Challenge #9

Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)

Honestly, trope doesn't entirely resonate. I can remember years ago, seeing something about tropes and just not relating to any of all that forced to share a bed/enemies to lovers/coffee shop AU stuff. But I do have a theme, which is alternate timelines. What if So and so never died? What if the villain made the obvious choice that the original writers seem to have somehow totally missed? What if Character X was the one to move from his cancelled spinoff to the main show? I have done them all.

The first series I ever saw to completion was Once Upon a Time, where Jafar was the one to move across from the Wonderland spinoff to the main show (imagine his lamp ending up in Gold's shop and Zelena accidentally letting him out). Another one was The Flash, where Eobard manipulated Nora into giving Barry the metahuman cure and the finale showed a dystopian 2049 that resulted from this (at the time I started that, I was convinced that was the route canon was going to take; to this day, I still don't get why the writers wasted time on Cicada rather than pursuing this route and just letting Eobard be the bad guy). I've saved Sun, Jin and Sayid on Lost several times over (and after a prompt in last year's three sentence ficathon, I was even tempted to expand on my attempt at Smokey McSmokeFace going back to the classical Roman era to get off the island while he was still human).

And yes, I have a few ongoing such works which I'm determined to finish. The School Spirits one where Mr Martin chooses to possess Emilio instead and the impact this has on Charley and Yuri is barely started (the upcoming new season may help with that), and I am determined I will push past my mental block on a) the Lost series where Sun joined the others in 1977 (I lost heart after the decision in canon to kill her off, which I still strongly disagree with 15 years on) and b) the Dark series where Ulrich successfully rescues Mikkel from 1986 (at this rate, I think I'm actually going to end up going down the Choose Your Own Adventure route, one where Ulrich and Mikkel get their happy ending and the minimum of characters are erased from existence, and one where Claudia gets hers.)

Beware the potential spoilers behind the cuts. And if by any chance you are a fan of any of these, please let me know your thoughts!

Starfleet Academy - watched the first two episodes of it tonight and I enjoyed it. It was a little weird, 'cause it was a different set up than I was expecting (I did not watch any trailers going into it, nor any news articles other than the fact that Tig Notaro and the Doctor from Voyager would be in it). ( Read more... )


The Hunting Party - Season 2 started airing, and I'm enjoying it so far, I really loved Season 1 so I was excited to see it return. I just did a rewatch it (first season is only 10 episodes so it's a semi-quick rewatch) - still love it! It stars Melissa Roxburgh (from Manifest and Tracker) as Bex Henderson, Nick Wechsler (aka Kyle from Roswell) as Oliver Odell, Josh McKenzie (from La Brea) as Shane Florence, Patrick Sabongui (David Singh from the Arrowverse) as Ryan Hassani and Sara Garcia (apparently also from The Flash) as Jennifer Morales. ( Read more... )The fandom for the show is super small but hopefully it grows more. I definitely recommend it if you enjoyed the Blacklist or Fringe or Mindhunter or other procedural type shows.


Animal Control - came to Netflix and it made me realize I missed a whole season (season 3), so I did a rewatch of the series and am currently up to date. I laughed out loud a lot with this show and I really enjoyed it. If anyone likes animals and enjoyed Community, I'd say you'd like this. This is also a small fandom? Not a lot of fanworks (gifs or fics that I could find). I did come out of this rewatch shipping completely different ship ( Read more... )


Stumble - NBC's newest show that reminds me a lot of early Glee (and weirdly Pitch Perfect). It's sitcom show filmed mock-documentary style for the most part I guess like the Office but it's about the cheer coach and her cheerleaders. Jenn Lyon (Esther Finch from Dead Boy Detectives) portrays the coach, Courteney and I absolutely love her (definitely on my favorite characters). Kristin Chenoweth is Tammy Istiny, former assistant coach to Courteney and even though her storyline is predictable - I like her. I think my favorite cheerleader on the team are Peaches and Madonna though. But the whole team is great. Definitely check it out if you like sitcoms, although like Animal Control might not be for everyone. Again super small fandom.


