pink bows and the apocalypse

This is not the apology for not posting or replying to comments and emails / update on my life that I owe everyone. Look for that later this weekend. For now, icons.

20 Attack the Block icons for character20n20

Teaser:
. .
( icons under the cut )

No, the post I made yesterday wasn't just to break up the string of big bang posts. It simply happened to work out that way.

Fic: Wend and Repeat (Until True) by novembersmith
Fandom: The Social Network
Pairing: Mark/Eduardo
Summary: In which Mark accidentally puts a claim on Eduardo's soul, loses Eduardo, and then goes to the Underworld to get him back. Includes meddling spirits, Eduardo as a captive, mute audience to Mark's recaps of their personal history, and absolutely no maenads.

Note about the art: One of the elements I played with was modern vs. antique. I wish I could tell you all about the traditional art I used, but truth be-told I simply did a Google Image search.

Teaser:




( a rather random assortment of art under the cut )

( the mix! warnings for country, indie and other assorted genres )

This is the last big bang post you will see from me for awhile, as I am not currently lined up to do any more. Thanks to novembersmith for just being generally awesome and amazing and appreciative and wonderful and such as well as the mods for running an awesome challenge.

My first big bang post of the year, for thesocialbbang.

Creating art for this fic was so much fun, despite, or maybe because of, the limited time frame we had for this round. (See: my love of pinch hits, deadlines etc. Makes things exciting. I actually had these done within 48 hours of getting the fic.)

Hopefully it doesn't disappoint!

Fic: And I Will Hold On
Author: venus_aurea
Fandom: The Social Network
Pairing(s): Eduardo/Mark
Warning(s): deals with mental health issues
Summary: AU. When Mark mysteriously disappears one morning, Eduardo begins to question his own sanity and starts to see a therapist, hoping to figure out the puzzle of his relationship with Mark.

( and now for the art! )
( mix covers! )
( tracklisting! )

ETA: Fic is now up. Plus, now I have an appropriate icon.

remixing:2011

I love reading about the remixing process so I thought I’d put in my two cents. This year I wrote four: one assignment, one pinch hit and two madness. However, I think only two of them really worked as remixes.

I took different approaches to how I actually went about remixing each of them

First up, the Madness fics.

friend of mine (the guess what, i'm not a robot remix) (1644 words) by kristin
Fandom: Social Network (2010)
Relationships: Eduardo Saverin/Mark Zuckerberg
Characters: Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin
Summary: Okay, maybe that should have been Dustin's first clue that something was wrong. Because A) Mark could do his own research and B) well, when had Mark ever wanted to know anything about another person? A friendship found in texts.
I wrote this in about an hour on the last day, right before I was due at work. It is a remix of no child of mine, aka the epic hooker!fic/stalking!fic/bamf!wardo!fic. I had read it before and was looking for an excuse to write TSN fic, so I was thrilled when ninhursag signed up for Remix Madness.

As for the process of remixing, it basically went, well, I don’t have time to tell Wardo’s part of the story (though I really wanted to) but wait, outsider PoV!

Naturally, given how quickly I wrote it, it was my most popular fic this year. I like it when people read my stuff, so I was delighted to watch the hit count go up and up.

However, it really really doesn’t work as a remix.

No, Seriously.

One of the main criteria for remixes, in my opinion, is that it can stand on its own. It should tell a similar story, and draw from the original, but at the end of the day, if it can’t be read and understood on its own, well, it is just a sequel/missing scene/extension of the original. For it to be a remix, you should be able to read either one first.

So while I had fun writing Dustin and Wardo texting each other, I am annoyed at how far off the mark I was.


sleep apraxia (the land, sea and sky remix) (1160 words) by kristin
Characters: John Watson, Sherlock Holmes
Summary: “This is just so-” John paused, quite obviously searching for the right adjective. Interesting. His face was, almost impossibly, more open this way. Expressions exaggerated rather than drug dull. Atypical. (Must keep that in mind for assessing other reactions.) “Sherlock.” Three times Sherlock slept in a moving vehicle.

