nor so wide as a church door

A new round already! :D

Wed, 07 Apr 2021 00:17:28 GMT

( As long as ever—sorry in advance, 5k author! )

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The temptation was just too great to resist! /o\

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 02:05:22 GMT

( What wonderful taste in fandoms you have, dear FFFX creator ... )

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Fandom5K Reveals!

Sun, 12 Jul 2020 20:31:44 GMT

It's that time of year! :D I had an absolutely fantastic F5K, and received a truly lovely gift:

For to Each is Given (7200 words) by jedibuttercup
Fandom: Constantine (2005)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: John Constantine/Angela Dodson, Angela Dodson & Isabel Dodson
Characters: Angela Dodson, John Constantine, Isabel Dodson
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Pre-Relationship
Summary: The only things Angela felt sure of at the moment were that the stranger beside her had suddenly become the second-most important person in her world, and that he knew a lot more than he'd said so far.

Everything I could've asked for in a fix-it AU for Constantine, with wonderfully complicated Angela & Isabel, and John being incredibly John, and bonus Gabriel. It captured the feel of the canon for me so well, except nobody dies! Things might be okay! ♥ So satisfying, and I loved it.

And I was lucky enough to be assigned none other than eglantiere, and to have the incredibly valuable aid of the incomparable aurilly to tackle the totally new-to-me fandom I'd picked up just in time for signups, in order to write:

Who to Himself Lives Not Alone (10806 words)
Fandom: Psmith - P. G. Wodehouse
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Mike Jackson/Rupert Psmith
Characters: Mike Jackson, Rupert Psmith
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Threats of Violence, Protectiveness, Break Up, Mutual Pining, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Gunshot Wounds, Rescue, Reconciliation, Surprise Kissing
Summary: "Why, Comrade Jackson, this is the maddest, merriest day of all the glad New Year. Where did you come from?"

Mike looked up as Psmith stepped into the room, and with his good hand put down the paper he had been reading. "Hullo, Psmith. We came in this morning for a match," he said, and waited to see what Psmith would make of him.

(Or: on his return to New York for the Brooklyn cricket match, Mike is injured. He thinks it was an accident; Psmith doesn't. And Psmith will do whatever is necessary to make sure nothing else happens to Mike—even if Mike would rather he didn't. AU starting from Chapter XXIV of Psmith, Journalist.)

... Which is to say the best excuse in the world to write a Psmith, Journalist AU with ALL THE MIKE and also h/c and pining dropped right into my lap, and I seized it and joyfully ran with it. :D

I also managed to finish ( a second Psmith story, and also a treat for Dark Matter (TV). )

So, yeah. Had a fantastic time, received a fantastic gift, and am definitely looking forward to signing up again next year! And in the meantime I'll finally be able to throw myself at all the OTHER things I haven't been doing because F5K. \o/

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HI 2020 :D

Thu, 02 Jan 2020 00:31:24 GMT

Trying to get back in the habit of posting something other than exchange letters here, and ... exchange round-up posts constitute a decent baby step, right? /o\ :D

SO. For Yuletide this year, I received the loveliest Nuala gift from none other than alamorn:

The Touch of a Vanish'd Hand (1976 words)
Fandom: Hellboy (Movies 2004-2008)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Nuada/Nuala (Hellboy)
Characters: Nuala (Hellboy), Nuada (Hellboy)
Additional Tags: Nuala-centric, Missing Scene
Summary: Nuala knew how it would end before it began.

Wonderful, wonderful Nuala POV, all the complicated difficult entanglement (plus bonus incestuous vibes) I could have hoped for in her relationship with Nuada, and the pitch-perfect bittersweet inevitability of it ending the only way it can. ♥ SO SO GOOD, and I'm so glad to have gotten it!

