Uffish Thought

Dear Awesome Person,

Wow, we have so much more time this year! And yet I still did things at the last minute. /o\ Sorry for any and all sleep-deprived babble in my submission details. Hopefully this post will help? If you don't want details for the fandoms, I've included some general likes and my lone hardline squick below, and then you can do whatever you like.

( The Basics )

If you DO want more details, I'm happy to provide! ( Step into my parlor )

Most of my requests this year are nicely small in terms of canon, so if you get stuck on whatever we matched on and feel adventurous, that's a plus - B13 is two movies, Men in Black is three movies, Bletchley Circle is three episodes. (The Millenium trilogy is not so easy, alas - 3 books, 4 movies, and counting! But well worth the time, IMO) I hope you have fun (especially if it's your first time with Yuletide), thank you so much for your time and your passion for these small fandoms. Hopefully this post will be useful to you in making the process easier.

Previous Yuletide letters, which may have helpful details:
2011
2010

PLEASE TELL SOMEONE IS ALREADY REQUESTING THIS FOR YULETIDE:
Secret Agent Calvin and Hobbes: Meet Dr. Robin

(ooh, bonus motorcycle chase!)

*****

Here, have some links to people being awesome in low-tech ways that they came up with because they loved something:

Tiny libraries around the world

Florida guy who runs coral reef nurseries

Giant rats trained to detect landmines...and tuberculosis

Nine-year-old boy builds a handmade arcade out of cardboard

*****

I'm going to go read ridiculous h/c now. If anyone has any recommendations, I'd be much obliged.

Yuletide is here! I got an amazing story for the film Weekend, which about a man named Russell having a one-night stand with a man named Glen, that turns into something more. It's a stunning little film, far and away my favorite of the twelve movies I saw at SXSW this year - now available on Netflix streaming, thank goodness, because it doesn't have DVD distribution in the US yet.

My gift was you cannot conquer time and it is GORGEOUS post-movie fix-it fic that somehow perfectly captures the characters and the tone of the movie (which I can barely believe the *movie* did, sometimes). Basically: 15,000 words of exactly what I wanted. *g* Yuletide Author, you are the best!

*****

Other awesome stories so far:

Taking The Stairs (Life)
Charlie, Ted, and Tidwell get stuck in an elevator together. I mean - the concept *alone*, right? But it's also a hilarious combination of Charlie in full-on Zen babble mode and some lovely character moments. ♥

The Team Player (Sports Night)
In which Kim is a PR ninja and everyone should worship her in awe. Why are there not already a million fics of this? It's basically canon.

A Madcap Proposal (Lost in Austen)
Post-miniseries, Caroline Bingley and Wickham team up and have Heyer-esque shenanigans in London. All the hysterically catty comments and engagement-of-convenience a girl could want!

In Uniform (B13)
Leito has feelings about Damian in his police uniform. JFC, awesome study of how violence and passion are intricately intertwined in their relationship. And fucking hot.

give me courage not to fear no one (Attack the Block)
Four weapons Moses used, and one he didn't. Why hello there, pitch-perfect Moses voice.

*****

Hey internet, can you recommend some good scifi books of the more lyrical/attention-to-prose/well-written vein? My sister ersatzemma was asking for recs for her boyfriend, but we basically came up with Ursula LeGuin. :| Ya'll can do better than that, I'm sure! He likes the beat poets, if that helps narrow it down any.

I love watching people's reactions to Avatar: The Last Airbender for the first time.

I generally see one of two reactions:
1) they love it immediately
2) they tried the pilot/first few/saw a couple episodes randomly/whatever, but didn't really click, and then a devoted fan got them to start again and by the time they hit the mid-season 1 they were die-hard converts

I've never seen anyone hate the show. Ever.

