strina: text mostly caption "should i use my invisibility to fight crime or for evil?" stick figures of angel & demon (invisibility)
I keep thinking about things I want to say and then thinking "I don't have enough to make a whole post" and screw that, so.

Does anybody watch Saving Grace? Because I would actually like to see it (shows are never set in Oklahoma!), but I have a problem: Holly Hunter is too white to be playing someone called Grace Hanadarko. I live near Anadarko and it gives me cognitive dissonance to hear the name/see a blonde. Does the character at least have some kind of Caddo heritage? Or did they just co-opt the name? Also, I am a little leary of their handling of the Murrah bombing, which is apparently an ongoing plotpoint.

I have a total kink for stories where everybody knows the canon's big secret (declassification of the Stargate Program, Sentinels-are-known AUs, etc.). The glimpses of a powerful, organized, and public Slayers and Watchers Council are a big part of why I love I Am What I Am so much. Unsung heroes getting fame and recognition = WOULD LIKE MORE FOREVER, PLEASE.

This is me.

I'm working on a mix. It's going to be called Go Into Your Emo-Corner: The Overidentification Mix and full of songs that I can't put on playlists because if they catch me in the wrong mood, they cause uncontrollable weeping or leave me screaming along because IT IS A SONG THAT SPEAKS TO MY SOUL. OR, Y'KNOW, MY EMO. WHICHEVER. Also, "get into your emo-corner!" is a line from a Transformers fic about Starscream emailing a domestic abuse center and it makes me laugh and laugh. Because domestic abuse isn't funny, but Starscream giving himself etchings because Megatron doesn't love him anymore and lets Soundwave badtouch him with tentacles is HILARIOUS.

Spoiler for Prince of Persia movie )

So [community profile] ladiesbigbang is going to be a one-off for me. Finding 150 stories that are a) awesome and b) at least 75% lady-focused is hard when I can't predict what fandoms I'm going to be into during the creation period. Like, if I could manage to revisit HP or bandom for more than a couple days at a time, this would be much easier, but fannish ennui is not really something you can arrange to suit a schedule. Working from backlog, I should be able to swing this round (I will be personally disappointed if I can't manage more than 150 just from backlog), but another round? Extremely unlikely.

I am terrible at answering comments and I'm sorry! I read them all and appreciate them and try to respond eventually...you just might be getting that reply notification a few days/weeks after you've forgotten about the original post. There's a whole thing in my brain about how replies should be substantive and so I wibble around trying to meet an imaginary standard and it's, like I said, a whole Thing.

I am kind of burnt out on profic? Everything feels the saaaaaame.

Next year, fuck it, I will go to another state to attend a fandom con. The last couple scifi "fandom" cons have just not really done it for me. This last one was especially poorly run - panelists openly admitted to having no idea what the topic meant, panels had zero description anywhere so there was a lot of guesswork, panels ran completely off the rails ("Great Bubbas in Science Fiction" turned into "Trials and Tribulations of Running a Small Independent Press"...within the first ten minutes). The arguments for attending Oklahoma cons were always cost and the chance to meet people I could have regular meatspace interaction with and since the second's never worked out, I might as well say fuck it to the first and just start saving now.

I remain totally sad that more people don't watch/love Rollerball.It is a totally shitty movie with one of the most CATHARTIC ENDINGS OF ALL TIME. Like, Chris Klein and his character are basically incidental to the point of it, which is that if you push the common people too far, they will FUCK YOUR SHIT UP AND SET IT ON FIRE.

And thank you fandom, I am now totally likely to accidentally use the word "amazeballs" at work.

If I have to pretend to smile while one more jackass says "Don't mark that [bill], I just made it this morning! Hur, hur, hur!", I will CUT SOMEBODY. Also, if we check it, and your bill is counterfeit, we will not "take it up with the bank, 'cause that's where [you] got it!" We will take it up with the cops, because we are not detectives or investigators of any sort; we are a store, not the Secret Service.
strina: (txt - triple nerd score)
I have been trying to close out enough tabs that I can start making a dent in the massive folder of bookmarks-that-need-coded-for-recs and I just can't. Twice I've saved my browsing session (I love that Opera lets you do that, btw) and closed all my tabs and then just checked my rlist real quick...and ended up with 30 - 50 more tabs.