On the other hand, this fic does work, at least in my mind. I remixed saraht’s recreational aphasia, which is a lovely quiet little fic from John’s POV. I had never written Sherlock fic before, and I knew I wanted to write from Sherlock’s PoV, so this worked perfectly.

Now as I mentioned, I have read a bunch of remixing meta in the past. One of the best bits of advice I took was to take something away from the original, but then also add something new. In this case I took away John’s PoV and added two additional times Sherlock slept.

Not anything groundbreaking or wonderful, but I think this fic worked well enough.


Wait for the Sunrise (The Quantum Entanglement Remix) (1193 words) by kristin
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: River Tam, Zoe Washburne
Summary: At the end of the 'verse, River has a conversation with Schrödinger's cat.

For my pinch hit I a remix of Strength of the World by escritoireazul.

The alternate title of the fic should be: How Kristin Confused Herself.

So, I initially planned on writing from the PoV of the cat. However, when I was rereading the fic, I realized that the cat wasn’t real, or maybe it was. I went back, reread it yet again and still couldn’t figure it out.

From there it was obvious there had to be at least a mention of Schrodinger. And... well, after that, it was taken care of it really was just a simple PoV switch. As to the cat, still no clue if it was a metaphor, real, Serenity, a communal madness.


There is No Relativity (The Fright Fest Remix) (2974 words) by kristin
Fandom: Veronica Mars (TV)
Characters: Wallace Fennel, Veronica Mars, Lilly Kane
Summary: “You know you are my best sidekick.” Wallace paused while Veronica settled back down onto the couch. “At least until I build that robot.”Veronica Mars watches horror movies with her BF(F).

Lastly, though it was first written, there is my assignment fic, a remix of azurejay’s Our lives will not flash before our eyes.

I lucked out on my assignment this year. There were 5+ fandoms xe had written in that I knew. I decided to go through them all systematically, and I actually did. I started a txt document where I copied the info of all fics I liked/thought I could remix and made notes there.

But for all of that, I still remixed the first fic I read. (I blame fandom march madness, as it had rekindled my VMars love.)

I knew I wanted to write Veronica&Wallace fic, so I jumped right in and wrote about them hanging out and discussing their lives as movies, which is a scene that is briefly mentioned in the original. (Sidenote: this was the first fic where I wrote all the dialogue first, then went back through and added tags. Not quite sure I liked that approach.) I finished it pretty quickly and merrily sent it off to be betaed.

If you like this fic, you should praise snow. Because she read through the fic and informed me it didn't work and, most importantly let me know what the fic needed, aka Lilly.

The thing is, I am still not 100% sure this works as a remix either. I am not sure it relates enough to azurejay's awesome original.

number of fics: 8
number of fandoms: 7
total wordcount: 22.5k words
number of pictures created (for myself and others): 4


I wrote, well, quite a few Yuletide fics. I’m going to go in more detail on the individual fics below, but it was interesting experience.

Assignment: Phalangeridae Didelphimorphia (or an Opossum’s Adventure) (Fantastic Mr. Fox)

My assignment was for a Fantastic Mr. Fox fic for Satchelfoot. They didn’t include any details, or put up a letter, which made things interesting. They did, luckily, use the Gen tag in addition to the characters (Kylie, Badger & Coach Skip) so I didn’t end up stressing about writing a threesome between an opossum, badger and … whatever the coach is. Instead I just wrote a gen adventure in which Kylie goes on a quest to find the wolves.

I spent a lot of time figuring out exactly what I was going to do with this one, rather than actually writing it. It was my first Yuletide assignment with no details, so I had to just guess what my recipient would like. I also had an issue in that when I offered this fandom I didn’t realize how much of love of this fic is about the visuals. I love the characters and the whimsical plot, but really; I see this fandom rather than hear it, and had a hard time getting the visuals across in my fic.

I also included two images with that fic (under the cut at the end of the post) illustrating two of Kylie’s dreams. I did this mostly to make up for my lackluster prose.


Pinch Hit Number One: Bordellos, Brothels and Berries, Oh My! (Pushing Daisies)

OK, so here is something you need to know about me. I am a pinch hit addict. I can’t help it. I see the emails come flooding into my inbox and I click reply as quickly as I can. The first pinch hit I picked up was very early in the process, which gave me time to write this a Pushing Daisies fic for hllangel.

