sprat

: sprat; May 24th, 9:37

If you're interested in doing beta for any kind of fanwork in any fandom,

fan_flashworks would love to have you! Head to the Beta Hook-up post (over here on LJ) and sign up, letting us know what you can beta and in which fandoms.

In other

fan_flashworks news, you can now earn badges for posting various kinds and quantities of works (including one for betaing!). Suggestions for additional badgeworthy achievements would be most welcome, even if you aren't currently participating at the comm.

Unrelatedly, I've recently started to see a thin, 2-inch long, rainbow-coloured line next to my pointer intermittently. It goes away if I touch the trackpad or any keys and happens in a variety of apps. I have a Macbook Air. Anybody have any ideas what it might be?

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Tumblr

: sprat; May 17th, 13:52

Tumblr feels like a strange and alien land to me and I'm not sure I'll be more active there than I have been here, but I thought I'd give it a try. Someone seems to be using sprat over there already (grr), so I am here:

http://sprat7.tumblr.com

I've found some people through the gmail contacts thing, but if you're over there and you post stuff, I want to be following you, too! And if you have recs of other good tumblrs to follow, please tell me about them. I'm interested in Sherlock stuff and Avengers stuff...really any kind of general fannish yay.

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Help?

: sprat; May 16th, 17:32

It looks like UB and I are going to be moving to Vancouver at the end of July!! This is very exciting! But also kind of nerve-wracking! I've done cross-country moves before, but never as a parent, and never as a functioning adult-type person; I'm having to do all these unfamiliar things like planning ahead and making sure there's going to be a place for us to live. Stressful!

And so I come to you. What I'm hoping is that one of you knows of a decent-but-reasonably-priced place for UB and I and our two (neutered male) cats to live in Vancouver starting on August 1st. I know it's a longshot, and I'm checking out apartment listings online too, of course, but I also know that the best housing situations often never find their way to the internet, and are instead rented through word of mouth. And since I'm working with a pretty tight budget, cheaper is definitely better.

( More detail about us )

So! If there's anything I should have put in here and didn't, please ask. And if you want to pass this along to someone you think might be able to help, please do.

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A couple of things...

: sprat; March 3rd, 14:18

Firstly, (a somewhat belated) thanks to

cimera for the dragon on my LJ user info! I love it. Ferocious and CUTE.

Also, this article about being a warehouse worker for a huge online retailer is not providing any really new information, but it's well-written and interesting and worth a read. I'm not big on boycotts (because being able to be particular about where you shop and which brands you buy is a privilege not everyone has), but it's good to be aware of exactly how Amazon keeps its prices so low. And maybe if you do have a choice about where you spend your cash, choose to spend it elsewhere?

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New Sherlock BBC Ficlet (+ random prompt generators)

: sprat; February 12th, 16:23

I wrote a ficlet for the Triangle Challenge at

fan_flashworks!

Title: The Roommate Imbroglio
Fandom: Sherlock BBC
Rating: R(ish)
Length: 560
Content notes: M/M/F Threesome, College AU
Author's notes: Many thanks to

fitofpique for beta!
Summary: John took a step toward them, then another. "This is one of those occasions in which your behaviour is not aligned with social norms," he told Sherlock, rather breathlessly.

Read it at the comm.

I wasn't able to get anything written for the first challenge there, but I did make some Fanfiction Kink and Cliche Generators for random prompting purposes. Those are linked from here.

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Tags: sherlock fic

Three things

: sprat; February 3rd, 11:34

fan_flashworks/

fan_flashworks is live! Or first challenge is

THE LOST HOUR

We've already had several great responses to the challenge at the DW community. Come check them out! And play along at either comm if you want to!

2. Relatedly, someone has mentioned that they aren't able to see that challenge opener post from February 1st in their Livejournal flist. The post is public and seems to be dated correctly, and I can see it in my flist from that day, but now I'm worried I made some strange visibility setting inadvertently and LJ people have missed out. Do any of you who are watching the comm on LJ have time to check back to that day in your flists and see if the post is there for you? (I know it's visible at the comm itself -- it's there when I log out and check.)

3. Totally unrelatedly, does anybody have recommendations for fantasy or sci-fi novels that have been published within the last five years? I like character and idea-based stuff, am often bored by het romance in profic (but I'm not, like, against it if it's written well), and the book has to be pretty phenomenal to hold my attention for more than 300 pages. Good worldbuilding especially loved! I don't care if it's marketed as adult, YA or kids, so long as you thought it was good. Thank you in advance!

