ariadnes_string

WIP meme and reading

Wed, 28 Jan 2015 13:46:22 GMT

Oh, I can’t resist!

I thought I had very few of these, but then I actually looked at the relevant folders. Oops! Mostly from long-abandoned fandoms, though. These are among the resuscitate-able, perhaps.

1.

A bear lay in a clearing. It was quite a large bear, but ragged, even flea-bitten. It lay there for a long while, too exhausted to flick away the fly that landed on its nose.

Time passed. From the pines surrounding the clearing, a wolf emerged.

The bear held its breath. It reflected that if anyone could tell the difference between a real bear and a false bear, it would be a wolf. The bear felt woefully ill-equipped: no sword, no pistols, even its hands were sadly bound up in bear skin. It decided it would go out gallantly regardless, though it hated to think of Stephen finding its mangled corpse.

2.

Abdul often reflected that Thomas Nightingale was exactly what one would expect from someone who had come of age at an English public school in the previous century; an expert and athletic lover, but emotionally restrained to the point of constipation the rest of the time. Abdul didn’t mind; he wasn’t much for overt displays of affection himself. On rare occasions, however, Thomas would give way to what Abdul’s father, with perfect proletarian contempt, would have called the sticky sentimentality of the upper classes. Abdul was probably the only person who ever saw these episodes, and, of course, he could never muster his father’s disapproval; they always went straight to his heart. Thomas appeared to be experiencing one of them now.

3.

“Let’s go dancing,” Freddie said one evening as they sat dissecting the day in the BBC canteen.

“You dance?” Bel raised her eyebrows.

“Course I do.”

And he did. The local girls had seen to that before he'd even smoked his first cigarette, laughing and crashing around crowded front rooms, radio blasting. He’d been half a head shorter than the smallest of them, so he’d always been facing cleavage when he grasped them 'round the waist. Not that he minded.

What I’m Reading

The Angel of Losses, by Stephanie Feldman. Jewish-themed magical realism, I think. I’ve only read a bit of it so far, but it’s something I’m in the mood for.

What I’ve Just Finished

Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest for Primitive Art, by Carl Hoffman. [from my Goodreads review] Extremely interesting and enjoyable. Kind of like what Serial would be if it were about cannibal tribes in New Guinea--which is to say, very interested in how hard it is to recover the truth about the past, especially across intercultural taboos against sharing secrets. It's the story of the investigator as much as the investigation, which usually drives me crazy, but I bought into it here and was very engaged by Hoffman's own story. Hoffman also raises some interesting questions about the export of primitive art as a form of extraction of resources.

The Paying Guests, by Sarah Waters (audiobook). I got to the end of my binge-listening of Hardcore History’s WW1 podcasts, “Blueprint for Armageddon,” and so had no choice but to finish listening to this. [from my Goodreads review]: I wanted to like this so much more than I did. It's beautifully written (and gorgeously read by Juliet Stevenson in the audiobook), but I often felt more irked than entranced by it. I loved the historical details of the setting, and the way the characters were dealing with the aftermath of the war (and especially how those issues came back at the very end), but I think narratives about obsessive love just aren't my cup of tea. I loved The Little Stranger, and so was anxious to read this one; I should have remembered that The Little Stranger is the only Waters book I've ever managed more than a few pages of. I think part of Waters’ talent is for revising genre pieces. The Little Stranger is kind of a revision of The Turn of the Screw; The Paying Guests seems (in part) a revision of something like Dorothy Sayer’s Unnatural Death, but where the lesbians aren’t homicidal ice queens. A good idea, but still, the former worked better for me than the latter.

What I’m Reading Next

Oh goodness knows! I’m going to stop even including this question!

There are so many good movies around, but all I’ve managed to see is Paddington, which at least was totally adorable. Ben Whishaw’s vocal performance as the bear himself is ridiculously sweet, and the movie’s vision of London is a treat.

How ‘bout y’all?

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Books 2013

Tue, 07 Jan 2014 03:59:05 GMT

Last year, I recommended more non-fiction than fiction; this year things seem to have tilted the other way.

The most remarkable thing about this year was that I (unexpectedly) listened to 18 of the 21 Aubrey-Maturin books. They gave me huge amounts of pleasure and got me through some hard times (and some long runs). For the record, my favorites were HMS Surprise and Desolation Island, though the best scene belongs to The Far Side of the World. I also liked The Commodore a lot, but I ran out of steam with The 100 Days. Maybe in 2014!

