2016 Dear Yuletide Writer Placeholder
This is a placeholder for my Yuletide letter; eventually there will be details and such.

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Dear Yuletide Writer 2015
Hi Yulewriter!

After a year away, I've returned to Yuletide and I am SUPER excited about it. And YOU are the charming and delightful person who has offered to write a story for me!

This being not my first Yulerodeo, I'm going to be a bit lazy and pull from some previous letters. Basically, I hope you have fun writing this story and write the thing that inspires you; I'm going to err on the side of giving some guidance though, because that's what I find most helpful when I go to write for my recipients. If none of my prompts strike a spark for you, absolutely go for something that does, I live by the mantra of "optional details are optional."

I always have kind of a hard time talking generally about what I like and don't like, but I thought that I caught it rather well in my 2012 letter:

A few general preferences: I'm open to gen, slash, and het (exceptions where noted), but I'm not a big PWP person; I usually enjoy the "getting there" and the "what happens now that we've gotten there" more than the there, if you know what I mean. But don't feel like you have to fade to black, either; particularly in Vorkosigan or Doctrine of Labyrinths fic, I'm happy to get details!

Some of my fandoms are angsty, but I'd rather not get ALL THE GRIMDARK for Yuletide; feel free to go to an angsty place, but I'd like it leavened with comfort and/or humor.

Random things I like: character studies, canon events seen from a different POV, plotty goodness, 5 + 1 stories, A/Us, witty banter (and meaningful dialogue in general), women being awesome, "strong" characters being vulnerable, quiet characters being strong, platonic friendship being as important as romantic (but I like romance too!), femdom, resolving love triangles with poly, misfits forming chosen families, hurt/comfort... I like the writing style of all of my canons (the ones that have a writing style), but don't feel like you have to pastiche.

And now, on to the fandoms:

Vorkosigan Saga--Lois McMaster Bujold
Characters: Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, Donna/Dono Vorrutyer, Mark Vorkosigan, Kareen Koudelka
My Optional Details: This is definitely an "any of these characters" rather than "all of these characters" request! (Though Cordelia meeting either Donna or Dono would be super entertaining ;)

Some ideas:
Cordelia(/Aral)--the early Regency years
Donna's childhood/early adulthood/the time period immediately leading up to her decision to go Beta for the operation; bonus Byerly and/or Armsman Szabo would be nifty
Post-Civil Campaign Dono's early Counthood & marriage (with Dono/Olivia if you want)
Mark & Kareen's year on Beta (with bonus therapist-supervised BDSM?)

More details in my letter!
Do I have more details?
Well, I hadn't started Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen yet, for one!  I made some sort of gleeful squeaking sound when I hit the spoilery thing in chapter one, so if you would like to write me more about the growth and development  of the spoiler-y thing (particularly during those years when the books were mainly focused on Miles) please feel free!  Or if you want to write speculative future-fic, that's cool too.  If that's not your cuppa, I'd love Cordelia-centric (and obvs I love Aral and Aral/Cordelia too) fic about her early years of adjusting to Barrayar, politics, marriage, and parenting (of a medically-fragile and brilliant Miles and an observant, traumatized Gregor, no less!) all at the same time.  What about flashbacks or snippets of Cordelia's pre-Shards of Honor life or growing-up years. Putting her childhood/adolescence/young adulthood in parallel with Aral's could be super interesting.

I've requested Mark and/or Kareen for several years running in Yuletide, so there are lots of stuff in my past letters about why I think they're great, and there's just so many possibilities with them (growth! angst! fluff! cultural adjustments!) And if you wanted to include say, Cordelia's mom or Elena Bothari-Jesek in a story about them on Beta, that'd be super.

And Donna/Dono, she and he are both the best and I want to know more about them! Their relationship with Byerly (across both genders) is a poignant one for me as well; I'd love genfic about them being found family in the middle of their bio-family, either as children/teens or as adults. What was Donna's relationship with her brother Pierre like? How did Armsman Szabo develop such confidence in her plans? Donna wasn't trans initially (as far as we know); how did she know she could handle the transition psychologically?  I like romantic Dono/Olivia and managing-the-District Dono too.

Green-Sky Trilogy--Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Characters: Any
My Optional Details:

This is a tiny fandom of my heart and I will be super thrilled to get anything in this universe! That said--a few ideas to get you going:

--Post-series Pomma/Teera or gen friendship as they deal with the fallout of book 3.

