Where's my thief?

and I have been a stone doomed to rolling

laeria — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:57:24 GMT

Hey hey, I am changing LJs, flist!

Henceforth I shall be somebraveapollo .

I probably won't start posting regularly, but, check the cool new layout. Yuletide letter. I'm doing Yuletide and have no idea how that happened.

Go forth and re-friend if you so wish - no pressure either way.

alas, earwax

laeria — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 18:52:37 GMT

Whoa, so, my week was singularly horrible, and so was most of my friends'. How are you, nice people? Tell me something cheer-uppy!

In nicer news, I love Revenge now, apparently, does anyone watch it? No spoilers, please, I'm not yet mid-season.

Meme, stolen from ariastar

1. Comment with any character you know I've written.
2. Receive three bits of trivia about their sexuality: practices, preferences, experiences, fantasies, kinks, etc.
3. Profit!

Crash and burrrrn.

laeria — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 22:19:06 GMT

I've had such an awesome happy productive week, o flist - I wrote minific for But I'm a Cat Person and Rivers of London! and fluffy OOC Avengers - but today it all burned out and I'm feeling melancholy and morose.

So! Come distract me?

Pick a number from the list and I'll answer it in the comments.

1 - Your current OTP
2 - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind
3 - A pairing you have never liked and probably never will
4 - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t
5 - Have you added anything stupid/cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what
6 - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom
7 - Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it
8 - Do you prefer characters from real action series or anime series
9 - Has the internet caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why
10 - Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr your social network sites
11 - How do you feel about the other people in your current fandom
12 - Your favorite fanartist/author gives you one request, what do you ask for
13 - Your favorite fanart or fanartist
14 - Your favorite fanfiction or fanauthor
15 - Choose a song at random, which OTP does it remind you of
16 - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas)
17 - A ship you’ve abandoned and why
18 - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships
19 - Show us an example of your personal headcanon
20 - Do you remember what your first fanwork was?
21 - Self-rec: What's your favorite fanwork you've created?
22 - Are you one of those fans who can’t watch anything without shipping
23 - 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms
24 - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms
25 - A fandom you’re in but have no ships from
26 - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go

Well, don't choose 26, because if I could ramble autonomously, I'd do it without the aid of memes. Might reply right away, or might take a day or two, depending on examage.

I have seen the tumblr light

laeria — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 22:48:43 GMT

Q: what is tumblr for?

old, wrong A: keeping in touch with fandom trends; obtaining gifs; making yourself feel old even when you're not yet 23

new, correct A: stalking people who are bitching about the new Who episode.

I know I've said this before, but I have finally reached equilibrium; I can now watch only for the delight of grudge-wanking and let myself be pleasantly surprised when I like stuff, rather than depressed about the loss of my shoooow. My show is dead. I have come to terms.

Anyway! "It was a phase". Oh my god.

Daleks do parliament? Daleks have concepts like insanity? I mean, I am all for rewriting the existing mythos, but I kind of feel like a new race would have been better here. Sontarans! A secretly souffle-obsessed Sontaran companion would have been awesome.

I did like Oswin! I want her to not even get involved with the Doctor, and go date Eliot. They can cook and get into lesbian bar fights together. "It was a phase." Moffat does this thing, you know, where he ~believes in (female) liquid sexuality, and that's nice! It's awesome! Except then it gets played for shock/titillation/a punchline, and promptly forgotten. Unless she runs off with Amy. Most of my grudge would be absolved by that.

Amy! I loved the divorce, but then that got ruined. If she magically becomes fertile, I will collapse in flames. I do wish they'd adopt though. They like the perfect fairytale parents to any glum ten-year-old orphan.

In conclusion, this ep was actually not that bad, except for when it was horrible. C+, more Oswin please!

Feelings, flist? Feels, even?

pretzels

laeria — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 18:51:50 GMT

1. So I have finished all of Leverage, and I am enamoured entirely. What're your opinions on this season? Also, I am writing three separate Hardison/Parker idfics and trying and desperately failing to think of a good ship for Eliot. ETA: Or, also, a good adopted child. Does anyone have a fandom with lots of unhappy orphan types?

2. Has anyone read Team Human? I'm lazily re-reading and noticing all the flaws (Anna and Ty, mostly), but also really really enjoying the worldbuilding.

3. meme time, because I've been plenty ~creative~ but utterly distractable lately:

1) Give me a fandom plus character/pairing, and FIVE one-word
2) I'll see if I can write you five one-sentance ficlets based on them

Stolen from icarus_chained !

It's that time of year again!

laeria — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 12:11:19 GMT

The time of sweat, tears, exams, and hc_bingo cards! They're especially pretty and green this year and my prompts are LOVELY, especially the second row. And the fourth column. And, mmm.

kidnapping	torture	apocalypse	tyranny / rebellion	learning to be loved
whipping / flogging	forced marriage	Stockholm syndrome	slaves	making deals with demons
unrequited pining	wings	WILD CARD	job-related trauma	sacrifice
orphans	archaic medical treatment	first transformation	dungeons	homesickness
hostages	combat	blackmail	atonement	cages

Also, I have intense Game of Throne feelings and the gist of them is "SHAE, PLEASE MARRY ME (TOO)." What are your Game of Thrones feelings and general life-type feelings?

