venus in the night

I haven't posted here in years

2022-03-10T16:04:44Z

I'm over at venusinthenight.dreamwidth.org

Fic (for holmestice): Scenes from Two Lives, Converged

2018-12-21T21:25:05Z

Scenes from Two Lives, Converged (1326 words) by venusinthenight
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Elementary (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Marcus Bell & Joan Watson (Elementary)
Characters: Joan Watson (Elementary), Marcus Bell
Additional Tags: Male-Female Friendship, Alternate Universe, compilation of 221B ficlets, Slice of Life, Domestic, lifelong friendship, Ableist Language, Community: holmestice, Interracial Relationship, Canon Character of Color, Black Character(s), Asian-American Character, Long-Term Relationship(s), Easter Eggs
Summary: Six 221B-style slices of life in an AU where Joan and Marcus are (nearly) life-long friends.</p>

(also on dreamwidth)

Snowflake Challenge 2017: Day 6

2017-01-10T04:31:08Z

The Day 6 challenge is: In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts.

I'm going to link back to my Fandom Stocking fic prompt list, as I've several prompts listed there. As I note there, I'm fairly easy to please, but I do have a small handful of Do Not Wants: A/B/O, rape/non-con, watersports, scat, graphic violence, and major character death.

Some other things I'd like to see are...

* More fanart, fanmixes, and suchlike based on fanfic.
* More fics based on fanart.
* More femslash featuring canonical female characters.
* More mixed orientation pairings/relationship configurations.
* More interracial relationships where no one is white.
* More trans and non-binary headcanons!

(also on dreamwidth)

Snowflake Challenge 2017, Day 5

2017-01-07T03:52:39Z

Day 5's snowflake_challenge prompt was thus: In your own space, post recs for at least three fanworks that you did not create.

First, I'd like to promote moreholmes (along with its corresponding AO3 collection), which was started to showcase fanworks from smaller Holmesian fandoms (e.g., the Granada TV series, the Russian film My Dearly Beloved Detective, Rathbone Holmes).

Second, a fanvid rec....

Panic Cord | A Rachel Duncan fanvid by sharkodactyl (announcement post here)
Fandom: Orphan Black
Character: Rachel Duncan (several other characters are in, but the focus is on Rachel)
Notes/Warnings: suicide, torture, blood, gore, noncon, eye horror, flashing images
Music: "Panic Cord (Hucci Remix)" by Gabrielle Aplin

Third, a fic rec...

Sucker Punch (3409 words) by sanguinity
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Elementary (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gina Cortes/Joan Watson
Characters: Joan Watson, Gina Cortes
Additional Tags: Boxing & Fisticuffs, Hate Sex, First Time, Missing Scene
Summary: Joan figures she can battle Cortes to a respectable draw, and then they can both walk away, tempers spent and faces saved. Joan is wrong.</p>

(I received this as a holmestice treat in the most recent one!)

(also on dreamwidth)

Snowflake Challenge 2017, Day 1

2017-01-05T01:41:01Z

It's that time again! snowflake_challenge time! :)

The Day One challenge is this: In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator.

Have some recent(ish) works...

I made an Elementary S1 icon set (100x100 and 250x250) featuring Sherlock and Joan for this past holmestice.

For the June Holmestice this past year, I wrote a Watson and Holmes fanfic...

A Time To Remember (1779 words) by venusinthenight
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Watson and Holmes (Comics), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Irene Adlero & Violetta Smith
Characters: Violetta Smith, Irene Adlero, Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Music, Female Friendship, Canon Character of Color, Black Character(s), Life-Changing Moments, Female-Centric, Volume 2 Spoilers, More Holmes
Summary: The Adventuress was a pivotal album for Violetta, but meeting the woman who made it would become life-changing.</p>

Watson and Holmes is a series of comics in which Holmes and Watson are depicted as black men living in Harlem. Holmes is a consulting detective for the NYPD; Watson is an ER doctor. In the second volume of comics, they did modern takes on "The Man with the Twisted Lip", which featured Violet Smith (in the comics as Violetta), as well as "A Scandal in Bohemia", which of course featured Irene Adler (Adlero). In the comics, they connected Violetta and Irene to each other as student and teacher -- the former taking voice lessons from the latter. I expand things and explore how they came to know each other. Very woman-centric.

And have a gif set I made of Hamilton's soliloquy in "The World Was Wide Enough" from Hamilton! It is one of my favourite moments in the show, and I was so happy to see the staging of it in the Hamildoc that I absolutely had to make a set.

(also on dreamwidth)

Snowflake Challenge, Day 14

2016-01-17T06:26:21Z

Backtracking to Day 14 of snowflake_challenge...

In your own space, share your love for something fannish: a trope, cliché, kink, motif, theme, format, or fandom.

Found/Chosen Family

This speaks to me on a spiritual level. The ability to choose your family for whatever reason, or being without a family for a long time and claiming one as your own. It's a powerful thing, to me.

Examples...
* Orphan Black - Mrs. S. + Sarah + Felix + Kira, Sarah + other Leda clones (namely Alison and Cosima), Sarah + Helena (this is a family dynamic I wish was explored even more than it has been, especially from Sarah's point of view. I mean, they're clones AND mirror twins, AND they were separated at birth! And while Helena felt there was a connection early on, Sarah doesn't seem to, and has never seemed to?)

* Virtually every novel Lucy Maud Montgomery ever wrote deals in some way with orphans finding a family of some kind (even within their own relations), but I'm thinking of Anne of Green Gables in particular, with Anne + Marilla & Matthew. Anne had literally no one to call her own family. And then, when she was sent to live with the Cuthberts, she was excited. Until she wasn't because she found out they had sent for a boy. And yet. They ended up keeping her. And she was so moved by that, because no one had ever wanted her until that point. ♥

Femdom

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! This is a thing I'm so here for but I don't really see all that much.

According to the TV Tropes page for All Women Are Doms, All Men Are Subs, this is slightly more common in F/M than I've seen.

I've yet to encounter this in canonical F/F. :(

The most obvious example is Irene Adler as depicted in BBC's Sherlock. Canon domme.

