finn, Maz Kenada, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker; trope: ANIMAL VERSION)

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dear chocolate box

Sat, 02 Jan 2016 02:39:04 GMT

Hello Chocolate Box-er!

This is my first time doing this exchange and I'm super excited about it :D Like with any exchange, please don't sweat the small stuff. Have fun! Do what you want! I can't wait to read it!

If you're interested in the kinds of fic I write: ishie. Feel free to drop a question here if you have any!

My standard likes/please-don'ts are:

LIKE: apocafic, both hopeful and bleak; fight scenes that make me ache; snappy dialogue; character studies; narrative-heavy stories; missing moments; AUs both serious and crack; bickering for bickering's sake and UST-y banter; road trips; what-ifs; fix-its; tropes played straight and subverted; canon-compliance; crossovers; original characters; experiments in tone and tense; mood pieces and action-tastic epics; SCIENCE!; friendships romantic and platonic; history stuff; worldbuilding and backstory explorations; that kind of fic where you spend six hours researching something that winds up being two words out of the whole story. I generally prefer het and canon relationships, unless otherwise specified, and I am terribly vanilla when it comes to kinks.

PLEASE DON'T: animal deaths/cruelty are hard nopes for me; non- or dub-con, rape, abuse, and/or incest glamorized or done up as ~romance~; a/b/o; gratuitous character-bashing; treating female characters like crap for no reason (but again that goes back to: if it serves the story, as not every story treats its female characters nobly or well). Other than that, it's pretty much all fair game.

These requests are in no particular order, unless I accidentally alphabetized. A couple of them mimic some of my past Yuletide requests if you think that would help!

Cormoran Strike Series
Cormoran/Robin
I'm real into these two as a ship - unrequited, requited, banging, just friends (who lonnnnng for each other? :D? :D?), happy, unhappy, whatever works! I'd prefer no AU or non/pre-amputation, though. I like them as they are. If you don't want to make the ship the focus I'm down for the mystery/detective equivalent of curtainfic too :)

Greek and Roman Mythology
Persephone/Hades
Fandom's favorite mythology ship, amirite? I like all kinds of power dynamic configurations with the two of them, including the pre-Hellenic versions where Persephone is a demon or a vegetable lady. Do whatever you want here!

Harry Potter
Neville/Hannah, Neville & Harry, Neville & Luna, Hermione/Ron
I'm OBHWF trash since way back, and I love Neville best of all the Trio Era characters. Again, whatever you want to do is cool with me! I'd love some post-Hogwarts fic, though.

Ghostbusters
Janine/Egon
Uh, who didn't totally ship these two in the first movie? The scene of Egon emerging from under Janine's desk was a formative moment for a much younger me, even if I didn't quite get why yet. I'd like to know what happened between the first two movies that they didn't hook up, but I'd be happy to read anything!

Labyrinth
Sarah/Jareth, Sarah & Sir Didymus, Sarah & Toby
This movie remains one of my favorites. It's a wonderful mix of whimsy and gross, as appealing now as it was when I was eight. I like that Sarah has all the power over Jareth, even before she knows it. A years-later reunion would be cool; the age difference creeps me out while she's still so young.

If you're not into Sarah/Jareth, any kind of adventure with Sir Didymus or Toby, or even just Toby and Sarah dealing as he grows up and remembers strange things!

Also, obviously, David Bowie's recent death casts a bit of a pall on this one, so if you find you're tilting sad or mournful, please feel free to indulge that. I'll join you.

SPY
Susan/Rick, Susan & Nancy
I ship Susan/Rick like whoa. Like WHOA. I like that he's as dumb as she is smart. I wonder how he got as far as he did when his handler doesn't carry him like Susan did with Fine. I love that the movie treats Susan as an attractive woman and that she comes into her well-deserved own. The jerky-fueled hookup is hilarious.

I also love Susan and Nancy's relationship! I don't ship it but if you do you can add as much shading to that & as you want :)

Dragon Age
Varric/Female Hawke
Man, this just sings to me. I like everything about both of them. Even Bianca-not-the-crossbow! If you know damalur's fics, those and her Tumblr flailing were my introductions to the pairing. Still angry that Varric is a romance option in the game!!! Which I haven't finished, but I'm spoiled for everything in all three games so it's all fair game. I would be down for literally anything here. (My f!Hawke is a purple rogue but I like all versions of Hawke.)