Edited later, because, realisation I ALSO have intense Avengers feelings, of course, and most of them are Bruce-Pepper-Tony shaped. Let's discuss this. Anyone else eyeing Avengers fandom with wary interest?

fic! yes, really.

laeria — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 01:25:10 GMT

A/N:
So, this is the first fic I've written in years that took more than one afternoon to complete. I am absurdly proud.

Written for hc_bingo 's May Amnesty Challenge (my prompt: runaways!). The fandom is Tanya Huff's novel, Fire's Stone, but it's a modern AU thing, so I think you should probably be able to follow/enjoy even if you're unfamiliar with the canon.

Warnings: character death, violence, suicidal themes

Title: Come Along and Take That Ride

Fic:

Aaron fought consciousness but consciousness won. He was curled up on his side, and his stomach felt hard and painful. The fingers of his left hand were swollen and numb. He lifted his head a fraction and vomited, then rolled onto his back.

“Hi.” An unknown man’s concerned face hovered above him. “Do you need an ambulance?”

Aaron shook his head, which made it hurt more. He tried to remember how he got there.

“I’m sorry they hurt you,” said the man. He looked spent and unkept, but his clothes were the ridiculously expensive kind, and, oh, a Rolex. He sounded younger than he looked. “The twins have always been like that.”

Flashes returned now: Doc Martens and knuckles, the girl calling him a fucking fag, the boy standing on his hand. They were teenagers, teenagers without guns, who nearly killed him but didn’t.

“I think dad probably regrets signing them up for karate when they were four,” said the man. “He’ll want to - er, reimburse you. I mean, he doesn’t like paparazzi, but - ”

“I’m a thief,” Aaron announced, because he didn’t really want to extend the conversation any further.

“Oh. Well, in that case. Security will probably come back once they settle the twins. So if you want to - leave? I can get you a painkiller first if you want.”

Aaron stared at the fidgeting man, and held out a hand out of morbid curiosity. The man - the boy of the house, he guessed - helped him up, and even gripped his shoulder when he nearly lost balance.

“I’m really sorry about this,” he repeated. “You shouldn’t be stealing our shit, but - do you want to sue?”

Aaron just kept staring. The man had watery eyes and a bright unhappy grin. All teeth and nerves.

“I guess not,” the man conceded at last, sounding resigned. “My dad is - influential, anyway, so you probably wouldn’t win. But, look, here” he held out a card with trembling hands. “If you need anything, call me.”

The card said Darvish in fancy script, no last name or profession, merely a number an an email address.

“Thank you,” Aaron said woodenly. “Can I go?”

“Yeah, do you need help walking? Look, are you sure you don’t need an ambulance?”

“I climbed the gates to get in. I don’t think I should leave the same way.”

“No, yeah, you’re right.”

He watched Darvish’s shaking hands fumble with the keys to the elaborate wrought-iron gates. “Do you have someone to stay with you?” He asked. “To help with all that?”

“Yeah,” Aaron said. He would call Faharra and she would pick him up. For all she disapproved of stealing, she always parked near, ready for a get-away chase. “Goodbye, then.”

“Bye, thief.”

“It’s Aaron.”

“Nice. Well. Better luck next time, Aaron. And seriously, call me.”

Aaron didn’t answer and limped away without looking back.

-

“You’ll get your bullet yet, boy,” Faharra had promised a few hours before she died.

He was holding her cooling palm in his broken left hand, and her gun in his right. This was the moment to do it. He’d collapse on the floor beneath her, like in that book he once read, about the dog who died at his master’s feet. When someone eventually found them, it would be a moving scene, despite the decomposition, and Faharra’s granddaughter would cry when she heard about it.

He already knew he wasn’t going to kill himself, though. He was the wrong kind of coward for it. Faharra hadn’t made him promise to live - she never did that. But he did promise to have her cremated. She was clear about it: he was to send half of her ashes to her bitch of a granddaughter and take the other half to Italy. (Not the one in Europe. The one in Texas.) And she grinned at him, her clear-eyed old-lady grin. That was the last thing she said that still made sense, before she sank into talking to dead people; mixing Arabic and English. She called to ‘Nina’ a lot. Aaron couldn’t remember if that was her daughter’s name.

Hours passed in complete silence, but then his phone chirped. Its battery was running low again. He gripped it, ready to fling it out the van - he had nobody left to call anymore. But as he got up, the numbness lifted, and he realised he had no money to cremate her, of course. He could try to steal it - but if he got caught, he could never make sure her dying wish was fulfilled. The granddaughter would lock her in a cold heavy grave somewhere.

He did have an option. The thing about Aaron’s life was, he never quite ran out of options.

“Hello,” Darvish said muzzily. “Whozzere?”

“Aaron. Thief Aaron. I need a loan.”

“Oooh, money? I have money. More money than is healthy to have. Or legal, prob’ly.”

Darvish was very, very drunk.

“I’ll pay you back.”

Darvish said something unintelligable, and maybe flirtatious. It didn’t matter. Aaron named his sum and chose a time and place - made Darvish write it down - and then hung up. There were still arrangements to be made.

-

Darvish did not come sober and he did not come alone. A thin, scowling girl was holding onto his arm, as though she was afraid he would run off.

