Dear Yuletide writer,

first of all, thank you very much for signing up to write one of these three fandoms - all three are special to me, and I'm thrilled at there soon being an extra piece of fanfiction in one of them.

( Read more... )

Why is it that my computer crashes when I'm only about two-hundred words away from finishing a fic I hadn't saved at any point? I mean, hey, my computer is a nice computer. Yesterday, I'd have told you I couldn't remember the last time it crashed on me.

I've still got fragments floating around in my head, so I may try to recreate the fic but ... ARGH. Worse things have happened and are happening right now, I know, I know. *sigh*

In case you were curious: the fic in question was a Narnia/Doctor Who crossover with Susan as the Doctor's companion, which I'd pledged to write for be_themoon in the Fall Fandom Free For All. Which makes the ARGH even worse, because there's no way I can pull off a second plotbunny for that set-up.

On a more cheerful note: thanks to paperflowered, I'm signed up for Yuletide.

Also: daria234 wrote me crackalicious Psych-fic for the prompt: Shawn/Gus, Gus gains actual psychic powers.

Give me a fandom, characters and/or a pairing, and a prompt, if you dare, and say the magical words: trick or treat?

Fandoms that I may (or may not) respond to by actually, y'know, writing something include (but are not limited to): Alice 19th, Bleach, Cal Leandros, anything by CLAMP, Dragon Knights, Eyeshield 21, Faeries Landing, Fullmetal Alchemist, GetBackers, Gorgeous Carat, Gravitation, Love Mode, Miles Vorkosigan, Nightrunner, anything by Tanya Huff, Weiss Kreuz and Yu-Gi-Oh!

Title: Welcome to the Jungle
Written for: spook_me
Characters/pairing: Byerly Vorrutyer and Ivan Vorpatril - not yet kissing, but give them time and a hint or two, and they'll get there
Warnings/notes: semi-AU - my creature-prompt was 'Giant Snake' and thus forced me to abandon my fantasy of dropping Ivan and Byerly in a haunted mansion. My general, 'get inspired by the title of a cheesy novel' prompts were 'The Living Idol' and 'Dwellers in the Mirage'.

As will soon become a tradition (one more year), this fic isn't scary, spooky or creepy in the slightest. Not even if you're scared of snakes, like me.

( The crash-landing, Ivan felt, had been a work of sheer genius ... )

stolen borrowed from chomiji, because I'm curious.

1. Pick 10 of your favorite books or series.
2. Post the first sentence of each book. (If one sentence seems too short, post two or three!)
3. Let everyone try to guess the titles and authors of your books.


1. Hanging by his heels and twisting slowly in the draught that slipped beneath the crimson door, Detective Inspector Chen tried desperately to attract the demon's attention. Snake Agent by Liz Williams, as guessed by theodosia21

2. It begins, as most things begin, with a song. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, as guessed by alice_montrose

3. The year Janet started at Blackstock College, the Office of Residential Life had spent the summer removing from all the dormitories the old wooden bookcases that, once filled with books, fell over unless wedged. Tam Lin by Pamela Dean, as guessed by beccadg

4. I didn't know how long I had been in the king's prison. The days were all the same, except that as each one passed, I was dirtier than before. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, as guessed by alice_montrose

5. I'd been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris, as guessed by crsg

6. It was starting to end, after what seemed most of eternity to me. I attempted to wriggle my toes, succeeded. Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny, as guessed by alice_montrose

7. Michelangelo Osiris Leary Kusanagi-Jones had been drinking since fourteen hundred. He didn't plan on stopping soon. Carnival by Elizabeth Bear, as guessed by calanthe_b

8. Everyone knew he was dying. By rights, he thought irritably, the bedchamber ought to be filled with hangers-on and low-voiced mourners waiting to catch his final words and pass them on to the packed waiting rooms outside.

9. Cat Chant admired his elder sister Gwendolen. She was a witch. Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones, as guessed by crsg

10. It wasn't difficult to tell visitors from 'eighty-sixers. Visitors were the ones with the round mouths and rounder eyes and steadily decreasing bankrolls.

... This is getting a bit much, isn't it? Honestly, what's with the flood of posts I've been making recently?