Star Wars
Han/Leia, Leia & Luke, Poe/Finn/Rey, Poe & Kylo, Chewie & Leia
I've been shipping Han/Leia since I was a baby. TFA kind of broke me, but it felt earned by the narrative. I like them functional but how long can they keep that up? He's so crazy in love with her from so early on. That he waits for her to catch up is still the most amazing thing. That Leia is able to open herself up to vulnerability after everything she's lost is even better. I love the hints of relationship we get for her and Luke at the end of the OT, and I'd like anything between them at any point. Oh god, and Leia and Chewie at any point? Yes, please.

For the TFA folks, I ship Poe/Finn/Rey but in a casual way. Take that however you like, lol. They're all so charming and wonderful and I love them so much. Poe & Kylo, I've been toying with the idea that they knew each other before Kylo's turn given the connections between their parents and their ages. Is that why Poe's relatively flippant when captured by Kylo? Anything here would be great.

Sicario
Kate/Alejandro
I ship it! I'm only mildly ashamed! They had great chemistry in the movie and as much as I hate to admit it, I think Kate has the capacity to be as much a wolf as Alejandro. Of course, if you wanted to not corrupt her, that would be great too! I like them fucked up and dysfunctional and redeemed and happy and everything in between.

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yuletide recs!

Tue, 29 Dec 2015 04:41:45 GMT

idk if it's my gradual disengagement with non-Tumblr/Twitter fandom in general or just a drift of the main YT body away from my particular fandoms, but it seems like I read less in the archive every year. Still plenty of great stuff to be found, though!

The gifts I got this year are AMAZING AND I LOVE THEM SFM:

Flight of the Tannens
Back to the Future (Biff, Tiff, Griff, Marty); G; 3400 words

All Biff wanted was a better life.

I honestly could not have asked for a better answer to my request for Tannen fic. This is amazing. Through his relationship with his daughter Tiff (!!!!!), Biff comes off as a sympathetic character--one of the hardest things to pull off in this fandom I can possibly imagine. New headcanon for absolutely sure.

Put Your Hands Into the Fire
Edge of Tomorrow (Rita, Hendricks, Dr Carter, Cage (barely)); G; 9700 words (!!!)

Rita doesn’t need to be a hero, she just needs to save her best friend.

I don't even know what to say about this gift, which is everything I wanted from the movie. Rita is perfect; the author's casting for Hendricks is PERFECTTTTTT. I will probably read this a hundred times over and wish it were the movie every time I watch it from now on.

( And the other recs: )

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new fic!

Sun, 08 Nov 2015 18:23:05 GMT

Well, I missed the trope_bingo posting period again this year, so I'm trying to finish up a line for the amnesty period.

New HP fic, written for Secret Skraw, which very nominally fills the food and drink square!

On the Other Side
Harry Potter (Harry & Luna, hints of OT4); G; 2100 words

Future fic, epilogue compliant!

"I can wait for another table if you'd rather not share," he offered. Never mind that this one gave him a perfect view of the entrance of the building opposite. He could get around an obstructed view, of course. Especially now that he had the mobile fresh from Arthur Weasley's tinkering. Having to make awkward conversation with a stranger could make the whole affair monumentally more difficult.

"Oh, no, please! Sit, Harry."

"Thanks." He'd already plopped in the seat before the use of his name registered. It took a moment for him to flounder out a response. He hadn't been this sloppy in years. "Wait, erm, I mean, who?"

The menu dropped, revealing Luna Lovegood with a more pointed smile than she usually wore.

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dear yuletide!

Sat, 24 Oct 2015 05:11:57 GMT

Hello Yuletider! THANK YOU FOR WRITING FOR ME <3 I'm already excited to see what you do. Full stop! Yuletide is wonderful but also full of terrifying. If it starts to tilt too far toward terrifying for you, or if my requests make you want to pull out all your teeth, remember: Optional details are optional! My DNWs are relatively small, and above all, I hope you have a great exchange with wonderful gifts of your own and a story you loved writing!

Here's my annual blanket LIKE/NO LIKE thing. (Bottom line is really: if it serves the story, do what makes you happy!)( in here )

But anyway. I'm ishie on AO3 if you want to see my fic and past gifts (♥♥), there's some older stuff on ishieland too, and a terribly organized tumblr that might make you cry with how disjointed and capslocky it is.