Suffice it to say, femdom is something I'd like to see more of!

(also on dreamwidth)

Snowflake Challenge, Day 13

2016-01-14T04:13:37Z

Today's snowflake_challenge is to rec at least three works by other people. :)

We were also challenged to recommend works within smaller fandoms, works featuring rarepairs, works other than fanfiction, works featuring more obscure tropes, works with very few or no comments, and/or obscure/lesser-known/new-to-a-fandom writers and artists.

Fanvid: David | A Helena & Sarah Fanvid
Vidder: sharkodactyl
Music: Noah Gundersen - David
Fandom: Orphan Black
Pairing: Helena & Sarah
Rating: N/A
Content Notes: Footage of Beth's suicide, other canonical character deaths, blood, guns, knives, self-harm scars, medical exploitation, a few jump cuts
Vidder's Summary: See her announcement post.

* * *

Fanvid: Orphan Black | Flickerbeat (announcement post here)
Vidder: phantomspacecop
Music: Lorde - Yellow Flicker Beat
Fandom: Orphan Black
Pairing: Helena & Sarah
Rating: N/A
Content Notes: Guns, self-harm, blood, knives, violence, gore, body and eye horror
Vidder's Summary: A zippy cut for the ever-cool mirror twins.

* * *

Fanmix: Burning Low: A Joanbell Mix
Creator: maevekelli
Fandom: Elementary
Pairing: Joan/Marcus
Rating: N/A
Content Notes: None that I can think of?
Fanmixer's Summary: a mix for protecters, shoulders to lean on, and more than friends

[ a mix for joan watson and marcus bell ]

* * *

Fanvid: marcus bell // joan watson __ and you let her go
Vidder: neopuff
Music: Passenger - Let Her Go
Fandom: Elementary
Pairing: Joan/Marcus
Rating: N/A
Content Notes: Canonical shooting, several quick jumpcuts
Vidder's Summary: these two have somehow formed into my ship. and i love it sososososoOOSOSOSOO MUCH. and i'm proud to be the first person to vid them, fortunately not the first one to write a fic, but there's still not a lot out there /cries deeply/

ANYWAYS, i didnt expect to get so invested into elementary this season but i'm currently hooked so clearly at this point i cannot get away. hopefully my streak of live-action OTPs becoming canon will continue on to this show but i wholly doubt that :(((( GO JOANBELL

My Comments: This video is under a minute long, but it packs such a punch.

* * *

clonectivity is a lovely collective that have recorded Orphan Black song parodies. There are only four posted there to date, but they are fantastic. (Only a couple of parodies have lyrics posted.)

* * *

Often Inconvenient (543 words) by gardnerhill
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Watson and Holmes (Comics), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Mrs. Hudson & John Watson
Characters: John Watson, Mrs. Hudson
Additional Tags: Community: watsons_woes, Watson's Woes July Writing Prompts 2015, Prompt Fic, Post-it Notes, Racism
Summary: “I have often found it inconvenient [to be a black man] in America.” – Bert Williams

(also on dreamwidth)

Snowflake Challenge, Day 10

2016-01-11T02:12:20Z

Today's snowflake_challenge...

In your own space, post a rec for fannish and/or creative resources and spaces. Tell us where you go to dig up canon facts for your fandom, or where you get all the juicy details about your favorite ship. Where do you like to hang out and squee like a squeeing thing?

Fannish resources: I tend to google it or head to Wikipedia if I need to look something up. Or if needs must, I'll rewatch an episode.

Creative resources: Some of this is a copy-paste job from my resource list at venusresources & venus_resources (which is stickied, btw), but I've added some other resources.

Colouring/PSDs...
* icon_colouring
* selectivecolor
* phonography_x
* chaoticresources PSD tag

Photoshop Actions...
* Julia Starr (formerly known as night-fate on deviantART. She often provides free PS actions, so you don't always have to spend money. I still have some of her older, now unavailable free actions that I use often.)
* Best Photoshop Tutorials: 25 Color Enhancement Photoshop Actions
* thedreamcolours

Fonts...
* Da Font (free)
* My Fonts (commercial; some foundries deeply discount new font families when they're first released. There are also fonts in some families that are available for free.)
* Font Garden (free + commercial; the latter are super inexpensive!)
* Fonts for Peas (free handwriting fonts)
* Font Squirrel (free)

High-Res Photos and Screencaps...
* Screencapped (lots of different TV shows and films; all capped in 1080p and logo-free, I believe. Useful if you don't want to do your own screencapping.)
* Far Far Away Site (specializes in high-res press photos from various tv shows, plus of the various actors who appear in them)

(also on dreamwidth)

Snowflake Challenge, Day 4

2016-01-10T03:14:47Z

Backtracking a bit to Day 4 of snowflake_challenge...

In your own space, create a fanwork. Make a drabble, a ficlet, a podfic, or an icon, art or meta or a rec list. Arts and crafts. Draft a critical essay about a particular media. Put together a picspam or a fanmix. Write a review of a Broadway show, a movie, a concert, a poetry reading, a museum trip, a you-should-be-listening-to-this-band essay. Compose some limericks, haikus, free-form poetry, 5-word stories. Document a particular bit of real person canon. Take some pictures. Draw a stick-figure comic. Create something.

Since they recently went live, here are various things I did for others' fandom_stockings...

Another Year, Another Descent (511 words) by venusinthenight
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Orphan Black (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Rachel Duncan
Additional Tags: Canon Disabled Character, Missing Scene, References to canonical character deaths, Trapped, Angst, Freeform, Stream of Consciousness, Community: fandom_stocking
Summary: A missing scene set during 3x10, before Rachel is reunited with her mother and given custody of Charlotte.

A short Elementary/Luther crossover AU thingie (Joan Watson, Alice Morgan, reference to Alice & Moriarty; gen)

And I made a bunch of 100x100 icons from Elementary and Orphan Black! I have now archived all of them here at venusresources and here at venus_resources.

(also on dreamwidth)

Snowflake Challenge: Day 6

2016-01-08T03:53:34Z

snowflake_challenge

Day 6

In your own space, create your own challenge. What’s something you want to see more people doing in fandom? Is there something you’ve tried that you think other people would enjoy if they gave it a go? Dare your friends to try it out, and have fun with it.