Six novels I’d recommend if you wanted something well-written and absorbing to read:

Atkinson, Life After Life: A life lived over and over again in the first half of the twentieth century. It sounds like a confusing concept, but the book is very clear and unfussy, and the period details are great.

Garey, Too Bright to Hear, to Loud to See: About a man descending into the vortex of his own mental illness. Again, it sounds maudlin and upsetting, but the writing is dry and clear, and makes an unsympathetic character very compelling.

Marra, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: About Chechnya: a post-apocalyptic landscape that really existed. Again—this seems to be my theme this year—a situation that could be melodramatic and maudlin is instead described with dry, careful detail and real humanity. This one is the only book on the list that made me cry.

Meyer, The Son: Three generations of a cutthroat Texas family. The voices are amazing, though the scenarios are brutal. It’s an interesting book for being obsessed with masculinity and sodden with testosterone, but not misogynistic. The female characters are complicated and put up with no bullshit.

Wein, Code Name Verity: A spy and a pilot. Women acting heroically. Epic girl friendship.

Wilson, Alif the Unseen: Science fiction that takes place during the Arab spring. What the Neuromancer books would have been like if they’d drawn on Islam rather than Caribbean folklore, and with hugely sympathetic portrayals of religious women.

(if I were expanding the list to novels I think are very good and worth reading, I’d include The Woman Upstairs, which I actually think is a more thoughtful and honest novel than Life After Life, but it’s too upsetting/provocative to recommend for enjoyment)

Non-Fiction
Fink, Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital. A page-turner, but I found it really upsetting, for reasons I describe here and here.

Finkel, Thank You For Your Service: The sequel, as it were, to The Good Soldiers. Again, compelling but really upsetting. As much about class in the US and the inadequacy of mental health care as it is about PTSD. The chapters on military suicide are chilling. (more here)

Guwande, Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science: A classic in the field. Every essay stays with you.

Hastings, Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-1945: Hastings is a great (though opinionated) writer. Illuminating chapters about arenas I knew nothing about, like Manchuria.

Small, Stitches: A graphic memoir, also on medical themes. I don’t usually read graphic novels, etc, but this one was really powerful.

The full list
nb: most of these I liked—I don’t tend to finish things that I don’t like or that don’t hold my attention.
nb: an * indicates that I listened to the audiobook.
nb: I haven't done this as tidily as I did last year, sorry!

Fiction:
( Read more... )

Non-Fiction:
( Read more... )

Hope 'bout y'all? Favorites of 2013?

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2013 Fic Roundup

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 00:47:53 GMT

Happy New Year everybody! I'm going to try to post a few roundup things, then get back to business as usual.

My answers to this are very much like last year, except that the numbers are even smaller. Am I phasing out of writing fic? It seems possible.

Total number of completed stories: 21. That’s counting the Sherlock/Lestrade WIP I finally finished this year.

Total Word Count: 58,273. This counts the WIP, and is still about half of last year’s.

Fandom Breakdown: 16, 7 of them for the first time (counting 3 that only appear in xovers).

( list )

Overall Thoughts: That's...pretty scattered, even for me. Things seemed to interest me enough to write one little thing, and then I was over whatever it was and moving on. I had fun writing some of the things I wrote, and like some of them, but nothing blew my mind or anyone else’s.

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?: About the same. Given that I went months without writing anything, I’m surprised I wrote the even number of stories I did.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?: I’m surprised that I adored Hannibal as much as I did—serial killers are so much not my thing, usually—and surprised that I dared to write something for it.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?: I don’t think I did. Hmmm. Maybe that’s what I need: risks. I am thinking of signing up for trope bingo, in the hopes that it would force me to write different kinds of stories,and maybe have fun doing so. But I feel so strapped for time when it comes to fic writing that I’m reluctant to sign up for anything.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?: For fanfic writing, not really. Yuletide left me with some ideas for stories, but I don’t know that I’ll have time to write them. I like to post a story for my birthday in April, so hopefully I’ll do that. I have hopes of being inspired by XMDoFP. Yuletide again, and maybe Remix, if it comes back to life. I have serious goals for work writing, however, and those really need to come first.

From my past year of writing, what was...