--Something about the pre-history of this world and how they came to the planet--and maybe how that mutated from history into legend. Or, conversely, something about how their society evolves post-book 3. Worldbuilding, so crunchy and delicious!

aOne of the few things I _don't_ love about the canon is that when the POV shifts away from Raamo, he starts to seem more like a Christ-figure and less like the earnest but very real young teenager he is in book 1; so maybe a missing scene from book 2 or book 3 from his point of view, that shows him as still very much a person rather than a symbol

I also love Genaa, her sharp mind and tongue (and the kindness beneath) and her friendship with Raamo & relationship with Neric; backstory/pre-series fic from her points of view, alternate POVs or missing scenes, or post-series fic (especially post-series fic) would all be great. Shippy or gen is fine.

Additional notes: I'm excited to see that at least a couple of other people are interested in requesting/offering this! Maybe we can make it a Yuletide Thing! I also love the subtlety of utopian and dystopian concepts in this series.  Also, if you matched on something else and want to explore, this isn't a hard canon to pick up, as it's 3 not-super-long children's books, and they're even back in print now!

Tennis RPF
Character: Chris Evert
My optional details:

Tennis (of the 70s/80s Open era) was my first fandom. And I just re-watched Unmatched (the 30 for 30 documentary on Netflix about Chris and Martina Navratilova) and it gave me feels.

I'd be happy with genfic; shipfic (open to a variety; would prefer f/f as endgame) ; AUs (some ideas-- "5 Things That Never Happened to Chris"; AU where Chris is a contemporary player; AU of the space pirate etc variety (I actually think Chris Evert would make an excellent space pirate--nerves of steel on that woman. ).

Feel free to include other players from the 70s through 90s Open Era if you like (Billie Jean King, Jimmy Connors, etc) ; or modern players if you do a modern AU.

Additional notes: In addition to Unmatched, I also highly recommend The Rivals by Johnette Howard.  Basically what I got from all of the above is that Chris Evert's a badass; she did it all while also performing conventional femininity for a public that was still nervous about women in sports, and she also pretty consistently chose tennis over dudes (Jimmy Connors, John LLoyd) though not without some heartbreak. And she apparently could tell a mean dirty joke. She's spoken more recently about sometimes chafing under her public image in the later years of her reign, and she was supportive of gay athletes pretty early on IIRC. Also, I know Martina Navratilova didn't make it into the tagset, but I do like her lots, especially the way her athleticism & emotional openness contrasted with Chris's stoicism and femininity, so feel free to include her if you wanna.

Doctrine of Labyrinths--Sarah Monette
Characters: Shannon Teverius, Enid Lemeria, Mehitabel Parr, Kay Brightmore
My Optional Details:

This is also an "any character" rather than "all characters" situation--though again I think the results would be fascinating if Kay met say--Shannon or Mehitabel.

I'd love either fic about what Enid & Mehitabel & Shannon (& Stephen too although I couldn't fit him into the nominations) are up to post-Mirador or Kay-centric post-Corambis fic (or some combination of the two if you get hit with a fit of inspiration.

If you get a bunny for something during canon or pre-canon that'd be cool too. Regarding Kay--if you decide to do anything with his post-canon arc I'd really like to see him having a good (or at least not-terrible) partnership and working relationship with Vanessa. Likewise I'd like to keep Enid & Mehitabel in a relatively good place.

Additional Notes:  If you (like me) ever wanted more resolution to the Bastion/Titan Clock/Mehitabel's husband plot, feel free to go for it!   Or something about Mehitabel, Enid, and Stephen fumbling their way to some sort of reasonably happy arrangement. And if you write about Kay, I'd be equally happy with genfic (about him getting to know his new community and hanging out with Mildmay, say...) or slow-build Felix/Kay or Felix/Kay/Murtagh if that's what floats your boat. If you wanted to write about Shannon, I love the way he is both genuinely rather shallow at the beginning of the series but genuinely cared for Felix even then, someone who was able to learn and grow, someone who (like Ivan Vorpatril perhaps) had very understandable reasons for staying in the shallows.

So, that was super long! Thanks for reading it, and for loving the same fandoms I do, and writing me a thing!

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Dear Yuletide Writer: 2013 Edition
Dear Yuletide Writer,

I'm so excited about the fact that you're writing me a story in one of the tiny fandoms of my heart! ( Read more about my fandomsCollapse )( Read more...Collapse )

I'm interested in all of the major characters and basically just love this universe. A few ideas to get you going:

Post-series Pomma/Teera or gen friendship as they deal with the fallout of book 3.

