silver

So a few things:

1. I'm running an exchange with jadelennox, called Lost Library (h/t to morbane who named it!) and which is for writing excerpts of works mentioned in canon, but never made. Think Averil's Atonement, that sort of thing. If you think that'd be up your alley, nominations are open! Here's the link: http://invisible-ficathon.dreamwidth.org/9228.html

2. I went to the symphony yesterday to hear Mussorgsky and it was really good! We sat near the double bass and there were like seven of them and oh boy, you can hear them good from there. I think they would make great backings for sepulchral sounds (though I think they form the backbone for most orchestral things.) I really like programmatic symphonies - where the music paints a picture - and this one was excellent. The music for the gate of Kiev is such a great way to end it! The one part I thought was weird was the one where the troubadour is serenading his beloved - some of that sounded downright creepy. There was also a Liszt concerto and I discovered that in fact I don't hate all concertos, I just really dislike Rachmaninoff. Liszt's concerto was extremely virtuostic (no surprise there!) and lively and the interaction with the symphony was really great - sometimes you get concertos where the orchestra really has to back off to let the piano play and so it's less satisfying. There was also Berlioz's Corsair, which was such a fun romp. At this point, where Berlioz goes, I'll follow...

The other thing that happened at the symphony is that a girl down a few seats fainted sometime during the piece. During the unofficial intermission so the piano could be brought out, her boyfriend (?) half-carried her out D:

I also went last week to see Verdi's Requiem which was in one word FABULOUS. It was incredibly operatic, actually, and the tenor especially did a lot of gesturing with both arms (although personally I wondered at his diction. Maybe it was because of my seat, which was almost over the orchestra on the balcony, so the sound was directed away, but a lot of his consonants were inaudible.) Also, for a requiem, it was very - irreverent? It ended with "Libera me"! Not even a single amen anywhere! The mezzo and soprano were really good, and the parts (in the sequence, I think) where they sang together they actually sounded good - sometimes you get weird friction when the vibrato interacts. And the dies irae was stunning. After its introduction at the beginning of the sequence, it was immediately recognizable when it popped up. Even without knowing it's a dies irae, you know it's heralding the apocalypse!

I wonder if there are musical settings of dies irae that preserve the meter of the poem? I guess that wouldn't leave much rhythmic freedom, but when you read it you can see how it would really bowl along. "Mors stupebit et natura/Cum resurget creatura,/Judicanti responsura." Something like the rhythmic speed of Carmina Burana.

3. I finally got over myself and re-read The Silver on the Tree (I re-read the other four much earlier, but I was putting off the last because it's the last! and then there would be no more!) and ahhhhhh. I'm not going to go into what I love about the book (I love everything, and you know the Mari Llywd is terrifying) but instead I am going to say that the part with John Rowlands ( SPOILERS )

From sherrilina:

Hit me up with any of my fandoms and I'll tell you:

my "FOREVER" pairing
my "sometimes" pairing (if i'm in the mood)
my "friends-with-benefits" pairing
my "adele” pairing ("WE COULD HAVE HAD IT AAAAAALL")
my "hate sex” pairing
my "working on it” pairing
my favorite threesome / poly ship
my platonic "their friendship is too precious to mess it up with romance" ship
my "i love it but don’t want it to happen" pairing
my "it started out crack but now it's serious and i regret everything" pairing
my endgame pairing
my "across time and space they will always find each other" pairing
my "settling for second choice" pairing
my "I don't want to ship it but I do" pairing

(and for easy copying in comments):
<strong>my "FOREVER" pairing</strong> <strong>my "sometimes" pairing (if i'm in the mood)</strong> <strong>my "friends-with-benefits" pairing</strong> <strong>my "adele” pairing ("WE COULD HAVE HAD IT AAAAAALL")</strong> <strong>my "hate sex” pairing</strong> <strong>my "working on it” pairing</strong> <strong>my favorite threesome / poly ship</strong> <strong>my platonic "their friendship is too precious to mess it up with romance" ship</strong> <strong>my "i love it but don’t want it to happen" pairing</strong> <strong>my "it started out crack but now it's serious and i regret everything" pairing</strong> <strong>my endgame pairing</strong> <strong>my "across time and space they will always find each other" pairing</strong> <strong>my "settling for second choice" pairing</strong> <strong>my "I don't want to ship it but I do" pairing</strong>

[Poll #1957299]
ETA: I knew there was a category I missed! RPF!! (thank you littlerhymes, I completely forgot).

NOTE: This poll is conducted using a convenience sample. Any statistics calculated cannot be used to extrapolate population characteristics.