As for me, I was ASTOUNDINGLY lucky yet again, and matched melmillo on a fantastically inspiring request for A Yank at Oxford! And by "fantastically inspiring", I mean "I couldn't pick which prompt to write", so I couldn't help but write ( both a main gift and a treat for it, plus treats in Gunmen (1994), Jeremiah, and Streets of Fire (1984). )

I left my usual hasty flurry of comments before author reveals, on my "first pass" list of fics, but there's still plenty of things I haven't read yet! And there's no better way to spend the first couple weeks of a new year than going through the Yuletide collection properly. ♥

(Also, while I've obviously YET AGAIN flubbed my chance to actually ... update ... Imagine the Ocean at any point during the entire year /o\ I have both finished going through all my previous notes to get myself back up to speed, reworked some outlines in a desperately necessary fashion, drafted a bunch of the next chapter—!!!—AND had a brain-wave during editing that's going to make the conclusion of said chapter MUCH better. Which is why it's not finished, I now have to rewrite a fair chunk of it, but I'm freshly excited about it and that's such a good feeling, I can't even. ;-; \o/!)

SO YEAH. BRING IT ON, 2020. *rolls up sleeves*

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Yuletide Reveals!

Sat, 05 Jan 2019 19:18:26 GMT

Snuck up on me, as they so often do, but in my defense this holiday season was somehow extra discombobulating? Two weird half-weeks in a row is so disorienting, I've totally lost track of what day it is. /o\

BUT ANYWAY. The point is that I received a delightful gift from redleather for my Pride & Prejudice & Zombies request, which is wonderfully in the spirit of the canon and somehow managed to hit on at least half a dozen of my prompts and likes in exactly 1350 words, and I enjoyed it very much:

Master Hua's One-foot Punch to the Chest (1350 words)
Fandom: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy
Characters: Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Bennet, Fitzwilliam Darcy
Additional Tags: when you love someone in spite of yourself, Canon-Typical Violence, Elizabeth-centric, That moment on Hingham Bridge
Summary: Miss Elizabeth Bennet, nearly one and twenty years of age, had suffered through many indignities, both physical and social, in her short time thus far on God’s green — if somewhat forsaken — earth.

BUT the amazing time I had this Yuletide definitely doesn't end there, because I was lucky enough to match none other than sandrine/Sandrine this year, after having finally watched The Firm (TV) in time to offer it! So I had an absolute blast writing her ( a gift, plus 5 treats in The Bone Key, Dark Matter (TV), Dark Matter (book), The Sting (1973), and Trapeze (1956). )

I left a spasm of hurried comments before author reveals, but I'm still hoping to keep working my way through a few more fandoms, since I never do manage to finish browsing the archive in a timely fashion. /o\ :D But I had a really wonderful time this year, and I'm feeling weirdly good about 2019. ♥

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Somehow there's always so much to say!

Fri, 12 Oct 2018 23:04:54 GMT

( I'm delighted you've signed up for Yuletide, author! )

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(Belated) Reveals Post!

Mon, 02 Jul 2018 17:10:50 GMT

Basically everything about Fandom5K snuck up on me this year, and I don't even know how, but that definitely includes reveals, which were a week ago. /o\

BUT ANYWAY. I had a fantastic time, just like last year, and received an absolutely lovely ST:DIS Michael/Tilly gift from the amazing Tangerine!

The Slowing of Time (5278 words) by Tangerine
Fandom: Star Trek: Discovery
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Michael Burnham/Sylvia Tilly
Characters: Michael Burnham, Sylvia Tilly, Saru (Star Trek)
Additional Tags: Mission Fic, Pining, Getting Together, Love
Summary: Stranded with Tilly on a seemingly harmless planet, Michael sorts through a variety of feelings.

Totally delightful and low-key planet-of-the-week story, where Tilly and Michael take the closest thing to a vacation they can manage, and also feelings. :D Sweet, great character voices, and just super charming all around!

I was a little busier this year than last year, but still had an absolute blast writing a gift for the gracious jedibuttercup—which was extra awesome considering the excellent Push gift they wrote me for RW ... man, five years ago? TIME FLIES.

my love is made of truth (and i believe it) (12273 words)
Fandom: Battle Creek (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Russ Agnew/Milt Chamberlain
Characters: Russ Agnew, Milt Chamberlain, Fontanelle White
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Trust Issues, Complicated Relationships, Denial of Feelings
Summary: Russ doesn't realize what's going on right away. In his defense, manifestations vary. Everybody knows that. It all depends on who you are, who your soulmate is, and some manifestations are there from the start; others don't show up until you've already met, or even after. And of all the possibilities Russ might have been considering, nowhere among them was that he'd end up cosmically linked by inexorable destiny to some namby-pamby stick-up-his-ass government tool, and especially not with a truth curse.