My best story of this year: Um...Well, I was pleased that I finally completed Five Times Sherlock and Lestrade Danced without Touching, and one time they did, and I was pretty happy with the way it came out. Other stories I liked: I liked the emotional texture I got into my Lewis summer challenge story, Happy Families; I thought my work-around for Thursday/Morse worked well in my Endeavour story, Born to Live Without You; and I thought I got the knife!play to work well in character in my Homeland Carrie/Quinn PWP, My Tongue Upon Your Scars.

( more answers )

In conclusion: A huge thank you to everyone who beta’d for me, or brainstormed ideas or offered encouragement or commented or put up with my obsessions and ever more obscure fandoms and above all read stuff—-much love to you all!

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Readvertising Running Hot III

Thu, 30 May 2013 00:16:20 GMT

Because there are five beautiful pages of luscious prompts in many, many fandoms (including Sherlock, Elementary, Avengers, Star Trek, Hockey RPF, Person of Interest, Merlin, Skyfall, White Collar, H50, Lewis, Ripper Street and many more!)

here on lj
here on dw.

So far, we have three fills--in White Collar, Sherlock, and H50, but I'm hoping for more!

masterlist on lj
masterlist on dw

Come Play!

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RUNNING HOT III: HOTTER THAN EVER (a multi-fandom fever!fic prompt fest)

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:23:59 GMT

Colds, flu, infections, insect-borne pathogens. Poisons, curses, spells.

Chills, sweats, delirium, hallucinations.

Huddling for warmth. Cool cloths. Unanticipated handsiness.

Delirious confessions of love. Confessions of love while the other person is unconscious.

Repressed memories rising to the surface.

The possibilities are endless.

A few ground-rules: (note that there are few additions this year)

01. Prompts should have fever as one of their elements (or as an implied part of the prompt, like “appendicitis”). Other than that, be as inventive as you like about the causes and effects of said fever. This is a multi-fandom meme. Prompts involving any characters from any fandom are welcome. Crossover prompts are welcome. RPF/ RPS is also welcome.

02. This post is mirrored on LJ /DW. You may prompt where you like and post where you like. That is, you can take a post from DW and post it to LJ and vice versa--just write FILLED in your subject line when you post a comment with a fill, and, if possible, link to the original prompt. The masterlist will cover both sites.

03. Comment to this post on either LJ or DW with your desired fandom, characters or pairings, and a prompt. All genres/pairings are welcome. You can also state your desired rating, though you don't have to (some people like sex with their fever fic, some people don’t, even for couples--some people don’t care)
Example A: “Hawaii Five-O. Team or Steve/Danny. Steve has a bullet wound that gets infected. Ninja SEAL that he is, he refuses to take it easy, making problems for the team as they try to track down an arms dealer. Any rating.”
Example B: “Supernatural: Sam/Dean. Dean has the chills and there is cuddling. R and higher rating, pls.”

04. You can leave as many prompts as you like, but one prompt per comment, please. If you've got a few, comment with each separately.

05. Your prompts can be as short or as detailed as you’d like.

06. Scroll through the comments and when/if you find a prompt you like, write a fic in reply to the comment.

07. More than one comment-fic response to a prompt is totally acceptable, and in fact encouraged. The more fic, the better!

08. Art submissions are very much accepted too!

09. When replying to a prompt with your comment-fic, put ‘FILLED’ in your subject line and then anything else you want, ie: a title if you have one/part numbers/rating. It’s not a big deal if you forget this step, but it will make it easier for people to find your fic, and for me when I’m compiling the masterlist. Consider including warnings if the fic features non-con or non-canonical character death.

10. I have enabled anonymous posting, but I am screening anonymous comments, and I won't unscreen anything rude or disrespectful of authors, characters or prompts. I also reserve the right to delete named comments that are rude or disrespectful.

11. NO SPOILERS for unaired episodes, please. If you're prompting something from a recently aired episode, please be courteous and note that there may be spoilers before you get to the main part of your request.

12. Likewise, no character bashing, or rudeness in general.

13. Do feed your authors! They’re awesome.

14. If you want to advertise this, that’s fantastic! It would be really appreciated. There are some banners here, but if anyone feels like making more for newer fandoms, that would be awesome.