I ALWAYS FORGET

*Georgina Kincaid (Carter, Georgina, Roman, maybe Peter and Cody?)
*The Dragon Rider (Firedrake, Ben, Sorrel, Nettlebrand, Professor Greenbloom, Twigleg, so many)
*The Seventh Tower (Tal, Milla, Great-Uncle Ebbitt, Spiritshadows?)
*The Ragwitch (Julia, Anhyvar, Mirren, Paul, Leasel, the Patchwork King, Quigin, Tanboule)
*Kushiel's Legacy
*Shades of Grey - Jasper Fforde (Jane Grey, Eddie Russett, Holden Russett, The Apocryphal Man, Lucy Ochre, Mrs Lapis-Lazuli, Violet deMauve, Travis Canary)
*Jedi Apprentice - minus Obi-Wan Kenobi & Qui-Gon Jinn

I put up a stocking! It has so many exclamation marks and repetitions of the word "love" that it's faintly ridiculous, but I CARE NOT. I requested Kushiel's Legacy, Hawk of May, The Seventh Tower, The Ragwitch, Harry Potter (book or movie), and Marvel Cinematic Universe. *flutters eyelashes*

If you've never heard of the fest, it's a wonderful, low-pressure fest where people put up stockings, and other people write, make art for, or source stuff to "stuff" them. I put up one last year and got fic snippets, icons, and lots of sweet wishes, all from complete strangers. There's no limitation on fandoms/fandom sizes, so I encourage you all to sign up! The exchange opens after yuletide, too.

--

I also put up a post on kushielexchange for beta readers. If any of the Kushiel's Legacy fans on my flist were too busy/didn't want to do an exchange but did want to get involved, betaing would be awesome! This year it looks like the participants are all writers, so it'd be an editing proposition. Here is the post: http://kushielexchange.livejournal.com/2895.html

*tunes her foghorn*

I'm thinking of setting up a Kushiel's Legacy fic/art exchange with kmo_lj. If you haven't seen the entry yet, I've put up one to gauge interest: http://kushiel-trilogy.livejournal.com/269713.html Please come on over and give me your opinion!

Panfandom chat, spun off from FFA: allfandom_chat! So far so good (yay book discussion!) and I'm enjoying seeing all the icons.

So one of the lovely things about calligraphy is the ability to make really! fancy! signatures! I've been working on mine but sadly I cannot show you it because a) it's my name and b) I still haven't figured out how to fit in my last name. The capital letter is clashing with everything else. (I wish it started with A, or M, or L. I can deal with those!)

Instead I've taken to doodling characters' names on the scrap piece of paper on my desk I keep there for that purpose. I'm really pleased with how Amarante's name and byname come out (Amarante de Namarre); like I said before, I like capital A's! But I don't think the thing I've worked out suits Amarante; I just think it is pretty. I don't think she would really spend the time to do it.

But Lucius Malfoy--I think he'd have the ridiculously curlicued monograms and signatures. Don't you? Yaxley: "Peacocks..."

( I'm a fan of clean lines (three images below and commentary on HP and KL and calligraphy) )

So a couple of weeks ago Amazon announced that they are allowing the sale of fan-written fiction (fanfic, fanfiction, fic, ficcies¹, etc) for select fandoms through their site. Here is the announcement: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1001197421

A lot of people have talked about this. I found out on f_fa, thought that someone was pulling my leg, but nope, it's true. Here is Scalzi's thoughts on it, which come from the perspective of someone who has been published and knows a little about contracts for writing, more than fic writers probably do: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/05/22/amazons-kindle-worlds-instant-thoughts/

Right, so I'm not even going to touch the fan side of it, except to boggle: I can't believe it's happening! Just like I was surprised at the mainstream-ing of Fifty Shades of Grey, I can't believe that fic is getting out there like that. Holy cow!

No, my main thought is: who's buying²?

( Like I said, I don't get where it's coming from )

---

¹ *giggle*

² In case you ever wanted to know, yes I do spend a lot of time learning/thinking/talking about economics.

smallfandomfest has closed prompting and is accepting claims/writers are posting already! Here is the post for claiming, though you're not obliged to claim in order to fill.

For this round I put up a bunch of wildly different prompts (I can never remember what I wanted when it's time to prompt!) they're visible under "Kushiel's Legacy (Jacqueline Carey) here.

Review of Freakonomics is delayed because I need to read this paper first: "The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime". It's accessible here. Levitt's idea about the landmark Roe v. Wade decision affecting the drop in crime rates in America during the 1990's is one of his biggest, most important statistical analyses. They have been thrown into doubt by two economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (C. L. Foote and C. F. Goetz), but I haven't read the paper yet. Reserving judgement.