Something about the pre-history of this world and how they came to the planet--and maybe how that mutated from history into legend.) One of the few things I _don't_ love is that when the POV shifts away from Raamo, he starts to seem more like a Christ-figure and less like the earnest but very real young teenager he is in book 1; so maybe a missing scene from book 2 or book 3 from his point of view.

Do'l Falla is a great character-gifted, flawed, ultimately trying to set things right. I'd love to see her as a younger woman or maybe interacting with one of the younger characters.

I couldn't fit them in to the character set but I also love Genaa and Neric and their relationship; backstory/pre-series fic from their points of view, alternate POVs or missing scenes, or post-series fic (especially post-series fic) would all be great. Shippy or gen is fine.

Something I forgot to add is that I love how the emphasis on peace and harmony is both partial and incomplete and used to control people--and yet also very meaningful and real.  Something about how their culture both changes and stays the same as the Kindar & Erdlings continue to integrate would be cool too.

I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous (song)--Frank Turner (Any)

I'd love to know more about the characters who are sketched, briefly but vividly, in this song.

Does Justin ever make it big? How did the revolution of English boys with banjos go? What are the dragons that Jay slays? Why is Tre the safest girl the narrator knows?

(And--I love FT but feel free to twit the unconscious misogyny that sometimes slips into his songs!)

Maybe a scene of all of them being in the entourage of a more famous friend? Or just generally bumming around London and making music?

Pretty much sticking to what I said in the sign-ups! And I'll add that this would be a great fandom to pick up if we matched on something else and you're not feeling it, since it's 3 minutes and pretty easy to find.

And Both Were Young--Madeleine L'Engle (Philipa "Flip" Hunter, Paul Laurens, Erna Weber, Collette Perceval)

This is definitely an ANY rather than an ALL request when it comes to the characters I selected.

Ever since I read in Listening for Madeleine (an oral/interview based biography of L'Engle) that Flip Hunter's love interest was a girl in the first draft of this book and an early editor convinced her to change it, I have been craving f/f slash in this universe.

What if Paul Laurens--the handsome, troubled, war-orphan love interest--was Paulette or Paula or Pauline? What changes? What stays the same?

If that doesn't appeal, I'd love femslash with the girls at the school (Erna/Flip or Erna/Jackie) or gen friendship fic. I like all of Flip's girlfriends but I suggested Erna because the book only lightly touches on the implications of Erna being German at an international school almost immediately post-WWII and I think more about that would be interesting.

Or, alternatively, some gen mentor & student interaction between Flip and Madame Perceval. An unrequited crush on Flip's part is fine (it's practically canon!) but I'd really rather not read a teacher/student relationship.

Or...L'Engleverse fans know that Flip becomes a successful artist because one of her paintings plays a role in A Severed Wasp. What happens between boarding school and then? Gen, het, slash or all of the above.

All I really want to add here is that unless you prefer not to know too much about the lives of authors you like (a position I can totally respect!),  if you're a L'Engleverse fan you might want to check out Listening for Madeleine if you haven't already.

Tennis RPF--Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert

Tennis might have been my first fandom--the era I'm interested is the early 80s to early 90s, when I was a kid watching Wimbledon & the US Open with my mom. I always cheered for Martina and Mom always cheered for Chrissy but I loved them both.

I'd love f/f slash with those two, or gen friendship fic if you're uncomfortable slashing the living.

I'll have links in my journal but here are some possibilities:

Late 70s/early 80s when Martina was a new defector and still trying to fulfill her potential.

IIRC, Martina introduced Chris to one of her exes, Andy Mills. What if that had gone a little differently?

Martina wrote in her autobiography that Chris was her rock on her first emotional return trip to Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). Fic with a real sense of place and end of the cold war historical moment would be great.

Martina/Wimbledon. 'Nuff said--especially anything set around her last final against Conchita Martinez. The match is probably available on YouTube--what I love about it is Martina's unabashedly emotional relationship with Wimbledon (and also there's a bit where Conchita's hurt and Martina holds her towel up so Conchita can have privacy from the cameras that just gave me *hearteyes* when I saw it)

Feel free to use major figures from the women's (or men's) tour of that era--Tracy Austin, Hana Mandlikova, Billie Jean King, Steffi Graf etc...