The suggestion of a soulmate AU in jedibuttercup's prompts was just irresistible, and the moment it occurred to me that a "soulmates can't lie to each other" story would be just about the worst thing that could happen to Russ and Milt, I was stoked. :D

And then I also wrote a treat for The_Wavesinger, whose original work prompts are always fantastic, and this time was no exception:

Roads and Rivers (Wars and Songs) (15233 words)
Fandom: Original Work
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Female Soldier/Princess of Enemy Country
Additional Tags: Cultural Differences, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Loyalty, Politics, Extra Treat
Summary: There will be peace between the great horde commanded by the khatun and the empire of Dao—if all goes according to plan. The westerners have brought gifts and tribute, and even a princess; and it's just Taban's luck, that she should be assigned to serve that princess as a bodyguard until the terms are all agreed and she may be delivered safely to the khatun. Taban's given her oath, and it's inconceivable that she would break it—it doesn't matter whether she likes this princess or not. Westerners are soft and useless, everyone knows it, and the princess will marry the khatun and stop being Taban's problem. (Except that isn't exactly what happens.)

Which, I felt obvious as hell from about five miles off, but it was such a great request! I wasn't sure I'd have time to finish it, and then story reveals were delayed for a couple days, which was CLEARLY a sign. :D

In conclusion: loved my gift, enjoyed the writing process a lot, A++ will sign up again. \o/

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I kind of can't believe it's time for another round already. WOO.

Fri, 30 Mar 2018 23:22:42 GMT

( Welcome to my letter, dear 5k fairy! )

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2018! Reveals! What!

Tue, 09 Jan 2018 16:26:32 GMT

MAN, the first week of 2018 got away from me. /o\ I don't even know what happened, it feels like I just woke up and was like WAIT IT'S THE NINTH, I HAVEN'T EVEN DONE MY REVEALS POST, AAAAA.

Which is to say: belated Yuletide catchup here! :D I received the wonderful Snow/Ravenna Huntsman story Set Alight from Alona; the AMAZING mage-and-Catia-centric King Arthur fix-it (with delightful bonus Arthur) gave fins to fish and speckled wings to birds from melmillo; a SECOND King Arthur fic, perfect and bittersweetly insightful mage & Arthur gen, and coming events cast their shadows before, from none other than egelantier/eglantiere; the brilliant Big Country Jim/Steve longfic Wide as the Sky, Big as the Sea from Muccamukk/muccamukk; and the lovely Three/Six Dark Matter hallucination fic too good to be true from days4daisy. Five gifts, all of them delightful, and on a Christmas that sorely needed some delight. ♥

Thanks to all that generosity, I only barely managed to achieve my usual goal of writing more fics than I receive, with ( 5 main collection fics and 1 Madness treat, in Baahubali, Battle Creek, Dark Matter (TV), Dark Matter (book), Hellboy, and Silent Flute (1978). )

I also managed to leave almost as many comments as I received; I'm going to try to make sure it's more in the end, but we'll see how I do. In conclusion: YAY YULETIDE. ♥

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YULETIIIIIIIDE \o/

Fri, 29 Dec 2017 15:42:46 GMT

So I thought I was going to have a totally spectacular Yuletide because FOUR GIFTS, WOO ... and then I got five. :D! For reasons that do not need exploring at this juncture, it means a lot to me this year in particular to have been the recipient of such amazing generosity, and I'm so grateful. ♥

Anyway: FICS. In alphabetical order by fandom, because seriously, embarrassment of riches:

Wide as the Sky, Big as the Sea (9019 words)
Fandom: The Big Country (1958)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Steve Leech/James McKay
Characters: Steve Leech, James McKay, Patricia Terrill
Additional Tags: Non-Linear Narrative, Post-Canon, Flashbacks, Dreams, Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, Repression, American Civil War, Yuletide Treat
Summary: After the shootout at Blanco Canyon, Jim takes Steve to Big Muddy to heal up. Yet as Steve's fever rises, he drifts back over his life, and recalls exactly why he doesn't like Jim McKay.