“Aaron!” Darvish announced, too loud for a parking lot. “How’s the thieving?”

“Good. This is?”

“Chandra,” said the girl curtly.

“My internet girlfriend,” Darvish added, swaying peacefully but sounding somewhat rueful.

“So, how did you think this would go exactly?” Chandra asked. “You convince Darvish to give you money out of ridiculous rich black kid guilt, and then you ride off to the sunset?”

“I’ll pay him back. Whatever he wants.”

“I don’t want anything from him, Chandra,” Darvish said, more or less firmly.

“Well, I do. Can you drive, thief?”

“Sure.”

“You’ll drive us to Texas.”

Darvish seemed ready to argue, but she glared and said “Or I’m telling your father.”

“Is this a kidnapping thing?” Aaron asked mildly.

“No,” Darvish wobbled. “We really need to get to Texas. Chandra has trouble with public transportation.”

“We want it to be as anonymous as possible,” she added. “Are you in, thief?”

“Sure.”

“Do you have a ride?”

“Yes.” Because he wanted to see her relent, he added “there’s a dead woman in it, but I’ll get that sorted by morning.”

Darvish made a weird sound, but Chandra just shrugged. “I’m good with dead women.”

-

The first day of their journey passed in near-complete silence. Chandra took the backseat and didn’t take off her old-fashioned headphones, not even when she when she was giving curt directions. Aaron drove. Darvish tried making conversation with him (“How’re your fingers?” “Fine.” “If it helps, dad upgraded the twins’ meds.” “It doesn’t.”), then fiddled with the radio, then settled into an obvious sulk.

When they reached the motel, Chandra paid for a separate room for Aaron without further comment. He wondered when and how he’ll be paying them back for that. He slept with his right hand curled around Faharra’s gun.

It was still dark outside when somebody knocked. It was Chandra, in the same dark clothes she’d worn all day. Aaron felt a moment’s worry, but she looked annoyed, but not scared.

“Darvish is still down in the bar,” she said. “Would you go check if he’s still alive or whatever? We need to leave in four hours, we have a schedule.”

The bar next to the motel was full of locals. Aaron took note of their clothes and the music, and decided Darvish - dark-skinned, long-haired, with his shiny boots and too-tight jeans - was probably not welcome in the establishment.

Darvish wasn’t there though. The bartender said he’d gone “out back with some guys”. Aaron felt another pang of nervousness.

In the garden behind the motel, Darvish was with several solid-looking local men. They all looked relaxed and happy, and drunk out of their mind.

“Aaron,” he flailed, “izzit time to go?”

“Nearly. Thought you need to catch some sleep.”

“I’ll sleep in the car. It’s not like we do anything else, hah.”

“Okay.”

He came nearer and Darvish readily came to him. He said goodbye to his new friends and promise to Like their band on Facebook.

“Don’t forget the aspirin,” yelled one of the locals after them.

“Great people,” Darvish said.

“They seemed to like you,” Aaron observed. He didn’t want to lead Darvish, but he kept near enough to catch him if he stumbled.

“Yeah, I have this party trick.”

“Yeah?”

“Arm-wrestling.” He giggled. “The trick is that I win.”

Aaron snorted. At least Darvish was lucky, for a crazy self-destructive drunk. He let himself be handed off to Chandra agreeably enough. She put him to bed immediately - it was a matter-of-fact action, but still somehow delicate. She smiled at Aaron, and he found himself smiling back.

-

Aaron had stopped for gas and was entirely unsurprised that Dar loved gas stations. It was noon of their third day on the road, and Darvish was for once neither drunk nor hungover.

“It’s a fake telescope,” Aaron pointed out. “A tiny plastic fake telescope.”

“It’s a souvenir! Sentimental value, Aaron, surely you’ve heard of the concept.”

“I’ll be very disappointed if Chandra gets sentimental over a plastic telescope.”

“You don’t understand, it’s an in-joke. Her nick on the forum was stargazer, and then she started dating me, and, I mean, well, you know.”

“Know what?”

Chandra returned with actual food, and echoed his “know what?”

“Well, that I’m an ex-star.”

Aaron raised his eyebrows. (“Don’t shake those devil’s wings at me, boy.”)

“You don’t know?” Darvish looked elated. Chandra looked, if anything, skeptical.

Aaron shook his head.

“You don’t remember Yasimina?” Dar hummed a few opening notes. “That song? It’s my song. Well, it’s my brother’s really, but he didn’t want to go against his developing manly rock star image.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Aaron admitted.
“Right. Darvish, washed-out teen pop sensation, pleased to meet you.”

Aaron blinked. Chandra actually laughed. “You didn’t know!” she said. “How did you miss it? We were twelve and everyone knew his songs. Half the girls in my class were in love with him.” She paused. “I hated him, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Dar grinned and half-hugged her. “Yasimina was a huge hit, you know. I had a bright and gleaming future in front of me.”

“What happened?” Aaron.

“I wrote the next song. It... didn’t do well. At all. And then the usual things, about how I was a hack and a bad role model. You know how it goes.” He shrugged. “I made a few public messes, and not even my dad’s PR guy could soothe them over. Then I faded into obscurity, and my brother’s manly rock star image is untarnished. All his messes are okay.”

He looked pained, briefly, then he shrugged it off. “Still can’t believe you didn’t hear of me.”