Title: The Gangs of Ba Sing Se: an Introduction
Written for: findmyantidrug
Characters/pairing: hints of Zuko/Toph and Zuko/Aang
Warnings/notes: The request was for a gangster!AU and, well, this is the result. I'm not sure what happened, really. A potpourri-fic.

( Once upon a time ... )

Probably, I'll be trying to write one last fic for the New Year's Resolutions challenge this weekend (and fail miserably) but at least I got the second one done and posted:

Rendez-vous at Devilwood, an Here is Greenwood fanfic taking place in the author-created Devilwood-AU. I had entirely too much fun writing it.

Also: having watched the first two episodes of the third season of the new Doctor Who, I feel entitled to declare: (1) Martha is cool, and (2) old ladies with straws are kind of scary. (Seriously, that part was kind of supposed to be humorous, wasn't it? *sigh*)

So ... I don't suppose anyone might know of some piece of fanfiction with Sarah Walker and Bryce Larkin sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g in it?

Because I think I kinda sorta really want to read one. Or two. Or as many as there are. There must be some, right? I mean, I think I spotted a few Casey/Ellie fics while browsing, and unless things got really weird in the second season, that's er, not very likely to ever happen in canon. Which, I guess, is rather the point of writing it in fanfiction, but ...

Anyone? Please?

... Maybe this'd be a good time to start making my wishlist for Yuletide? Assuming, of course, that Chuck still qualifies.

Oh, and if you like Merlin, you should read Wherein Arthur Learns that Sometimes the Answers are Worse than the Questions by anoyo - it's got time-travel and magic and other cool stuff in it.

... And it's Chuck by a landslide - no offense to all Pushing Daisies fans reading this, but somehow, it's as if I can see the appeal of the series, only I don't actually feel it.

(Why yes, I did get some new DVD-sets off eBay again recently. The Middleman is still in my To Watch-pile, as is the fourth season of the new Doctor Who.)

On that note: is there anyone who'd like to own the first season of Pushing Daisies on DVD? It seems a shame to just keep it lying around, knowing I'll never watch it again - I don't care where you live, so long as there's mail-people who'll deliver stuff to you. (DVDs are soon to be en-route to jelliclecat.)

If I claimed one of your prompts over at springkink, please don't get too excited; my muses seem to think it's drabble-time, so thus far, I've not written anything of over 150 words for any of my claims. *sigh*

Did post one late fic for the New Year's Resolution-challenge: Chocolate Cigarettes - a post-movie Constantine fanfic wherein John somehow ends up in bed with Chas (who's an angel) and Midnite (who's er not). Not that there's any sex, of course.

If Steven Brust (Vlad series), Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files) and Roger Zelazny (the second five books of Amber) were to team up to write a book, the result might well be something like Kelly McCullough's Webmage.

Proof:

(1) In the first chapter, the main-character almost gets killed by three members of his family, who were sent to kill him by a fourth, before getting intimate (in a non-explicit way) with a fifth.

(2) The main-character has a familiar with whom he banters. A lot. Also: this familiar's probably smarter than he is. Often.

(3) Plot! Treason! Backstabbing from relatives! Plots-in-plots! And, in case there was any doubt as to my feelings on the matter: awesomeness!

Also in booknews: I've just realized that when I bought Suzanne Brockmann's Otherwise Engaged, I did so for 75% because I thought the main-character, Molly Cassidy, was related to my favorite character from another series of hers (Jules Cassidy). Discovering that, in fact, there's no relation between the two has dropped OE from the top of my To Read-pile to er somewhere near the bottom.

Yes. I really am that shallow.

yuletide will be starting again soon, which is ... not all good, given I'm still working on two fics for the New Year's Resolution challenge. Would anyone care to bet whether or not I'll finish them in time?

Poll #1465297 Poll!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

What will I be doing this weekend?

All written for comment_fic - on average, I spent about an hour on each, so they're not all as fleshed-out or polished as they might have been.