Aka: the tremendous and glorious Big Country treat I was not at all expecting! Wonderful, wonderful post-canon look at Steve's recovery, interwoven with flashbacks/dreams; lovely exploration of his character and how he might have come to be who he is, with bonus scorching hot dream sex. :D

too good to be true (3285 words)
Fandom: Dark Matter (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Six | Griffin Jones/Three | Marcus Boone
Characters: Three | Marcus Boone, Six | Griffin Jones
Additional Tags: Season/Series 03, Hallucinations, Extra Treat
Summary: Three grins. "I never regret anything, man." It's the first thing he's said today that sounds like him.

The show's UTTERLY TRAGIC cancellation made it all the more awesome to receive this delightful Three/Six story, where that set of simulations Six gets run through in S3 takes a bit of a turn on him. :D Great banter, great feelings, great kissing!

Set Alight (3114 words)
Fandom: The Huntsman (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Ravenna/Snow White (The Huntsman)
Characters: Ravenna (The Huntsman), Snow White (The Huntsman)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Resurrection
Summary: A beast is abroad in Snow White's kingdom, heralding worse to come.

Unsettling and creepy and antagonistic in all the right ways for a Huntsman fic from Ravenna's POV! Snow White's reign is troubled, thanks to a soulbond linking her to Ravenna—but she's not the only one affected by it. Striking fairytale imagery and wonderfully terrible Ravenna. :D

and coming events cast their shadows before (1635 words)
Fandom: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Arthur & The Mage
Characters: The Mage | Guinevere, Merlin (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword), Arthur (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword)
Additional Tags: Angst, Inheritance, magic deals, Bittersweet Ending, Yuletide Treat
Summary: Merlin runs out of time, so Mage pays the price for more.

Such a clever premise, and really well-executed! Great characterization for both Arthur and the mage, and "bittersweet" is absolutely the correct word for the ending, made my heart pang but was so right.

gave fins to fish, and speckled wings to birds (11600 words)
Fandom: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: The Mage | Guinevere, Arthur (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword), Princess Catia
Additional Tags: Fix-It, Post-Canon, gratuitous making stuff up
Summary: Camelot stifled the mage like smoke.

The mage-brings-Catia-back-from-the-dead story that EVERYONE needs, in my humble opinion! Perfectly paced, A+ characterization of everyone, and a fix-it on so many different levels with a conclusion that both delighted me and made SO MUCH SENSE. Seriously excellent!

I'm hoping to at least try to take a stab at the rest of the archive this weekend, so we'll see how far I get. :D In the meantime, happy Yuletide to everybody, and happy almost-not-2017 anymore more generally! ♥

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one foot is in the water, one foot is on the clouds

Mon, 11 Dec 2017 16:25:32 GMT

So lots and lots of things have happened, and as per usual I'm no good at posting about them (Justice League! Thor! Lucifer! Major Crimes! Seriously, I am so behind on SO MUCH TV, aaaaaa). But three things make a post, and specifically three smaller, less substantial things that'll take way less brainpower to talk about. And I happen to have three such things to say:

- Finished my Yuletide assignment! \o/ It was a lot of fun to write and I enjoyed brainstorming for it SO MUCH, and also I'm glad to have completed it early enough to set it aside for a few days and then edit. :D

- Finally succeeded in picking up an official pinch hit! \o/ Finished canon review this weekend, and I think I've managed to come up with an idea this recipient is going to like. *knocks on wood*

- And the other reason I'm glad I picked up a pinch hit is that I have FOUR GIFTS (!!!! FOUR, holy shit!), and I better pull my weight in return. :D I love shaking gifts so, so much, and whether I'm right or wrong about what might be for me, I CAN'T WAIT TO READ THEM AND I'M SO HAPPY. ♥

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This letter might actually be SHORTER than last year's. Just a little.

Mon, 02 Oct 2017 01:46:47 GMT

( Thank you so much for signing up for Yuletide, author! )

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Fandom5K reveals!