This fic was notable for two reasons: A. It is very much NOT GEN. (My first non-gen fic!) B. I managed to make it exactly 6666 words. (Unintentional? Yes. Awesome? Also yes.)

I love Pushing Daisies and had fun mimicking the narrator voice. It is the fic I fretted over the most, because it was so very far out of my wheelhouse. I am not sure the emotional resolution happens, or if my fade-to-black was satisfying. Also, now I can’t say I’ve never written anything but gen.


Pinch Hit Number Two: Honey Pie (Pushing Daisies/Telephone music video)

So yes, I also wrote this year’s crazy crossover for ladyofjest, which is a Pushing Daisies mash-up with Lady Gaga’s Telephone video. My rationalization? They are both bright, colorful, over-the-top with occasional song and dance bits. (Also, when I snagged the pinch hit I realized I could do either and couldn’t decide.)

Now, I knew I wanted to write Emerson fic. Not only because Emerson is awesome, but because I had been failing to write much that fit the dark_agenda challenge. I already had been working on my Pushing Daisies narrative voice for the previous pinch hit, so I knew I was going to use that. From there, this was actually pretty quick to write. I banged it out over the course of a couple days and am pretty satisfied with it. (I am, however, ticked that I misspelled a main character’s name through out. Honey B, no Honey Bee, self!)


Pinch Hit Number Four: Just Moments (Mad Men)

(Yes, I can count. I just want to discuss the third one a little later.)

This was a very very very last minute thing. I have said before I don’t feel the need to read or write Mad Men fic. And for the most part, that remains true. But a couple hours before the collection closed, elyn sent out last frantic pinch hits, including one for bowdlerized, who wanted “I'm interesting in seeing Don and Rachel Menken together again--either in a flashback or in the future, if you can find a way to wrangle it. If that doesn't appeal, I also love Don and Peggy's working relationship, and I love Joan, too. In general, I'm most interested in life at Sterling Cooper (Draper Pryce) and not at home..” And I thought, I can do that.

So I did. I wrote a 5 Times fic about Peggy and Don and the growth of their relationship. (OK, really, mostly just Peggy.) It is rather sparse, as my fics tend to be anyway, but due to time constraints it was especially abbreviated. But I think I did well enough under the circumstances. But this is one I would love to expand at some point, if only so you can tell who is saying what.


Treats 1&2: Waiting to Play, Practical Legends (The Wire)

I am sure you are all suitably shocked. *crickets*

OK, yes, I realize I am not subtle. There was no chance in hell I wasn’t going to write Wire treats for mjules and novembersmith. I suggested (forced) both of them to start watching the Wire as well as to request it. ILTHEM FOR THAT (as well as just in general.)

Jules wanted high school Bunk and Omar and so she got them! My darling huckleberry wanted Omar and Ziggy and so she go them! (See, you should watch the Wire, yes you, so you too can get what you want.)

Both of these were quick things. I actually started and finished both of these on the same day. There is not really much to say about them.


Treats 3: Fine Dining in Baltimore (The Wire)

You know who is awesome? Elyn is awesome. everywherestars is awesome. I couldn’t choose who to write for, so I wrote this fic for both of them. Again, this was a last minute thing written on the 20th at about 3am. (I wrote an awful lot that day.)

It is a 5 times Wire fic featuring four times meals were missed and one that wasn’t. I still haven’t decided if the last section is ridiculous or awesome. Again, I wish I had started writing this, say, oh, at the beginning. Because each section is so short. If I had time there would be more letters of the alphabet and more fully realized scenarios rather than the tiny snippets.

There is actually a lot I was trying to do with this stylistically, that because of the time management issues I was not able to work in. The alphabet thing (the POV characters are in alphabetical order), the no one actually eating etc. Originally, all the vignettes were meant to tell the story of Randy’s death. But I never actually managed to get that plotted well enough to include it.


Pictures!!! aka Something I don’t suck as much at!