I'd love to see more Reverse Big Bang-esque challenges, wherein writers are challenged to write fics based on others' fanart. Plus, more fanarts based on fic!

(also on dreamwidth)

Snowflake Challenge, Day 3

2016-01-04T01:31:53Z

Day 3:

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator.

So it's been dormant since 2014, but I have an icon/resource journal at venusresources/venus_resources. Quite a bit to choose from over there, mainly from smaller fandoms.

* * *

True Lies (4387 words) by venusinthenight
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Top Gear (UK) RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: James May, Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson, Mindy Hammond, Sarah Frater
Additional Tags: Friendship, Angst, Flashbacks, Kayfabe, Male Friendship, Ambiguous/Open Ending
Summary: James realizes that something is Not Right with his friendship with Richard.

(Fic is open only to members of AO3. If you're a member of topgearslash, you may also read it here. Additional content notes: references to Richard Hammond's crash in 2006, as well as to James May's late cat, Fusker (he'd died only a few months before I wrote this).)

At the time, I was prompted the following:

James/Richard, playing with the idea of how the TG3 almost always tell people in interviews that they hate each other and never spend time together off-show, which we know they DO. lol I've thought it'd be interesting to see an angsty bit where the 'kayfabe' has slowly become reality. Where they've started being that dismissive and needling in real life, if that makes sense? James-centric, his reaction to the realisation. Could be gen if you like. Either fix them or don’t.

I thought it was important to focus on their friendship and not rely on the Sex Fixes Everything trap. I also opted to give it an open ending, to leave what happened after the ending to readers' imaginations.

* * *

Shaving (257 words) by venusinthenight
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Elementary (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Marcus Bell/Joan Watson
Additional Tags: Canon Character of Color, Black Male Character, Asian-American Character, Age Difference, joanbell fest 2014, Beards (Facial Hair), Established Relationship
Summary: Marcus shaves off his beard. Joan is not happy. Inspired by a prompt by beanarie: sudden craving for fic where Marcus shaves his beard and Joan is like ok no more dates for like 1-3 weeks because you look TWELVE, which had to have been inspired by photos of Lucy Liu and Jon Michael Hill at a recent charity event, where he was clean-shaven. Slightly edited from its original posting on Tumblr a couple of days ago.

Joanbell Fest 2014. Prompt, "age difference".

A short, humourous piece. beanarie's prompt gave me a chance to write something fun, and it'd been a while since I had done so.

(also on dreamwidth)

Snowflake Challenge, Days 1 and 2

2016-01-03T07:45:06Z

snowflake_challenge is back. I didn't participate much last time 'round, as it turned out. But still.

Day 1:

In your own space, talk about why you are doing the Fandom Snowflake Challenge? What drew you to it as a participant? What do you hope to accomplish by doing these challenges?

It's fun! I also like that it's a low-pressure challenge. As for what I hope to accomplish, it isn't something I've given a ton of thought toward?

* * *

Day 2:

In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts.

As usual, I'm going to sort this by fandom. Some of these are repeated requests.

Blackadder
* Goes Forth ensemble if they met pre-war.

* Any ensemble in any time frame not covered in the series. ;)

* Meta fic set in the 1980s wherein Blackadder is watching the series. Bonus points if you include a reaction to his line from Blackadder the Third ("....And then, hundreds of years from now, I want episodes of my life to be played out weekly at half past nine by some great, heroic actor of the age.")

* Geneological fic somehow linking Lord Percy's family tree to one Kevin Darling's. ;) Yes, I have a strange mind.

* Lady Blackadder.

Comedian RPF
* I know in Britcom RPF, there is a myriad of fic featuring various male comedians. But I rarely see anything featuring female comedians. I'd love to see this rectified. Or maybe you've got some recs for me?

Elementary
* Missing Joan & Ms. Hudson scene from the S2 finale.

* Lockbell smut involving music, somehow.

* What if there is an Irene Adler out there? And Moriarty stole her identity?

Murdoch Mysteries
* Fix-it fic for 9x03. While what we were given was done well, given the circumstances, we still ended up with a fridged lesbian when it wasn't necessary. :( I'd love for Emily and Lillian to receive the happy-at-least-for-now ending they were denied.

Orphan Black
* AU where Amelia survives.

* AU where Maggie Chen survives.

* AU where the Castor clones look like Art.

* pre-series Mrs. S./Marion Bowles

* I'd like to see fic where Sarah reunites with any of her female friends from her past (I'm especially thinking of Sherry, who was seen crying at Sarah's faux funeral), and she ends up helping Sarah out. Because solidarity.

(also on dreamwidth)

Answer for question 4248.

2015-02-20T16:40:53Z

Vaccines do not cause autism or chronic disease. Anti-vaxxers (read: the ones who believe vaccines cause those things) don't know what they're talking about. They'd rather listen to a guy who had his medical license revoked for spreading a bunch of unfounded rhetoric in the late 1990s and be a bunch of terrible, ableist (and classist, and racist) people than do the sensible thing and vaccinate their damn kids. (Ableist because of the stigma that still surrounds autism to this day. Classist because the majority of anti-vaxxers are wealthy. Racist because they're also predominantly white.

A little bit of reading for you:

* Sarah Kurchak: I'm Autistic, and Believe Me, It's a Lot Better than Measles

* Mic.com: Benjamin Franklin's Son Died of Smallpox. His Notes on Vaccines Matter More than Ever

Vaccinate your kids.

Snowflake Challenge: Day 2

2015-01-10T06:48:56Z

Going back to Day 2 of snowflake_challenge for this one...

In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts.

I'm going to divide this up by fandom. Some of these are taken from my wishlists from other fests.

BBC Sherlock
* A fic featuring the women of the show, front and centre. And ONLY the women. For example, Irene is supposed to be as good at deduction as Sherlock. Let's see her consult with Sally on a case. She can bring in Anthea, Mrs. Hudson, Sarah, and other women to advise and consult. (A little aside: I have not seen S3. I do have vague knowledge of how Mary is interpreted but know absolutely nothing about Janine.)

