Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble.

Yuletide assignment completed and posted! I think (hope?) it turned out really well, and I'm really excited for it to be read. I'm just excited for the Yuletide reveal full stop!

Best part of the holidays :)

Dear Yuletide Author,

Thank you! I hope you enjoy writing as much as I know I'll enjoy reading. In general, I like plot, dialogue, action and character-y world building. Anything but fluff, really. I'm not much into PWP, but if that's where Monza and Shivers are going, that's fine. I love all these fandoms, and although I shall gush about specifics in the rest of this letter, they are the random musings of an over excited mind, and may be disregarded as such.

( Random musings under here... )

The time has come to think of Yuletide.....

I'm getting excited, and nervous. I haven't written anything since last year, and I always want to do my very best, such as it is, for Yuletide. There something very exhilarating and terrifying about writing in a new or unfamiliar fandom. Also about the story you might get - it's never what you expect, but it's always a joy.

Excited much?

Recently I have mainly been reading Joe Abercrombie (whom I love more than is quite proper, for the best broken characters you hate to love, and the most realistic action ever), and watching BBC dramas. The Crimson Petal and the White? The Fades? Last Spooks? All good stuff. Too much choice for now - I shall have to see what inspiration strikes when I do my sign up.

Yuletide!

Firstly, of course, I have to rec my two (TWO!) gifts....

Pancakes Day is Whites fic. Whites is a UK sitcom in the style of The Office and it's ilk - quiet, observational, awkward, character based hilarity. It is set in a restaurant in a country hotel and deals with its chefs, waitresses and managers. The fic is just perfect, missing episode perfect - the voices are just right.

Unintended Lesson is a Bedknobs and Broomsticks treat. About the poisoned dragon liver. I need say nothing else, I think.

Onwards, then. Practical, and Magic is post canon B&B, and anyone who appreciates sensible heroines will cheer at this fic.

Acadaemia is a pre-canon His Dark Materials fic, about the first time Marissa and Asriel met. Amazing.

The Shoreline of Wonder is an alternate ending for Nation by Terry Pratchett.

Snowbunnies is how Roger and Jessica Rabbit met. Lovely.

I'm sure I read many other noteworthy fics (every year Yuletide astonishes me with it's quality) but I haven't been very organised about bookmarking them. There's some good Sherlock fic, and RPF, if you dabble in the special hell.

Happy New Year!

The UK cannot deal with the snow. In the last 5 days, I have spent 4 of them off work, because of the snow.

I went sledging. I made a snow pig. I baked wintery goodies and made a vat of soup. I visited friends with walking distance. I did all my Christmas shopping, and wrapped it. I cleaned the flat. I caught up on sleep. I watched a fair chunk of my DVD collection. I watched a lot of television. I read. I wrote my Yuletide assignment; and then wrote another, because I had time. Today, I dug my car out, and with a push or two, got it moving (love my car - a week under a foot of snow and it started first time!)

Now I am so bored my brain might dissolve out of my ears. Have you seen the new BBC re-boot of Sherlock? All the allusions to his behaviour, and the way he always needs something to think about? How he cannot deal with boredom? That is exactly how I feel now.  

I recommend Sherlock, by the way. Like Doctor Who after some Ritalin, which is hardly surprising as it was made by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. (I'm not really a fan of Doctor Who - really, David Tennant exhausts me - but this last series, Steven Moffat's, I liked. And Mark Gatiss is amazing. The League of Gentlemen? The Lucifer Box novels? Brilliant.) Benedict Cumberbatch and particularly Martin Freeman are excellent.

Other not quite new TV I'm enjoying - Misfits, which is about a group of young offenders who develop superpowers. It's been thought about - clever, with properly realised characters, great acting, original, and doesn't take itself too seriously. Also, there is a re-watch going on atgeneration_kill  at the moment, which is excellent fun, come join us.

I read The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas, which was rather good. Like Being John Malkovich crossed with Jasper fforde, with a dysfunctional anti-heroine, an obsessive book fetish, and some decidedly unglamorous sex. Books where books are central plot devices always go down well with me.

