Jeamland

So, less than two weeks after I post bemoaning my inability to understand fanvids, an idea for a vid - song, lyrics, imagery - leaps fully-formed into my head.

I could actually pull this off. Now I just have to learn how. And am I enough of a perfectionist to do good work?

I feel like an inadequate fan for admitting this, but: I don't get fanvids.

Sure, they're often awesome-looking, and technically impressive as hell, and I enjoy watching them. But I realised, upon watching Lim's In Exchange for Your Tomorrows, (a Snape-centric vid recommended eagerly over chunks of my friendslist) that I just don't get the same depth of enjoyment that other fans do.

I suspect that it's because I don't vid myself. I imagine that being a vidder makes you analyse video sources very carefully, and think about the music you're using, and that all the skills and creativity required to create a good fan vid also help you to analyse other people's vids and enjoy them appropriately. I don't have the same eye for visual detail, or storytelling-through-vid-and-music that they do, so I'm unable to enjoy the vids as an educated consumer. So all I can do is go "oooh, shiny", and acknowledge the fact that I'm only appreciating the vids on a fairly shallow level.

That said, I like my shiny. A good fan vid is a thing of beauty, even if I don't know enough to say why it's beautiful or appreciate the subtlety of the vidder's storytelling. I just wish I did.

Okay, yes. I have been a very, very bad correspondent. I apologise. I might be a little more active this year - I certainly hope to be. We'll see what transpires.

Like 1300-odd others, I participated in Yuletide this year, which gave the archive opening on Christmas Day an extra frisson of glee. I've since read just about every fic in every fandom I recognise - or close to it - and have bookmarked my favourites.

You can see my saved faves under the yuletide2007 tag in my fandom del.icio.us. I'd like to do a proper recs list, but I don't think I'll get it done before the author reveal on New Year's Day.

Hello there! I hope you saw my list of prompts and fandoms and were inspired, not terrified. :-)

First of all, I want to say thankyou very much, and I look forward to reading whatever you produce. All the essential stuff is in my original signup, and nothing here is mandatory; I'm just glad you share a fandom or two with me. If you are looking for more information on what I might like, though:

* I'm not really into slash-for-slash's-sake. I don't mind slash if the pairing is logical or inevitable, but I'm not a believer in the fandom trope that boys only sex up other boys, and I'm generally just as happy to see het or gen as I am slash. I'm interested in the characters, not a default assumption of slash, and there are some stories that just work best as het, you know? :)

* I'm not into really miserable angst or grinding despair - if it's going to be dark, give me some leavening touches of humour or hope, please! That said, I don't require all sweetness-and-light la la happy fun times fic either - I'm an adult, and adult conflicts and dilemmas are interesting. :)

* I have a huge embarrassment/humiliation squick. It makes me sad in my pants.

* I'm not a huge fan of some of the less-mainstream fandom tropes: mpreg, wingfic, furries, et cetera, et cetera.

* That said, I'm a big fan of AUs. :)

I can't think of anything else, so on with the fandoms!

The Blues Brothers
I know I said so in the prompt, but I'll repeat it here: pleeeeease don't give me Jake/Elwood incest. Other than that, I just love the world of the Blues Brothers, where everyone breaks into song and then looks vaguely sheepish about it afterwards. I'd love more backstory on Jake or Elwood or anyone in the band; I'd love post-movie fic; I'd love more about Jake and Camille, or Elwood and his ladies. It's all good. :)

Constantine
How is it fair that this is a 'small fandom'? Sheesh. :)
I'm not a fan of Chas, nor Balthazar; everyone else is deliciously awesome, John most of all. The setting is fascinating, so I'm happy with plotty occulty gen, or the other characters are good, too. There are so many stories there.

The Fifth Element
This is one of my favourite movies of all time, and to be honest I'd be happy with anything here. What did Leeloo do before the Mondoshawans crashed and she woke up in the reactor? What did Leeloo and Korben do afterwards? What else has Korben done in his rather full, exciting-sounding life? :) Het, gen, slash; I'm happy with anything, I just want to see more of this magical world. :)

Julian May - the Saga of the Exiles/the Galactic Milieu
If you chose this prompt, you don't need me to tell you what's awesome about it. I especially love Rogi, Aiken, Marc (oh, Marc), Jon, Denis, Mercy-Rosmar, Felice, Culleket... it's all good. I'd love to see more of Tanu society (although they're the only exotics I'm really interested in); more about the Milieu or the Rebellion or that tense, frightening pre-Milieu time of Intervention. I'm really not into Remillard incest slash (no Marc/Jon ta very much! :)) but other than that, there are so many complex and awesome characters here to play with.

I'm so excited! I can't wait for Christmas. :)

-Eleanor

I'm currently working on a last-minute fic for a Secret Santa exchange. I'd already written my contribution, but it was saved to the hard drive of my now-non-functional computer. Not good.

So I'm writing a backup story, so my recipient doesn't go giftless for Christmas. Unfortunately the story's turning out to be about four times as long as I expected, so I have a nasty feeling I won't get it submitted by the time the last stories are posted. Grrrgh.

*write*write*write*

These are generally the long, delicious, plotty fics that just sucked me into this fandom. Most of these are stories I read very early in my pursuit of SGA fics, and they've stuck with me.

None are major AUs; some have become AUs thanks to being jossed (notably due to changes with Lt Ford in season 2). All are McKay/Sheppard and/or gen. Most are set in or based on Season 1; Season 2-related fics are marked accordingly.