Blackadder
* Screencaps for all the series and specials! There are barely any out there in existence. Then they can be turned into icons and whatnot. *nods*

* Goes Forth ensemble if they met pre-war.

* Any ensemble in any time frame not covered in the series. ;)

* Meta fic set in the 1980s wherein Blackadder is watching the series. Bonus points if you include a reaction to his line from Blackadder the Third ("....And then, hundreds of years from now, I want episodes of my life to be played out weekly at half past nine by some great, heroic actor of the age.")

* Geneological fic somehow linking Lord Percy's family tree to one Kevin Darling's. ;) Yes, I have a strange mind.

* Lady Blackadder.

Elementary
* IMO, Joan Watson was extremely shortchanged in S2 in regards to character development. What was especially glossed over is what led to her decision to move out of the Brownstone (other than Mycroft's influence). Did it build over time? Was it always her plan to move out when things were more stable with Sherlock's sobriety?

* Since we're ~~probably~~ not going to get it in Season 3, I'd love an AU where Joan deals with any residual PTSD from her kidnapping/abduction, then works on her detective skills. Or perhaps she opts to renew her medical license and open a free clinic?

* In the Season 2 finale, there is a scene between Joan and Ms. Hudson that was cut from broadcast. GIMME!

* Lockbell smut involving music, somehow.

* Joanbell smut. Plot optional.

* What if there is an Irene Adler? And Moriarty stole her identity?

Orphan Black
* AU where Amelia survives.

* AU where Maggie Chen survives.

* AU where the Castor clones look like Art.

* pre-series Mrs. S./Marion Bowles

* I'd like to see fic where Sarah reunites with any of her female friends from her past (I'm especially thinking of Sherry, who was seen crying at Sarah's faux funeral), and she ends up helping Sarah out. Because solidarity and whatnot.

* Delphine backstory w/r/t how she met and started working for Leekie/Dyad.

* Sarah dealing with residual feels after knowing she shot Helena and meant to kill her.

Sherlock Holmes (ACD Canon)
* Some Watson/Morstan slice-of-life/domesticity, when he's not working on a case, or at his private practice.

Watson and Holmes
* Speculative fic featuring Irene Adler. I'd love to see a genderfluid!Irene or a genderqueer!Irene. (Definitely don't want her to be straight/heteronormative. And I think having Irene be genderfluid/genderqueer would be a fantastic nod to ACD!Irene's penchant for going out in menswear.) You can do a W&H spin on "A Scandal in Bohemia", or you could come up with something else.

Welcome to Night Vale
* Anything involving Dana Cardinal, Tamika Flynn, or Michelle Nguyen.

* Intern Maureen's reaction to how Night Valians chased the carnival away.

(also on dreamwidth)

Snowflake Challenge, day five

2015-01-06T06:28:45Z

snowflake_challenge is a very relaxed challenge, with a different fandom-related question posted each day during the first 15 days of January. If you miss a day, you can do that day's challenge at another time. If you don't want to do a day, you don't have to. *nods*

I'm actually going to start with the day five question. Because I can. ;)

In your own space, talk about your fannish origin story. How did you come to fandom, why did you choose your fannish name, do you have more than one secret identity?

I'd been a fan of a lot of things when I was younger. For school once I did what would now be called an AU/fix-it fiction of a fanfiction-parody of a film: "Cartablanca, Maine" -- based on a one-off segment on Square One TV that was a math-based send-up of the classic film Casablanca. However, a lot of the writing I actually did was original work, partially inspired by book series like The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley. I love female friendships and, at the time, I didn't have many friends of any gender. Especially not girls. One could say I created the school life I had wanted for myself but never got. (I don't have any of those stories now.)

When my household got internet in the late 1990s, when I was nearing the end of high school, I'd found sites for my then biggest loves: Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (which was nearing the end of its regular run) and Friends.

I was mostly a reader in both. Later I did write a DQMW fanfic but never published it in full. It was a self-insert (I shipped myself with Matthew Cooper... go figure that my first big character crush was a guy played by a gay man. But I digress.). Very actiony. I don't have it anymore, either.

But in the fall/winter of 1998 I found and fell in love with yet another show: Road to Avonlea. It had finished a couple of years earlier, but was being shown in reruns on CBC (I live near the Canadian border so could pick it up at the time either over-the-air or through a basic cable package), and they were going to have a Christmas movie. Even though I participated a little in DQMW fandom before this, I consider RTA (and, by extension/connection, Anne of Green Gables) fandom to be my first proper fandom.

I was much more involved with it than I ever was with any of the other shows I was into before, during, or even since. I wrote fanfiction and fan poetry, I was active in a few roleplaying games, I helped organize fan conventions during the 2000s (through which I met several cast members), moderated an email list, I ran a fansite for the show for fifteen years, and I still run a fansite for one of its cast members to this day.

During the 2000s I had some involvement with game show fandom, and while game shows are something I still love, I'm not really within the fandom these days. (There are way too many traditionalists within it for my liking.)

Handle-wise, I started off as maestroshelly, sometimes with a 98 at the end -- "maestro" being something an offline friend referred to me as (I was part of a youth band at church, where I played piano/keys and sang), "shelly" being the name I go by, "98" being the year I graduated high school. Around 2003 or 2004 I got bored with the name. At the time I did some online journaling and kept an account somewhere (the late diary-x, I think?) under the username "venusinthenight". I have NFI how I came up with that; I think I just thought it sounded good. Not to mention it was original and not fandom-specific. So, I got a rename token at LJ and changed my username to venusinthenight, which has been the handle I've used in most places where I do fannish things (LJ, DW, AO3, and (more recently) Tumblr¹) ever since.

* * *

¹ I started off on Tumblr as shellygrrl, then was mizshellytee for a while, and finally changed it over to venusinthenight about a year or so ago.

(also on dreamwidth)

Fic meme 2014!