FAQ:

•Yes, if your fic gets too long for a comment-fic, you can comment with the link to it at lj/dw/AO3.
•Because it bears repeating - yes, art is more than welcome as well as fic.
•As for a timeframe - this post will be open for prompting at least until June 17. There’s no exact timeframe, because I play it by ear and don’t close it until I see it’s starting to slow down. In any case, it will stay open indefinitely for new comment-fics and comments/feedback.

Any other questions? Feel free to PM me.

Lovely banner by norgbelulah. Thanks to hoodie_time for letting me borrow its excellent rules.

Here are the master lists for 2011 and 2012 if you want to do some reading to get in the mood!

Here is a handy and sensible guide to fever in adults -- but, hey, it's fic, realism is always optional ;)

NB: There is an AO3 collection for Running Hot. If you want to post a fic your write to the collection, just follow the link and click on "post to collection." If you have a fic on AO3 you wrote last year for the meme, you can edit the "does this belong to a collection" box to have it added to the Running Hot collection.

NB: Don't forget there are prompts at both LJ and DW. The 2013 Masterpost is here on LJ and here on DW

PROMPT AWAY AND HAVE FUN!

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AO3 meme

Fri, 03 May 2013 14:46:27 GMT

Second day home with a sick child (third day total this week). Must be time for this meme!

Sometimes this meme depresses me, because none of my fics has ever broken the five figure mark for hits, but since so few of the things I've written lately have even broken through to three figures, let alone four, I'm nostalgic for the times when I wrote more popular stuff.

I'm doing the version where you post lists of both hits and kudos because the difference between the two lists cracks me up.

Hits:

1. I get by with...: (Sherlock, Lestrade and sick!John; gen h/c): 7816
2. Your Voice Along My Spine (Benedict-Martin rpf, voice!kink): 6801
3. Catching Waves on Dry Land (Steve/Danny gun!kink): 6435
4. Nothing Between Us and the New World (Holmes/Watson) : 6427
5. Like Death and Taxes (Steve/Danny nc-17): 5790
6. The Khyber Knife (John/Sherlock, knife!kink): 5603
7. Something for the Weekend (Benedict/Martin UST, shaving!kink): 5251
8. And the heat goes on…(where the hand has been) (John/Sherlock): 4754
9. A Graceful Retreat (Benedict-Martin, h/c): 4680
10. You give me... (John-Sherlock h/c): 4656

Kudos:

1. Three Continents Watson (John/Lestrade): 249
2. I get by with...: 235
3. Pelekane: Or The English Visitor (H50/Sherlock xover): 189
4. The Khyber Knife (John/Sherlock knife!kink): 148
5. Dancing on the Legs of a Newborn Pony (Harvey/Mike): 136
6. The Sleepover (Benedict-Martin): 118
7. As Holy Palmers Kiss (Lewis/Hathaway): 114
8. A Catch (Sherlock/White Collar xover): 111
9. Four Times Sherlock and Lestrade Danced Together Without Touching (and one time they did) (Sherlock/Lestrade; Jewish!Lestrade): 111
10. A Very Delicate Mission (The Unreal City Remix) (John/Sherlock, Sherlock/OMC): 108.

And the (navel-gazing) takeaway from this?

*Don't get me wrong, I like "I get by with," it's just what I mostly remember about it is dashing it off, then posting it unbeta'd at about 5am one day before leaving for vacation. It languished for a long time, then someone rec'd it or something and lots of people started reading it. Which is a good thing about AO3, I guess.

*People, myself included, come to AO3 to read rpf and the heavier kind of kink (gun, knife and wax play all feature in fics)--both of which are harder to find on lj/dw, maybe. (I don't post rpf to my journals).

*Only two stories make both lists--is this unusual?

*This seems like and important lesson for me: my top 3 kudos-getters are all, to some degree, funny stories. I myself like my writing better when I can work in some laughs, but I often kind of fall into more angsty stuff, which I don't think is as successful/enjoyable. Note to self: be funny.

*I'm glad there's a Lewis fic in that second list, and something I finished recently (the Jewish!Lestrade pice)--not sure why the only Suits fic I've ever written or am likely to write is up there, but not complaining.

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Happy Mother's Day

Mon, 14 May 2012 03:09:58 GMT

Happy Mother's Day to everyone, whether you do your mothering a traditional setting, or give your care, comfort and unconditional love in other ways!

We didn't do much of anything this weekend, except that we managed to see Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Pirates! Band of Misfits and still have time for the first outdoor pool swim of the year.