Wed, 24 May 2017 16:10:31 GMT

As it turns out, the lovely and super-speedy pinch hitter who wrote my delightful Jyn/Leia gift Everything Comes Back to You was FreshBrains! My joy on seeing it appear and present-shaking was indescribable, and I'm so lucky they were able to pick me up. :D

As for me, I offered Original Works on a whim and may have panicked a tiny bit upon realizing I'd matched on it ... but panic turned out to be a productive feeling, and I ended up writing:

i have named you queen (listen) (19713 words)
Fandom: Original Work
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Princess/Princess
Additional Tags: Political Alliances, Marriage of Convenience, Cultural Differences, Miscommunication
Summary: Grandmother ruled Gir Niajra, and always had. Jummai felt certain this was so, mostly because it was impossible to imagine otherwise: anyone, anyone at all, seated so comfortably on that great golden throne except Grandmother? Anyone who could look or speak with such authority, to whom so many great and worthy people bowed down? No—only Grandmother. It had always been Grandmother, and it always would be.

Then Grandmother died; and there was a war.

chasing_givenchy asked for non-Western princesses and mentioned a) approaching arranged/political marriage with pragmatism, b) characters in situations they aren't entirely prepared for, and c) worldbuilding, machinations, and scheming. And while the practical side of my brain was going OH GOD WHAT DO WE DOOOOOO, my id was all *________*!

( And then I ended up writing two treats, because of course I did, in Sinbad (TV) and Babylon 5: Legend of the Rangers. )

I totally did not manage to read all the things, but I read a bunch of them and enjoyed them hugely, and am looking forward to this exchange running again! Which the mods say it will. :D

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OH HEY FANDOM5K

Fri, 19 May 2017 16:50:33 GMT

I was so busy last weekend that a story reveals post, let alone a pre-reveals gift-shaking squee post, totally slipped my mind! I went out as a pinch hit not once but twice, and am thus twice as grateful to whichever amazing pinch-hitter managed to write me my lovely, lovely gift:

Everything Comes Back to You (6008 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jyn Erso/Leia Organa, Jyn Erso & Leia Organa
Characters: Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Nanta, Poe Dameron
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fix-It, POV Alternating, POV Leia Organa, POV Jyn Erso, First Meetings, Time Skips, Reunions, Friendship/Love, Happy Ending, Minor Character Death
Summary: From the Battle of Scarif to Han's death, Jyn and Leia are never far apart.

Also known as "everything I couldn't possibly have hoped for when I decided to request Jyn/Leia and Jyn & Leia". :D Starts with AUing away the ending of Rogue One (YAY WOO :D) to allow Jyn and Leia to sort-of meet, and then progresses through missing scenes all the way up to, as the tags indicate, TFA-era. I can't even describe how satisfying I found the idea of Jyn and Leia supporting each other through everything; obviously there's a LOT of bittersweetness, given canon, but it was so lovely and sweet and, like, profoundly soothing to me to think of the two of them being able to be friends and a little bit in love and there for each other. ♥ SO YES. Wonderful gift, fun exchange, A++ would temporarily punt aside other responsibilities to participate again. :D

I have by no means made it through the collection; I've been reading here and there when I have time and am hoping to actually sit down and leave some comments tonight and tomorrow. BUT there's a great spread of fandoms (Babylon 5! Pride & Prejudice! Eureka! Miss Fisher! Wynonna Earp!) and also some awesome original works (tennis players in love! A trickster god and the god of death!), and I'm so delighted. :D

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Reveals! Plus, you know, New Year's and all.

Mon, 02 Jan 2017 04:19:33 GMT

Man, what a lovely Yuletide I've had! My glorious Dark Matter gifts were the intense and perfectly in-character Cycle (Three/Six) by days4daisy and the lovely little drabble Evolution (Three/Android) by meridian_rose; the spectacular and twisty Collision Course (Kira/Pop Girl) was written for me in Push by eustaciavye; AND ALSO I received the charming and heartwarming Two Gardens (hints of Mara/Inanni) from abluestocking for Mara - Daughter of the Nile! Such spectacular variety, in fandoms and moods and pairings, and such wonderful fics! ♥

As for me, I wrote:

The Beast Within (16058 words) by Damkianna
Fandom: Sinbad (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gunnar/Sinbad (Sinbad)
Characters: Gunnar (Sinbad), Sinbad (Sinbad), Rina (Sinbad), Anwar (Sinbad), Tiger (Sinbad), Cook (Sinbad), Nala (Sinbad)
Additional Tags: Animal Transformation, Mutual Pining, Nonverbal Communication, Post-Canon
Summary: There had not been time, Gunnar told himself afterward; there had not been any other way. But it was not true. There was always a choice. (Or: Gunnar is a werebear. Sinbad has some issues with this; and, as it turns out, so does Gunnar.)