2015-01-03T01:49:19Z

I blame marginaliana. ;)

* * *

The Fics

Elementary
* Home Is Where the Heart Is (Marcus Bell; Gen; missing scene/slightly AU fic; 523 words)
* Enough (Joan Watson, Marcus Bell; Teen; canon-divergent AU missing scene; 248 words)
* Shaving (Joanbell; Gen; a little humourous ficlet; 257 words)
* Strikhedonia (Joanbell; Explicit; PWP!; 254 words)
* Gymnophoria (one-sided Lockbell; Teen; 155 words)
* Chelioproclitic (one-sided Joanbell; Teen; 168 words)
* One Is Not the Safest Number (Joan and Mary Watson; Teen; written for Holmestice December 2014; 1826 words)

Orphan Black
* Always Remember Your First (one-sided Cosima Niehaus/OFC; Gen; written for femslash100 prompt, "first"; 157 words)
* And Your God Shall Be My God (Helena/Sarah Manning; Explicit; unrealized twincest (but definitely clonecest) within its timeframe, dubious consent in a fantasy setting, religious imagery; written for Femslash February and Porn Battle; 1236 words)
* Letters from the Grave (multi-chapter WIP, link goes to first chapter; eventual refs to historic Beth Childs/Paul Dierden; eventual reference to canonical character death; 521 words to date)

Top Gear (UK) RPF
* Reading Glasses (James/Richard; Teen; written for fandom_stocking; 200 words)

Final Word Count: 5545

* * *

Q&A Session

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted.

I never predict how much I'm going to write in a given year.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?

I did not predict that I would ever write something like "And Your God Shall Be My God" at all. It is probably the weirdest fic, content-wise, I've ever done. (And I've written some weird shite over the last few years. I mean, I didn't think it could get weirder than person/car, or a pregnant tame racing driver. Yeah, that's nothing for me, apparently. ;)) But when I saw someone leave a prompt for Porn Battle for Helena/Sarah, and their varying prompts -- especially the ones I used ("Bible, hunger, fixation") -- oh my.

Even more is that I have never shipped incest until Orphan Black. Helena/Sarah seems to be the one exception (and even then, I don't really ship them in a sexual way; more like a spiritual way?).

What's your own favorite story of the year?

I love the idea behind "Letters from the Grave". It's letters Beth wrote to most of her fellow surviving Leda clones, as well as to Paul, Art, and Angie, before her death but that she never left for them. I've done only one "letter"/chapter so far -- her letter to Alison. I'd like to be able to add more in during the coming year.

But of my completed ones, I'm most fond of "One Is Not the Safest Number".

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I don't think I took any risks? I suppose that depends on what a "risk" would be, in this case. *shrugs*

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?

Only to keep writing.

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

My best story: I cannot tell you. "Best" is such a subjective term, to me.

My most popular: Probably "And Your God Shall Be My God".

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe: I'm not sure.

Most fun story to write: "Shaving"

Sexiest story: Can't think of one.

Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story: "And Your God Shall Be My God", I think.

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: I'm not sure.

Hardest story to write: "Letters from the Grave"

Biggest disappointment: I've got several Orphan Black WIPs other than "Letters" that aren't done. One is an AU fic where all the Castor clones resemble Art instead, which I'm not sure I'll ever complete. One is a domme!Rachel/sub!Paul fic set before 2x05 (only this one would have clear, negotiated consent, not something akin to what 50 Shades of ~~Shit~~ Grey is).

Most unintentionally telling story: Hrm...

(also on dreamwidth)

Holmestice Fic: One Is Not the Safest Number

2015-01-02T03:16:01Z

One Is Not the Safest Number (1826 words) by venusinthenight
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Elementary (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Joan Watson (Elementary), Mary Watson (Elementary)
Additional Tags: Angst, Between Seasons/Series, Aftermath of Violence, Mention of a Hate Crime, Asian-American Character, Canon Character of Color, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Community: holmestice
Summary:

Joan receives a question from her mother.

Mostly set shortly after the end of season two, with some minor canon divergence. Minor spoilers for the first three episodes of the third season.

(also on dreamwidth)

venusinthenight @ 2014-12-09T23:12:00

2014-12-10T04:29:59Z

I signed up for fandom_stocking this year (h/t marginaliana for mentioning it in one of her recent entries)! Mine is here if you want to leave me a little something. :)

(If you don't have a Dreamwidth account you can comment using Open ID and plug in your LJ name.)

(also on dreamwidth)

venusinthenight @ 2014-11-25T02:11:00

2014-11-25T07:57:47Z

[Not putting this behind a cut because this needs to be seen. Also: I have turned comments off for this post. If you believe black lives don't matter, if you believe order is more important than outrage in this situation? No. Don't go there.]

A racist cop got away with murder. (Not to mention he has profiteered from said murder.)

A grand jury consisting of nine white people, and only three black people, decided that a cop's safety was more important than the life of Mike Brown.

A so-called district attorney did not care about the life he was supposed to defend. He clearly cared more about the person who took that life away.

White cops want to squash the outrage, want to squash peoples' First Amendment right to protest. White cops want to stop journalists (mainstream and independent) from doing their jobs, want to squash our First Amendment right to a free press. White cops threw tear gas, used noise pollution, threw flares, did whatever they could to silence the masses. Not just now, but this past summer as well. This is domestic terrorism.

A white governor wanted to squash outrage.

A black president sided with the (white) tone policers instead of with his own angry, outraged people, instead of with the family of a murdered unarmed black teenager.

The National Guard was sent into Ferguson faster than they were sent to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

And let's remember Amnesty International was deployed to the US for the first time ever this past summer. Because human rights violations. Because First Amendment violations.

And that Mike Brown's family went all the way to Geneva, Switzerland, to tell the UN that the US doesn't care about black life.

All this because black people (and their supporters) have had enough of cops murdering/executing black people for no reason -- something that has gone on for FIFTY YEARS AND MORE, and continues to go on.

http://twitter.com/killedbycops ~ look at all those names. Every 28 hours, a black person is murdered by cops in the US.

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fan in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with an its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

~ Martin Luther King, excerpt from Letter from Birmingham City Jail (1963), emphasis mine (read the entire thing, if you can)

A riot/property damage has never fixed anything. Except for the Boston Tea Party. Or the Bastille. Or Stonewall. Or the Berlin Wall. Etc.
— Chris O'Connor (@ChristopOConnor) November 25, 2014

(And yet most of the property damage was caused by white anarchists come to Ferguson to stir things up.)