Funnily enough, this is one of the few fandoms where I'd also enjoy a really radical AU, as long as it preserved their characters--Martina & Chrissy as space pirates or Cold War astronauts/cosmonauts would be amazing, f'r instance!

I actually do have a few things to add here--if I remember correctly, the info about Martina & Chris in Czechoslovakia comes from Martina's 1985 autobiography written with George Vecsey. I've not read the 1995 biography  of her, norThe Rivals: Chris Evert vs. Martina Navratilova: Their Epic Duels and Extraordinary Friendship. I just found out about the latter book and it's going on my TBR pile approximately now.

I can't remember the source for this but I'm pretty sure there was an interview where Chris talked about the limitations she felt in the role of "America's Sweetheart" and said that the rivalry between the two of them was always on-court only and they were friends off-court --except for a period when Martina's trainers took 'crushing the enemy'" a bit literally.  ETA:  If this is at all relevant to your interests, you should watch this: http://www.tennischannel.com/news/NewsDetails.aspx?newsid=11023 because Chris putting the Hall of Fame ring on Martina's finger is basically the most adorable thing ever.

And I had a couple more AU ideas: Martina has co-written some mystery novels--what about them as detectives?  Or future fic where they're awesome badass old ladies hanging out together?  They've both gone on and done lots of cool stuff after their initial careers--I could see them going on and doing all manner of cool stuff in the future.

Inquisitor's Apprentice series--Chris Moriarty (Any)

I would be so thrilled with anything in this series! It has great historical atmosphere, character depth, and does diversity right--I'd love to see a fic that builds on those excellent qualities!

Ideas: Sasha, Sasha's dybbuk, and their dark, complex relationship. What happens as the dybbuk becomes more and more a separate individual?

Lily Astral--I'd love to see more of the series from her point of view!

Rosie DiMaggio--I love that she's beautiful, obsessed with inventions and science and absolutely unapologetic about being herself. Anything more about Rosie would be great! And if Rosie were to meet and have adventures with Lily, or with Bekah Kessler, that would be amazing.

I love the entire Kessler family and more scenes of them being awesome and having each others' backs would be awesome.

Maxmilian Wolf--I'd love more Inspector Wolf backstory! Or future fic, or missing scenes from his POV...

Basically sticking to everything I said here! I should add that although I didn't mention him much, Sasha is a great main character and I would also be totally fine with him as the MC in your story.  I tend to see this fandom in a very gen way, but I'd be happy with ships as well (either slash or het, so long as it's appropriate to the characters' ages).  I also love Bella De Serpa (J.P. Morgaunt's mysterious and morally  ambiguous librarian) and Philip Payton (Inspector Wolf's sharp-as-a-tack assistant) so feel free to include or focus on them too! Also, this would also be a pretty easy fandom to pick up if we matched on something else, since it consists of two not-insanely-long middle grade novels.

Psy-Changeling-Nalini Singh (Any)

I'm more into the worldbuilding in this series than I am invested in most of the romance; basically anything that explores some aspect of that will make me happy.

A few things I'm curious about: what is it like to be an ocean-based changeling? a non-predatory changeling? how have the Forgotten's abilities changed?

I love the series but I'm not a super fan of the whole alpha-male/bonding aspects and I like that Singh herself has started complicated it a bit (Riaz & Adria subverting mating bonds, Indigo mating with less-dominant Drew) and I'd love to see that taken further. A vulnerable male (River Shannon comes to mind) and a lone female changeling? The lack of LGBTQ pairings is also noted--feel free to change that.

Some existing characters/pairings I like:

Max Shannon/Sophia Russo--I'd actually love to know how their lives have been going post-Bonds of Justice?

Sienna Lauren Snow--I'd love fic of her hanging out with different members of the pack, basically growing into her role as a kickass leader. I like Hawke but I'd love to see something that focuses mainly on Sienna's evolution.

Alice Eldredge--What happens when she wakes up? (Should I mention that Alice/Amara is my femslash crack pairing?)

Nikita Duncan & Anthony Kyriakus--middle-aged psy love? Or just building an empire"?

Sasha Duncan Hunter--I love her journey throughout the series. Her evolving control of her gifts, her relationship with Lucas, and especially her evolving relationship with Nikita as Sasha becomes a mother herself.

Cade/Tally--I love their roles as mentors to the abused Forgotten kids.

And most of all--what happens when Silence falls?