From dreamwidth_meta is this post on "Why Google+ is still not working for humans", a fascinating look into social media and how we interact with it. He writes about how Google+ is just not designed for people to be comfortable with, and expands outwards into social media in general.

There is a high entropy factor in social networks. New groups are forming all the time, and old groups die out. Creating a group or adding people to a group is driven by a positive emotion. I care about my new friend, or my new Guys Night Out group, so it feels appropriate to spend the energy it takes to create the group or add the person to my friend list. But then later – when the person is not my friend, or the Guys Night Out plan has run its course – I no longer care about it. And because I don’t care, I don’t want to spend any energy on it - not even the energy to remove it. In fact, spending the energy to delete the group might inadvertently make the other group members think I cared about it, and make them feel bad for letting the group die, etc.


This is why social networking sites tend to decay over time. Because I never remove people, my Friendster or MySpace or Facebook account has a smaller and smaller percentage of meaningful relationships in it, and as a result it becomes less relevant over time. This is also why a new social network always feels somehow better than the last one. It has smarter people, more relevant conversations, etc. It is all because your social network in the new space has not had time to decay.

He touches on a lot of different subjects; I think it's well worth a read, even though the post was made several years ago when Google+ launched. The point he raised about like vs +1 makes me wonder about LJ's "friends" and DW's "subscribe/give access". This was a deliberate decision to remove the emotional connotations, but honestly, social media networks are called social for a reason. What's the phrase? Skin in the game. You don't make friend without putting some skin in the game. DW's method is more like a feed of someone's blog; I just absorb their stuff invisibly.

HI.

Thanks for offering to write in these fandoms! :D

In general I am a mad fan of "The continuing adventures of..." I love character interaction, especially characters who we don't get to see interacting in the canon (offstage, skimmed over, etc.) I love history - my particular interest is medieval Europe, though given my education I've absorbed unbelievable amounts about modern Europe (uh, ~1789-present) and North America; I am always thrilled when there are random droplets of history scattered in! (Fastest way into my heart, sometimes, honestly.) Really, worldbuilding in general is my weakness, whether it's a contemporary, historical, or space opera setting. Magic, the fantastic, or sufficiently-advanced-tech-that-could-pass-for-magic are also my weaknesses. Generally, I prefer canon-compliant fic, or straight up fork-in-the-road AU.

Since rarewomen matches on single characters (YES) I've listed the women I've requested and ideas for them. In Kushiel's Legacy in particular it may be impossible/difficult to put some characters together due to generational gaps, and I don't know which characters you offered to write, so I wrote out separate prompts. Please feel free to combine characters in whatever permutations or combinations whose prompts work for you. I always get a bit stuck on prompts, so if an idea isn't working for you, then go for something you want to write!

I'd prefer not to receive extremely pessimistic fic - I like gritty, but I prefer to have light at the end of the tunnel. I don't mind explicit sex, but I also tend to scroll. Horror scares me a lot but it's an atmospheric thing; I don't mind violence. I'm not much of a fan of present tense/second person, but if you feel the story can't be told otherwise, try selling me - I'm willing to bite.

To borrow the phrase from yuletide: optional details are optional. I've thrown a million things at you, and if none of them work, I'm always interested in fic from these fandoms, so go for what works for you!

Specific fandoms and characters

Kushiel's Legacy
Amarante (Kushiel's Legacy)
Full disclosure: I ship Mavros/Amarante primarily, but also Amarante/Sidonie (because c'mon, look at them! Oh my god.) I'm fascinated by the world building that underlies Terre d'Ange, and how Amarante fits into it. We know she's an acolyte training to become a full-fledged member of the Order of Naamah (and becomes so), but her position with Sidonie is really intriguing, especially since this is the first time it's ever happened (once we get to Phanuel & Rogier, this isn't even worth mentioning, heh). I'd love to see how Sidonie and Amarante interact when they're by themselves, since Amarante is Sidonie's confidante and we only get to see stuff from Imriel's perspective. Or when they first meet? What does Amarante do when she's not accompanying Sidonie?