You need to see this picture of Mike Brown Sr. You need to put this right up in front of your face. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/E6bRHEHmQr
— Donut Queen✨ (@kennedylryan) November 25, 2014

NOW in LA: "I'm 9 years old and I'm watching cops kill us like we're little mice" #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/yJ0udLcZz9
— Mike Prysner (@MikePrysner) November 25, 2014

If you hear #BlackLivesMatter & can't stand the focus on the group of people being killed every 28 hours then you're part of the problem.
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) November 25, 2014

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." - Desmond Tutu #Ferguson
— diane alston (@dianelyssa) November 25, 2014

(also on dreamwidth)

Night Vale fic recs, anyone?

2014-08-14T05:24:01Z

I've read only a couple of fics so far (Hidden Cartographies and the clocks will melt at your demand), and I have a Night Vale/Nightmare Before Christmas mashup (even though I've not seen the film) bookmarked on AO3 to (properly) read later. Yet, I'd like to read some more fics at some point, but all the choice is a bit overwhelming (over 3700 fics on AO3 at the time of this posting)!

* Can be virtually any kind of pairing, or gen
* No Desert Bluffs-centric stuff
* No rape/non-con
* No Omegaverse
* No crossovers, if only because most of the second fandoms involved are ones I'm not in/not overly familiar with
* If it's written like an episode of the show, I'll definitely read it
* If it's centred on any of the female characters (Dana, Tamika Flynn, et al), bonus!
* No whitewashed Carlos

(also on dreamwidth)

Oh, boys, what have you wrought?

2014-02-01T05:02:55Z

So I saw this quote from Top Gear EP/editor Andy Wilman on my Tumblr dash earier...

“Modern life for adults is, after all, bloody hard. …That’s where we come in – an hour a week where three badly dressed middle-aged men bicker, fall over and catch fire. An hour a week where absolutely nothing is achieved, but the path to nine-year-old escapism is briefly lit up.”

I should note that this is not going to be me gushing over that quote. If you want gushing, please to be looking elsewhere. *nods*

What you will find here, instead, is a lament.

But first, a little bit of my history with this show.

I became a fan of Top Gear in the late summer of 2008, shortly after it started airing on BBC America. The first full episode I watched was Series 6, Episode 6, wherein Jeremy races against James and Richard from Heathrow Airport in London to Oslo, Norway. James and Richard would fly to Newcastle to catch a ferry to Kristiansand, Norway, and then use powerboats to get to Oslo. Jeremy would drive through seven countries (over 1300 miles) in a then-£300,000 McLaren-Mercedes SLR.

Those three boys, and their unconventional car show, won me over. Over time I downloaded Series 4-10. I then torrented/streamed my way through Series 12, which aired in the UK later that same year. (At the time, there was a longer time span between when a series/season would air in the UK and when it would air in the States.)

The love affair continued into 2009, but starting with Series 14, I began to notice some cracks. Most notably, episodes 2 and 5. Both of which I consider two of the worst regular episodes of TG.

But I maintained the hope that it would get better and back to the "golden age" (generally, Series 4-8 with a side order of S10). Indeed, Series 15-18 were really good (S18 being the strongest series of that lot, IMO, the India Shit Show and the facepalm-inducing Sweeney film notwithstanding).

And then the boys took a break because Olympics in London! And BBC Worldwide bought the full rights to the show.

Finally, we got Series 19 at the start of 2013. The first episode was alright. But then came the second, involving the boys driving three supercars in the western US. It ended up being a predictable, boring journey... as well as the first time an episode triggered me.

But then episode three was Epic Race! And excellent! Four was meh. Five was really good, with the cheap motorsport challenge. And then there was the Nile Special. The show's first two-part special.

It started off great, but with part two, they fell back into some old habits. In the time between that and the start of Series 20, I decided I couldn't take the rollercoaster ride in terms of show quality anymore. I chose to watch only two episodes from that series (episode three when they went to Spain in three "budget" supercars, which hearkened back to 7x01 a bit; and episode six with their tribute to the British motor industry).

I don't plan on watching the upcoming series.

* * *

These are among my problems with the show, as it is now.

1) Waaaaaaay back in 2002, when Andy and Jeremy brought back the show, Andy noted, "The car is the star." It's not anymore. The stars are the caricatures of Jeremy, James, and Richard we see every week (more on that momentarily). The cars are more of an afterthought, now, even though they're also seen every week.

If you look at episodes from its heyday, it was common to have two, sometimes even three, reviews of cars a show -- one on the test track, the other one (or two) out on the open road, sometimes with a twist. Then at least one of those cars would be lapped by The Stig. You would also have a quirky challenge of some kind here and there (e.g., conkers with caravans, car darts, remote-controlled cars, Reliant Robin space shuttle, recreating TG's theme song with engine noises). And, of course, some episodes would feature a two-part challenge -- an epic race, or a cheap car challenge, or a "how hard can it be?" challenge (think along the lines of amphibious cars).

Basically, the show used to be balanced. There was a balance between the car reviews and the cocking about that doesn't exist anymore.

2) Talking of car reviews, most of the ones that do happen now are limited to the test track at Dunsfold. Most of them aren't driven on the open road now. The UK has some very lush scenery. The show is on in over 200 countries. Leave Dunsfold for a while and rediscover Actual Roads! (Even if it means you have to film in the wee hours or have some roads shut down for a while so whoever's filming doesn't get ogled by fans.)

3) Contrived, or forced, humour. Say what you will about the gits on Final Gear, but they have a point when they talk about this in particular, IMLTHO. It's painful. It's obvious. It insults peoples' intelligence. It's not funny. It panders to the lowest common denominator.

The funniest moments are the ones that have happened organically, with no outside influence.