I forgot to say this explicitly, but I'm totally fine with OCs as major characters in this fandom.

So yay! Thank you for being my writer! It's going to be a great Yuletide!

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Dear Yuletide Writer
Dear Yuletide Writer,

I'm so excited that you're writing for me in one of 4 fandoms that we both love!



I hope the details give you some ideas and places to start, but please feel free to write the story that you want to write, the one that fills you with excitement--whether it's directly from my prompts or not.

A few general preferences: I'm open to gen, slash, and het (exceptions where noted), but I'm not a big PWP person; I usually enjoy the getting there more than the there, if you know what I mean. But don't feel like you have to fade to black, either.

Some of my fandoms are angsty, but I'd rather not get ALL THE GRIMDARK for Yuletide; feel free to go to an angsty place, but I'd like it leavened with comfort and/or humor.

Random things I like: character studies, plotty goodness, 5 + 1 stories, A/Us (of the "one tiny change" variety, as opposed to the "they're space pirates" variety) great dialogue, "strong" characters being vulnerable, platonic friendship being as important as romantic (but I like romance too!), misfits forming chosen families, hurt/comfort...

( Spoilers follow for Chapel Hollow series-Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Seven Realms series-Cinda Chima, Beauty Queens-Libba Bray, Babylon 5Collapse )

In conclusion, yay Yuletide!

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Yuletide!
I have nommed! (Although that makes it sound like I have eaten tasty things, which I have, but that is not the point of this post)

I didn't nominate any unique fandoms, just added additional characters to various character sets.

Babylon 5:

Londo Mollari
G'Kar
Michael Garibaldi
Stephen Franklin (I was torn, because I'm not sure Delenn got nominated in the 4 character set that I saw on the yuletide lj thread; but, although Delenn is indeed awesome, she's also one of the most common focus characters for B5 fic, and I like Franklin and want more people to at least consider writing about him)

Seven Realms series--Cinda Williams Chima.

This is a YA high fantasy series that I'm really into right now, and the 4th and final book comes out at the end of October.
Someone had already nominated the 2 leads (Han Alister and & Princess Raisa ana'Mariana) and a couple of important secondary characters. Chima has a knack that I associate most strongly with J.K. Rowling of being able to introduce a wide and varied cast of secondary character and make want to know more about all of them.

The ones I chose for my nominations were:

Hayden Fire Dancer (bff of Han, has his own secrets)
Digging Bird/Night Bird (childhood friend/former love interest of Han, now pursuing a warrior's path and a relationship with a guy who might be a powder keg waiting to explode)
Lucius Frowsley (a cranky old man who might just be immortal, and the only living person who knows the whole truth about the catastrophe that broke the world 1,000 years ago)
Alger Waterlow (once Lucius's best friend, now he's known as the Demon King, and blamed for all the evils that led to the breaking of the world. But there's a lot more to his story)

Chapel Hollow series--Nina Kiriki Hoffman

I was actually kind of suprised that someone else had already nommed this, but pleased that I got to add additional characters.

I added:

Trixie Delarue (becausely she's a calmly awesome older woman, and hella brave as a person with no powers spending a lot of time with magical folks)
Carroll Bolte (because I'm interested in his damage and redemption story in greater detail)
Rupert Locke (he's just a baby in The Thread that Binds the Bones--how will Tom & Laura change the world he grows up in?)

Unfortunately for things I happen to read/view earlier in the year, my Yuletide nominations tend to be heavily influenced by what I'm finding shiny at the moment. I pretty much knew I would nominate Seven Realms from the beginning, and as soon as I saw Babylon 5 was in this year, I had to enlarge the character set. On my third nomination, I was really torn between Chapel Hollow (which I ultimately chose), nominating more characters for Elfquest (but I decided to hold off on that--I'm not done reading the comics, so I probably wouldn't actually _request_ EQ this year), and doing a completely new nomination for Seanan McGuire's InCryptid series (McGuire/Mira Grant is getting a lot of love this Yuletide, I think it's possible that that series could still get nominated). The Yahoo animated web series, Electric City, which I was considering early on, got dropped because I haven't watched enough episodes yet, as did Terra Nova (since I can't access it for free anywhere right now--not a Netflix subscriber--I know I won't actually request it).

It's not hugely on my radar right now (as in, I'm not actively watching it at the moment), but I do love Homicide: Life on the Street, and I really hope it gets nominated. If it doesn't, I'll nominate it myself next year--and choose Gee, Bolander, Crossetti, and Howard as my character noms, just to be difficult.