DMV - enjoying this sitcom a lot and I am appreciating that it is not a mock-documentary type show - while I like Stumble, I do not enjoy that concept of a sitcom. Now this show reminds me of Parks & Rec, so I recommend it if you enjoyed that show or Community.


Fallout - THE LATEST EPISODE MAN. So many feelings. Did I expect what happened would happen? Duh. It's not that huge of a surprise but the WAY it was shot was. Beautiful. I do of course want like fix-it Ghoulcy fics right now though... 


Doc - these last few episodes are so emotional, and I did not really expect to see where it took them. ( Read more... )


High Potential - I really liked this episode, and I enjoyed the Morgan/Karadec scenes of course. ( Read more... )

  @ xmen100  @ mcu100 
Submissions for the Bi-Weekly Prompt will be accepted until January 24, 11:59PM EST. 

   @ xmen100
   @ mcu100
Submissions for the Monthly Challenges will be accepted until December 31, 11:59PM EST. Also check out the new dcfemslashevents community, they are having a February Comment Fest - I love the concept of it and the whole community and because of it:




Found out a "fanweek" happening next month that I'm interested in DC Rarepair Week (Feb 8-14), we shall see if I remember it. I'm interested in participating because I tend to ship a lot of rare or rare-ish ships for DC. I'm going to try for pairings I haven't written before... or maybe just any since I technically haven't written any DC stuff in 6 years (the last being Courtney/Henry Jr. of Stargirl TV series and Kara/Maxwell of Supergirl TV series). Both are actually extremely rare pairings.

Also discovered a DC Fandom Events tumblr, which lists & tracks various DC challenges & when they are happening which is helpful because I've been wondering what other "fanweeks" would be happening this year since I know a good portion of fandoms are located on other platforms such as AO3 or Tumblr or Discords now and not everything is promoted to fandomcalendar or whenisitdue or one of the other communities about events. Usually I stumble upon them way after they are done - plus fanlore's fanweeks category are mostly about ones years past and as far as I can tell on all the ones I was interested in only happened once or twice.  Discovered Raven/Dick apparently has their own "fanweek" in the past so hopefully a new one happens this year - I just have to remember to check in April. According AO3 tags, there is less than 700 works for Raven/Dick so they can be considered rarepair for the DC Rarepair Week.

Are there any "fanweeks" you are looking forward to this year? Or one that you hope will happen again? Doesn't have to be DC or Marvel...

So over at fandomtrees, I made a book rec comment for someone, but I don't think I have one here (unless you read my profile),  so I figured I should post it here. I'll probably add to it if I remember any other favorites. They are not ordered in any particular order.

I usually do Romance just FYI, so if you're looking for something "new" (but probably old), check out below!

Queer Love Stories:
( Read more... )
Non-Queer Love Stories:
( Read more... )

YA or Younger Stories:
( Read more... )

Challenge #8

Talk about your creative process.


This is actually something that I've been wondering if I need to improve on, especially when it comes to writing series. Specifically, how much of a series I should have planned out before I start posting it, although admittedly there have been a few times where I've intended something as a one-shot and then realised that actually I can't really leave the story where it is.

Also, this is a process specifically to Dark more than any of my other fandoms, but I realised I should probably make sure I have a full understanding of the original timeline before I try to change it. A moment of sheer frustration at Ulrich getting stuck in 1953 and being unable to rescue Mikkel from 1986 led me to write a scene where Ulrich did get to 1986, and it became clear I couldn't just leave it there. But at that point in season 1, I didn't have the whole context of how that whole family tree/timeline worked, or the reasons why the character Claudia just would not let the timeline deviate that way. So I now find myself with an ending I know has to happen, but that I was trying to avoid and that's just blocking me finishing the final chapter. Anyone remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books as kids? I'm seriously thinking about those now as I'm tempted to write the one ending where Claudia fixes the timeline her way or trying to work out if there's any way of incorporating the alternate universe characters into the timeline so the minimum of people actually get erased from existence and Ulrich and Mikkel get their happy ending.