4) Talking of contrivances, the boys. Or rather, the caricatures masquerading as the boys, or what pro-wrestling fandom would call "kayfabe" (h/t random_yayness for introducing me and others to this concept a while back). This also insults peoples' intelligence, particularly for those of us who have seen enough of them outside the confeins of TG (solo projects, books, columns, etc.) to have some semblance of an idea of what they're really like. We know Richard isn't ignorant or shallow. We know James' sense of direction isn't as horrible as it's made out to be. We know Jeremy isn't always a gobshite. We know the three of them don't actually hate each other. We know the three of them are fully capable of taking things seriously. And yet! They opt for the caricature versions of themselves and the contrived humour. No.

Genuine moments between them seem rarer and rarer now. (I think they do genuinely enjoy working together; it's just... yeah.)

---

Those ones above are the main things. Some other things...

* Start taking challenge scoring seriously again, and stop bending the rules to shit on someone.

* SIARPC. There have been way too many people in popular things looking to plug said popular things, not enough people with nothing to promote but who want to have a go on the track. Granted, even in its heyday there were those that came on just to promote stuff or because their people thought it would be a good idea, but I think those were fewer and further between back then. And there have been way too many dudes, especially in the last few years. I can haz moar laydeez? (Hell, I'd even take the return of the "regular" guys at this point.)

* The occasional serious piece won't hurt. Look at all the love for the Ayrton Senna tribute, or for the war amputee rallyers.

---

TL;DR: Give me back the consistency and the balance and everything that helped make TG awesome in the first place, let's see the boys be themselves (and not caricatures of themselves) more often, drop the contrived humour, and I will want to come back.

(also on dreamwidth)

Fandom Snowflake Challenge: Day 12 - Fandom's Future

2014-01-14T00:01:54Z

Day 12 of snowflake_challenge...

In your own space, talk about what you think the future holds for fandom. What are your hopes and dreams for fandom? Do you have any predictions about what the next five years holds for fandom?

Here's one to give the brain a workout! *g*

The Future
We've seen a little bit of what the future is holding already, I think.

It's fragmented, and it's -- by and large -- killing the community aspect of it.

If you want fanfiction, you largely have to go to fanfiction.net or AO3.

If you want pretty photosets, gif sets, fan art, go to Tumblr. There is also a smattering of fanfic there, but it can be hard to find.

If you want to interact with official people (actors, showrunners, whathaveyou), you largely have to go to Twitter.

There are still fandom communities on Livejournal and Dreamwidth, and while some of them are thriving, others are not. There are also a smattering of message boards out there, but sometimes it can be much too cliqueish, and I think that mode of interaction in regards to fandom has largely become outmoded and outdated.

So while fanworks are thriving, the community aspect is dying. A lucky handful will get multiple comments on fanfic. Tumblr doesn't have a built-in commenting feature; the only things you can do are like or reblog and add commentary. Twitter limits you to 140 characters (sites like TwitLonger notwithstanding).

I think fandom is going to stay fragmented and specialized for quite a while, unfortunately.

* * *

Hopes and Dreams
I would love to see Livejournal and/or Dreamwidth have a revival/resurgence. In regards to fostering community, sites like those have done well with that, IMO. Personally, I don't think message boards are going to make much of a comeback, or have much staying power.

I long for the day when proper F/F fic (wherein the characters are already canonically female) is just as popular and widespread as M/M.

Also: Stop ignoring characters of colour!

Threesomes solve everything.

More bisexual characters!

It's okay to genderfuck a character; you don't always have to turn a male into a female or vice versa. Have one identify outside the gender binary. Make them genderqueer or genderfluid. *nods*

I also wish fandom will actually start listening to criticisms of their favourite things/people and learn that it's still okay to like said things/people. And by criticisms, I don't mean bashings. I mean actual criticism, in regards to various -isms and other problematic things. If your favourite celeb/character/showrunner said or did something shitty, stop defending it. Start listening.

And this is the part where I get all mean old woman: I want fandom (especially those on Tumblr) to stop referring to people as "perfect/flawless humans". I get that what they really mean is "I think they're amusing/hot/whatever", so why the hell don't they just say as much? To quote Meg Ryan's character in French Kiss: "Happy? Smile. Sad? Frown. Use the corresponding response for the corresponding emotion."

* * *

The Next Five Years
I'm not sure if I can prognosticate that far into the future. That said, I do think fandom will still be thriving by then.

(also on dreamwidth)

Fandom Snowflake Challenge: Day 10 - Fannish Wishlist

2014-01-12T04:35:34Z

Jumping to Day 10 of snowflake_challenge because I'm still having thinky thoughts regarding previous challenges.

In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts. Maybe someone will grant a wish. Maybe you will grant a wish.

By fandom, so if you want to skip over something, feel free.

Orphan Black
1) I think Amelia -- Sarah and Helena's birth mother -- was seriously shortchanged by the narrative. She wasn't handled well at all, reduced to a plot device to give Sarah additional information about her foster mother's past. I think she was amazing, sacrificing the chance to raise the two daughters she gave birth to in order to keep them out of the Neolutionist's hands. In the process, she also denied them the chance to grow up together.

I would love to read an AU fic (or see an AU photoset) where Amelia risks everything to raise Sarah and Helena anyway. I think she would have been a fantastic mother to them, teaching them all sorts of things (including how the fact they're white benefits them and is a disadvantage to her), and -- of course -- there's the usual Twin Fun.

2) Siobhan "Mrs. S." Sadler's backstory. She's known as Mrs. S., which implies she was married at one point. Who was her spouse? She was involved with Project Leda in the 1970s, and she adopted a clone years after the fact. When did she twig to the fact Sarah had some connection to her past work?

3) Euroclones assemble! Katja, Janika, Aryanna, and Danielle learn about each other. One or more of them learn they have additional clones in North America. We barely learned anything about Katja, apart from the fact she's German, was gravely ill, and (presumably) was very wealthy; we know nothing about Janika, Aryanna, and Danielle apart from their countries of origin (Austria, Italy, and France, respectively). Let's learn about them!

* * *

Elementary
1) A Joan-centric fic where she EXPLODES. As in, she has had enough. Enough of Sherlock's arrogance. Enough of having to hold everything she's thinking in. Enough of being nothing but a sounding board. She is supposed to be Sherlock's equal partner but she's not. Explore why she holds everything in. Is it her upbringing? Is it something she learned to do while working as a sober companion? Or is she the type of person to let things build up until she is rubbed the wrong way one too many times? It's time for Sherlock to learn something important about HER for once. Also, in this blow-up, does she decide to move out?