I read the first 2 books in Melina Marchetta's Lumatere Chronicles earlier this year, and I remember thinking "Damn, this should be a Yuletide fandom," and now, not recalling that until after my nominations. However, nominating that series is complicated by the fact that book 2 ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, and book 3 is coming out in Australia this fall, but not in the US until next spring--better to save it for next year, maybe, and hope I'll remember.

In other YA book Yuletide news, I'm excited about all the love for Holly Black's Curse Workers series and Michelle Cooper's Montmaray Journals, and wondering if anyone has nominated Libba Bray's The Diviners or Beauty Queens--the latter, especially, is rich with femslash possibilities and ought to make it in on the strength of that alone, IMHO.

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*cough* Is this thing on?
Gakked from likeadeuce:

Character meme from Cornerofmadness. I am going to amend this to say you can comment and ask for a letter OR for 5 questions. Because thinking of letters is hard, I guess?

1. Leave a comment to this post!
2. I will give you a letter.
3. Post the names of five fictional characters whose names begin with that letter, and your thoughts on each. The characters can be from books, movies, or TV shows

So, I told Deuce that if she'd give me a letter I'd post; she gave me "B":

This is hard; for some reason there are not a lot of "B" names in things I'm fannish about. Okay, if first or last name counts...

Tim Bayliss--I still haven't seen all of Homicide yet, but I've been pretty much spoiled for the main points of his arc--still want to watch it play out. In the seasons I've seen, mostly the first two/three, he's an emotional anchor, the person that I connected with right away. He's a newbie, eager to prove himself, and although some of the darker parts of his story are still ahead, one happens right here, and you can see it continue to shape him in those subsequent episodes. His contested friendship with Frank Pembleton is also a touchstone of the show, and rightly considered epic. That said, I wouldn't mind seeing more of how Tim interacts with the rest of the ensemble. Even though I love Tim, I am a tiny bit resentful of how much he (and to some extent Frank) dominate the now-relatively-small Homicide fandom. I still want to read all the awesome stories about Howard (though I did get amazing Howard/Russert not-quite-femslash one year for Yuletide), Gee, Bolander, Crossetti, and the rest of the gang.

Bel Thorne--it (that is it's preferred pronoun) is a Betan herm, a member of an androgynous-looking third sex created by genetic engineering on Beta colony, in Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series. Beta is a very liberal, scientifically oriented society that is both wildly experimental and very orderly in certain ways. Bel is a member of Miles' mercenary crew, the Dendarii and has a poorly-hidden crush on Miles that is neither totally unrequited nor really reciprocated (it's complicated). Later on, it marries Nicol, a woman who is a Quaddie--a member of another genetically engineered race with 4 arms; they seem to be living a pretty happy life in Quaddiespace. Though it's never more than a minor character in the saga, Bel always provides an interesting perspective and in a couple of plots, it's actions are pivotal. Bel has a strong moral compass and abhors slavery and human rights violations; it will put that above most other imperatives.

Brinton Garrett--I absolutely loved the Vesper Holly series by Lloyd Alexander as a kid--still do, really. Brinton Garrett, or "Brinnie" as he is soon known, is the narrator of the series--a quiet, erudite, rather conventional man, at least until he learns that his friend's dying wish is for Brinnie and his wife Mary to become the guardians of his daughter Vesper. "Become the guardians of" actually means "accompany on adventures and help her save the world from Dr. Helvitius. Again". He is an absolute sweetheart. In conclusion, every adventure-loving elementary school girl (and any older person who likes that sort of thing) should go read those books. The first one is called The Illyrian Adventure.

Alfred Bester--He's one of the many awesome characters of Babylon 5, the head of the PsyCorp, the sinister, Orwellian agency that controls telepaths. Bester believes absolutely in the goals of the PsyCorp, believes that it protects telepaths and helps them achieve their highest potential--and the ends justify the means. He does some pretty reprehensible things to that end, but he's always understandable; he's menacing, but also witty and clever. I haven't been able to get past where I am in the series, partly because I'm having a hard time watching one of my favorite characters unravel because of something Bester's done. Oh, and although this doesn't have much meaning to me, since I didn't grown up on original Trek and in fact have never seen much of it--he's played by Walter Koenig, who played Chekhov in the original series.

