icarusancalion

Missed your chance to peruse the offerings at Help Haiti?

Midterm kept you from participating?

Fear not! There's a new Lightning Round to keep the help pouring in.

Help Haiti has been an amazing success, already raising $73,680 in confirmed donations.

And on that note, my Help Haiti Lightning Round fics continue on apace ... and about four times the maximum length, of course.

Okay, my three lightning round fics are taken. Now for the real deal (translation: Icarus didn't read the directions and thought the lightning round was it).

Time for the auction!

By Valentine's Day you will receive: one of three fics of up to 7,000 words each. Your pairing of choice, prompt of choice. Slash or gen only.

Fandoms: Merlin, SGA, SPN, or HP. Will consider microfandoms if I'm familiar with the show or book (for example, Cyteen).

Bid opens at: $20

Go forth and claim your fic.

Where are the Big Bang lists, and when can I sign up? For once the Big Bangs aren't going to have me stumbling over finals.

Oh, hee!

( Yes. The ostrich technigue of hiding fandom failed yet again. There were our little tail feathers sticking up, and SPN tweaked one. )

Hats off to TPTB for their respectful treatment of Chuck, and yes, respectful treatment of fandom.

Gacked from torakowalski: Post a single sentence from each WIP you have (or as many as you want to pick). No context, no explanations. No more than one sentence!

1. "Ah, good." Rodney snatched away one of the buckets and padded barefoot to the bathroom. Several other buckets of ice were lined up on the tile. "I waited to run the bath." He turned the cold water on full.

2. Based on dad's journal he'd narrowed the possibilities to a curse, possession (which he quickly disproved), the influence of a demigod, or a complete mental breakdown on Dean's part. As Dean smiled at a biker who bent over to dump his trash, Sam decided not to rule out the last.

3. "Jack. Okay. Let's say I did have a yard sale. How many people in Boulder do you think will buy Epistemology in Ancient Mesopotamia for fifty cents?"

4. "You may play with my hair," Arthur said.

5. "Pick it up!" Arthur actually whacked Merlin's bottom with the flat of his blade. "No cowards on the practice field. I won't allow it."

6. "I shall mock your tonsure," Arthur assured him, although it was a little too soon for lightness and Merlin flinched.

Now which do you think is from part two from The Care & Feeding of Unicorns?

My fandom list is growing. I am simultaneously hooked on:

Merlin
Supernatural
Battlestar Galactica
SGA

... and now Dr. Who.

I have only six icons. I can't do this many fandoms!

As seen in synecdochic's LJ:

First lines of my last 20 stories:

( Is the idea to see if your first lines are eye-catching in and of themselves? )

SPN Interview: In case you want to be spoiled about Dean's future (which I do).

backinblack offers us this proof that Kripke is a sadist.

Beware. Spoilers for season four galore.


ETA: ( Ooops. I'm told Backinblack's post is locked. Well, I can post the TVGuide interview portion. *Please* note that there is a spoiler in every sentence of this thing. Possibly every word. )

(Song from my new "Sam Winchester's Playlist" with thanks to Danvers.)

Recently a gen fanfic writer wrote a anti-slash screed. (Doesn't she know that an anti-slash screed is what got me reading and writing slash in the first place, says Icarus, 150 slashfics later.)

The question came up as to whether or not we should read or rec this gen writer's stories in the future. You know, the usual, "Ew, if that's her attitude I don't want to read her." -- "Me neither."

destina had a really good post/article about this... somewhere... a very long time ago. But I can't find it. Guess I'll have to write my own.


Fanfic and the Magical Forget Ray

Because we post stories to personal networking sites, we know a lot more about fanfic writers than we once did. Instead of belonging to a list or Yahoo Group and reading fics in a vacuum, we enounter... people.

This can be good. We might like them. We might wonder why they haven't updated their WIP in ten million years -- and reading their Livejournal, we can find out why.

This can also be bad. We can learn that not only do they write gen, they also write slash (oh my). We might stumble across political beliefs we don't agree with, or an anti-slash screed (uh-oh). I know I liked Anne Rice a lot better before she had a blog.

The person who wrote this screed, well, 1) I didn't like her screed, 2) I didn't like the fact that she deleted comments who disagreed with her and left the ones she agreed with, I think that's dishonest, 3) I didn't like how she started banning people who wrote comments she disagreed with, no matter how mild (for example, "Huh. Really? I'm surprised. I think people should write what they like").