Something I have often done is been determined to get a fic finished before the next episode of a show aired and canon could contradict it. This tends to be easier with one shots than series, although I've only ever had one dickhead trying to "correct" me over not incorporating context that hadn't aired at the time that chapter was posted. But since that was a known troll, they could shove their corrections where the sun didn't shine. If that does come up, I don't rewrite.

Sometimes it involves going back and watching old episodes, or even just checking facts on fandom wikis, to make sure I have my details correct. (Even if I sometimes wonder why I bother - for example, I was trying to find out whether Fringe's Peter Bishop's specific date of birth was ever confirmed, to see if it was feasible for a time travelling Daniel from Lost to have met Walter before Peter was born to give him the name. In the process, I managed to establish that Walter's father's date of death in 1944 doesn't make sense for Walter's birth in 1946, so decided that if the writers weren't going to worry about that, I'd roll with my idea whatever!)

As far as requests go, if I'm not doing it as part of an exchange, I'll only consider if we've interacted. Just my way of making sure I don't end up granting a request for aforementioned known troll, whose MO was to ask for requests then spam anyone who didn't take their (very specific) requests with insults.

But anyway, what I'm wondering if I need to do is try and do more planning in advance of any story likely to become a series before I start posting it. I have one now I'm trying to work out (School Spirits, a rewrite of season 2 where Mr Martin possesses someone other than who he actually does possess in canon) so I'm going to start with that.

LIST THREE (or more) THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF. They don’t have to be your favorite things, just things that you think are good. Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want.

The fact that I can usually manage to see the humour in situations and don't get moody and sulky about minor stuff.

The fact that I'll try creating for any character once and give them all some attention rather than sticking to the same old favourites.

The fact that you always know where you are with me, I can't be doing with fake bullshit/not saying what I mean/expecting people to be psychic/not using my words type crap.

In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.

My One True Crossover pairing is Rumple from Once Upon a Time and Rowena from Supernatural, so any kind of fic or art for them would be great.

I still love the idea of an iZombie fic where Liv is on romance writer brain right after solving the Zombie High murder case, starts writing Zombie High slash fiction and Ravi has to read it.

Anything post-S2 of The Wilds, which was cancelled way before its time.

CAT icons.

Anything Sayid/Desmond from Lost.

Anything at all from Dark, From, School Spirits or Yellowjackets.

Speaking of, even just having people who know Dark or From and who I can ramble at about them would be great. It's hard to vent about how I've written myself into a corner while trying to rescue Mikkel from 1986 when no one knows the whole complexities of that family tree.

This is getting annoying now, is DW on a go slow and giving error messages for anyone else?

Not quite sure why I'm typing this as it probably won't post!

Top 10 Challenge. The category(ies) you choose are up to you. You can give top 10 Fics you read last year, the top 10 songs to create to, the to 10 guest stars on your favorite show, top 10 characters in your favorite book series, top 10... well, you get the idea.


So, I'm in the UK, and last week two of the UK soap operas did a big crossover episode, with viewers getting the chance to vote for one particular scene to be included. So this has inspired me to think, which characters in my favourite fandoms would I want to have a scene together? Here are my top 10 crossover combinations. (If I've ever tackled these, which I have for some of them, I'm also linking the fic.


1: Rumple (Once Upon a Time) and Rowena Macleod (Supernatural)



Because ever since I first saw Rowena, I thought she and Rumple would have a lot of chemistry if they ever met and she is his true soulmate (Belle who?)

2: Mikkel Nielsen (Dark) and Jacob Landry (The Way Home)



Two characters who have found themselves trapped years in the past, they totally need to set up their own support group.