“When was this?”

“Three years ago. You were fourteen, right, same as me?”

“Right. I had other things on my mind that year.”

“Ooh, what other things?” Chandra asked, and Aaron bit his lip. “Aaron? What were you doing at that age? Is that when you ran away from home?” Darvish had learned to accept his silences, but Chandra was new to them, having spent most of the previous days silent in the privacy of her headphones.

“Or we could try not interrogating the driver,” Darvish drawled, annoyed. “He’s not asking you why you’re running away, is he?”

This seemed to be a low blow, because Chandra retreated into her music. Aaron wanted to snap at Dar - he could defend his own secrets - but instead they drove in silence.

“I am running away, you know,” Dar said at last. “Kinda. Does it count if nobody gives a fuck if you’re home or not?”

“It counts.”

“Oh. Well, I think dad’s just assuming I’m off finally doing the sex, drugs and rock’n’roll rebellion thing.”

“Well, are you?”

“With Chandra? Not likely. Anyway, I had access to all the drugs I ever wanted since dad started letting me attend his parties. Booze is just so much more straight-forward.”

Aaron shrugged. He really didn’t want to talk about it.

Darvish fidgeted, then added. “We are going to a concert. It’s not rock, but - have you ever heard of Fire Stone?”

“No.”

“She’s a blues singer, more or less. Total genius. Coming out of retirement, it’s kind of a - secret private underground thing. Totally free, so - I mean, you’re welcome to join us. As long as you don’t talk over the music, because then Chandra will have to kill you.” Aaron caught Chandra's eye in the mirror and they shared a half-smile.

“Right,” Aaron said. He wasn’t a music fan, but Faharra had been into blues. Maybe he would look into the old lady’s iPod one day. Another day.

"Turn on the radio, Dar," he directed, and kept his eyes on the road.

in which I enthuse

laeria — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 13:18:07 GMT

FIRST there is a fic you must read if any of the following sentences appeal to you: "Doctor Who / Hunger Games fusion", "epic Rose-Martha friendship action gen", "cross-District mythology being made flesh", "Panem Dalek backstory", "Amy Pond and Finnick Odair kissing for the Greater Good". It's the best crossover I've possibly ever read; it, I don't know, makes both the canons glow. Or, at least, it fully reflects the awesome of Doctor Who and, to me, far surpasses the awesome of Hunger Games. (or, at least, it gives me a Hunger Games I can care about)

The Wolf and the Mockingjay by honorh who, I hear, is working on a sequel.

-

SECONDLY I did a meme! Got it from arsenicjade .

1. Leave a comment to this post, specifically saying that you would like a letter.
2. I will give you a letter.
3. Post the names of five fictional characters whose names begin with that letter, and your thoughts on each. The characters can be from books, movies, or TV shows.

I got the letter A.

Amal Chakravarthy, from The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal. Oh my god he's so hot, in a working-to-be-as-kind-as-possible damn-my-life-sucks-but-yours-sucks-more-can-I-help-at-all future doctor way. He's also kind of a hipster, he loves his sisters but he hasn't read Harry Potter, he's an attentive lover and a horrible shopping partner, and you just want to latch onto him and watch him forever, because he keeps growing into a really, really good man, despite his moments of sullen brathood*. Also, his love story is shaping up to be amazing.

*(The comic starts with him calling off his arranged marriage to his BFF, and also coming out to his family and possibly getting disinherited, so, I mean, most of the sullenness is justified? But he repents it anyway.)

Anya Lame-Ass Made-Up Last Name, from BtVS. Oh my god she's so great. I think pretty much everyone loves her, right? (Please don't shatter my illusions with links.) There's so many different reasons to love her - her extreme hilarity, her cheerful sexualness, her squiggly redemption arc and struggle for identity. I think my favourite thing about her is the way she can be totally logically consistent and yet totally emotion-lead at the same time, without ever coming to contradictions.

[Also, I was just thinking about how killing her off WAS my least favourite thing the show ever did. I mean, it sort of made sense? It was narratively tidy. Death means insta-redemption, after all, without having to go into the specifics of her crimes or the complicatedness of revenge-vs-justice-vs-"what if they really deserve it". Also, we had Our Heroes beginning anew, all of them once again partnerless, all of them finally equal in grief. But it was such a waste of so many different futures for her. And of symbolism, because here she was fighting the fight, not quite human and yet. (I understand the need for senseless, unexpected death in battle scenes. But I also really prefer for the the survivors to be demographically diverse ~~and in conclusion, fuck you, Hunger Games.~~) ]

Aral Vorkosigan from the Vorkosigan Saga. Oh my god, so lovely. Like Bujold took all Heyer's alpha heroes - the rakes, the tortured, the sour - and took away their hubris and inserted ~duty~ instead. Which, let me just say, duty should not be this hot and yet. The great thing about Aral, I think, is we get all these views of him - the dictator, the paragon of masculinity, the father his sons can never live up to - but we know the truth, and the truth is full of tenderness and sea metaphors. (At least, it's Cordelia's truth, and it took her like two days to find it. BEST. LOVE STORY. It took Miles decades to see the real Aral (how old is he in ACC?) and he saw something a bit different than Cordelia did, something about identity and perseverance and building oneself up from scratch. Mark saw a killer, because that's what he needed to see to be able to be loved. So, I mean, there's more than one truth about him, anyway.)