If you have questions that this letter doesn't answer, probably through the Yuletide mods is the best way to go? But you could probably also ask UH PLACEHOLDER SORRY I FORGOT TO ASK PEOPLE IF IT'S OKAY TO ASK THEM.

So, these requests, in no particular order!

( ARTHURIAN MYTHOLOGY )

( CORMORAN STRIKE SERIES )

( BACK TO THE FUTURE )

( EDGE OF TOMORROW )

( KING CREOLE (1958) )

( TRUE GRIT (2010) )

Okay, hopefully this didn't scare you off! Seriously, thank you for whatever you write this year. I'm very excited to read it! I hope you get the stories you want, too!! Happy Yuletide!!

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the most tender place in my heart

Wed, 09 Sep 2015 22:26:45 GMT

I wrote another fic this year! It's a miracle!

First, though, I got a fic, too. Thanks, crossovering!

Once Upon A Time, by thedevilchicken which is an ASOIAF (Sansa/Sandor) AU story mashed up with MY FAVORITE FAIRY TALE as well as some amazing mythology/folk tales that I am not going to tell you what they are so you can enjoy the unfolding. LOVE IT.

And I wrote for fleurlb, which was way too much fun:

A Bunch of Punxsutawney Phils
Veronica Mars, Harry Potter, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Supernatural, Mad Men crossover; gen with established R/Hr; PG; 8200 words

Consider for a moment that in the fall of 2004, the following things are true: Keith Mars wants to distract Veronica from digging up dirt on Jake Kane; in a bunker in Indiana four women are trying to survive the scarypocalypse; after years of bickering Ron and Hermione have finally married; and Dean Winchester is out in the world somewhere, doing whatever it is that he does.

Now consider that—somehow—all of these people will wind up following the same ponytailed weirdo.

My full trope_bingo card for the year is over this way. This accidentally filled the wanted poster space!

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trope bingo 2015 & a new fic

Mon, 17 Aug 2015 01:27:58 GMT

I've been working a lot this year on original fic (not as much as I'd like, but still), and I find that I miss working on fanfic! So: signed or signing up for exchanges through the end of the year (HEY YO YULETIDE), trying to tackle some of the woefully overdue Tumblr prompts people were kind enough to give, and trope_bingo!

I've even managed to fill my first square with a Dragon Age II fic!!

The Usual Suspects
f!Hawke/Varric, Aveline; modern heist AU (with magic!); 3200 words; T/PG-13
trope square: kiss

( full card under the cut )

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This is not a depression post

Tue, 21 Jul 2015 23:56:01 GMT

For a change! How about an update?

Work is work, the less said the better.

I miss my cat so much still.

I got an encouraging note from an editor who rejected a story I really love.

I'm desperately spiraling deeper into doomshipping Effie/Haymitch, but I have at least managed to claw my way out of this one before so godspeed to us all.

Still haven't found rock bottom on either Elvis or Spy.

I officially get my bachelor's degree as soon as final grades are posted, and as long as I didn't fuck up this last class too badly, I'll do it with a 4.0. Take that, past self-sabotaging self!

But for real everybody write 700k of either Effie/Haymitch or Spy Susan/Ford fic for me to read instead of sleeping or going to work OKAY GREAT GO TEAM.

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Dear Crossovering Writer

Sun, 28 Jun 2015 02:32:14 GMT

Hi there! Sorry if you came here before this was done. I'm sitting on a balcony at the beach in Oregon and literally could not stop staring at the ocean.

I'm going to make this quick because I am SUPER EXCITED to see what you come up with. If you need clarification or more info on anything, you can ask the other mods to ask me -- and they'll disguise questions if you want it to be a surprise.

PLEASE DO NOT write anything that deals with the abuse or death of animals. I cannot deal with that.

PLEASE DO write what you like! I like pretty much everything, although I prefer casefic and plotty gen to romance or smut stuff. (I am not at all opposed to romance or smut stuff FYI.) I'm ride or die Mulder/Scully, though. RIDE OR DIE. Way into ladies getting the hero edit and the hero narrative. Way into villainous ladies, too, don't get me wrong. Villains full-stop, actually.

I'll talk about stuff I like about each fandom if that's okay? I'm really open to anything. My signup should give you an idea of what I'd hope to read for the various matchups, but please follow your heart and write what would make you happy.

