beccastareyes

So, someone on Plurk linked me to a post on Tumblr on Homestuck!troll* linguistics by a biologist (xenobiologistforhire) who wished her fandom aliens were a bit more alien (basically 'why do semi-aquatic insect aliens handle English so well when their breathing apparatuses evolved under potentially way different conditions?'). Ended up reading the entire blog, because while all I know about Homestuck is from RP and my friendslist, I am a sucker for xenobiology. And the author did cool things with parasites, which I always like. (See also: why I love reading seanan_mcguire's writing.)

A lot of the thinking paralleled some stuff I was working on in some of my writing (not the insect-y bits but how species that evolved from aquatic critters might gain vocal cords, and also why terrestrial vertebrates evolved with our food and breathing tubes attached and how that's not necessarily an obvious choice for aliens.

I really ought to write more about fictional species biology, especially if folks can comment on it.

* I'm kind of fascinated by the Homestuck fandom, despite being unable to get into the canon. Mostly because the bits I find interesting (weird imperialistic aliens who are forced to interact with humans or possibly just decided to invade) don't occur until well into the story (about kids in a world-creating/destroying video game with time shenanigans) and the story itself seems like an exercise in 'what the hell is going on now?'. And given how finicky I can be about fan shipping wank** and crotchety I can be about Tumblr, I don't really want to get involved in it directly. But I find it interesting from a meta point of view because it seems like there's extensive gardens of fanon and convention that may or may not exist in the canon. But that's just my outsider POV.

** See: the Avatar fandom. Any of it.

Anyone want to beta-read a 50,000 word Slayers fanfiction? (Mostly featuring Zel and Amelia, though Lina and Gourry have a sideplot. It's a sequel to "The Sun, Half Covered" if it helps...)

Okay, so time for my annual Yuletide letter. I have four requests. Unfortunately, three of the four have some canon investment, so if you want to check them out, it might be a stretch to do so between now and Yuletide. But I'm listing them in general.

Here's my last year's letter and here's a list of things I like in stories. Obviously they aren't going to be complete guides to what I like, but give you some samples of 'things that appeal to me'.

As I note, I'm not much of an erotica or pure bitter angst reader, and I love female characters being awesome.

( So, onto the specific stuff. )

And also the absence of motherhood in both series.

( Spoilers for the Legend of Korra finale )

A long time ago, I asked for sketch requests. Well, 'name a fandom, and I'll draw you my favorite character'. I also used it as practice for poses. I'm half done, and used the end of a sketchbook to switch.

Utena from Revolutionary Girl Utena by beccastareyes for halloweenfox

Tazendra from Dragaera books by beccastareyes for ankewehner

Sailor Mercury from Sailor Moon by beccastareyes for dark_skada

Amelia from Slayers by beccastareyes for earthstar_moon

I finished editing my casestory fic, and it went to yuuo, who is beta-reading. Anyone else who wants to help beta-read a novella-length (23,100 words) Slayers fic is welcome to volunteer.

The start of the fic may well pre-date my graduate school career; I know it pre-dates my master's degree and had to be edited for continuity since it was written before Slayers Revolution was even a rumor*.

I could probably look in my writing journal -- the LJ one, since it was before I had even heard of Insanejournal, let alone Dreamwidth. Neither may have existed back then. But, I'm tired. I'm going to bed.

* Well, besides the standard 'they'll make another season Any Year Now' that's been happening since Try.

Had a dream that my mother, my adviser and I were eating out together. I don't know why.

In other news, I also had a dream where I was the castle warder at Cair Paravel in Narnia the day that the Pevensies left for their world (unintentionally). Like a lot of dreams where I'm someone else, there's this sort of split-personality thing; I-the-dreamer knew that the High King and his siblings were never coming back, and that Narnia was heading into a dark age/invasion, but the character just assumed something happened on the road, and they would be back soon.

If I cared more about CS Lewis**, it would make an interesting fanfic to write about what happens when the Kids from Another World (tm) go home. swan_tower linked a Narnia fanfic that told more about how the Pevensies established themselves as Kings and Queens of Narnia beyond 'defeated the White Witch and had Aslan's blessing'*, but it would be interesting to see the other end: what are these fantasy realms like from the native POV, rather than the kids who stumble into it?

* This probably was what prompted the dream.

** I used to when I was in grade school, but, man, The Silver Chair and The Last Battle just depressed me. I'd try to apply the concept to some of the anime series that feature 'person from another world', but of the only two I know well (Escaflowne and Fushigi Yuugi -- I've also seen the El Hazard OAV), both seem to have a set-up designed for the person from our world to go home at the end.

So Yuletide Treasures/yuletide is an annual fandom thing, where 1000+ fanfiction authors* sit down and do a secret-Santa style exchange focused on rare fandoms. Basically, with the idea that there are boatloads of Harry Potter stories, and you could even find a decent number of, say, Discworld stories***, but finding a story for Beyond Good and Evil (example chosen to tempt yuuo) is harder.

( Now, every year, it seems like two things happen: )

--
* And others. I mean, you could probably fill a request/offer sheet with just Fairy Tales and Mythology, which is technically fanfiction but most people won't object to, say, retellings or 'with a twist'. Or, for that matter Historical** Real Person Fiction. Or 'fiction based on songs/music videos/commercials/gmail themes'. Yes, seriously.

** Or modern, but most people seem to treat writing about modern celebs or politicians different than Shakespeare or Queen Elizabeth I. Probably because the latter have been dead for ages, and half-mythologized.

*** Though part of that is that Discworld got a lot of attention in previous Yuletides, so it's kind of aged out.

Taken from sabinelagrande

So there's this meme going around where you sort your AO3 fics by hits (yes you can do this automatically, which I did not know, and I spent a couple minutes sitting around going "BUT HOW WOULD I EVER HAVE THE TIME") and analyze the top ten. So, here we go!

For a lark, I'm going to compare my ff.net and AO3 accounts, though, even if you ignore the different audiences, a lot of my old fic got dumped on AO3 at once, rather than posted as I wrote it. That and I didn't upload any of my really old work.

( So, counting down from number 10... )

And also needs to get the hell out of fanfiction.net.

I don't mind dreaming about plot ideas. But ideas where dream-me is typing up a review with 'You haven't seen the rest of this series and aren't delivering what was promised anyway, and YOUR FIC IS BAD AND YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD'... no. Seriously. When you dream about snarking at bad fiction, it's probably time to turn off the computer before bed.

( This fic doesn't exist and I'm glad... but now you have to suffer with me )

So, dear writer-brain-subconscious. If you are going to give me dreams with Utena characters, can they stay in-character* and consistent with the setting? I mean, I know how much I love eye-rolling at Terrible Ideas, but I don't want to do it in my sleep.

* Okay, Touga taking advantage of the situation to further his own goals and Anthy being cryptically faux-submissive are pretty IC.