3: Daniel Faraday (Lost) and Walter Bishop (Fringe)



I might have put these two brilliant scientific minds together anyway, but when I made the connection that the psychiatric ward Walter was on happened to be in the same town where Daniel was living before he was recruited to the freighter, what could have made more sense than them having met at St Claire's?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1039238

4: Olivia Dunham (Fringe) and Kate Austen (Lost)



Kate killed her abusive "stepfather" after finding out he was her biological father. Olivia shot hers, but he escaped. If Kate crossed Olivia's path, could Olivia bring herself to turn her in?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/44889379

5. Jack Shephard (Lost) and Boyd Stevens (From)



Two leaders, two men determined to fix things, these two have had similar struggles. (And the trope of Jack mistaking Boyd for Michael could also have potential.)

6. Jack Shephard (Lost) and August Booth (Once Upon a Time)



This one started out for a crossover exchange where August summoned Jack, a friend he made travelling in Phuket, to try and help break the curse. As I was writing it, I realised these two could bond over trying to meet the expectations of their fathers. (And hey, someone had to fix Stranger in a Strange Land, right?)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/685943

7. Charlie Pace (Lost) and John Mitchell (Being Human UK)



Both have gone through cold turkey, both have been the subject of a death prophecy. They need to bond.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1250551

8. Lottie Matthews (Yellowjackets) and John Locke (Lost)



Both feeling a connection with the wilderness/jungle, both not wanting to leave - these two have common ground.

9. Dani Acosta (From) and Ana Lucia Cortez (Lost)



Both police officers who make rash decisions in the moment, both end up isolated in the community following an incident of shooting an innocent party believing them to be a villain. Acosta IS Ana Lucia 2:0.

10: Bobby Singer (Supernatural) and Donna Raines (From)



Before becoming trapped in the town, Donna was supposedly on a hunting trip. Ever since seeing some joking somewhere online that it was in fact demon hunting, I've kind of liked the idea of putting her with Bobby.

On many of the fannish websites we use, our history is easily compileable into "pages". When we look back through those pages, sometimes we stumble upon things that we think are rather cool.

Challenge #4: Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page

Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!

Rather than actual last pages, since I feel like I've spent a lot of time the last couple of days tracking Storm Goretti (which oddly passed more or less right over me with very little impact in terms of snow), I'll just ramble that I've spent most time recently on my DW reading page, on Dark's fandom wiki to remind myself of Gretchen the dog's history for Challenge #2 as she was my chosen pet, and AO3.

Today’s challenge is a chance to express your love to fandom, and what better way than a love letter? If you feel really creative, the letter doesn’t have to come from you. You could write as your favourite character, someone completely fictitious or your past or future self - or just as you in this moment.

Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.


To Dark,

You're complicated as hell, and I'm not over the fates that the vast majority of the characters ended up with in the finale (even though the family tree makes it difficult to see how it could easily end any other way. Believe me, I've spent the last two years trying to work out a way that I can do it for one particular fic.) But you have great casting (seriously, just take a look at the Young/Middle aged/Old actors. At least one of the actors playing an 81 year old version of one character still surprises people to this day that he's not the 48 year old version in makeup and a wig.) and characters, and have provided me with so much writing inspiration.

To Lost,

My first fandom, and still my all time favourite, the one that first got me exploring the backstories of lesser ficced characters (and trust me, you have a lot) and playing with timelines, the one that first led me to start getting to know other fans, and the one that still has some influence over a lot of my more recent fandom choices. (Except you, Mr. Smoke Monster. Even 15 years on, you can jog on.)

To From,

The other one of my all time top three, that I wish was more appreciated and better known, but trust me, I'm trying to rectify that. Loving the characters, enjoying the mystery (we are starting to get answers at this point, so it doesn't seem to be a "making it up as they go along" thing) and you were the source of my favourite piece of fandom merch (Jade's cat shirt).