Benton Fraser--to get the shallow out of the way first, he was my first introduction to the beauty that is Paul Gross. He was also my introduction to the idea of slash in fandom, which was painstakingly explained to me by my college roommate gwynraven, who was a huge fan of the series. I was confused--"they think they're what??" was my response at the time. Then I watched it again, much later--I think either hurry_sundown or kindkit was responsible and I Got It. And eventually bought the DVDs myself ;) Why Fraser? He's heroic, awkward, clever, earnest, lost, snarky, sensual and oddly innocent all at once. That'll do to be going on with.

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AArgh!!!
You know what can make me cry tears of temperish vexation faster than anything and generally reduce me from a (mostly) rational adult to a tantrum-throwing 3-year-old?

Having to assemble furniture.

On this occasion, having to assemble a fan that one has carted home in a taxicab from one's local Target, in a large box that nonetheless did not indicate (or at least not in a sufficiently obvious fashion) that assembly would be required.

Add to that the reason one is purchasing this fan--i.e., it is extremely hot and muggy. At the time one is attempting to assemble this fan (well after dark), it is 80 degrees outdoors and hotter indoors.

Which is why one is purchasing a fan, as one's air-conditioning is broken and one's landlord is refusing to fix it in a timely manner (i.e. he has known about the problem for at least 2 weeks, maybe 3).

All of which pretty much causes one to want to howl and pound one's fists on the floor, or alternatively to wish that one had attended a high school offering something even vaguely reminiscent of shop class.

*This post has been brought to you by the author's recent immersion in a Regency-era fantasy ;) Author of said fantasy is not liable for any annoyance incurred by the readers of this post.

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Writer's Block: I wanna be just like you



When I was a kid, I totally wanted to grow to be either Vesper Holly or Alanna of Tortall.

Now that I'm at least theoretically an adult. I sometimes still fantasize about being Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan when I grow up.

She's about my age in Shards of Honor, the first Vorkosigan book, so I think maybe I still have a chance.

As a librarian, I also find Barbara Gordon/Oracle rather inspiring. She saves the world with information, y'all!

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Writer's Block: Connecting the dots


a.) They suck!

They are vile, time-wasting distractions from real learning; they serve to judge and label kids in ways that may follow them for the rest of their schooling, based on very narrow definitions of what 'intelligence' and 'learning' are.

They can't measure creativity, motivation, emotional intelligence, or any number of other important things, and the all-consuming focus on getting students to do better on these tests sucks all the oxygen in any given room away from things that might actually have meaning to individual students.

Finally, they have fuck-all to do with succeeding in the 'real world.'

b.) In case you hadn't already guessed my thoughts on this: Hell no!

Not that I have strong feelings on this topic or anything ;)

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Dear Yuletide Writer 2010
This is a placeholder for my Dear Yuletide Writer letter. I will try my very best to have it up soon!

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Springsteen + Fandom=Win
So I'm playing Springsteen loud in the living/dining room and doing nerdy dances on the hardwood floors, like I do (at least when my roommate isn't here) and also cooking potato pancakes (which I am probably not paying enough attention to)...

and I started pondering vids to the songs on _Born in the USA_. Now, I realize this is not exactly an original thought, as Springsteen is pretty popular in fandom, or at least in my little corner. I'm one of the more casual Springsteen fans in my fandom friends-group.

I decided that if I weren't too lazy and basically technophobic, I would totally make a Sinclair/Garibaldi vid to "Bobby Jean." It's so perfect. Shots of Babylon 4, shots of Garibaldi waking up from being shot and Sinclair's gone, shots of them being cute in season 1. ANGST LIEK WHOA.

What about "I'm On Fire?" Whatever one chose would have to be CREEPY AND DISTURBING. Although, it occurs to me that a Kara/Lee vid where Lee is clearly the girl and Kara is the narrator would be funny, as well as creepy and disturbing.

Dancing in the Dark? I was thinking of rebootverse!Kirk, but with the line about "little worlds falling apart" I think it could portray him a little unfairly--i.e. as more of an insensitive jerk than he can be at times in canon. On the other hand, maybe it would be perfect for the "Kirk provokes Spock" scene. It's funny; I wasn't immediately fannish about that movie when it came out, and I didn't really grow up with Trek (although I was a casual TNG watcher in high school) but I've been reading some really good fic for it recently.

And "My Hometown"? Perfect for a Homicide vid. Something meta about how the city's dysfunction affects all the characters.

