fanciful suggestions

Wow, what is the secret to xmmficathon? It seems to produce some of the most consistently awesome fic out of any ficathon I follow. Everything is worth a read, but the fics that really stood out to me are below.

The Light Gets Into Your Heart by st_aurafina (Rated PG, Emma, Scott, Jean). This story was written for me, and it's amazing. It bridges the gap between Origins: Wolverine and the rest of movieverse, focusing on Emma and Scott after they arrive at Xavier's school.

Passing by lonelywalker (Rated R, Henry McCoy). A really thoughtful story about Hank during X-1. Features a really interesting take on mutant politics and the Charles-Erik split from a student perspective, as well as an awesome Hank/Mystique relationship.

Fighting Fair by ion_bond (Rated PG-13, Mystique, Pyro, Magneto). Rewrites X-3, starting with Erik not abandoning Mystique after she is hit with the cure. An incredibly satisfying read, as it takes some of the most interesting elements of the Brotherhood and the Omegas in X-3 and treats the characters with far more respect than the filmmakers did. It's written from the perspective of Pyro, meaning it is snarky and funny to boot.

Hide a Hundred Girls In Your Hair by lilacsigil (Rated PG, Jean, Mystique). Really chilling fic about Jean and Mystique post-X3.

Symbiotic Metamorphosis by brighteyedcat and cousinshelley (Rated PG-13, Mystique). Mystique's first interaction with Erik and the school. Features an incredibly crafty, intelligent Mystique, and a fully realized, interesting original character.

So Say Goodbye, It's Independence Day by handyhunter (Rated G, Warren Worthington III). This is about Warren finding a place at Xavier's school after X-3. Lots of awesome hijinks, and a standout Jubilee.

Cost Plus by smirnoffmule (Rated PG, Rogue, Bobby, OCs). Written from the perspective of a clerk in a store where Rogue and Bobby go shopping for Christmas gifts. It's a really interesting peek into how mutants are perceived by the outside world.

Round's On Me by iambickilometer (Rated PG, Logan, Kurt). This is a really fun story that translates the Logan & Kurt friendship that I so love in the comics into the movieverse.

Dear Yuletide Writer-Person,

Thank you for writing for one of my requests, and I hope you have fun with it! First off, I fully believe that optional details are optional. If you have an idea for a fic that you love, please run with it - I think people generally have the best fest experiences when they go with their instincts rather than worrying too much about their recipient's every whim. If you write a story about the characters below, I'm pretty much guaranteed to be giddy, so don't bother too much about me.

That said, if you want to learn more about the kind of fics I like, I collect recs on my Delicious account. I'm very sporadic in my fic writing, but what I have is listed in this entry.

In general, things that I like to read are: plot, porn (though I prefer the former to the latter if it comes down to a choice), gen, femmeslash, slash, het, silliness, banter and other entertaining forms of dialogue, hookups without tons of emotional encumbrance, comfortable established relationships, adventures, time travel, AUs of all varieties, crossovers, backstory, future-fic, superpowers (particularly, the way superpowers affect elements of a character's everyday life, including the sexual), enthusiastic consent.

Things that I do not enjoy as much include: non-con, animal harm (I believe any book in which the dog dies should come with a warning label), angst.

My specific requests are below:( Astro City, Nextwave, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (comic), Daredevil (movie) )

Last week I officially finished my Master's, which is very freeing (though there is an element of "So, now what?" there, too). This week I've mostly been taking some time away from the computer, to do things like clean my house and read books. That's also been very freeing, as I feel like I've been chained to my laptop since I began my degree.

This weekend, however, will be computer-heavy. I have plans to glut myself on marvel_crossing fics (they look amazing!), and hopefully work on some cliche_bingo fic. And think about xmmficathon. My assignment is awesome - I'm having a lot of trouble deciding which of the prompts I want to write, because I have ideas for pretty much all of them.