Greek and Roman Mythology
New versions of the old stories! New interpretations of! Misinterpretations and setting the record straight. Old gods in new lives! New ages! Reborn! Possession! Inhabitation! Down for whatever, really.

Dragon Age - All Media Types
Have only played the second game, in which I love everyone in this bar and ship Varric/f!Hawke like it is going out of style. Super into the history of Thedas, super into adventuring, super into pirating, treasure-hunting, Deep Roads expeditions, fights where Hawke takes everyone down and all her friends give her heart-eyes, the usual.

Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms
Same with this as for the mythology. Would really love fairy tale characters in new milieus, or dealing with real-world people.

A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
INCOHERENT NOISES ABOUT SANSA STARK. The only thing I can't stand is Tyrion worship. My god would I pay real money these characters having to deal with living in a world where they can't just murder their way in and out of things.

Supernatural
I do not in any way ship the Winchesters or Dean/Cas. I love the brother dynamic, the deep family connections and guilt, and when Dean cries. But what I wanted was the show about road-tripping bros fighting Draculas and not weirdo Judeo-Christian cosmology and queerbaiting. ANYWAY. I love it best when they pretend to be FBI. So goofy, such a delight.

Veep
The incompetence is staggering and so fucking funny. I do actually hateship Dan/Amy; would love to see any of them having to deal with any kind of actual crisis in which other people are hypercompetent.

The X-Files
OG FANDOM. I love it all, even that shitty second movie. Loved Mulder way more as a kid than I do now. Scully is the bestttttttt. I'm more of a MOTW fan than the mytharc, even when it made sense, but mmm that tasty angst.

Veronica Mars (TV)
I love V, Mac, Wallace, Keith, Dick Casablancas (I KNOW OKAY). If you want to take the movie into account, please go ahead! I'm not super into Logan but VMars is, and I want Vmars to be happy.

Jurassic Park (Movies)
Dinosaurs, Ellie Satler, Alan Grant, Ian Malcolm, the end. I prefer the book to the movie but I love both. Totally would be happy with anything you want to write in any of the movies, but if something could eat Alessandro Nivola's character, that would be great with me.

National Treasure (Movies)
UGH GIMME ALL THE TREASURE HUNTING HISTORY NERDS. There is nothing I do not love about these movies EXCEPT THAT THERE ARE NOT MORE.

Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Life is too short to tell you what I love about HP, so I'll just say: all of the above plus I didn't mind the epilogue because I am OBHWF trash.

Elementary (TV)
If I had my way this show would be about Joan, Bell, and Alfredo, and they'd probably be making out 90% of the time.

Sense8 (TV)
This is my newest. I will read anything and cherish it. Capheus is my fave, all the others a close second. I ship Kala/Wolfgang because I am broken inside and it is beautiful and so fucked up. I think the whole idea of the Sensates would fit into just about anything so please indulge yourself however you want!

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i don't know where else to put this

Fri, 20 Feb 2015 01:52:31 GMT

I need a crit partner or group or some betas or something. My original fiction needs eyes that don't belong to me and/or aren't in my head, and I need people to tell me what's working and not for them. How do you find those? I don't know how. Every once in a while I see a crit partner matchmaking post somewhere but they're always geared for people with completed manuscripts in the edit phase, which. Lol.

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recs the only

Wed, 31 Dec 2014 05:19:48 GMT

Various irl things conspired to keep me from digging into Yuletide the way I've done in years past, so this is probably the smallest number of recs since I started posting these. (Also, I'm sorry that they don't have notes. All come with a blanket I REALLY LIKE YOU LIKE TOO OKAY.)

And I'd love to read more before or after reveals, if you have any recs to share!

First, though, I got three wonderful Arthurian Mythology gift fics this year--I knew asking for Elaines was the way to go :D I've read them all way too many times already. Hopefully you guys will enjoy them too!

A Disambiguation of Elaines (Scifi AU; very inventive and clever and fun)

The Elaines (a fairy story of sorts; really lovely and imaginative, beautiful language)

Elaine (a 5+1 that plays with the different identities and choices; lyrical and moving)

( Recs for 10th Kingdom, 14th Century CE England RPF, 7th and 8th Century CE Mayan RPF, Arthurian Mythology, Attack the Block, The Breakfast Club, Golden Girls, Indiana Jones, House of Cards, Black Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Luther, Great British Bake Off RPF, Selfie, Princess Bride, Veep, Zoolander )

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