( House/Wilson, House went to jail, Wilson takes him in when he gets out )
( House MD, House/Chase, after Chase's father dies, he goes back to Australia. When he doesn't return to America, House goes to bring him back )
( Weiss Kreuz, Crawford/Schuldig, coordination )
( Antique Bakery, Chikage/Ono, Chikage manages to accidentally dump whipped cream all over himself )
( Firefly, Kaylee/Inara, smells so pretty )
( Firefly, River/Kaylee, engine grease )
( Eureka, Vincent, Eureka is one big family and Vince is the 'mom' )
( Psych, Shawn/Lassiter, after a case gone wrong, Shawn leaves town. Lassiter follows. )
( Smallville, Clark/Lex, if you want people to take you seriously as a supervillain, you're going to need a costume )

This weekend, I watched all thirteen episodes of Firefly, which led me to conclude:

(1) I need to watch the movie. Even if I've already read some spoilers for it, and so I know there'll be Bad Things happening in it. I want to know things, darn it.

(2) Torture is still one of my major squicks.

(3) Fanfiction is a pretty, shiny thing. (Not that there's anything new about that.)

In regards to pairings: during the first few episodes, I was halfway tempted towards Mal/Simon, but by the fourth episode or so, my mind had been made up in favor of Mal/Inara. Wash/Zoe/Mal seems a threesome begging to happen (in fanfiction, if not in canon, War Stories notwithstanding) and Inara/Kaylee is like spun sugar. Simon and Kaylee ... they just don't seem to have 'it' to me. Wash and Zoe have got 'it' in spades, Mal and Inara feel like they could have 'it', and Mal and Zoe have got 'it' in a different way, but not Kaylee and Simon.

What is 'it' anyway? What am I talking about? And does anyone even remember this show?

Eleanor K tricked me into buying Mal/Jayne long enough to enjoy it (granting Mal the dubious honor of being the Character I Could See Paired With Most Other Characters), and as a bonus, grey_bard turned out to have written a Firefly/Vorkosiganverse crossover wherein Ivan gets himself aboard Serenity (no direct link, but you can find the story here, if interested).

It's not a small fandom, as such, so I'm happy browsing around. (Oh, and of course I also downloaded the fan-novel Steven Brust wrote.) Still, recs are always welcome.

Dear Secret Yuletide Santa,

as I've squealed enough in my requests, I have only two words left that I would like to say to you: you rock. For participating, for offering one of these fandoms, and for undertaking to write me a fic.

Love,
me

*
Dear self,

ah-ha! Caught you! Because there you were, counting and guessing at what your assignment would be, based on the numbers of requests and offers and (admit it, you shameless person-who-spends-too-much-time-staring-at-the-Requested-Fandoms-page) you were wrong. Completely.

No love,
me

*
Dear f-list,

Magical x Miracle. Tell me you've read it, know it or love it, for I am desiring to exchange squealy comments with someone about this series. Alternately, give me squealy books to look for over at BookMooch, because I've got enough points to get a hundred books, but not a single book on my wishlist that someone's offering right now.

Love,
me

Six volumes of cuteness in moderation, fantasy in abundance, and politics in the background - yes, cairnsy, I'm looking at you here, because Yue and Vaith? Completely reminding me of Charon and Pain. (Mind, there are considerable differences in personalities; mostly, it's the whole vibe of their relationship that's causing me to make the connection.)

Note: if you come knocking, please have some fandoms I know in your interests. No, this does not include Supernatural - I don't watch that show, because I'm a scaredy-cat.

'twas a dark and stormy night,
upon which good souls stayed inside,
yet wicked souls did soon take flight,
to knock on doors, with all their might.

While sitting by the fireside,
I cannot help but take some fright,
at strange sounds coming from outside,
and thus pick up a pen to write,

What dreams may come, what fancies bright,
afore the dawn, tomorrow's light?

I know it not yet will abide,
by the rules of this Hallowed Eve's rite.

Knock at your own risk. ~_^

Edit: comments are now enabled

Okay, so I didn't keep my resolution to spam inform you all about what new fics I wrote. Still, last year I sort of ended with a list of the fics I posted for the New Year's-challenge at Yuletide, and since I've just come back from uploading the last two I'll write this year ...

( Cut for being about fandoms most of you won't know )

Five random things that made me happy this weekend:

1. nasdack
2. Whistle!
3. nasdack
4. nasdack
5. downingjones (which won't make sense unless you're reading nasdack)

Two things that would make my day even better:

1. Directions to Katsuro/Seiji-fic
2. New stuff at nasdack or downingjones All right, consider day half made already.

(If you like Final Fantasy and/or financial news and/or hot guys, handcuffs and fast cars and/or a combination of all the aforementioned things, you should go take a look.)