I was negligent about re-advertising it this weekend ( see:family, family, family), but Running Hot II is bubbling along nicely. I put fics on the master list for J2, The Unusuals, Grimm and Pirates!Band of Misfits (the last one is mine--couldn't resist after seeing the movie). I'm not closing it up any time soon, so please come play!

Hope you all had a good spring weekend!

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the whole love

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:47:33 GMT

You know what I missed after not watching House for several years? Hugh Laurie's face, that's what.

It's not just that he does such glorious reaction shots, it's that his reactions make you believe he's really watching and listening--and seeing and hearing more than the average bear. And when House is reacting to Wilson? Well, it doesn't get any better than that. I mean, all Holmeses love their Watsons, but the way House loves Wilson is something else.

Ahem. Feel free to discuss 8x19 and 8x20, just know that I know nothing about what happened before these episodes.

Also: Running Hot II is simmering along nicely. Click the link for prompts for things like:

Inception
Whitechapel
Farscape
Downton Abbey
Warrior (2011)
Pirates! Band of Misfits
Phineas and Ferb
And many more!

The master list of this year's fills is here and the AO3 collection for both years is here

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in which I catch up with the rest of the world

Tue, 08 May 2012 16:40:31 GMT

In which I catch up with the rest of the world

By seeing Avengers and reading The Hunger Games (okay, listening to it, on audiobook).

( y'all already knew that I wasn't a comic book gal, right? )

( and there's a reason I don't read much YA fiction )

I know, I know, I'm a grump.

In more important news, there is a masterlist now for Running Hot II, with fics from H50, White Collar, Sherlock and SPN. There are many more fabulous prompts from many fandoms including Avangers awaiting fills at the post. We also have AO3 collections for this year and last year. If you wrote something last year and posted it to the Archive you can edit it to include it in last year’s collection (and please do!!)

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Running Hot!

Sat, 05 May 2012 16:43:03 GMT

Running Hot II is off to a prompt-tacular start (click banner to go the lj site).

There are prompts up for H50, SPN, Sherlock, White Collar, Grimm, MI4, The Unusuals, ReGenesis, The Avengers, Burn Notice, Merlin, Firefly, and probably some other excellent fandoms I'm forgetting. Come by and play--leave a prompt, fill one, or just enjoy!

In other h/c news: I know I've been sporadic in my journal reading for the past few ~~months~~ weeks, but why did no one tell me that the most fic-like on-screen h/c I may have ever seen was going on on House this week? I watched last night, and even though I haven't followed the show for years, I am clearly going to have to watch the last few episodes of the series, even though I'm sure they're going to rip my heart out.

And a question: if I were to take myself to a movie tomorrow, which of these is the most likely to help me forget my troubles/give me have a good cry: The Avengers; The Hunger Games; 21 Jump Street; other.

See you at the meme!

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RUNNING HOT II COMING TOMORROW

Thu, 03 May 2012 21:14:52 GMT

That's right--we're finally ready to do it again!

It's been almost a year since the first one, but y'all remember how to play, right? It's a multi-fandom fever!fic comment meme.

Starts tomorrow, 5/4/12, to run as long as people are still filling prompts. Hosted by ariadnes_string.

Get those prompt wheels turning in your head and spread the word!

(beautiful banner by norgbelulah

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2011 Fic Roundup

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:58:52 GMT

I’ve never done one of these fic roundup posts before, but somehow this seemed like the year to start. Meme questions ganked from thirdbird_fic (all links go to AO3, but most of the fics are on lj/dw too).

Total number of completed stories: 39*

*Counting the three sections of “Thy going in and thy coming out” as one fic, but “In Any Tongue” and its two sequels separately. Not counting the three WIPs begun in 2011 but not completed.

Total word count: Can’t bear to add this up. Too many words, Ms. String, too many words.

Fandom breakdown: Sherlock: 6*; Crossovers: 6**; Hawaii Five-O: 5; The Eagle: 5; Southland: 3; XMFC: 3; SPN: 3***; Camelot: 1; Downton Abbey: 1; Eagle RPF: 1; Grimm: 1; Homeland: 1; Merlin: 1; Suits: 1: The Hour: 1; TTSS RPF: 1.

Yes, that’s 17 different fandoms, including two, Whitechapel and Regeneration, that appeared only in crossovers.