Like, right now, I'm apparently reading in The Sentinel, Leverage, The Magnificent Seven, Stargate SG-1, NUMB3RS, Stargate Atlantis, House MD, Jonas/bandom RPF (Kevin Jonas/Mike Carden, aka, The Pairing That Skoosie Built), Sports Night, The Dead Zone, and various crossovers.

Last session was Transformers, Star Trek: Reboot, White Collar, AI RPF, BtVS, Marvel comics, Generation Kill, The Vampire Diaries, Ocean's 11, and various crossovers. Before that was Transformers, Star Trek: Reboot, Fullmetal Alchemist, The Losers, Glee, Harry Potter, Criminal Minds, NCIS, Sherlock Holmes, Supernatural, The Big Bang Theory, and various crossovers.

MADNESS. I keep closing out tabs before I'm done with a fandom! I'm going to have to go back to all of them, because Roy/amnesiac!Ed! Rusty Ryan, missing and presumed dead! Psychic Jim Kirk! Sam Witwicky turns into a 'bot and it doesn't look horrible! MASSIVE CRIMINAL MINDS H/C IDFIC WITH PSYCHIC!ENSLAVED!REID! (That last doesn't even have to be good for me to enjoy it.)

ANYWAY. When I finally get to coding, I will apparently be spamming the hell out of [community profile] list50 with Trek and small fandoms and prompt lists.

Oh! Relatedly: Recent happenings sent me looking through my/[community profile] list50's prompt tables for anything that might be an issue. I came up with six prompts that might be problematic. First, I made the tables, so these things obviously aren't a problem for me, but that's not the point, is it; I'd really appreciate it if someone else would go through and see if they come up with a smaller/larger list of anything that might be troublesome in regards to culture/identity. Second, I am kind of undecided what to do. Prompt tables are optional to begin with, and even if you use a table, it's explicitly stated in the rules that a reccer can choose their own prompts (50 from the pool of 399); it's very easy to avoid using anything you're not comfortable with. So I guess I'm looking more for a "if someone else used that prompt, would you find it offensive" kind of thing?

Also, I've been wanting to do a new challenge at the comm and fandom's bingo madness has made me think that letting people sign up for prompt bingo cards sounds like AWESOME FUN TIMES. There would be veto options (SPECIAL "GEN PROMPTS ONLY" CARDS, GUYS...or the sadder "no poetry or lyric prompts" card) and tiny random rec lists and POSSIBLY the hilarity of someone else getting stuck trying to find a story for "Agape"!
strina: text only "this is wrinkling my brain" (c - wrinkling my brain)
Oh man, I hope this doesn't turn into my first round of [livejournal.com profile] rec50 all over again...98 recs in two days was a terrible plan (I only managed 88).

Anyway. Currently signed up for:

[community profile] ladiesbigbang. Deadline: August 1. Minimum: 150 recs.

[community profile] kink_bingo. Deadline: August 31. Minimum for a bingo: 50 recs.

[community profile] hc_bingo. Deadline: December 31. Minimum for a bingo: 50 recs.

[livejournal.com profile] au_bingo. Deadline: January 31. Minimum for a bingo: 50 recs.
strina: big bang theory boys caption "nerdy dance of joy" (bb - nerdy dance of joy)
Apparently two cards (and, um, a big bang, eep) were not enough? [livejournal.com profile] au_bingo sounded cool, so I said why the hell not, and YOU GUYS, THAT FIRST COLUMN WAS PRACTICALLY DESIGNED TO BRING ME JOY.

Latest card: )

WEREWOLVES + MUTANTS + HISTORICAL AU OF MY CHOICE (TOTALLY GOING TO BE REGENCY, BTW)+ GENDERBENT + DYSTOPIC FUTURES? MY EYES ARE LIKE HEARTS RIGHT NOW.
strina: text only "because obviously that would have been weird" with weird emphasized (txt - weird)
Never before have I look at a fandom and said "Fuck your sprawling daily-life epics, just GIVE ME YOUR DEVIANT PORN!"

But, possbily relevant to your interests: How Transformers Have Sex by [livejournal.com profile] dunmurderin. Favorite quote? "Naturally, since Transformers was originally (and still is) a children's toyline/cartoon/comic series, we're probably never going to see anything more intimate than a kiss, but as with any other fandom, give fans an inch and we'll have people having sex on it."