Roshana Shahrizai
There's just something really delightful about the Shahrizai. Roshana, from what we see in canon, isn't afraid to go after who she wants. And she is Shahrizai, of course, with all that entails - bring on the politicking, the chasing of quarry, the Shahrizai clan! They are an insular, close-knit family, and I wonder what they're like on their own land. What are they giving Morbhan grief about now? :)

Moirin (Kushiel's Legacy)
I entered the series through Moirin's trilogy, and I really love Moirin and all the disparate influences that have made herinto who she is - her loyalty and belongingness to the Maghuin Dhonn, her gifts of magic from the same, the influences of the Companions, all the journeying she's done, Jehanne and Cillian and Raphael and Jagrati and Amrita and Aleksei and Erdene and Snow Tiger, Fainche and Phanuel. (And I'm missing people, too.) I am such an awful sucker for magic and for adventure, and I love the Maghuin Dhonn - do the others live in hermitage? How does Moirin live after her journey's supposedly ended? She is still sworn as Desirée's protector. I ship Bao/Moirin as my endgame pairing, but I'm basically open to all the pairings ever with Moirin. (Well, except probably not Fainche/Moirin and Phanuel/Moirin, but practically everything else goes.)

Jehanne de la Courcel no Cereus
Like Roshana Shahrizai, Jehanne knows what she wants and exactly how to get it. Against Daniel's grief she's like the light (...even their hair colours work) but interestingly, she's afraid under it all - afraid of what might happen if she has a child, like she's expected to have. And despite her reputation for being an awful queen (Terre d'Ange doesn't seem to mind!) she still has to fulfill some political duties. You can just see her laughing and enjoying herself privately the very first time Moirin is presented to her. What's she like with Raphael and Daniel? Or what about another moment with Moirin?

Snow Tiger (Kushiel's Legacy)
Like Jehanne, Snow Tiger's a politically powerful - sort of. Her father is the true authority, but she carries respect from others - for her skills in fighting, for her position. For her status as her father's heir. But when Moirin meets her, she's afraid and ashamed of herself, would have killed herself except that would be the ultimate disgrace. What was her life before the dragon and Black Sleeve's involvement? What's it like with the dragon? Moirin moves on to Tatar lands and Vralia almost immediately after the war, but Snow Tiger doesn't have the luxury of doing that; she's going to be part of the team undoubtedly picking up the pieces after a horrific civil war.



Star Wars
Siri Tachi
Tahl (Star Wars)
OK, I've always had a terrific weakness for all the missions that the Jedi go out and do, and Jedi Apprentice was a massive, massive reason for it. The undercover mission that Siri runs is all offstage as far as Secrets of the Jedi is concerned, and only the Council (and Adi Gallia) know about it, she's so undercover. It must have been massively important, but we're not really given that much detail. More stories from the Jedi Temple - I will never get enough of pre-Prequel-Era Jedi Temple - would be fantastic. I also love how Tahl came back and went about life with about as much grace as before, losing patience with Too-Jay. Both Tahl and Siri are seen though Obi-Wan's eyes, and he's not there or with them all the time - I'd love to see a mission Tahl runs with Bant, or Siri and Adi Gallia! I do ship Siri/Obi-Wan, in a youthful, both of them are headstrong and a bit impetuous way.

Also, I love dueling. I thought I'd throw it out there, because amazing swordsmanship is one of my favourite tropes. Like, you don't even know.



Young Wizards
Nita Callahan
MAGIC, that's what. I know I've read nine books of magic with Nita and Kit...but I will gleefully read more. One of the things I love about Duane's work is that magic comes in so many forms - rowan wands with their moonlight, the Speech diagrammed on the ground, pulling from the past like in Ireland, pulling from old ritualized ceremonies, the shining silicon organisms on the Motherboard planet...I would love magical casefic. Or intersection with the various people Nita meets on her journeys: the exchange wizards, the New York gating team, so many others.

Carmela Rodriguez
Honestly, I love her blasé attitude about magic (her quip about the TV manual and the terrific mental anguish she puts Kit through still make me laugh) and her general ability to wander onto a scene and immediately kick ass. What are the chances she goes off while Nita and Kit - since they're our POV characters - don't notice? I mean, she's got all these shopping vouchers for Rihait B, a Stationmaster who's grateful and her friend, and Carmela sounds like someone who'd like to see the planets she's only seen on TV. Even a magically modified TV. Carmela tormenting Kit about whatever the latest thing he's done - or hasn't done - would be fantastic, too.

Machu Picchu | Winged Defender
Immortality! What does it mean to never be mortal, to at once know how everything will play out and still, well, "play the game"? Also, what's it like pretending to be a parrot? For that matter, a parrot that is supposed to be sort of intelligent, given magic spillover, but not too much so? And also Tom and Carl have no idea; I'd love to see a story about Machu Picchu while at the Swale & Romeo residence. Machu Picchu is the Michael power, but that doesn't mean nice; it means good, and the implications are fascinating there - I wonder if, seeing as the Powers That Be already know the future and the past and everything in between, do they feel the ends justify the means? When do they meddle? And really, why a parrot? (Or maybe Tom just inherited a parrot from some relative and the Defender decided to hang out in that body, I don't know!)