I offer Sinbad every time it's in the tagset because god help me, I love that show. And lo, all my Yuletide wishes were granted: I MATCHED Dorinda! Someday I'm actually going to finish all the treats I've ever started for Dorinda, and she's going to get a boatload of NYRs. But in the meantime, the Yulegoat was generous enough to give me an official opportunity to write her a story!

And I took it and wrote her two: ( a second semi-official gift, for The Sting (1973); plus three treats in Dark Matter (TV), Gladiator - Dami Im (Music Video), and Veritas: The Quest. )

I still have some commenting to do, yikes, but it's always such great fun working my way through the collection. ♥ YULETIDE ♥

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YULETIDE :D

Tue, 27 Dec 2016 22:38:16 GMT

How is it the 27th already? What? WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE. (Just kidding, I know the answer: it was sucked down a rabbit hole of Star Wars. We went to see Rogue One on Christmas Eve, came home and watched ANH, and then decided to go in flashback order. Which means ESB and AotC on Christmas Day, and then RotS, RotJ, and TFA yesterday. And I'm glad we ended on Carrie Fisher's return to Star Wars, as a way to say goodbye. ♥)

SOMEWHERE in December, I just kind of stopped checking my gifts page, because I was already so thoroughly excited for Yuletide that it seemed pointless. Which means I was ASTOUNDED to discover not the two gifts I'd expected, but ( four! Gifts in Push (2009), Mara - Daughter of the Nile, and Dark Matter (TV). )

I haven't even started plying the archive further, but I look forward to getting as far as I can before reveals! YULETIDE IS THE BEST. ♥

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Fic Post—Carry the Flame—Book Three: Chapter 2/13(ish)

Mon, 12 Dec 2016 23:21:17 GMT

I'm just going to keep chipping away at this, and maybe I'll manage to finish it before I die of old age or maybe I won't /o\.

( Follow the fake cut to Chapter 2 of Book Three! )

NEXT YEAR I'LL BE QUICKER. I HOPE.

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going somewhere, feeling purposeful, useful, competent—

Mon, 05 Dec 2016 15:36:42 GMT

November was all NANO NANO NANO, and now we've flopped into December and I've swapped to YULETIDE YULETIDE YULETIDE. :D :D :D

I'm THISCLOSE to completing my totally amazing assignment, woooooo, which will hopefully make me feel less guilty about somehow already having TWO GIFTS??? One Madness, one main collection, and tentative present-shaking indicates I am YET AGAIN going to have an amazing Yuletide.

I CAN ONLY HOPE MY RECIP WILL FEEL THE SAME WAY /o\

But as my brain's being eaten by bears, I haven't had much left for actual canon consumption lately. I've been hugely enjoying Lucifer and Elementary; tentatively still watching Blindspot, though it's starting to feel a little bit like the wheels are coming off; and mostly just mocking Timeless, which is trying a lot of things but IMO isn't really succeeding at them. (I wouldn't really care how bad the episode plots were if I loved the characters, but that show is seriously not managing to convince me that its main characters are a team or even friends. I WANT TO BELIEVE. THIS IS NOT A HARD SELL. And yet.)

However! I did end up going to see Moana, twice, and ( LOVED IT. (Spoilers, ofc.) )

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and then into the sky of this

Wed, 28 Sep 2016 15:07:51 GMT

I feel like I looked away, and then looked back, and ... September's almost over? I haven't posted in months?! THE YULETIDE LETTERS POST IS UP?!? How does this keep happening? *shakes fist*

A (relatively) brief survey of things I've enjoyed since FEBRUARY, wtf:

( Batman v Superman. I don't know either. )

( Ghostbusters! :D )

( Star Trek: Beyond! )

( WYNONNA EARP. )

( S2 of Dark Matter! (Spoilers.) )

Other than that, still watching Major Crimes and still so happy with it that I have nothing to say about it. Slowly working my way through Miss Fisher and enjoying it so far. Lucifer's just started up again—I watched S1 and enjoyed it a lot, but I felt the same way about Sleepy Hollow, so we'll just see how S2 goes. And ... that's all that springs to mind, though I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

As for real life? ... I can't believe there's anyone left who's undecided about the presidential election, and that's about all I want to say about that. There are times when I love living in a safe blue state, and there are times when it makes me feel incredibly helpless.