EUREKA!

Jun. 10th, 2010 11:24 am
strina: stock icon of cherries against a green background - default icon (Default)
So I was taking a bath and thinking about doing a meme and that led to thinking about why I like Shawn/Lassiter better than Shawn/Gus (and antagonist-pairings in general better than bff-pairings):

Most of my fandoms, I am in it primarily for one character, my Beloved; most pairings I read feature the Beloved.

I like antagonist-pairings because of something they have that bff-pairings just don't: the moneyshot epiphany of "I guess Beloved is awesome!" If you're someone's best friend, you like them! If you're their enemy/future love interest, you have to be convinced to like them! And then get to be convinced with you, and maybe the author likes my Beloved for totally different reasons than I do, which means I get an ever-expanding list of Reasons Jim Kirk/Harry Potter/Max Guevara Is Awesome.

IT IS AMAZINGLY SATISFYING AND I RECOMMEND IT.
strina: text only "i find all deviant behavior fascinating" (txt - deviant)
This Transformers fling makes me really wish there was some kind of meme or comm or something re: One Night Stand Fandoms. Because guys, I have all kinds of fandoms I love and for some of them, that love is lasting and steadfast and TRUE. For others, it is more "we used to bang and now we are Facebook friends"; I really like them! But I can go months without actively remembering they exist. And then I see them on my flist/rlist and go YAY, but still.

I want primers for the casual fan, not the beginner who's planning to stay a while! Holy shit, do you know how AMAZINGLY USEFUL it would have been to have someone tell me at that start that hey, TF fandom. Even when pairing a human and Transformer, they're not primarily into human/mech; it is mostly "Bumblebee has a human holoform!" or "Sam turns into a 'bot!" They hooked me with interface cable porn*! THE CAKE IS A LIE.

Or the one-time-I-had-this-fandom stories! You know, theones that go I don't know what happened! TFV posted a rec and the next thing I knew, it was three days later and I had 60 bookmarks for a fandom I'm not even in! WHY IS THIS GUY APPARENTLY ALWAYS LICKING THINGS AND HOW THE HELL IS THAT EMBASSY ZONED FOR WOLVES. Have some links, I guess?.

It would be amazing! I'm going to see The A-Team this weekend and I totally wish there was a post somewhere from a veteran fan who doesn't want my eyeballs to bleed when I inevitably come home starry-eyed and looking for slash.

*It is robot porn COMBINED with tentacle porn! I LOVE IT LOTS, YOU GUYS, AND THERE ARE LIKE THREE FICS. COME ON, THAT WOULD TOTALLY BE AT LEAST THREE KINK BINGO SQUARES AT ONCE! (Vehicular, tentacles, and mechanical/technological, natch.)
strina: text only caption "at this very moment i am cackling, maniacally" (txt - cackling)
Man, this whole "multimedia challenge" trend is screwing with me! I see recs presented as a legit contribution and I get all excited, because that's how I participate in fandom! And before I know it, I'm committed to "participating" all over the place.

Brought to you by: [community profile] hc_bingo.

And here is my card... )
strina: stock icon of cherries against a green background - default icon (stabbity)
Eventually I read enough meta on something and become MADE OF RAGE. I usually just froth impotently at my computer, but I'm going to try posting it for a change!

Read more... )
strina: stock icon of cherries against a green background - default icon (Default)
Ahhh, I just posted a giant comment in a stranger's journal politely disputing her stance on the term idfic and I feel all UNCOMFORTABLE.

THIS INTERACTION THING, I DO NOT DO IT MUCH, I AM AFRAID THAT MAY HAVE BEEN RUDE.

ETA: NOT RUDE, BUT CERTAINLY FUTILE.

Dude!

May. 19th, 2010 03:21 am
strina: rodney mckay caption "i get knocked down but i get up again you're never gonna keep me down" (rodney - get up)
How did no one tell me Karen McFadyyon was back on the internet?
strina: text only things i am not allowed to do at hogwarts "i will not use umbridge's quill to write i told you i was hardcore" (things - hp)
So the recent kerfuffle about owning your awesome got me to thinking about the disclaimers we put forth on a daily basis, and particularly the disclaimers I put forth when I talk about some fanfiction.