2) Joan Watson: The Pre-Sherlock Years. Why she got into medicine. Why she found the NYC Mafia so fascinating. How she met her circle of friends. How her malpractice suit hit her. Why she left medicine.

* * *

British Comedian RPF
Where are the female comedians?!?! The only time they seem to appear is as background characters where the story is centred around two dudes, or in a gen ensemble piece. There are only eight f/f fics in this genre on AO3, and most of them involve dudes (one involves genderfuck of three dudes, none of whom are British). Give me some Sarah Millican, or Sue Perkins, or Mae Martin. Or any of the other slew of female British comedians out there. Bring them front and centre. Leave the boys at home for a change. (For some reason I think Sarah and Mae would be great together.)

* * *

BBC Sherlock
1) I'm going to keep prompting for this until it happens. Fic with the women of Sherlock. And ONLY the women of Sherlock.

For example: Irene has deductive skills? Let's see her consult with Sally on a case. Have her enlist the help of Sarah, Mary, Molly, Mrs. Hudson, and Kate. (Bonus points if there is NO tension between Sarah and Mary, given they have John Watson in common.) Sally is thrilled that Irene isn't a pain in the ass like Sherlock is.

2) Sally lashing out at Anderson for his change of heart in regards to Sherlock. Because she would. From her point of view.

(also on dreamwidth)

Let's have a go with the Fandom Snowflake Challenge. Days 1-3!

2014-01-04T03:47:55Z

Three days in one post. *nods* Check it out here: snowflake_challenge

Day 1 - Rec your own fanworks
In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator.

The Flight of the Queen Bee (Elementary; Joan/Irene(Moriarty); mature; 1295 words). I wrote this last summer for Holmestice. I love this absolutely messed up pairing, and I wanted to see them together again, matching wits. I didn't think I would write the ending that I did, but I love that ending better.

The Picture Box (Top Gear UK RPF; Richard is the sole character in the fic but there is a focus on all three presenters and all the permutations thereof; mature; 1171 words; locked to AO3 members). I became a TG fan in 2008 and started writing fic for it a couple of years later. I had learned that Richard Hammond had a photography hobby (also something I have an interest in), and had wanted this incorporated into a fic for so long. Then Jeremy Clarkson mentioned an incident where he and James May had to get injections and had their bare arses up in the air waiting for it, which prompted Richard to take a photograph. Which had my mind churning regarding what else Richard had photographed in regards to the three of them over the years. And that's all I'll say about that. ;) But it also gave me a chance to write contemplative!Richard, which is something I find is a rarity in TG fandom.

True Lies (Top Gear UK RPF; James and Richard, plus Jeremy, Mindy (Richard's wife), and Sarah (James' long-term girlfriend) in flashback; teen+; 4387 words; locked to AO3 members). One of my longer pieces of writing, exploring friendship dynamics and sorting out thoughts after said friendship has gone sour. I like that I opted to give it an open ending.

* * *

Day 2 - Promote communities/challenges/pages/blogs/Tumblrs/Twitters/platforms
In your own space, promote three communities, challenges, blogs, pages, Twitters, Tumblrs or platforms and explain why you love them.

Porn Battle, run by oxoniensis: One, invitation to write smut and prompt for any fandom you want? Yes, please! Two, great way to kick off the beginning of the year (it used to happen twice a year, now just once a year), if you're feeling uninspired but you have the Urge To Write Something. You're bound to find something inspiring within the prompts, I think!

Orphan Black's Official Tumblr: I love how virtually everyone associated with Orphan Black has embraced its fans (known as Clone Club), particularly the fandom community on Tumblr, reblogging original fan art, gif sets, starting up the excellent #AskOB (where cast members answer fan-submitted questions). Whoever runs it has a fun time engaging with us, for sure! (Also: some of their post tags? OH MY GOD. You would think the blog runner was one of the fandom!)

Femslash Yuletide: LADY LOVE FICS! ALL SORTS OF LADY LOVE FICS! And all with a festive theme. 25 prompts, one a day up to and including Christmas Day. The first one was this past year (end of 2013), and it was a joy to contribute to it. I am so excited to see what will be produced for the 2014 edition!

* * *

Day 3 - Rec fanworks
In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you did not create. See if you can rec fanworks that are less likely to be praised: tiny fandoms, rare pairings, fanworks other than stories, lesser-known kinks or tropes. Find fanworks that have few to no comments, or creators new to a particular fandom who maybe aren't well known or appreciated. Appreciate them.

I'll be the Wind by waltzmatildah (Orphan Black; Beth; mature; warning for canonical character suicide; 100 words). The author, in a True Drabble, managed to pack such a mind-blowing punch that... oh my god. Proof that you don't always need to write hundreds or thousands of words to have an impact.

Petrarchan Sonnets from the Vatican Archive by Petra (The Borgias; Lucrezia/Giulia; gen; 3660 words). I love that this is written like a piece of poetry meta, but it's not poetry meta. There is poetry in the fic, and there are expository bits of commentary, but the twain do not meet per se. Meanwhile, the poetry pieces establish the bond between Lucrezia Borgia and Giulia Farnese in such a strong way.

A Comeback Story by implicated2 (British Comedian RPF/Only Connect RPF; gen; 1787 words). I am a long-time game show fan, Only Connect is one of my favourite present-day game shows, and I love it when the two meet here. It made me wish there was more well-written game show fan fic.

Watch Your Own by wreathed (British Comedian RPF; Charlie Brooker/David Mitchell; gen; alternate universe/mashup; 358 words). Three drabbles corresponding with each of the first three episodes of Brooker's Black Mirror and featuring versions of Brooker and Mitchell.

Orphan Black Fan-Made Trailer by LFTM17 (Orphan Black; teen+; 1 min, 32 sec). So epic. So good.

(also on dreamwidth)

Happy and Merry, everyone!

2013-12-24T23:17:45Z

(also on dreamwidth)