*Including 1 remix, again counting the three parts of “Thy Going Out and Thy Coming In” as one fic.
**Making a separate category seemed easier than figuring out how to avoid counting them twice. It’s worth noting, though, that three of these are Sherlock crossovers (counting “Aloha, Dr. Watson” and its sequel “Pelekane” as separate fics).
***Including 1 remix.

( cut for extended navel-gazing )

In conclusion: I like a lot of the fics I wrote this year—I even feel kindly even some of the ones that didn’t work out all that well, objectively speaking, and there are only one or two that make me queasy and facepalmy. But I would like to write fewer and better fics next year—though of course part of the joy of fanfic is dashing off bits of fluff on a whim…

Be that as it may, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who beta’d for me, or brainstormed ideas or offered encouragement or commented or put up with my obsessions and ever more obscure fandoms and above all read stuff—-much love to you all!

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I couldn't resist...

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 03:42:30 GMT

putting up a post for this:

Here's my wish list. Please leave a link to yours if you've made one!

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White Collar, "Countdown" and meme!

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:40:16 GMT

Late to the party, as usual, but I finally watched the mid-season finale of White Collar last night.

Let's do the not-so-shallow stuff first for once.
( Read more... )

I saw this meme on topaz119's journal and thought I'd throw it out there:

Pick one of my fics, and I'll give you three details that didn't make it into the fic. Background canon, deleted scenes, or a look into the future. My choice, but if you have a specific question you can ask it in your request.

(I actually just updated this list, or it's all on AO3)

Happy weekend everyone!

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Question meme

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 01:45:10 GMT

So, this meme was doing the rounds weeks ago, and linaerys gave me this great set of questions. Finally, almost a month later, I have answers, though I think they reveal me to be the pretentious and overly serious person I am in my non-fannish life. I usually try to shield y'all from this aspect of me, sorry! Feel free to defriend me now that it's been revealed.

Or, hit me up for questions! I am home this week, and I would love to find out more about you guys:

Comment with "Come at me, sweet thang [or your favorite endearment]," and:
- I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better.
- Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
- Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

Also, if anyone wants to ask me questions, feel free.

Questions from linaerys
( Read more... )

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Running Hot: It's Chronic

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:53:37 GMT

Just a PSA to let you know that Running Hot is still simmering along in a low-grade but awesome kind of way. If you haven't looked at the Master List lately, check it out! There are new wonderful fills for Merlin, NCIS, Firefly, Dr. Who and lots and lots of White Collar.

There are also lots of new prompts--for things like Chuck, Criminal Minds, and yes, X-Men First Class. Prompting is still open, too. Click the banner to get to the meme itself.

nb: I'll be out of town for the rest of the week, so may be a little slow about updating the master list. But I will catch up when I get back.

Happy reading and writing!

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DVD commentary meme

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:20:48 GMT

I have one of those Saturdays to myself I get once in a while, and that seems to make me want to do memes ;)

Here's one I've never tried, and I have no idea if anybody has any interest, but I'll leave it up for a while.

(snagged from elrhiarhodan)

DVD Commentary Meme.

Take a look at my Master List, and see if there are any stories or a genres you'd like to ask me a question about.

Pick a passage from my stories, up to 500 words, and comment to this post with that selection. I will then give you a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what's going on in the character's heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the story, and anything else that you'd expect to find on a DVD commentary track.

You can ask me anything - character motivation, writing process, or if you disagree with the direction I took in a story, ask me to defend it.

(as you probably know or have guessed, I have a tendency to overthink everything, so I guarantee I'll have something to say--I will try hard to avoid being long and boring in my answers :))

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Running Hot: not just a 24-hour thing.

Sun, 29 May 2011 13:21:49 GMT

Just a long weekend meme PSA. Prompting and prompt filling are still very much open at Running Hot. I think four fills came in yesterday.

Take another looks at the Masterlist, too! fills have come in this week for Dr. Who, The Professionals, Magnificent Seven, SGA and Human Target, as well as more for Sherlock, White Collar, H50 and SPN.

And there are prompts up for more fandoms than I can remember, including Chuck, Merlin, Camelot, Leverage, Prison Break and Castle.

Happy Memorial Day weekend, folks!

(gorgeous banners, as always, by norgbelulah

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I hav just BURST INTO FLAEMS.

