maharetr

Squeaking in just in time with my Yuletide rec post!

I didn't read as nearly as wide as I wanted to be able to do this year, but there were standout fics everywhere! Here are a handful that made me laugh, cry, and/or gave me that heartsqueeze of recognition.

My gift!

Birth Neverwhere (Implied Hunter/Serpentine. Content notes: mentions of non-con)
The telling of Hunter's mortal growing up as a captive of the Roman Empire. This is realistically grim and brutal, and is a fiercely determined Hunter in every way possible. It's weird still, to me, to be thinking: 'someone wrote me grim, brutal fic! Yay!' But, YAY! :D


Other recs:

Six Moments in the Life of a Shadow Digger (Digger & Shadowchild)
This one made me delight in the philosophical conundrums Digger finds herself in when explaining things to Shadowchild. Then it made me laugh at fabulous carnivorous fruit. Then it made me cry, and made my heart swell, and generally left me overwhelmed with feelings. Highly recommended if you know the comics.

Reunion Song Push (2009 movie) (Nick/Cassie, Cassie is 19)
Cassie is so realistically, justifiably angry here, and all her relationships -- with Nick, with her mother, with the world, are so visceral and believable, it makes me ache. There's so much yearning and hope and humaness.

we shoot the scene again and again Push (2009 movie) (Nick/Cassie, Cassie is 18. Content notes: mentions of pregnancy)
This is a fantastic use of both second person POV, and a detailed, fantastically close look at what it would be like as a Watcher. Wonderful descriptions and vivid use of senses.

This side of paradise The Losers (2010) (Cougar/Jensen)
Moving out of the gritty realism into the really funny. 17000 words of Cougar and Jensen going undercover as gay, and I found myself rocking and weeping with laughter. And sometimes shouting at Jensen through my laptop screen. *hearts*

There's kinks in this yarn, but it still knits up fine Knitting (Anthropomorfic)
All the knitting fics were fantastic, frankly, but this one was the stand out for me. The diary of a circular needle who just cannot STAND the thought of knitting another *(@#ing scarf. Luckily, KnitLife.com exists.
Wildly inventive and remarkably sensual, this was delightfully funny, and charming.

Posting this poll because it's something I've been curious about for a while. And it's nearly research for a fic!... and it's a writing distraction. *cough*

Yuletide Author!

Whee! Hi! I hope you're not freaking out too badly, and that you're excited. If in fact, you're panicking, can I offer you a drink? :D If you'd rather not know anything beyond my initial sign up prompts, that's awesome, go forth and write!

If you're looking for some of my general likes/dislikes follow me under the cut!
 

General things!
It wasn't until I looked back at my sign up that I realised I've essentially asked exclusively for slash and femslash. That said, if you're swearing or sweating over that for whatever reason, I am totally okay with having that relationship be in the background of an otherwise gen/worldbuilding/plotty epic/individual's character study/five times/series of vignettes-fic. I'm also delighted by any "level" of depiction of the relationship: from handholding and shy kisses to kinky rough sex. :D

If you're panicking about producing a fic where people have to Do Stuff, and there should probably be Plot and a Story Arc, and Character Development, and Characters Learning Shit! You totally don't have to. I'm all for 1,001 words of lazy Sunday afternoon; a bunch of vignettes or drabbles; a slice-of-life; a five-times fic; a missing scene or chapter, etc etc... I mean, if you've been bitten by a bunny that is all about the Plotty Character Development then shit yeah, run with it and be joyous. But it's not required.

Likes
I have a competency-kink a mile long. It doesn't matter what people are doing specifically, anything from baking a cake to putting together machinery. I just really enjoy watching people do things well with assurance and skill. See also: physical competency, the ability to kick someone's butt etc. :D

Intimacy.  I don't just mean sex or physical touch -- that ease you get with  someone when you've been together forever, and can hang out in their  personal space and never bump into them; all the inside jokes you build  up; knowing they're okay or not okay at a glance. That sort of thing.

Happy endings, although I get that they might not always be possible. If a happy ending doesn't work for your fic, I'd totally go for bittersweet 'things are still fucked, but we're still together and hanging in there' in its place :D

Dislikes
For Yuletide this year, I'd rather not read rape/non-con. I have a strong embarrassment/disappointment squick, which mostly manifests in a 'person gets their hopes up about X, and then gets those hopes squashed or gets laughed at.' I can deal with it better if, by the end of the fic, the person has rationalised it as a learning experience/can laugh about it and generally doesn't feel upset anymore.

Fandoms:

Caprica (Sam Adama)
I love the relationship between Sam and Larry, and the whiplash difference between Sam being a loving husband, uncle, and general family member and his job as a brutal Ha'la'tha enforcer (dark-competency-kin ahoy!). I am mostly all about the domesticity and the banter, and the affection for each other (see: intimacy :D)

I love the bits of Tauron culture we see-- the rituals, (the tattoos especially!), and even the O.O death-before-dishonour system. If you'd rather do gen that slash, I'd love to know the story of one of Sam's tattoos (more details here: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=309547004036)

Bend it like Beckham (Jess Bhamra, Jules Paxton)
Confession time: I watched this movie for the first time maybe two days before signups opened. Then I realised the movie was nominated, and stayed the hell away from the fic. I therefore fear that by saying "'movie! your heterosexuality is pastede on, yaye?' Please write me scenes from the *original* movie, where they're so obviously pining after each other..." is actually like asking you to not only reinvent the wheel, but roll it down a road that's worn smooth by a thousand others just like it.