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Halfamoon 2016: Day 2

Tue, 16 Feb 2016 03:11:44 GMT

I'm taking the liberty of interpreting the prompt for Day 2: Senses REALLY loosely; basically this is just an excuse to picspam the (major) women of Sinbad (TV), but enjoy the halfhearted logic I use to justify it! :D

( four different kinds of sense )

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Halfamoon 2016: Day 1

Sun, 07 Feb 2016 04:39:46 GMT

I always see halfamoon happening but am basically never organized enough to do anything for it—it just moves too quickly! I'm too lazy! &c. &c.

SO. This year I'm going to try a new thing where I kind of take the prompt themes and maybe try to post about them sort of in or around February sometime, without regard for the actual halfamoon schedule. Also maybe about different women/fandoms each time, and also probably not fic because that would take me for-e-ver.

Which means I'm starting late with Day 1: Women Being Awesome. And in response to that prompt, what sprang to mind was a mini-picspam/iconspam about the (major) women of Quantico—who are not only awesome, as I privately maintain basically all characters are if you let them be, but whose canon actually seems to know they are awesome, which is way way rarer (especially for women).

( LOOK AT ALL THIS AWESOME. (Spoilers for Quantico S1, obvs., though as few as possible.) )

So! That's it for Day 1. God only knows whether I'll ever get around to Day 2 ...

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amidst the candle stubs and bits of ribbon.

Thu, 21 Jan 2016 23:46:40 GMT

All my regular TV shows are basically pleasing me and so I've got basically nothing to say about them. idriya and I are working our way through Fringe, via Netflix, and also through Blindspot, but so far I don't have much to say about those either except OLIVIA and ASTRID and SIF, yay. So instead I guess I'll talk about a) movies and b) shows that are dead or else I have problems with them. Whee! These are in order from "least to say" to "most to say", and are cut for spoilers.

( Man from UNCLE (the movie). )

( Quantico (TV). )

( Strange Empire (TV). )

( And, of course, STAR WARS: TFA. )

Man, I should chop that up and post it to tumblr as meta. It would be more content than I've managed to generate over there in years. :D

Also, there was this AO3 meme that was going around ... oh, before Christmas sometime, I'm sure—anyway, I copied it into the document where I draft posts, and now that Yuletide reveals are well behind us, I've finally filled it out!

( These stats include anonymous works and do not include vids. )

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Yuletide Reveals! Also New Year's or something, w/e.

Sat, 02 Jan 2016 17:35:10 GMT

Our Christmas was Star Wars and our New Year was Man from UNCLE, so I have had a lovely shiny fast-moving holiday season! :D

As it turns out, I received the lovely Serendipity (25k Irulan/Chani AU! BE STILL MY HEART) from Tamoline! I have no idea what I did to deserve such a tremendous gift, but it's everything I could possibly have hoped for and then some. ♥ And! My ecstatically wonderful Hellboy OT3 gift, some bright equation, was the work of none other than Liviapenn, which I was not expecting AT ALL. (I regret absolutely none of my comment's effusiveness, but I do feel a little silly. Like, of course it was great, it was Liviapenn.)

And! I wrote:

The Sword in the Stone (14148 words) by Damkianna
Fandom: Crusade
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Dureena Nafeel, Matthew Gideon, Galen (Crusade), Sarah Chambers, John Matheson, Max Eilerson, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Alien Technology, Psychic Violence, Post-Canon, End of the World
Summary: Lieutenant Matheson had a headache. Post-canon: the crew of the Excalibur discovers a magic sword, Galen is cryptic, and Dureena has a lot of feelings.