Look, I don't like badfic; almost no one does. But there's a whole range between badfic and "goodfic" that gets tangled up in embarrassment and "I know it's terrible, but...", and that's idfic/drawerfic. Winged hermaphroditic super-abused superpowered Harry falls in love with his middle-aged professor (who likes to call him "little one" in a vaguely fetish-y way), is forced by Voldemort to have sex with that professor, erases the guy's memory of his "shame", and then turns up pregnant. And there's angst and misunderstanding and then they inevitably have the baby and the happy-ever-after. That is not a story with scads of literary merit. It's not the story I'm going to rec to all my friends, or use to pimp someone into the fandom/pairing. It's not the best thing I've ever read. But guys, I MOTHERFUCKING LOVE that story (and yes, it is totally an actual story). It is DELICIOUS. And so is the Xander-centric time travel gangrape mpreg fivesome story I've read 30 times and can quote from memory. So is the Hermione pwns everyone and takes over the country and has a harem fic that I've never read, yet would dearly like to.

Because "good" stories often have to temporize, to maintain reality and your suspension of disbelief and the dynamics of the canon. But idfic says fuck that, let's turn this shit up to ELEVEN and SEE WHERE IT GOES. That's amazing! I love that! Fanfic is, at its purest, an expression of love, and just because it's usually held to some standard of objective good doesn't mean it always should be.

So, you know, dear writers of idfic: Don't be ashamed. Take them out of the drawers and set them free. I guarantee someone out there is going to MOTHERFUCKING LOVE them.
strina: lee smiling at mostly cropped out mr grey - textless (secretary)
"What It Feels Like for a Girl" and "Intersections" are now officially complete (I typed out the warnings and everything!). But I still have to wait until MONDAY to post, thumbs DOWN.

I...actually have no idea where I'm at with "Quantum Shenanigans (Schroedinger's Timeline Remix)" and "Loved Those of Great Ambition"; there are a lot of applicable stories I've recced before that I'm just not recognising from the titles, which means I'm going to have to fuck around with it somehow.

The character & pairing lists are kicking my ass, not because of inherent difficulty, but because it's super-dumb to try and do a Character X list at the same time as a Character X/Character Y list. So, poll?

Poll #2841 It's Time For Radio Buttons
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 8


Focus on:

View Answers

Dean Winchester
2 (25.0%)

Dean/Castiel
6 (75.0%)

Focus on:

View Answers

Jim Kirk
6 (85.7%)

Kirk/Spock
1 (14.3%)



Plus, "Monster Baby (Love Is Crazy Remix)" is sounding really good to me right now, and small-fandoms-list-take-15 would at least be easy.
strina: reboot kirk falling down ice cliff caption "fml" (kirk - fml)
So I am flailing around Trek again, and wow, I cannot wait for the next movie; Reboot fandom's output is way down compared to just a few months ago. Like, I've bookmarked a bunch of WiPs that haven't seen action since August/September. Thumbs doooown.

OK, and I'm also sad because I am having Thoughts that I can't articulate properly. Much elided, but: Reboot Kirk/Spock Prime creeps me out not because of the details (particular characters involved, Spock being "old and gross" or whatever, which, dude, Leonard Nimoy, don't lie, you totally would), but because that situation is TOTALLY FUCKING CREEPY. Replacing a dead/missing loved one with someone physically identical is creepy, "it shows up in horror movies" kind of creepy.

Because hi, YOU ARE NOT YOUR BASE CODE. Kirk Prime and Reboot Kirk share the same base code, but they are no more the same person than LJ and DW are the same service. Kirk Prime ~ Reboot Kirk = Mirror Kirk ~ Kirk Prime.

And I've got a whole flailing thing about the differences and why I find Reboot-verse 5,000 times more interesting than Prime and why I'd describe Kirk Prime as "pimptastic" but Reboot Kirk as "slutty" (not to judge! just as shorthand for different vibes/styles of sexual conduct) and then it devolved into a whole tangential rant about portraying "binary sexuality" attitudes in fic set centuries in the future - especially in a Federation of "infinite diversity in infinite combination" - when it's an attitude losing ground now, and and and.
strina: (txt - triple nerd score)
I am signed up to do a recs set for [community profile] ladiesbigbang. Reccing at a comm where I don't set the deadlines? Madness! But it could be fun. And I could get a complementary work!