The latter category's progress is deeply amusing to watch: first, the casual mention of maybe trying the show again. Then, the huh-this-is-better-than-I-remember reaction. Right around mid-to-late S1, they start flailing around in a fit of squee, proclaiming passionate love forever and ever, OMG. And then they pass S2 and 3 in a blur of "Toph! Zuko! Azula! Appa! Iroh! Sokka! Aang! Katara! OMG awesome fight scenes/awesome ladies/awesome story arc/worldbuilding/themes/art/EVERYTHING!"

As they should. ;)

My Yuletide recipient was one of the latter - I was worried she hadn't liked the fic because she took so long to respond, but I tracked down her Twitter and saw, dated Dec 26th:

So I just finished my two-day Avatar marathoning. DO NOT REGRET. AMAZING SERIES IS AMAZING.

and went, "Ohhhhhh."

I did the exact same thing with the first two seasons - though I loved the show instantly and stayed up 26 hours straight [thankfully it was summertime. Hilariously, I got hooked via a discussion of TV's biggest woobies. The poster claimed Zuko had even bigger daddy issues than Dean Winchester, and I went 'Not possible!' But it was too late, I was already curious. For the record: I was so, so wrong. Zuko wins the father trauma contest. All of them. Forever.]

This post is brought to you by sdwolfpup, who recently discovered the show and is making promising vidbunny noises, and drew me to watch the last 40 minutes of the series again with hearts in my eyes.

Is it time for Legend of Korra yet?

Merry Christmas, everyone! Or if you celebrate something else, happy that, or happy December 25th!

I participated in Yuletide this year for the first time - which feels a little embarrassing, since I've been in fandom for almost ten, though I guess Yuletide only started in 2003 - and I received Under, A Study in Emerald fic about Mary Morstan set in 1883. The author did an awesomely creative job with the details of the universe, the dark warping of the canon, and the secondary characters that Gaiman's story left out like Mary and Mycroft, which was exactly what I wanted! There are some great that is such a cool idea moments, and Mary will break your heart. *hugs author*

Hilariously, Lindsey got a Study in Emerald fic for her gift as well, Black Shuck, which is a deeply creepy retelling of Hound of the Baskervilles that had her saying "I really should not have read this at 4am." That's my sister. :D

I beta'd All Fall Down (Life), which is a quietly disturbing genish-ambiguous-Charlie/Rachel story that is not my normal cup of tea at all, but the author's characterization of Rachel is stunning. (and I don't consider this violating the Yuletide secrecy, because I have no previous online connection to the author other than this beta job, so there)

I haven't read much else, between the archive 502s and hosting Christmas at our house, but I highly recommend No Second Coming (The Dark is Rising), which is the post-series fix-it fic I have waiting for all my life. (Well, okay, just since I read the books, but that's still at least a decade.) And it's LONG for the fandom, at 16K. If you like Will/Bran, epic stories, intricate attention to detail, ensemble stories, creative-but-true reinterpretation of canon, Jane being an awesome human being, and/or gorgeous prophetic dreams, go read!

*****

In other news, I'm thinking about disabling the hit counter on my AO3 stories, because it is turning me in a twitchy neurotic mess as I wait for my recipient to comment (ETA: Ahahaha, nm, stalking revealed reason for delay, and it is an AWESOME reason). inmyriadbits can testify. She saved my ass while I was writing my story, as I was editing literally up to the minute the archive closed, with her expert assistance and moral support. I can't credit her on the story yet, obviously, but y'all should know she's a badass, and my story would have been several thousand words and several degrees of quality less without her.

Also: I would die of shock if anyone guesses what I wrote, but if someone does I will write them a story of their choosing. (From beyond the grave, obviously.)

The problem with LJ: We all think we are so close, but really we know nothing about one another. So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.

I've asked enough people questions; I should probably give them the same opportunity. :)

******

Yuletide noms closed yesterday, and all of the fandoms I submitted made it in! In case anyone was curious, they were:
Southland
Life
Korman - I Want to Go Home!
Sayers - Lord Peter
The Pretender
Montgomery - The Blue Castle