Click to be taken to the full sized images
( fantastic mr fox )

( haven: for novembersmith )

( love, actually: for mjules )


Pinch Hit Number Three: Meta Yuletide Fic (The Fic You Wish Your Fic Smelled Like)

So yeah. That happened?

Seriously, I am so overwhelmed by the response to this fic. I have never ever received so much fannish love at once. (I am predicting that most people will see who wrote it will go: Who? Or maybe: The crazy Wire lady?) I am not going to lie. When I came up with this idea I knew it would get hits. I just wasn’t sure people would actually like it rather than just wanting to see the train-wreck.

You know how people are always talking about who the most popular this is the quickest thing they wrote? Yeah. That was completely the case for this one. I sat down, typed it up and had it done within a couple hours (except for the footnotes which were a later addition).

But I am thrilled with the response (and I’ll admit, a little scared by it). So:

Hello, Yuletiders. I see you have descended on my journal of thoughts and icon thingies. Are you here to see me write things for you while whistling a tune that perfectly mimics the song of that rare bird you once saw a television special about? Or do you come to witness the perfection I render in pixels of the icon variety while baking cookies that melt in your mouth with bursts of the flavor of awesome?

Oh, it doesn’t matter. I am here (and, I suppose, you are too.). Let us go forth with the merry making and fresh water fish.

So many deadlines this month! I am trying to get some out of the way, so here are my rather early icons for character20n20. This is my first time participating in this, so let's see how it goes. I chose to icon Carver, who is not so secretly (one of) my favorites.

Teaser:

. .

( all 20 under the cut )

Comments are lovely, credit attempt_unique/kristin if you snag.

Here is the accompanying mix I mad for werewolfbigbang. I have listened to these songs far too often over the past couple weeks and hope you enjoy it as much I do.

( tracklisting and mix covers under the cut )

It's Yuletide, baby! Nominations are open once again. Last I checked there were already over 3450 fandoms nominated which is just crazy sauce. My nominations are in though I am not going to list them because in all likelyhood I am going to change my mind and redo them sometime over the next few dates. (But don't despair, The Wire will stay on that list hell or high water.)

In other news, I unlocked some art last week. I had posted it awhile ago so it probably didn't show on your flist/circle, so you should go tell me it is pretty. It is my fifth Supernatural big bang of the year which is more than a little ridic. I have one more SPN art post to go this week, plus a Gabriel Knight post (no, I have never played it) in less than a month then I think I will do a roundup post of all my big bang art for the year, because there is a fuckton of it.

Lastly, I am so freaking psyched for the Mad Men season finale tomorrow.

These are the graphics and fanmix I made for my first claim in the deancasbigbang big bang.

Fic: Burning the Days
Author: temporalranger
Pairing(s) Dean/Cas
Fic Warnings: references to Hell, light bloodplay, minor language
Summary: When Dean and Cas show up in time to stop Sam killing Lilith, Team Free Will are all set to settle back into a life of saving people and hunting things - but nothing's perfect. Dean's a jerk who can't keep it in his pants; Cas feels there's plenty of room in his for the both of them. Sam's sure you can't be fuckbuddies with an angel and he's going to prove it - just as soon as he finishes scouring his eyeballs with soap.


But when Cas becomes Heaven's Most Wanted and the cops figure out the boys aren't as dead as they should be, Dean and Cas may prove to be both more and less obtuse than expected.

Note:
Click images to see them full-sized (dimensions are listed). Also, there are some spoilers for the fic below.

Teaser:


( the rest is under the cut )

A couple days ago I got an email from the spn_j2_bigbang mods that a fic had been posted, but the artist never posted their art. As I am helpless to ever say no (see the year I betaed 20+ fics for Yuletide) I agreed to pinch hit. This isn't my typical style, as it isn't a fic I would normally choose. But it was an interesting experience!

Fic: Supanachuru*
Author: seraphim_grace
Pairing(s): Gen with references to Wincest fanworks
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The second gospel has appeared to the Winchesters via bootleg from Chuck: an anime.

*I realize I spell the title several different ways in the art. I was confused too, but apparently there are a few correct variations.
( art under the cut )