Asha Greyjoy from Song of Ice and Fire. Oh my god, so hot. So, I mean, in the tv series they're doing new things with her entirely - smirky, daddy's-girl type things, which makes sense because of the new things they're doing with Theon. I don't disapprove. But my dear original Asha is - probably the best ruler in the books, though only of her own kingdom. Like Ned, she's willing to go to war but also eager to achieve peace - like Ned, she knows her people. Unlike Ned, she also enjoys the huge crushing responsibility. She understands it, and she loves it. She loves her nasty culture, the literal pissing contests and the heedless fighting. She's awesome, because - she's still a good person. Raised in a culture of excessive cruelty, which she doesn't even reject - she still isn't unnecessarily cruel.

(also, I think, among all the warrior women (actually, all the women, probably (always excepting Ygritte)), she seems the happiest with her gender. I mean, there's no body denial. She does have ready-made jokes/insults for all the time people taunt her about it, but she just... doesn't seem bothered. Also she has good, kinky, frequent, honest, safewording sex!)

Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green, which you might want to read, but you also might not, because, you know, cancer kid book. (Spoilery review here.) So, okay, Augustus, oh my GOD. He's the kind of glorious pretentious metaphor-chasing teenager who just breaks your soul, because, oh, kid. I mean, he's not naive, he knows life sucks, quite obviously - he's a cancer survivor, he's friends/in love with cancer survivors who might not survive. But he's still passionately determined to be happy. Partly because he falls for the cancer kid book trope (a lot of this novel is about novels and what to do when your life mimicks them) that survivors are wiser and need to help others love life. Partly because he really, really wants to be a hero. But mostly because he just is like that, abstraction-prone and joyful and HIS LIFE IS A ROLLER COASTER THAT'S ONLY GOING UP, OKAY and he's a magnificent bastard (“Ma’am,” Augustus said, nodding toward her, “your daughter’s car has just been deservedly egged by a blind man. Please close the door and go back inside or we’ll be forced to call the police.”) But apart from being Augustus, he's also Gus, a scared, loving, lovely, innocent, hilarious kid, who really, really likes Natalie Portman. I love the construct of his personality, and I love everything about his personality, and most of all I love his total goodness. He pretty much does EVERYTHING for his friends and family, gives himself over to helping them any way he can. He's like Peeta should have been - you know, immaculate good in a place full of death.

and in the darkness bind them

laeria — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:14:02 GMT

I had an exam today I will only partially pass AND YET it was the best fun I had all year, so does that make me:
a. tragic
b. blessed
c. both and also likely to be looking into tornado-chasing once uni ends?

Anyway, swiping a game from ariastar because it looks really awesome:

"The One Ring game basically goes: think of (a) character(s) from a fandom other than LotR, and figure out what would happen if they were given the One Ring and charged to destroy it. So, for example: Neville Longbottom would destroy that sucker; Andrew Wells from Buffy would hide in a dark room with it and call it his Precious and be totally useless; [...] Give me characters! I will tell you what they do! Epic quests and evil overlords for all!"

Andrew so would though.

What's new with you, dears?

A Meme of Her Own Making

laeria — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:05:52 GMT

Happy New Year, friends and listers!

I felt like posting about the new Sherlock, but I haven't actually watched it yet - I'm struck in that awkward rut where you REALLY WANT TO WATCH but also don't want to ruin a moderately good thing.

So, instead, I've been making a list of 15 Favourite Characters Ever and let me tell you, it was very harrrrd. Indeed, such toil and suffering went into it, I have no choice but to share it with you, my dears! I was thinking you could do it too?

Okay, I sorted them by categories for great convenience.

The Immortal being with a weird name and an unfortunate thing for humans:
The Doctor - Doctor Who
The Sphynx - Subnormality
Spike - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Bonus mention: Crowley - Good Omens

The blondes who keeps growing beyond the scope of her (his) own narrative:
Briony Larkin - Chime by Franny Billingsley
Brienne of Tarth - A Song of Ice and Fire
Rose Tyler - Doctor Who
Bonus mention: Tyrion Lannister - A Song of Ice and Fire

The redhead who keeps the universe together and is the hero of the story:
Donna Noble - Doctor Who
Cordelia Vorkosigan - Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois Macmaster-Bujold
Ron Weasley - Harry Potter
Bonus mention: Mistress - Oglaf (NSFW, being Oglaf)

The classy pacifist:
Psmith as in pshrimp - Mike and Psmith, by P. G. Wodehouse
Lorne - Angel
Most Noble Adolphus Gillespie Vernon Ware, Duke of Sale - The Foundling, by Georgette Heyer
Bonus mention: Adelaide Brooke - Doctor Who

The sacrificial lamd:
Esmeralda - The Hunch-back of Notre-Dame (Disney!)
Aral Vorkosigan - Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois Macmaster-Bujold
Buffy Summers - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Bonus mention: Steve, Son of God - The Second Coming

So, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to ask me about my feelings for however many characters you want to hear about - seriously, I could talk about these people for days - and then, if you want to, post a similar list to your own journals and thereby set forth a cycle of holiday-time squee.

the sound you hear is the sound of my impostor syndrome shattering to bits

laeria — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:14:28 GMT

I mean, I've no doubt it will reassemble itself soonish, but at the moment UNI IS WONDERFUL, MY SHORT STUPID RESEARCH PAPER IS WONDERFUL and I AM EVEN MORE WONDERFUL, so, to celebrate that, let's do that meme!