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Coming soon: An all-fandoms multi-media flashworks community

: sprat; January 30th, 12:02

Do you find it easier to make creative fanworks in a community setting? Do you like deadlines? Have you longed for a space where you can stretch yourself, experiment and play in different fandoms or media? Starting 1 February 2012 (PST), we bring you a new all-fandoms flashworks community:

fan_flashworks |

fan_flashworks

Any fandom, large or small! Any media, from fic, vids and podfic to knitwear, flowcharts and pastries!

On the 1st, 10th and 20th days of each month (PST time), a mod will close the previous challenge and post a Challenge Announcement Post with a new prompt.

There are no sign-ups. As soon as the Challenge Announcement Post is live, you can post a challenge entry.

All members and non-members are encouraged to participate, have fun, squee and make creative works.

All challenge entries must relate to the prompt. However, you are encouraged to interpret the prompt in wildly creative ways. In fact, that's what we're hoping for. We want fanfic authors, fanartists, fanvidders, fanbakers, faneveryone to respond to the prompts however they see fit.

Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that ... your work will be as good as your ambitions. -- Ira Glass

Come and check it out! All welcome!

Detailed guidelines on Dreamwidth | Detailed guidelines on Livejournal

Mods:

china_shop and

sprat

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Writing music?

: sprat; January 5th, 12:11

I don't usually listen to music at all when I'm writing. I often find it's too distracting because it changes my mood, or I find myself singing along instead of writing, or whatever. If I'm working someplace noisy and need to block out distractions, I use Ambiance or some similar app to make a thunderstorm in my headphones and just loop it forever. It works.

But I've been writing a LOT lately, and I'm getting kind of bored with nature sounds, so I've been experimenting a little. And I'm hoping you guys might have some suggestions (not uploads, necessarily; just names of artists and pieces are fine). Genre doesn't matter much, but mood really does-- I can't deal with anything too glum or spacey. Things that seem to work:

* Some of Lullatone's songs
* Most stuff by The Books
* Most of Hans Zimmer's soundtrack work (like this or this) (because then I am always writing Epic Things of Epicness)
* A few unobtrusive contemporary folk-pop songs (like Winter Song by Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson or Ghosts by Laura Marling or lots of things by Mumford and Sons)

Things that definitely don't work:

* Mogwai/Godspeed You Black Emperor/Boards of Canada/Brian Eno (too saaaad or too sleepy)

All suggestions much appreciated! Thank you in advance!

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Yuletide revealed!

: sprat; January 1st, 13:02

I've been lucky every year I've participated in Yuletide and this year was no exception: I got two stories, and both of them were AMAZING.

Jeeves and the Signs of Affection, a lovely, long Jeeves/Wooster story that is incredibly in-voice and AU in a way that's new and really fascinating, was written by

Frannie!

And Elementary Murder Mystery Analysis, a hilarious Community story in which Abed becomes Sherlock Holmes and everyone is awesomely in character, was written by

jibrailis!

You should go and have a look at both, if you haven't already. They are really wonderful. ♥

I wrote one story this year (and feel kind of fortunate to have finished at all):

Remaking (2413 words)
Fandom: Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Rating: Not Rated
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Carl Romeo/Tom Swale

I've loved the Young Wizards books since I read the first three as a kid, and have wanted to try writing a story in the fandom since the first time I did Yuletide, so I was grateful to my lovely recipient,

Pax, for writing such a generous request and giving me a chance to finally do this. It wasn't quite the story I'd planned to write when I started, but that's how it happens sometimes, I guess, and I think (hope!) it worked out okay.

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Tags: yuletide

YULETIDE!

: sprat; December 25th, 2011

I haven't had time to read either one yet, but holy crap, you guys, I got TWO stories for Yuletide this year, and both of them look amazing. Go and enjoy and think of me while you do it. UB and I are hosting Christmas dinner for extended family and friends, so I'll be cooking and being social and longing for the time when I will finally have some time to sit down and reeead. *g*

Merry Holidays, to those who are celebrating something! Happy Story Day to all the rest!

Jeeves and the Signs of Affection (10475 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Jeeves & Wooster
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Reginald Jeeves/Bertram Wooster
Characters: Reginald Jeeves, Bertram Wooster, Marmaduke "Chuffy" Chuffnell
Summary:

Jeeves learns BSL, Bertie learns pottery, and they both learn that Brinkley is a man best avoided. Bertie/Jeeves preslash with wandering thoughts.

Elementary Murder Mystery Analysis (3618 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Community
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes, Britta Perry, Jeff Winger, Shirley Bennett, Pierce Hawthorne, Annie Edison
Summary:

"It's come to my attention," says Pierce, "that Jeff is dead."

(But Sherlock Abed is born).

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