A Couple of Fic-related Memes
From 
kazbaby:
Praise your Favourite Fic Writer Week
Things have been tough and little chaotic for everyone here lately and I think a little praise pointed in the direction of the wonderful people that offer fandom a distraction from RL, even for just a few minutes each day, will help each of us feel a little bit better and put a smile on someone's face.
So until next Sunday, if you're so inclined, take a minute to say something nice about one of your favorite fic writers and say why you enjoy their work. Remember you don't have show the love to just one writer over the course of this week.
Well, I can think of three immediately off the top of my head; the first is
astrogirl:
astrogirl is why I write fic in Farscape, she's why I 'ship Stark/Zhaan, she's one of the main reasons I'm into Pretender, she's definitely why I amp' Jarod&Sydney, and over and above all this - she's a great writer.
Astro has a gift for getting inside a character's head, putting them in situations you would never dream of, and having them act realistically and true-to-character. I can think of no other quality necessary for a fic writer. She also has an absolute gift for technobabble and pseudoscience, and for weaving the above into narrative seamlessly. Both of these qualities make her AUs and crossovers (notoriously difficult sub-genres both) a cut above.
Farscape fandom, Who Fandom, Blakes7 fandom and Pretender fandom (2.0) , to name but a few, would all be much the poorer without her.
Essential
astrogirl reading:
One per fandom, more or less, with as wide as possible a range of funny, angsty, and touching, and accessible to those not in the fandoms wherever possible.
Blake's 7: Zoosemiotics - Astro turns a crack-fic prompt into a touching and sweet story about the alienation and isolation of a telepath among mind-blind humans. Also features cute lil squeaky things.
Farscape: The Embodiment of Hope - The first thing of Astro's I read. Touching, sweet, and the most plausible m-preg you will ever read. Not for Farscape neophytes, sadly.
Circle of Life - aka the other m-preg fic. Because Scorpius is as much Astro's balliwyk as Stark, because this is slightly more accessible to non-scapers, and because dark and yet frighteningly plausible is what Astro does best.
Doctor Who: Out of the Dark - a little confusing to non-fans, but wonderful stuff and more than a bit uplifting, which you will need at this point. What happened to Jenny after ...the episode she was in, the very title of which was spoilery.
Stargate SG1: Scenes From a Blending - the very best Jacob-Selmak fic ever written. Fairly accessible to non-fans. Beautiful in any case.
Pretender: Blood Relations - AKA the crazy vampire AU. In classic Astro style, takes an absolutely insane premise and makes it frighteningly plausible and achingly realized. There's also a sequel that Angelo fans must read.
Crossovers:
A Stranger in the City - Torchwood/Star Trek. Jack Harkness in New York during "City on the Edge of Forever". Blends the two universes seamlessly, though being familiar with Torchwood, or at least Jack, is helpful.
Travel Light - Farscape/Doctor Who. A personal favorite of mine, and why not? It was written for me. The 7th Doctor and Ace end up on Moya, meet Pilot, and help Stark overthrow the peacekeepers. Written with an eye to explain each universe to fens of the other, it ends up accessible by everybody. A wonderful straight-forward adventure fic with serious action and heart.
I mostly picked longer stories (though astro has yet to write anything over 10 000 words, unless I'm mistaken) but her drabbles are also very very well worth checking out: each one is a perfect little gem of an idea, perfectly realized. They are: Blake's 7, Farscape, Doctor Who, and Miscellanious. Pick a fandom, click a link, find a title that looks interesting, and jump in. You won't be disappointed.
This is far from all the good or even great stories astro has written - I strongly reccomend you paruse her library for yourself.
Coming up later this week:
kazbaby and
chazjazz
And the other meme, this time from
kerravonsen
Inspired by Doctor Who's "Turn Left:" Pick one of my stories and tell me a point in the tale that you'd change. Something tiny (e.g. "and then Fay chose silver glitter instead of gold") or big (e.g. "and then Rose was arrested instead of Jack") and I'll tell you how that one difference would have altered the course of the entire story.
Well the results of that should be.... interesting.
Anybody remotely interesting is mad in some way.