Sign-ups are open 'til the 30th; y'all should check it out.
strina: stock icon of cherries against a green background - default icon (Default)
So, that Three Weeks For Dreamwidth thing. I won't be crossposting this journal for the duration of that, but hell, I only crosspost about 70% now. No, but I really want to post some content for it, which in my world means LISTS.

This is slightly complicated by a) I just finished madly posting everything I could scrape together for the minis challenge and b) I'm not exactly in fannish discovery mode; it basically feels like I've read all the good Avatar fics (there were 76 of them, if you were wondering) and I'm not really IN any other fandoms right now? If by "in" you mean "searching for new authors/stories" and not just "reading stories as they come floating across my personal corner of the internet" (by the latter definition, I am "in" fully up to 247 fandoms, so).

But! I can basically devour a fandom whole in a very short amount of time if I have a goal (see: GK, Avatar, Glee, Reboot, That Thing That Time With Smallville...). Anybody want to pimp me something amazing?

I'm also flirting with some remixes and character lists, and looking over that old prospective lists post for ideas.

So far: )
strina: stock icon of cherries against a green background - default icon (txt - hit that)
...At this point, I should possibly be making that a tag.

ANYWAY. Let's talk about Avatar! Not the Cameron mess, the one with ZUKO, aka, my newest beloved.

  • I ship Zuko/EVERYONE EXCEPT KATARA. I don't really like her! Like, I don't want her to DIAF or anything, but I also don't want to read about anyone being in love with her. Except maybe Toph, because Toph is BADASS and AMAZING and once you've gone Toph/Iroh, you don't have a bunch of lines left.

    But the Zutara is everywhere and I thumbs down mightily.

  • RELATEDLY, where is all the polyfic, guys? There is the Bodyguard AU, and then a handful of threesomes fics. That is ridiculous! ZUKO + PUPPYPILES = YES, PLEASE.

  • Oh my god, I think I understand the crazy Slytherin defenders now! Because I am spending a lot of time sulking about people hating the Fire Nation and therefore everyone who ever has, or ever will, live there. Like, hating the Firelords, okay, even hating the soldiers, okay, but there is no such thing as a whole COUNTRY of evil!

    Hi, Embers, you have RUINED me.

  • Can I just say how awesome this fandom's ladies are? Toph and Mai and Ty Lee and Yue and even Azula. THEY GET SHIT DONE. Love them!

  • Zuko should get ALL THE LOVE, because his life has been a bag of crap. His father and sister are psychopaths! His mother disappeared into the night! He got punched in the face WITH FIRE for arguing! And then banished, and given an impossible task, and he DIDN'T GIVE UP. I looooove heeem. I mean, yes, basically everyone on this show has an angsty backstory, but he gets the backstory + everything he tries for basically years just goes wrong + he has to face that what he's been fighting for for so long - his country and his family and his destiny - has to be sacrificed to save the world and that his family deserves it...HUGS AND CUDDLES, STAT, IT IS AN EMERGENCY OF THE HEART.
strina: stock icon of cherries against a green background - default icon (Default)
I love you. All of you, from the people who decided that, you know what, BtVS crossovers should totally have a dedicated archive (MY PEOPLE), to the old-school fans who wrote letters arguing "the Premise", and yes, even the crazy, crazy Twihards. I may not ever want to speak to some of you, but, deep down in my soul, I love you.

Because fandom is a culture where no one has to be ashamed of their ENTHUSIASM, whatever it might be for. I can clap my hands for updates, or eat ramen so I can buy an $80 con pass, or spend 27 hours straight staring at my monitor because the story is just. that. good. and you won't call me crazy, or tell me it's just a show, or lecture me on how sci-fi novels aren't "real books".

Fandom, you've changed the way I think and speak and watch TV; fandom, because of you, I have deep thoughts about The Nanny. You are crazy and brilliant and bitter and gleeful and vicious and kind and sexy and generous and amazing and did I mention crazy? Because there is lots of crazy (good and bad). But I never want to leave you.