01. My sexual orientation.
02. What I'm really bad at.
03. The one person whose arms I'd like to be in.
04. My best first date.
05. A description of my self-esteem.
06. Who my best friends are.
07. My favourite book.
08. Biggest turn-offs.
09. A description of my best friend.
10. My favourite animal.
11. Someone I miss.
12. The reason behind my last break-up.
13. What I did yesterday.
14. My greatest achievements.
15. My favourite songs right now.
16. A description of my last kiss.
17. What I find attractive.
18. All of the pets I've ever owned.
19. My favourite ice cream flavour.
20. The one place I wish I was right now.
21. The most cruel thing anyone has ever said to me.
22. All of the places I've lived.
23. Qualities that make me more likely to love a person.
24. My future plans.
25. One of my internal conflicts.
26. What I'm doing tomorrow.
27. My life's aspirations.
28. My most embarrassing moment.
29. Two of my insecurities.
30. What I would do if I won the lottery.
31. What I love most about myself.
32. My biggest pet peeves.
33. What musical artists I've seen live.
34. How many kids I would like to have.
35. My idea of a perfect date.
36. What I'm really excellent at.
37. The worst thing I ever feel I did.
38. Where I would like to live.
39. The nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.
40. Whether I like where I live now.
41. What I can hear right now.
42. My relationship with my siblings.
43. What's currently worrying me the most.
44. Something I've repeatedly wished for.
45. My relationship with my parents.
46. What I dislike most about myself.
47. My most traumatic experience.

In return, you shall tell me how you are, dear flist!

Angst-ridden haiku encouraged.

ETA: Okay, hopefully the cut will work now.

ETA2: Do you think the first question is more invasive than the others? I can't tell. I mean, I'd certainly not feel invaded if someone asked me it, but I also wouldn't have felt totally comfortable asking others about it.

JUST when I reached the decision to stop watching Doctor Who...

laeria — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:18:17 GMT

Dear Toby Whithouse,

I want to marry you and buy you ice cream.

(but I'm keeping my last name, you silly twit)

Love always,
C,

who has had the worst week, the very worst, dear flist, but then I watched The God Complex, and now all is (temporarily) well.

It was CLEVER, flist, clever like Midnight or Bad Wolf or The Satan Pit, in a way I really, really missed. (Amy's Choice was... near that kind of cleverness, but it kinda veered southwards mid-ep). Clever about about its internal mythology. Best use of a Minotaur since Borges, seriously. The Doctor as a crazed, lonely monster bathed in the blood of the innocent is an INCOMPARABLY better metaphor than the Doctor as a wise old Space While gliding along and selflessly helping people who then exploit him. The feeding ground earth-imitation space hotel didn't make much sense, it didn't have to, but everything that happened inside it was gloriously logical. Localised, childish fears as a catalyst for that specific kind of worship, creatures feeding on that worship - yes, why not, it's a powerful thing. Powerful enough to keep fear at bay, to keep people rational in a new, terrifying situation.

How much did I love that faith complemented rationality instead of overriding it? Very much. And the many forms of faith, too. The only one I didn't buy was Howie believing just in conspiracy theories - he didn't seem nearly excited enough to be proven right - I think his main belief was the internet, really, the idea that you can always find the truth on the internet. Mostly I loved the fact that faith was dangerous came only from it being powerful, not inherently immoral or wrong or foolish.

And we had an actual religious character, who was also the smartest human on the show since Martha. I loved everything about Rita, but especially her "You're a Muslim!" "Don't be frightened :)", with its bleak snark that fit in perfectly with the fear / faith / culture-of-cowardice themes of the ep. Having spoiled myself in advance, I knew that she'd die, but I didn't expect it would be so graceful and shocking. I didn't expect Eleven to love her so. I didn't expect she'd have such sizzling sexual chemistry with Amy. (I want fics. I want fanvids set to Anathema songs.) With Eleven too. Honestly, if I really had to choose a love interest for him, it'd definitely be Rita. He and Amy can share.

Also, speaking of cultural cowardice, "Your cowardice isn't quaint, it's aggressive", did I mentioned I love Toby Whithouse? He's brilliant at shattering what's quaint and revealing the sliminess beneath. (Exhibit A: John Mitchell. <3) Tivoli sounds like a fascinating planet.

So, the episodal characters were actually fascinating and emotion-inducing. What's amazing is, so were the main characters. AND THEY DEVELOPED. Rory doesn't have a faith, simply because Rory doesn't... abstract? Ish. Like. He's very reactive, I think. He Rory waited 2000 years without faith - which I always kinda suspected - not because he believed she'd wake up, but because there was nothing else for him to do but guard her. He believed in a white picket future, because that's what he could achieve, and when Amy gave him a different kind of future, he adapted. He doesn't have ideals, he just sticks to what's real and what's there and what's doable.