-The 7th Doctor
kazbaby:
Praise your Favourite Fic Writer Week
Things have been tough and little chaotic for everyone here lately and I think a little praise pointed in the direction of the wonderful people that offer fandom a distraction from RL, even for just a few minutes each day, will help each of us feel a little bit better and put a smile on someone's face.
So until next Sunday, if you're so inclined, take a minute to say something nice about one of your favorite fic writers and say why you enjoy their work. Remember you don't have show the love to just one writer over the course of this week.
Well, I can think of three immediately off the top of my head; the first is
astrogirl:
astrogirl is why I write fic in Farscape, she's why I 'ship Stark/Zhaan, she's one of the main reasons I'm into Pretender, she's definitely why I amp' Jarod&Sydney, and over and above all this - she's a great writer.
Astro has a gift for getting inside a character's head, putting them in situations you would never dream of, and having them act realistically and true-to-character. I can think of no other quality necessary for a fic writer. She also has an absolute gift for technobabble and pseudoscience, and for weaving the above into narrative seamlessly. Both of these qualities make her AUs and crossovers (notoriously difficult sub-genres both) a cut above.
Farscape fandom, Who Fandom, Blakes7 fandom and Pretender fandom (2.0) , to name but a few, would all be much the poorer without her.
Essential
astrogirl reading:
One per fandom, more or less, with as wide as possible a range of funny, angsty, and touching, and accessible to those not in the fandoms wherever possible.
Blake's 7: Zoosemiotics - Astro turns a crack-fic prompt into a touching and sweet story about the alienation and isolation of a telepath among mind-blind humans. Also features cute lil squeaky things.
Farscape: The Embodiment of Hope - The first thing of Astro's I read. Touching, sweet, and the most plausible m-preg you will ever read. Not for Farscape neophytes, sadly.
Circle of Life - aka the other m-preg fic. Because Scorpius is as much Astro's balliwyk as Stark, because this is slightly more accessible to non-scapers, and because dark and yet frighteningly plausible is what Astro does best.
Doctor Who: Out of the Dark - a little confusing to non-fans, but wonderful stuff and more than a bit uplifting, which you will need at this point. What happened to Jenny after ...the episode she was in, the very title of which was spoilery.
Stargate SG1: Scenes From a Blending - the very best Jacob-Selmak fic ever written. Fairly accessible to non-fans. Beautiful in any case.
Pretender: Blood Relations - AKA the crazy vampire AU. In classic Astro style, takes an absolutely insane premise and makes it frighteningly plausible and achingly realized. There's also a sequel that Angelo fans must read.
Crossovers:
A Stranger in the City - Torchwood/Star Trek. Jack Harkness in New York during "City on the Edge of Forever". Blends the two universes seamlessly, though being familiar with Torchwood, or at least Jack, is helpful.
Travel Light - Farscape/Doctor Who. A personal favorite of mine, and why not? It was written for me. The 7th Doctor and Ace end up on Moya, meet Pilot, and help Stark overthrow the peacekeepers. Written with an eye to explain each universe to fens of the other, it ends up accessible by everybody. A wonderful straight-forward adventure fic with serious action and heart.
I mostly picked longer stories (though astro has yet to write anything over 10 000 words, unless I'm mistaken) but her drabbles are also very very well worth checking out: each one is a perfect little gem of an idea, perfectly realized. They are: Blake's 7, Farscape, Doctor Who, and Miscellanious. Pick a fandom, click a link, find a title that looks interesting, and jump in. You won't be disappointed.
This is far from all the good or even great stories astro has written - I strongly reccomend you paruse her library for yourself.
Coming up later this week:
kazbaby and
chazjazz
And the other meme, this time from
kerravonsen
Inspired by Doctor Who's "Turn Left:" Pick one of my stories and tell me a point in the tale that you'd change. Something tiny (e.g. "and then Fay chose silver glitter instead of gold") or big (e.g. "and then Rose was arrested instead of Jack") and I'll tell you how that one difference would have altered the course of the entire story.
Well the results of that should be.... interesting.
Anybody remotely interesting is mad in some way.
-The 7th Doctor