# Transcendental by astolat. This is possibly my favourite fic in the fandom ever. It's an excellent exploration of the conflicts between McKay and Sheppard, personally and professionally; the plot is compelling and it's just all-around delicious.

# Abstain by resonant8. This is one of those fics that's recced absolutely everywhere, but I have to add my commendations. This is the fic that got me into SGA in the first place; it turns the Aliens Made Them Have Sex cliché on its head. It's funny and bittersweet, and chock-full of snark to boot.

# A Beautiful Lifetime Event by astolat. This is my feel-good SGA fic, although it's not schmoopy or saccharine. It's a relationship in reverse, and it's long and tasty. Plus it features John-and-Rodney-back-on-Earth, which is one of my bulletproof plot loves.

# Double Occupancy by isiscolo. This is a recent fic and oh, lord, is it good. It's like Duet, only better - and was written before the episode, even. It's smart, and funny, and poignant in places, and examines a core sci-fi cliché with a new perspective.

# Such is the Way to the Stars by agentotter. This one's much shorter than the other recs here, but it's so awesome I couldn't skip it. It's a gen piece looking at McKay and Sheppard's friendship, and it just oozes characterisation and snark and perfect voices.

# Down to You by mousewitchy. This fic is like four little chunks of pure perfection. It features an entrancing Original Character (Rodney's sister Jeannie), plot, backstory, and delicious banter. I have so much love for this fic.

# Face Value by minnow1212. Another fic that handles a cliché superlatively well. McKay develops telepathy, and it's hard to tell if it's harder on him or the rest of the population. I love the Rodney-voice in this fic; there's a lot about him that rings very true.

# Advantage by resonant8. Hilarious and bittersweet and heartbreaking in places. This is another tasty long fic, and there's one scene in it that's the epitome of everything I love in fic.

# About a Lamp by flambeau. Life on Atlantis just keeps getting better and better... even if some of the decor does keep doing inexplicable things. This is subtle and clever, and features such a lovely slice of life on Atlantis.

# Intersections by kaneko. It explores the fact that John Sheppard had been in McMurdo for eleven months before the series started. Long and tasty.

If I were including AUs, I'd have to list:

Hindsight by rageprufrock. John/Rodney, in an AU where Sheppard's not in the Air Force. Rodney is absolutely spot-on perfect, and Pru's John is fascinating and twisty and very real.

Hostage by Danvers. Part of the Five Ways John and Rodney Never Met series of AUs; exciting plotty adventure-fic with an interesting taste of the characters as well. This story feels like an action movie, in all the best ways.

Heat by Danvers, also part of her AU series. Intense and 'romantic' without being saccharine or, in fact, comfortable. The ending leaves you surprised and gasping.

Just an FYI: I have finally slapped up an archive for my fanfic - Colloquy. There's not much there at the moment, but that'll be the main spot to find it all in future.

Originally posted to sga_flashfic here for the Darkness challenge under amnesty

Pinpricks by eleanorjane
Rating: G
Category: gen
Word Count: a teeny 600-word ficlet
Spoilers: Episode tag for 2x02, "The Intruder"
Summary: Even for an astrophysicist, stars aren't meant to be this close.

Disclaimer: Characters: not mine. Don't sue, I'm poor.
Notes: Originally a concept for the Darkness challenge, which mutated totally after seeing The Intruder. Unbetaed, since I'm still looking for an SGA beta and wanted to get this in before the deadline. [Which I've probably missed, but my time-zone-fu is weak.]

~*~

(Rodney knows he's babbling.)

I just finished watching the new Battlestar Galactica miniseries, and I feel the strong urge to write fic for it. More particularly, Starbuck/Apollo fic, since there were all kinds of interesting dynamics there that just beg to be explored. I wonder if anyone else writes new-era BSG fic?

Wow. That was /cool/.

The latest New Weekly in Australia (oh, and what a fine organ of journalistic integrity it is) featured a number of quotes by various LotR cast folks about making the movies.

( Details. )

Then again, given that this is the rag that claims that Viggo has a hopeless love for Gwyneth Paltrow and has ever since they filmed A Perfect Murder together, and that he's heartbroken over her marriage to Chris Martin, I'm not quite sure just how much I trust them.

This essay nicely sums up my feelings on LotR fanfic. I just can't buy it, when it's dealing with relationship issues. I grew up understanding the way Tolkien viewed sex and relationships, since I've been reading LotR for nearly two thirds of my life now; I read the books time and again, and, at heart, I accept Tolkien's interpretation of their romances and lack thereof.

It still strikes me as weird, though, that I can happily read Hobbity RPS, but not FPS. But it's just the way it is.

My first released fic, in response to minisinoo's Powerswap challenge. Enjoy.

(And huge thanks to the lovely cupiscent, beta extraordinaire.)

(Trapped in the Ice)

I've been an enthusiastic fanfic reader for a couple of years now - it was cupiscent that got me hooked, with her Scott/Ororo XMMV fics.

I've often contemplated writing fic of my own, but I never have, until now - it always seems that I'm late to a fandom, and by the time I'm comfortable enough with characterisation to write, someone else has already written all the good stories. And my writing's not good enough -- yet -- that people would read my stories /just/ for the prose.

However, I've got a few ideas floating around that are going to have to come out sooner or later. It may as well be sooner.

Feel free to friend me, if you want to keep up with what I'm doing. If I don't already know you, please do drop me a line so I can get acquainted. :)

For those of you who don't already know, my main journal is at ladyjestyr; general mutterings about my life will continue to be posted there, so there's no need to unfriend it. Really. *g*