Amy, meanwhile, has faith in the Doctor - which, okay, makes less sense since the Melody thing happened, but I'm lalala ignoring the Melody thing. (Everyone else seems to.) - because she didn't have anyone else around to keep her safe, growing up. And now she's grown up, and he's telling her nobody can EVER keep her safe, which is a cold, cruel kind of truth. And and and, do you know what Eleven does? Eleven, whom I sometimes kind of hated for yelling at her pointlessly? And for taking her friendship for granted? He absolves her of her role as his Manic Pixie Dream Orphan.

It's immense. It's self-reflective. It's... a pity he phrased it in terms of taking on her husband's name (come on, really?), but it's a big, big, big thing he did, giving her the freedom to - not be magical? Not define all of herself through him? To recognise the ways in which he's pathetic. It was him apologising for the way he's loved her wrongly, loved this miniature fake version of her. Apologise for that time he yelled at her for something she didn't remember, just because she wasn't behaving like he thought glorified little Amelia should. And, honestly, he can only love her truly now, now that they do, really, see each other.

And she sees him, in all his vain, ditzy-on-purpose, creepy-candy-man glory. It was happening throughout the episode (her NOT hitting Rory when he pointed out the Doctor brings death on everything he touches), and then it was DONE, she lost her illusions and the imaginary bits she'd tackled on during all those years waiting for him.

Oh, oh, oh. It was an episode that cleared the air. It featured emotions. It made me believe, as I hadn't done for a while, that all three these main characters love each other, and all three of them have different paths towards maturing.
What did you think, dear flist? I still have not seen LKH, nor will I, unless something really spectacular is done with River in the finale. But, but, I'm sticking with this show for a while still.

Here's hoping there'll be more episodes that will make it worth it.

Dance with Dragons

laeria — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 06:00:36 GMT

All I can say is - SO. WORTH. THE WAIT.

Which is a lie, as I can say a a great deal more, but have to go afk now. So, dear flist, tell me your feelings. On Reek. And, like, Tyrion. And Dany. And JON. And everything. Please and thanks. I'll be back in a week to flail in yr general direction.

I have committed an act of ficcing!

laeria — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 11:06:19 GMT

For the hc_bingo amnesty, which I unexpectedly made! Yay! I have discovered I am very much more narrow in my h/c interests than I am in my love of kink - alas! I didn't make the kink_bingo deadline. There's always next year. AND THERE IS ALWAYS fanbingo which is the love of my life, because
a. no deadlines
b. multiple cards
and if you're wondering why I'm so hell-bent on doing bingos if I am so very opposed to deadlines, all I can say is I am seventy at heart.

But anyway, link!

not one of those who must be able to say 'Mine' - The Eagle of the Ninth fic. Note: whipping, master/slave, all kinds of platonic mutual pining.

At the opera tonight.

laeria — Mon, 30 May 2011 09:52:02 GMT

1. Meme for you, my pretties, as nicked from quinara:

Give me a character and a storyline/arc/season and I'll put together a three-track fanmix for them.

All my usual fandoms (Whedondom! Being Human! Doctor Who! Random books!) but also, awesomely, wonderfully, The Eagle of the Ninth, and Repo! The Genetic Opera.

2. THE EAGLE OF THE NINTH, O FRIENDS. Nothing has ever been as lovely. And I don't mean the movie - The Eagle - which is hot, scorching, yes, but the book! the book! it makes my soul sing! Everything I love in slavefics, done PG rated, done with wolves (wolves!), done with gentle care and loveliness and actual characterisation, and even the obligatory designated heterosexual love interest was awesome.

3. Repo! Repo. Basically, just, this gave me so many Giles-thoughts. (I tend to purposefully not disconnect actors from the roles they play. Because this gives me so much wonderful additional insight. I actually like Caleb as a dark mirror image of Mal. Captain Hammer too. It just works.) And bodies-as-accessories thoughts. And Maaaaaaag, oh I loved Mag. I loved everything. I love Paris Hilton. This is surprising yet gratifying.

4. Look! There's a multi-fandom kink meme! Fandoms thus far include Game of Thrones and LotR. Maybe someone will be nice and make a Buffy thread and all my dreams will have been answered!

5. Um, yes, obviously I could. I may. Maybe. I have to check out if the meme actually WORKS though. And whether the rampantly non-anon posting bothers me.

6. So, yes, let's do this meme! And tell me how you are. And whether Shilo is the best ever and whether there is fic.

To bingo or not to bingo, that is the question!

laeria — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:07:07 GMT

What say you, dear flist? I have a week till the kink_bingo deadline. My initial enthusiasm with the comm has inevitably faded into nothingness, alas, but I do love my card. And I have written stuff for it, but I don't feel like posting any of it*. I MIGHT want a new card one day, though. So. I'm going to paste you my card - check it out, tell me if you like any of the kinks or would like to see me write a particular fandom or pairing. Because my week is a week of hell, the chances of me actually doing it are low, and the likelihood of actual quality is slimmer still - but, hey, throw ideas at me! Something might stick! I do love writing things for people, and I like you all ~~half as well as I should like~~ so that might help.

If not, you will probably get to read weird ponderous reflectiony stuff on kink, bingo and deadlines. And possibly Douglas Adams or something.

Oh, and the table is textual, so no vage NSW image in the middle.