That doesn't matter. In my view at least, the personalities behind the stories are irrelevant. The stories stand by themselves. I may not like someone. I'll still read their fic. I'll still recommend it if I think it's good.

Why?

Because my own credibility will be done for as a reccer (okay, I don't rec as much as I used to, but anyway...) if my recs are swayed by my personal feelings about the authors. That is why the Oscars suck. Overblown Hollywood crap wins because the judges like the director and feel he's deserving.

It's hard to forget when someone's been an utter wanker, of course. And here I wanted to quote destina because her response was classy. (I still can't find that post.)

For myself, I use the "Magical Forget Ray."

It works a bit like the S.E.P. field* in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and looks exactly like an oversized hair dryer from the 1950s (curlers not required). You sit under this baby for about 50 seconds, and voila! What a fine new author you've discovered. Never heard of them before. All that's left behind is a vague sense of unease that causes you to never, ever, read their personal posts again.




* = Somebody Else's Problem, the most effective form of invisibility cloak.

I said in my last post that I'm having a miserable day. No, I don't want to talk about it. No, there's nothing I can do about it.

I'm going to curl up in a ball and write. And hide. And not come out.

So I'm giving you: Comfort fic. Soft, fluffy happy stuff.Comic stories. Stories where there's never any doubt of a happy ending.The ones that make me feel good from beginning to end. After all,surely I'm not the only one having a bad day.

Given I oftenwrite to cheer myself up, there are quite a few comfort (nothurt/comfort) fics in the candy box. Here's post number two.

And a comedy tonight!

Breeding Ground Fandom: Stargate Atlantis. Rodney-centric. Gen.
Rodney discovers that there aren't enough women to go around. Oh no! Everyone else just stands back and watches the disaster in progress.

Build Your Own ZPM Fandom: Stargate Atlantis. Rodney, Zelenka. Gen.
A short silly drabble about Rodney and Zelenka nearly blowing Atlantis up. Ha, ha, that was close.

For The Petulant Gods Fandom: Stargate SG-1. Jack/Daniel. NC-17
Really bad sex. Really, really bad. So bad, Daniel starts laughing. Oh, yeah, how do you tell the one you love that, no, this isn't happening.

Cursed Artefacts For Sale Fandom: Harry Potter. Harry/Snape. PG-13
The story I thought sucked when I posted it. I almost posted with an apology. Then proceeded to be deluged with responses. It's been recc'd outside of the HP fandom and even my dad thought it was hysterical.

Ante Up! Fandom: Harry Potter. Fred/George. NC-17
This was in the incest category and should be listed as porn, but mostly, this is about Fred and George's quick-witted quips as they dare each other to cross the line.

Far Too Personal Fandom: Harry Potter. Ron/?. PG-13
Far Too Personal is more fun if you don't know the pairing because Ron places a personal ad -- and someone he knows answers. They arrange to meet and... uh-oh.

Council Of Obvious Edicts Fandom: Harry Potter. Harry/Percy. NC-17
I mentioned this in the crossdressing post, but much of the fun is in Percy dressing up as a woman in order to attend the Wizengamut Council of Obvious Edicts with Harry. Highlights include being cornered into an interview with Rita Skeeter.

Guy Talk Fandom: Harry Potter. Harry/Ron. R
Five teenage boys bragging about their sex lives and Harry's slight exaggerations leave Ron spluttering.

At Fauntleroy and Diagon Alley Fandom: Harry Potter. Harry/Ron. PG-13
Ron takes Harry to the gay neighborhood off Diagon Alley. This leans more towards fluff and romance than humor perhaps.

Rare Scottish Snow Fandom: Harry Potter. Harry/Snape. PG
Snape. Harry. Snowball. You do the math.

First Signs Of Magic: Hermione Granger Fandom: Harry Potter. Hermione-centric. PG
Hermione shows her first signs of magic early. The three bemused Grangers take a trip to Saint Mungo's.


No, really, Icarus, I'm in the mood for romance.

[Kink] [AUs and Crossovers] [Incest]

The comfort list: [Humor]
[Romance] [Happy-place Porn] [Drabble amusement]