Mon, 23 May 2011 15:19:17 GMT

That's a quote from the hysterical text battle John and Sherlock have in travels_in_time's wonderful fill for the prompt A wet day in December. Sherlock and John curled up in 221b with horrible colds, trying to decide who has to go and get medicine.

But it's also kind of the way I feel after spending a lot of the weekend reading so much fabulous fever!fic on Running Hot. Thanks everyone for the amazing prompts and fills!

I was kind of worried that no one would come prompt--or that all the prompts would be SPN and H50, but, whoa, way to put the multi in multifandom, folks! There are prompts now for (in no particular order):

H50, SPN, Sherlock, Justified, Generation Kill
Castle, The L Word, The Office, The Eagle, White Collar
Star Trek, Firefly, Dr. Who, The Pacific, SGA, SGU
Haven, Sanctuary, Camelot, Southland, Merlin
The Three Musketeers, Hot Fuzz, The Social Network
J2, Hornblower, The Professionals and Prison Break

and probably a few more I've missed!

And then I was worried no one would write anything. But: sixteen fills and counting: SPN (4); H50 (3); White Collar (3); Generation Kill (2); Justified (1); The L Word (1); Star Trek XI (1); Sherlock (1).
Links to all the fills are here for now, but I will try to put up a tidier master post in the next day or so.

Come prompt/write/read if you haven't yet!!

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heads up: Multi-fandom fever fic comment meme coming tomorrow!

Thu, 19 May 2011 17:05:36 GMT

I'm going to put up a real prompting post tomorrow, but just giving you a heads up, because a) I am so excited! and b) just to start the prompting and fic-writing wheels turning in your heads.

Starts tomorrow, 5/20/11, to run as long as people are still filling prompts. Hosted by ariadnes_string.

Beautiful banner by norgbelulah -- and she's made a whole bunch more that you can find here . Take one and spread the word!

See y'all tomorrow!

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Five Acts Meme!!

Mon, 09 May 2011 16:59:25 GMT

My most favorite of favorite memes has come around again!

+ Post a list of your five favorite acts/kinks to read about. Check out this list if you need some inspiration. At the bottom of your post, add what fandoms/pairings you're interested in.
+ Read other people's lists; the master list of lists is here.
+ Post comment-fic based off of other people's interests.

Hosted by the amazing toestastegood

nb: you do not have to sign up for the meme to write fills!

( Read more... )

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That AO3 meme

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:12:10 GMT

I wrote this up last night in an attempt to get myself to stop tinkering obsessively with my remix. Some things about this list make sense to me, and some just crack me up.

My 10 stories with the most hits on AO3:

( Read more... )

Anyway, navel-gazing aside, I quite like AO3 as a place to post fic. It has its idiosyncrasies, but it feels safe and satisfying.

In other news: Ways you can tell you live in a house full of boys? (seriously, the friggin’ bird is a boy, for all he goes on about how pretty he is).

Me, this morning: Okay, guys, I can’t take you to school until I google a picture of Kate’s dress.

9-year-old son, with great seriousness: Mama, why does the dress matter so much?

Why is the dress important?? *sputter, sputter*

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MEME!

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:09:53 GMT

I've been having meme-envy all week for this one--and I finally have some time to do it! I don't know if anyone's around, but I'm gonna be here all day writing and generally trying to organize my life, so a little distraction would be welcome *g*

via linaerys and others:

Leave the name of a character/person from a fandom I know, and I will tell you

* How I FEEEEEL about this character/person.
* All the people I ship romantically with this character/person
* My non-romantic OTP for this character/person
* My unpopular opinion about this character/person
* One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon/person in real life

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That WIP meme--and a contest

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:01:19 GMT

I still have a couple of hours of rl work to do, so of course I’m procrastinating.

I’ve been seeing a WIP meme a lot on my flist:

Post a sentence (or two or a paragraph) from as many of your WIPs as you want, with no explanation attached

So I took a look through my files, and what do you think I found? Four crossovers and one AU. Because apparently I am a one-trick pony. And I think everyone should meet the Winchesters. No really. Everyone.

Here are excerpts from each, in descending order of how likely it is that they’ll ever be finished.

Guess the fandoms involved in all four x’s, I’ll write you a xover ficlet of your choice (or a single-fandom fic) (if, y'know, you want a fic...)

( Read more... )

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