In other news, Jeff Parker is writing Spider-Man 1602. While the post-Gaiman 1602 has been a little lackluster (though I did enjoy 1602 Fantastick Four for the most part, I will never forget New World's issue upon issue of Hulk fighting dinosaurs), I have hopes for this. Parker always seems to capture all of the stuff that is fun about comic books. I am hoping that the mask is a cover-only thing; it really looks kind of terrible in terms of the 1602 aesthetic, imo.

Also, Marvel, what is this about this being the "final" 1602 story? You mean other than the story about ( 1602 spoiler ) Because that's my dream comic, and I'm not taking no for an answer on this one.

For the "fannish top five" meme, st_aurafina asked for "five superheroes who could make a life in Twin Peaks." Which is...possibly the greatest prompt in the history of prompts. I daydreamed about this the entire time I was writing the not-a-thesis OF DOOM.

( Five heroes in Twin Peaks, with small spoilers for Twin Peaks, Smax, and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen )

femslash09 has been making me so very happy! There are still a few stories rolling in, but here are my recs so far.

Royal and Important by bossymarmalade (Merlin, Gwen/Morgana) - This is the story written for me, and it is delightful!

A Verb for Falling in Love by pirateygoodness (Gossip Girl, Blair/Serena)

Five Times Vanessa Sees Jenny and One That She Doesn't by jaina47 (Gossip Girl, Vanessa/Jenny)

Hermione Granger and the Amazing Outfits of Luna Lovegood by likeadeuce (Harry Potter, Hermione/Luna)

Love you good and strong (while our love is good and young) by wintercreek (Firefly, Kaylee/Inara)

You're the Other Side of the World to Me by queenzulu (Firefly, Kaylee/Saffron)

Happy Campers by second_batgirl (X-Men Comics, Kitty/Jubilee)

A brief sampling from comics I read last week:

( Probably NSFW images within )

Question: Am I the only weirdo who does not sleep in her underwear? Or is this just comic creator wishful thinking gone rampant?

Today, I read the part of Count of Monte Cristo in which Franz first meets Dantès. Dantès invites him into his cave, where they role play and do hash.

I'm not sure anything could possibly top this, but I have 800 pages to go...

As I was going through my journal reorganizing my Dreamwidth tags (they are very pretty, but I'm still not quite convinced I made it better rather than worse), I saw this meme, which I remember as being a lot of fun. I'm resurrecting it.

Give me two characters from two different fandoms with which I am familiar, and I will invent a relationship for them.

***

In other news, our Sunday plans revolve around Wolverine. I am so incredibly excited. I mean, I know I've already seen the best scene in the film (the one from the trailer where he takes down a helicopter with his claws, obviously) but it will be good to get it contextualized.

Does anyone need a Dreamwidth invite? I have five - comment if you want one.

On that note, tagging thoughts:

I very lazily reordered my tags in DW's tiered system (which I love, btw), last week, but am going to do a serious reorganization very soon. Currently, they are set up in a way that I think is not intuitive from an outside view, but works for me. I have ordered fandoms by their media type, so "x-men" is now "comics:x-men," and that "comics:x-men" tag contains every post where I talk about X-Men, be it a fic, a rec, me laughing at Chris Claremont, etc. However, the "comics" parent tag does not apply to every post for a comics fandom, it is just for posts where I talk about comics I've read. Does that make any sense?

The more comprehensive and understandable system would be to divide up my tags so I have a "fic:x-men," "rec:x-men," tag, etc. and then maybe create a "fandom:x-men" tag so there is still one tag that contains every X-Men mention. But this system seems a bit cumbersome for my journal, since I post so sporadically and have the attention span of a gnat. The amount of tags that would apply to one post only hurts my brain.

What are your thoughts on tags? (It's interesting to note that I have been thinking far more about organizing content on my journal recently than creating content for it. This is possibly a feature of the library science brain.)

Watched the premiere of Kings last night. Really enjoyed it - I highly recommend watching it on Hulu or the NBC website if you didn't catch it.

The basic premise is a retelling of the story of David and Saul in a kingdom that's a sort of re-imagining of the contemporary U.S. Ian McShane (Al Swearengen of Deadwood) plays King Silas, and the show is worth it just to watch him monologue and manipulate. I'm hooked.

( Spoilery reactions )