Love always,
Strina
strina: stock icon of cherries against a green background - default icon (Default)
...possibly the best thing I have ever seen in a recs list. A++, Avatar fandom!
strina: willow/tara kissing caption "i want my tongue writing poetry on your skin" (w/t - poetry)
I am 28 stories into that Distaff list I meant to finish two weeks ago, so of course I felt the need to do this instead. As a sidenote, I HEART THE GINGER SNAPS TRILOGY, OMG, THAT SHOULD TOTALLY HAVE A BIGGER FANDOM. BADASS LADIES! WEREWOLVES! FEMSLASH & FEMCEST SUBTEXT! THEY MADE THEIR OWN HISTORICAL AU, WHAT.

Anyway.

Name your 15 absolutely favorite couples (het/slash/canon/fanon) and ask people to see what trends they notice about your couples. Try to pick different fandoms.

01. Maggie/Bianca (All My Children)
02. Willow/Tara (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
03. Brian/Michael (Queer As Folk)
04. Ryan/Brendon/Spencer/Jon (Bandom)
05. Kirk/Spock (Star Trek: Reboot)
06. Harry/Hermione (Harry Potter)
07. Sookie/Eric (Southern Vampire Mysteries/Sookie Stackhouse Series/True Blood/whatever you want to call it)
08. Wes/Lilah (Angel)
09. Clark/Lex (Smallville)
10. Xander/Buffy/Faith (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
11. Van/Deaq (Fastlane)
12. Harry/Marcone (The Dresden Files)
13. Brad/Nate (Generation Kill)
14. Steve/Tony (Marvel Comics)
15. Tony/Gibbs (NCIS)
strina: stock icon of cherries against a green background - default icon (dean - score)
Currently, I'm reading "archives" more than "fandoms". Basically, I am falling in love with TtH (again) and the AO3 (for the first time). And I know the AO3 is this whole issue, but really, I am pretty whatever on that aspect?

Strictly as an archive, though, I am finding it hilarious. It seems to be attracting mostly more experienced fans, so it's not as scary as ff.net, but the categories are super-broad, and weirdly skewed. Like, some small fandoms are pretty well-represented - 100+ Nancy Drew fics, for example - while some larger fandoms are barely there at all. Or, like, Repo! fandom; on LJ/ff.net, it seems at least half Graverobber/Shilo. On AO3, G/S shows up in exactly one of the 40+ stories, and that fic is actually more Graverobber/Amber.

TtH is totally still my archive of choice, though. I am reduced to reading anime crosses, now, and they are pretty uniformly terrible. "Xander gets every girl" = awesome in comics fandoms, terrible in anime fandoms. Also, I would enjoy SPN crosses more if I could just filter out all the Buffy/Dean (would be interesting, if not for the fact that most of it seems to be written by exactly the kind of Buffy-champions I like least), Faith/Dean (they would totally reinforce each other in terrible ways), and Faith/Sam (just no). Dawn/Dean! Connor/Dean! Dean/Xander! Xander/Ellen, come on, guys, it would be amazing!
strina: john waterhouse art of woman looking out to sea caption "to all of the mythic heroines who line the sea" (art - mythic heroines)
...I wish there was an easier way to find big bangs than fighting LJ's search function every few weeks. Seriously, people, tag your communities. I end up finding half of them through sheer happenstance (aka, my flist). Brought to you by: [livejournal.com profile] glambertsbb's first wank! Oh, fandom.

But! For V-Day, have an awesome song about a girl kicking ass:



Don't
You mess
With a little girl's dream
'Cause she's liable to grow up
Mean

Surprise you to find that I'm laughin'
You thought that you'd find me in tears
You thought I'd be crawlin' the walls
Like a tiny mosquito and trembling in fear

Well, you may be king for the moment
But I am a queen, understand
And I got your pawns and your bishops and castles
All inside the palm of my hand


Man, I forget how much I love Haunted. Although that album is kind of fucked up. The songs are intercut by recordings of her late father's voice - several of them recordings made for, and directed to, her brother - so really, listen to the album as a whole. (To make it even hinkier, Hey Pretty (The Drive-By Remix) includes her brother (Mark Z. Danielewski) reading an excerpt from his book, House of Leaves. An excerpt about sex. IDK what is up with that family.)
strina: stock icon of cherries against a green background - default icon (boy/boy)
Kink memes are now #3 on my list of "favorite fandom trends" (after yuletide and big bangs, before "five things" and flashfic comms).

This message brought to you by [livejournal.com profile] glee_kink.