So, uh, if the fandom is not in fact Done with writing tentative, awkward, laughing first times, be that sex, blosoming relationship and/or coming out (or staying firmly closeted) I would like to read one. *coughs* *toes dirt*


Cyteen (Justin Warrick,Grant ALX-972)
I loved Cyteen and Regenesis, but I'm craving Justin/Grant fic to round out the experience for me. The fact that their relationship is canon delights my soul, and those little touches (the horrifying note under Justin's pillow; the delightful moments in the morning after Justin gets back from Playns etc) has left me craving so much more of it (see the intimacy-like above :D). They were under so much pressure for so long and I'd love to see how they helped each other through. I'm happy for there to be explicit sex, fade to black, or no sex at all. Take it where ever you're comfortable :)

Alternately, I am always, always up for Catlin and Florian being competent and awesome. I'd rather they weren't explicitly a couple, but if you happen to have a bunny that includes them being together, then I'm game :)


Neverwhere (Serpentine, Hunter)
I love the whole Neverwhere world like crazy. I love all the characters, especially the creepy-hilarious-horrifying Mr Vandemar and Croup, too (although was saddened by the way Jessica was written).

Hunter mashes ALL my competency/kickass buttons, and I'd adore a fic about her and Serpentine, as gen or as femslashy as you're comfortable with. Hot sex, and/or backstory, and/or a 'just' a Bechdel-passing conversation between two powerful women. :D

Alternately, if you ticked Any and are now kicking yourself for it, I'd be just as delighted with a fic that was about (other-character!), that included them in the background :) Or a gen backstory for Hunter, for example.

Hopefully that helps! If you've got an idea, but are hesitating, you can send a message to <user name=meghanc> and she can pass on any questions/double-checking. And, really, you're putting words on a page! For me! Anything above that is a bonus! :D Good luck!

 

Ante-up Creator! Hi!

How you doing? I'm seriously excited it's that time of year again -- Losers things! I hope you're stoked, and not freaking out too badly. Hopefully you're going to look at my letter and go 'yaaay! I can do that!' If you don't... can I offer you reassuring hugs, and 'you're making something, just for me! So much love! <3.'?

Okay! This is a compilation of general notes from my Losers letter last year, and my Yuletide letter/s. You can also check out my 'dear writer' tag for the original letters.

( General things!Collapse )

( More specific things!Collapse )

( Icons!Collapse )

( Things I'd rather/rather not readCollapse )
If you'd like to double-check something or want more specific details, I imagine you can contact kate or lady_krysis and they'd pass on a message?

Best of luck! Have fun! <3

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Signups for 2013 Ante Up Losers challenge are open! And this year, the mods have opened it up to ALL fanworks! If you can make it, you can give it as a gift to someone in the exchange.

At the Slashgathering yesterday sarren spoke highly of Wonderfalls, so I nabbed the first few episodes because it was apparently charming and I wanted something to pass the time.

I just finished ep two, and almost reflexively went and bought its single season on Amazon. The wiki link can tell you plot things. I gave it money for the 'most of the conversations pass the Bechdel test', the matter-of-fact lesbian character, (and the apparent matter-of-fact bisexual character, although I'm waiting with interest to see how that pans out), the friendships, and the snark. The mace/creepy scene tipped it for me :)

Thanks, sarren!

So meghanc and I have signed up for this thing called Healthmonth.com, which, I know, sounds scammy but is actually neat!

Basically, you set yourself health 'rules': floss every day; eat breakfast more; write in a journal; whatever, and how often you want to ideally do these things. And then you check in and tick if you did them or not, and you earn or lose 'lifepoints' accordingly.

We've made a team called Tiny Baby Steps which indicates about where we're at ourselves :P, so we can cheer each other on. We'd love to have you join us! I'm maharetr there, and meghanc is meghanc, because we're consistent like that. meghanc has more details here.

The Perth rally is now being held at Stirling Gardens, aka the Supreme Court Gardens, still at 1pm today :)

Peoples! Here be a copy&paste from sections of Australia's Marriage Equality organisation.

The really important info for Perth people is here:

Rally: Saturday 12 May, 2012
Details: Forest Chase, CBD, 1pm
Contact: email k.hardy.jan15.1919@gmail.com
Khyl Hardy – 0413 073704

If you want other Australian cities, go to www.australianmarriageequality.com/wp/events/upcoming-rallies-for-marriage-equality/

The rest of the email follows:

It's no exaggeration to say marriage equality is the most popular legislation the parliament has ever dealt with.

The Game of Thrones support group convened to watch eps three and four, and my god, four was genuinely uncomfortable viewing. Show, you're diverging from the books, which is fun, but unnerving! It's a comparatively small change, but where are you going?

So after that unsettling, brutal viewing, I have now gone and found the first ep of Nikita season 2, which is the best unicorn chaser ever. Alex! Nikita! Alison! Percy! Birkoff! Madeline-Senator-woman! Bechdel test passing pratically every scene Michael, your manpain is boring, but you're cute when you're being smug. Oh, wildly unrealistic, over the top, fabulous show, I've missed you so much. And Vilify by The National, oh my heart.

Also, Avengers movie -- HOW SO AWESOME? HOW? I need to go see it again, omg.

Shows: you giveth the horrifying, and you giveth the joy <3

(Plus, heavy rain! Fantastic! Including in chaosmanor's bedroom -- not so good... but we can deal)