1. spanking/paddling	6. obedience	11. collars	16. sex toys (worn under clothing)	21. dirty talk
2. bodily secretions	7. double penetration	12. tickling	17. historical roleplay	22. worship
3.temperature play	8. humiliation (situational)	wild card	18. drugs/aphrodisiacs	23. painplay (other)
4. hands	9. mind control/amnesia	14. bites/bruises	19. plushies/furries	24. watersports
5. body alteration / injury	10. confined/caged	15. gender play	20. teasing	25. voyeurism

*this includes Rory and Amy roleplaying as gladiatior and empress, Mickey and Martha not letting aliens make them do it (and then doing it anyway once the aliens are gone), Donna having a kink for fire, Simon from Firefly having fantasies about Kaylee in the role of Julia from 1984, and one erotic use of leeches. I didn't post any of it, because it was never quite right.

it's a nice day to start again

laeria — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:21:10 GMT

Flist o flist!

I have a question for you! Which may or may not be born from my vague Balkanic annoyance with the Willian/Kate craze (not the actual people, but the craze, it has infected my television in a way that keeps baffling).

What makes a good fictional wedding?

I can think of some weddings I've read/watched, but generally they ended with spiders and manslaughter. Sometimes they were embarrassing, sometimes they were dull. I can't think of any single wedding that made me feel - yes, this, this is an awesome moment for this ship, this is something I enjoy and root for and will remember fondly. Or even, yes this is utterly heartbreaking and will stay inprinted on my soul as a moment of immaculate tragedy. Mostly weddings just - leave me utterly cold? I don't know. What weddings did you enjoy? What's your ultimate fictional fantasy wedding? Is elopement preferable?

And, in a vaguely related way, GAME OF THRONES HAPPENED.

WHAT THE SEVEN HELLS WAS THAT ABOUT, WHY DO YOU MAKE A SERIES THAT'S MOSTLY PERFECT (brilliantly cast, beautifully made) and then fuck up a whole very important storyline by having the character omit a crucial "yes" in a crucial moment? WHY HBO WHY.

Please warn for GoT spoilers in comments, thanks.

Memeing for nefarious purposes.

laeria — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 13:18:35 GMT

Indeed, surprise nefarious purposes. Exam-related surprise nefarious purposes for the Greater Good.

[Also because I'd like to redirect my brain from some stuff.]

Pick ~~any~~ several! characters from a fandom of mine and I'll answer the following questions:
1) What is your opinion of this character? If you like, explain why you like him/her.
2) Is he/she important to the general plot?
3) Can you relate to this character at all? Does he/she grip you emotionally?
4) How much do you like the fandom that this character comes from?
5) Do you ship this character with any other character? Or, are you particularly intrigued by his/her relationship with any other character(s)? (romance-wise or platonic)
6) Is there anything about the character you would change?
7) If you were in the fandom with this character or knew this character in real life, how would you see yourself interacting with him/her? Would you get along well? Fall in love with him/her? Dislike? Have a friendly rivalry?
8) Does this character make the cut as one of your all time favorites (if you like) or least favorites?
9) Would you hype up this character (if you like) or warn about this character (if you dislike) to someone new to fandom?
10) Is this character popular with the fanbase?

Also, come talk to me, flist. How are you?

ETA: I take it back. It's just meme pour meme, because my recording equipment is, inevitably, dead. It was going to be this thing where I practice for my eventual Speaking English Like a Motherfucking Adult exam by answering the questions out loud, but I'm too impatient (you people gave me excellent characters) and have no idea when the equipment will start working again. So, I give you my textual answers, but feel free to stew in soft anticipation of Hearing Chilla's Voice one day soon.

ETA2: For yet more characters (including Tara!), feel free to check out the parallel DW post: http://laeria.dreamwidth.org/3054.html?nc=3#comments
One day I, too, shall have figured out crossposting.

Adherents of the Repeated

laeria — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:06:15 GMT

Okay! So clearly this "posting just to DW" thing is overrated, and it's not like my biannual updates are all that hard to copy-paste. So! LJ! I'll be using it! I need to get an actual layout and add a few icons - you know. Eventually. But, yeah, I'll be posting to both places simultaneously, so feel free to comment/follow wherever.

softly_me has this awesome 31 ship meme thing going on that I felt tempted to try, but then I realised I don't actually have thirty-one ships. In order to rectify this, let us turn to the following well-worn meme:

Name a fandom (or several! or dozens!) that I am familiar with and I will tell you:

My M/F OTP:
My M/M OTP:
My F/F OTP:
My OT3:
My endgame OTP:
My original OTP:
My crack OTP:
My guilty pleasure OTP:
My anti-OTP:
My crossover OTP:

Fandoms: Doctor Who, BtVS, Angel (I'm still mid-S3, but I'm pretty sure this is my favourite show ever), Firefly, Dollhouse, Being Human, HP, Tolkiendom, SoIaF, Hunger Games, Good Omens... huh, I'm pretty certain there's more. Possibly my deficit of ships stems from a deficit of canons? Anyway, ask away!

ETA: Further canons I am familiar with: White Collar, Torchwood, Phineas and Ferb (it's awesome!), nostalgic nineties Disney sitcoms. Is there a fandom for Smart Guy?

All shall revel in / the extraordinary power / of bad haiku

laeria — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:29:06 GMT

Only here for the porn
by which I mean commentfic
otherwise: dreamwidth.