I offered Crusade COMPLETELY on a whim, having had something of a B5 renaissance this year, and lucked out by matching to ArisTGD, who had an inspiring but also extremely flexible prompt about Dureena, Galen, and a sword. :D The more I thought about this one, the more I wanted to make kind of an episode out of it; and I did my best to pack it full of JMS-y themes (religion! ends and beginnings! weighing costs and making choices!). It was a delight to write and a great excuse to rewatch the show (again), and basically I'm just very lucky with my assignments. \o/ MAN YULETIDE IS AWESOME.

And then! I also wrote ( four treats, in The Bone Key - Sarah Monette, Donovan's Reef (1963), Roundtable Rival - Lindsey Stirling (music video), Veritas: The Quest. )

This Yuletide was so fantastic—and there are so many stories I still haven't read, augh!

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YULETIDE!

Sat, 26 Dec 2015 16:53:43 GMT

WHAT AN ECSTATICALLY WONDERFUL YEAR. I'll be going through the archive properly this afternoon and tomorrow, with Christmas and family and STAR WARS having taken up basically all my time off so far, but I have absolutely made time to read my gifts! MY GIFTS.

Serendipity (25771 words)
Fandom: Dune - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Chani/Irulan Corrino
Characters: Irulan Corrino, Chani, Lady Jessica, Leto Atreides I
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, A certain amount of politicking, A certain amount of stabbing, Paul Atreides and the planet Dune will hardly be appearing in this fic
Summary: Duke Leto survives his arrival on Arrakis, allies with the Fremen and forces a compromise with the Padishah Emperor. Five years later, Irulan - still unmarried - is summoned from her near exile on Dune as Imperial Observer to testify before the High Council of the Landsraad. Naturally, not all is as it seems. But the actions of the right woman in the right place at the right time can make all the difference.

This is an absolutely EPIC Irulan/Chani AU with completely accurate tags. The central premise is actually kind of fantastically tropey, Chani as Irulan's grudging bodyguard and then they slowly get to know each other and it's not so grudging and also bodyguard if-you-know-what-I-mean; but it is executed with such care and such Dunelike awareness of all the ripples and complexities and consequences. Just lovely!

some bright equation (14810 words)
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: Hellboy (Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Hellboy/Liz Sherman, Hellboy & John Myers & Liz Sherman, Hellboy/John Myers/Liz Sherman
Characters: Hellboy, Liz Sherman, John Myers
Additional Tags: Post-Movie(s), Angst, Pining, Elves, OT3
Summary: After almost a year of dating Hellboy, Liz didn't think anything could surprise her any more. She was wrong.

This fic! This fic is absolutely everything I could never have hoped to receive based on the completely useless "or give me HB/John/Liz, if you want!" prompt I chucked into my letter. I love the Liz voice, I love the understated triangle of pining and caring and TEAM, I love the resolution. I JUST LOVE THIS WHOLE THING.

YAY YULETIDE.

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Yuletiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide

Tue, 15 Dec 2015 14:42:14 GMT

... is like the only fannish thing I've been successful in keeping up with! I'm behind on The Librarians (!), Major Crimes, Elementary, basically all the things. (Agents of Shield, idriya and I dropped way back at the beginning of S2 without even watching it up to the point of the death we were spoiled for that made us decide to drop it. Though I do still read commentary at times.) I'm kind of trying to work my way up to watching Jessica Jones; I may end up using Sense8 as a unicorn chaser, since I haven't watched that either.

BUT. YULETIDE. I've finished my assignment and am WAY happier with it than I was expecting to be, which is always a nice surprise—I wasn't sure I could really pull off what I was trying for, but I think (*crosses fingers*) I have. AND THEN a gift was posted for me! AND IF IT'S THE FIC I THINK IT IS (and it probably is) then I have NO WORDS TO EXPRESS HOW ECSTATIC I AM. :DDDDDDDDDDDDDD Honestly I will be thrilled to read the fics so far in any of the fandoms I requested! BUT SERIOUSLY I AM SO EXCITE. OMG.

*off to write more treats to celebrate*

ETA 12/22: And now a second gift, which obviously got posted sometime in the last week! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHICH IS MY MAIN NOW. OMG I LOVE THEM BOTH ALREADY.

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