I watched Franklyn, too. I think this was a flop at the cinema, but it stars Eva Green and Ryan Phillipe, so I figured, with that level of pretty, why not? It's like something China Meiville wrote on his napkin over lunch; the real world and another world ('Meanwhile City') colliding with a dash of hallucination and mental illness. Steampunk, gothic Matrix making an art project instead of shooting bad guys. It looks beautiful, and not withstanding the ending (I have a Thing about conventionally "happy" endings) and the slowish pace, I really enjoyed it.

So, that's what I've been up to. Happy December, f'list!

ETA - This is what Sherlock looks like, if the Beeb made art deco adverts. Beautiful.

 I'm hugely excited about Yuletide and firstly, thank you very much for the story you are going to write - I am sure I will love it dearly. I have chosen the most tiny niche little fandoms so any fic will be a jewel. However, non-specific squee is not very helpful to you, but I hope this little list might be....

( Yuletide wishes... )
So, thank you a million times!

This photo portrait has a lot of the Alannas about, don't you think?

Shiny new icon! Courtesy of iconomicon , home of bizarre stock.

One of the best things about discovering a new book, film or tv series is the cat's cradle of other work that ties into it. For instance; I have recently enjoyed the film Inception; as such I rewatched Juno and discovered Whip It, via Ellen Page (oh dear heaven, I want to have a go at Roller Derby). I also watched (500) Days of Summer, which joins the small band of romantic comedies I actually like (very small. Intolerable Cruelty did hold that title single handed for a long time). I watched Bronson (Clockwork Orange meets early Terry Gilliam - surreal and violent and quite sad, actually) and realised Tom Hardy is a pretty special actor. Following that line, I read John Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which is being made into a film by the director of Let the Right One In (horror! how I love thee) starring aforementioned Mr Hardy.

And that book is possibly the best thriller - one of the best novels - I have ever read. Tense, tight, spare prose, deftly drawn characters with colliding motivations and weaknesses, the plot layered but not over-cooked. Reading the book, I had a real sense of dark, cold grey nights, of condensation on glass and rain on windows. It is a claustrophobic, intense world, that of the spies, small and grubby in places, and that came across so clearly. People betrayed, mistreated or just ignored in preference to ideals, or the pursuit of glory or ambition. The heroes are not really such, apart from George Smiley, maybe, so clever and so calm. The last illusion of the illusionless man refers to him, and his love for his unfaithful wife, Ann.

Anyway, enough rambling, have some Inception recs:

This is Yusuf backstory, and Yusuf/Eames friendship: Maryam, by scrie 

The Gates of Horn and Ivory, by jibrailis is Arthur/Eames, and for all that I am not shippy at all, this is amazing. The ending is made of epic win, and I do not say that lightly.

veritas_nescio  writes the fic of my heart. Descriptive prose is my own special favourite thing, and this is all so beautiful. Read anything, everything.

Have the epic j'veux ton amour, et je m'en fous d'apres by hackthis It's more Eames/ensemble that anything else, and you know how backstory gets me every time.

Finally, all the art fanlay has ever done, but particularly her Inception pieces. A lot of her work is very much NOT safe for work, just to warn you all.

PS - Yuletide! Yuletide is a'coming. I have nominated some obscure things I think only me and two other people like, so should be fun!

It's a truism in fandom that everyone is someone's fan. When I was a baby person, just getting into the Tamora Pierce fandom, some of my favourite fics were (still are) by team_fen . This is for one half of that team, Imogen, (and also for Sally and Fen, too).

It is ridiculous crack, but I hope it makes her smile.

Fandom: Tamora Pierce, Tortall
Title: Too silly for a title
Rating: PG
Characters: Delia, Alex and wee!Lerant, who is being led astray.


( Read more... )

Title: Do you remember the first time?
Fandom: Inception
Rating: PG 
Length: 3185
Summary: Ensemble gen - first encounters with shared dreaming. PASIV and Somnacin with a supporting cast of Yusuf, Cobb, Mal, Miles, Ariadne, and of course, Arthur and Eames (or maybe Arthur/Eames, if you squint).
Note: This is this first fic I have written in a very long time. None of this is mine, apart from the mistakes.

( Yusuf would have seriously considered adding some ketamine to Eames’ Somnacin dose if he thought he could possibly get away with it.  )