This is a fun game! Feel free to play (with Springsteen songs or otherwise) in comments!

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Dear Yuletide Writer!
Dear Yuletide Writer,

First of all, I'd like to apologize for writing the world's latest Dear Yuletide Writer letter. I have computer access issues this season, I'm afraid.

First of all, write the stories that inspire you. I think I gave about the right amount of information in my details, though I apologize if they were a trifle incoherent. I was pretty ill at the time, and it was also going to be my only chance to sign up. So, if anything beyond the details would cramp your style, feel free to stop here. Otherwise, there will be a lot of babbling about these fandoms and why I love them behind the cut!

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Hurrah!
I'm at spuffyduds and washa_way's house! Much squee has been had, and spuffyduds has actually succeeded in talking me past my mental crafting block and teaching me how to knit!

We're probably doing the classic small-town fireworks display tonight (I think those are the best ones--forget the Mall), and hopefully meeting likeadeuce and her family.

In other news, I was inspired by the "Twitter in Plain English" video on our work intranet, and decided to finally give in and see what it's all about. An early adapter, I ain't.

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I Miss LJ!
So, a few months ago I was feeling kind of over LJ, a little bit. I'd just started a new job, didn't really have time to keep up, and just trying to read my friends-list was feeling like a little bit of a burden.

So when I moved into my new place (and lost access to my old housemates' extra computer), I told myself I could get by with quick email checks at work and I really wouldn't miss it that much while I was trying to save up the money to buy a decent used laptop (which, because of other things, I don't estimate I'll be able to afford until about August).

But Friday night I went over to inlovewithnight's apartment to celebrate her birthday with cake and fangirling. And as LJ names were exchanged and Springsteen videos from the 80s were lovingly mocked, I started to realize that I kind of missed LJ.

And this afternoon, when I had a chance for uninterrupted Internet use at a friend's place, I went to check my personal LJ, which I haven't done in weeks (I've posted to my role-playing ones a couple of times briefly), I realized that I miss it A LOT. I miss the fanfic and the meta and the random thoughts. I miss connecting with geographically distant RL friends. I just miss it period.

And then there was the part where, because I fell upon my friends' internet like a starving wolf on a deer carcass, I missed the last bus to the metro to DC, and had to invite myself to crash at their place. But they're the kind of friends I can do that with, for which I am profoundly grateful.

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Inauguration Day
Obama's speech was good, but I was over in a corner quietly bawling while Aretha Franklin sang "My Country Tis of Thee."

Hearing her linger over the words "sweet land of liberty" was so beautiful, and I could tell that they meant something deeper and more profound to her than they've ever really meant to me. I could hear a depth of years and struggle in her voice.

Plus, she's the Queen of Soul, and it was so neat to hear her take a song that can sound antiquated and make it swing, while still being true to what it is.

Current Mood: hopeful

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Note to Self
Reading your LJ entries when you're up late at night is a bad idea. It will make you miss people.

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Job Starts Tomorrow!
New job starts tomorrow! I'm excited!

I did a trial run of the bus-to-Metro commute last week and it doesn't seem too onerous--it took a little over an hour each way, and wasn't hideously crowded. The only thing I'm not sure about is how it will work if I have to work late, or on the weekend. The northern Virginia extension buses are a different system than MetroBus, and have wonky hours.

I'm going to have to get used to getting up early again though--I've gotten out of the habit.

I do wish I were a little healthier--I'm on my 2nd round of antibiotics for bronchitis and I've been sick for a month. I'm functional, but I feel like an easily-fatigued shadow of my normal self.

I'm also hoping that I'll be able to get down to visit my family, which is by no means guaranteed. Normally it wouldn't be a thing, since I was just there for a whole week around Thanksgiving, but my 90-year-old grandfather is coming up from FL with my aunt and uncle and I don't get to see them nearly as often as I'd like.

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Yuletide
Story is finally done and posted! And I think it doesn't suck! Off to take shower now, since I have been awake for most of the past 24 hours.

I'm considering pinch-hitting. Am I insane?

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SQUEEE!!!
I GOT A JOB OFFER!!

It's for a library associate position at a branch library in the city, working primarily with children and teens, but at a branch you do a little bit of everything.

I start two weeks from Monday.

OMG so excited!

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Somebody Stop Them...
My family is dissecting an episode of The Biggest Loser over Thanksgiving dinner. That show sounds like my worst nightmare.

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