Haven't done the Trick-or-Treat one yet, but spotted this one at mishagirl's lj, and had to try it for myself.

Halloween Meme

acchikocchi puts real eyeballs in your gerbils

alighiera shows up with burning torches, pitchforks and dip

aramis_chan eats sakru909's spicy, spicy brains.

cairnsy TPs trixie_chick

cheeky_duckie tries to pick up Phantom Hitchhikers

gangstavidel puts apples in your razorblades

jenab calls alighiera to let them know the psycho killer's in the Miss Knifey Pageant 2008

karanguni runs around screaming for hours until abruptly silenced by obabscribbler, wielding a sharpened Wings album

mishagirl devours the entire neighbourhood's brains

obabscribbler dresses up as gangstavidel

sakru909 sacrifices karanguni's Bank Manager's lunchbox

skyrat13 puts fake eyeballs in your candy

sparkysparky haunts your pumpkin

toriko_roller swoops on aramis_chan and drains their Wings Greatest Hits

trixie_chick TPs your cutlery

LJ Name

Also: why is it that when I look for coms interested in Jim Butcher, I find a com dedicated to the pairing of Harry Dresden/Johnny 'Gentleman' Marcone and one to Harry Dresden/Bob, but not one dedicated to, say, Harry/Thomas or (although I know this one's a little risqué, it being canon and all) Thomas/Justine? I mean, Harry/Bob? A wizard and his familiar inhabiting a skull? That's kind of breaking my brains. On the other hand, ( cut for minor spoilers for Blood Rites )

Well, one way to look at it would be that there's way too many write-a-fic-for-a-prompt-and-post-it-on-this-and-this-day coms having a round coming up or being in the middle of a round right now, but another way to look at it would be er, that it's fun.

I've signed up for slashfest and rounds_of_kink, I'll sign up for Yuletide (obviously) and springkink (duh), and I still owe people fic for several other projects/memes/whatnots, but ... I'm enjoying myself. For a pretty long time, I was a one-fandom type of person and then for a while, I felt like I was a no-fandom type of person. Now, I feel a multi-fandom type of person, and I'm enjoying it - even though I still have trouble writing characters with the same name (like Jack, of whom there's one in Eureka, one in Studio 60, one in Lord of War and two in Torchwood, or Danny, of whom there's one in Ocean's Eleven and sequels, and one in Studio 60). It doesn't matter how different they are; they're just ... slippery.

And, to add at least some substance to this post and to give you all an opportunity to find out that I'm nowhere near as multi-fandom as I'd like just yet:

Give me a first line in the fandom of your choice and I'll write the next little bit.

gacked from jenab

I HAS A LAPTOP!

And for those of you still reading after that Caps Locked grave grammatical error: er, so, yeah. I finally got a laptop (well ... finally) but more importantly: I finally got Internet at home (because hey, taking a laptop with internet home equals having internet at home, right?)

( I fail at keeping resolutions )

Because I'm nosy like that: if you participated in Yuletide last year, are you by now busy thinking of what you're going to ask for this year and couldn't you care less about the requests you made almost a year ago, or are you still hoping someone'll pick them up?

Personally, I guess I'm in the middle - I already know three of the requests I'm going to make this year, but I'd still be really, really happy if someone picked up either my Eureka or my Dragaera-request from last year. (Is it more obviously a hint if I'd bold it? Naw.)

... It's too late for New Year's wishes, isn't it? Well in spirit I wished all of you the best on January 2nd, but in writing (typing?) I'm way behind, as usual. (Still, eleven months and a bit left, aren't there?)

Somewhere, people are watching the second season of Eureka Somewhere else, people are watching the second season of Torchwood And somewhere else again, there's me. Oh well, I've got Dzur (and Steven Brust is still brilliant) and lots of other shiny new books to read, so I'll cut the whining now, and move on to - ( I talk about New Year's resolutions and some fics I wrote )

Also: Santa (you know who you are) gifted me with two gorgeous, gorgeous Kaiba/Jounouchi-doujinshi. <3 Thank you so much! (I guess that means I'll be making 'to take up writing Kaiba/Joey again' my third resolution.)

And Jules Cassidy? I love you, in that giddy-fangirlish, platonic kind of way. Even if you're in a series of romance-novels which I'd feel slightly embarrassed to be caught reading, I still really, really love you.