For Simplelyric, who was nice enough to buy a triple drabble from me over at help_haiti help_haitiand requested McGee/Tony bantering and a dash of slashy undercover work. Even with the short word count, I couldn't resist adding Gibbs and Ziva... hope that's ok ;-)
(ps, apparently the HTML is a bit too much for LJ to handle today, so no pretty links... you guys know what I'm talking a bout anyway, right?)

TITLE: An Investigation In Three Acts
FANDOM: NCIS
RATING: PG
WORDCOUNT: 300
SPOILERS:none
SUMMARY: see title.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: crickies, can you believe it's been three years since I last wrote NCIS?? *boggles*

Disclaimer: NCIS is property of CBS and D.P. Bellisario, I'm not making any profit.

 

( "I've found something, Boss!" )

Hey there, lovely flist! As to the reason I haven't posted lately, look no further than RL (another post for another time, perhaps :D), and as for the reason that I break my silence now, let me first introduce you to the non-fannish part of tonight's entertainment.

Girl Culture and the Race to the Bottom is an essay/reaction about the 'feminine' idea that women should not be intimidating, and that is largely achieved... actually, read the essay, because I don't think I can summarize it in any way that wouldn't cheapen it. I'll just add that there's a section on girl bullies that was a real eye-opener, and that should be read by anyone who's had bad experiences in fandom (or school); really, for me it EXPLAINED SO MUCH.

Moving on, You might have wondered where I was the past two fridays, since SPN is back from hiatus and I usually waste no time in fangirling all over LJ about new episodes. But 5.11 and 5.12 left me jittery and demanding moar apocalypse, and the fifth season as a whole has left me with precious few impulses to get my thinking cap on and look a little closer at what the Hell TPTB are thinking they're doing.

And then I found a brilliant meta that did it for me, and there was much rejoicing!

Seriously, though, just look at what yourlibrarian has managed to get out of 5.11 and 5.12 and tell me you don't get a thoughtful 'huh' out of it! She points out themes (actual themes! in Season 5!), she puts her finger on precisely why I've felt so underwhelmed with so many episodes this season (clearly, she wrote this for me ;-P), she shines a spot light on what repercussions these two episodes might have down the line (and there I was, taking them bluntly as standalones). In short, I'm contemplating a virtual re-watch by way of reading every last scrap of SPN meta she has written. She fanned my fannish flame back to full bloom XD.

I've now put up two offers for fic at help_haiti , one here and one here, same deal for both: 100 words to the buck that gets donated, fandoms include Supernatural, SGA, Merlin, Numb3rs, NCIS or a small, yuletide-type fandom to be determined with the bidder. If I get bid on in both posts, I'll be writing two fics, obviously.

ETA: they've now opened a Request post, where people request stuff for small fandoms, including how much they'll pay for it, and people go in and fulfill the request! Great idea.

help_haiti is a fannish auction set up for (as you may have guessed) raise relief for Haiti after the terrible earthquake that hit it yesterday. I've joined, and plan to auction a fic, since that's pretty much all I can offer. It's still rather small, and right now needs pimping. So go and PIMP! people. It's all happening in the next few days, and you'll all agree the cause is worthy.

ETA: I offered my work over here. What I've done is, instead of offering a minimum of word-count, I've offered 100 words per buck... we'll see just how long that turns out to be ;-P

Taken off the flist:

Repost this in your LJ if you know someone who has, had or has been affected by cancer! 93% WON'T even take the time to Copy & Paste this... Will you?


A family friend is in remission... she's a hell of a tough lady, and she's had a hell of a year, and it could have been even worse, considering she had to move back to where her sister lives to get proper treatment: the hospital here is under equipped for the number of patients, something she's vowed to have publicly addressed and rectified by the authorities as soon as she's back to 100%.

Did you know that there are not one, but TWO published books, available through Amazon, that are re-retellings of Pride & Prejudice where Mr Darcy is a vampire (sorry, in one he's actually a VAMPYRE!) and (I stopped counting at FOUR) sequels involving various previously unseen dashing Darcy relatives, including one where his charming american cousin courts Caroline Bingley???

Now, someone please explain how fanfiction is still something to be done anonimously on the internet, that you should be ashamed of outside of fandom, and in a legal gray area. Damn it. We don't even make money out of it, fercristsake!

Also, have a poll:

*blinks in the light* Goodness, it's 2010, isn't it? Holidays have been beyond hectic for me, and very bad weather hasn't helped. Still, a few fannish things did happen, so let's start with the Guy Ritchie fest of last week, eh?

Went to see Sherlock Holmes and was immensely entertained. However, knowing the hoopla about the gay overtones (and having seen the trailer one too many times) I went in with my slash goggles set on high... and was reminded once again that "slash goggles" in my brain actually work as "ship-the-underdog-ship goggles", and I ended up shipping Holmes/Irene and Watson/Mary in the movie far more than I did the obviousness of Holmes/Watson. The two actors, however, are adorable at press events and interviews, which makes me fear I might fall into the dark pit of despair that is RPF *clutches garlic and crucifix to self* Jude Law said something interesting in an interview, about how people assume that codependency implies sex when it really doesn't, which would be true of any slash that has ever been and ever will be. Meanwhile, RDJ seems to relish playing up the fanservice. I suspect they're having even more fun than us, sometimes ;-P

I have to say, I loved all the Guy Ritchie patented action sequences (best director for fist-fights ever, IMHO), but I was pretty surprised and dismayed that the plot was so overly simplistic, when GR's movies are notable precisely for their brilliantly convoluted plots. I suspect that having only four (two?) principals hurt, since he's usually juggling casts of dozens, where pretty much every character gets equal screen time.

Which is why I tracked down and finally saw Rocknrolla, which is absolutely bloody brilliant and why isn't there a fandom for this little gem when it has scenes like this, which are then followed (a bit later) by scenes like this (<- Guy Ritchie = SPN fan Y/Y?) and also, also contain the BEST sex scene in a movie ever (die ridiculously and embarassingly long slow-mo marital sex in 300, die in a fire!).

Oh dear, is my squee showing?

Back into the more beaten path, if you've been wondering if there is already good fic for the Sherlock movie (we all know about the size and venerability of book canon, don't we? It's Star Trek all over again) then the answer would be yes. In fact, I've even boldly gone and vetted a few things from the kinkmeme (of course there's already a kink meme) and here are my discoveries, for your reading pleasure:

Of Dubious and Questionable Memory, gen. Irene steals Watson's wife. Great look at this Irene, and an expansion on a character that I suspect had more scenes than the theatrical version I saw (definitely missing the knee-in-the-nads scene from the trailer. anyone else?). Didn't think I'd have this much fun reading this character, but it was a real delight!

Boxing prompt from the meme, pre-slash, gritty and hot and dark and oh, my! Victorian gentlemen and their darker impulses. Still, barely rating R.

Blindfold prompt from the meme, slash but only just (coulda been perfect without that one little extra step away from gen, but YMMV), this brilliant little fic has given me my bullet-proof kink for this fandom. I don't think I'll ever get enough of sensory!overloaded!Holmes being talked down by Watson. *frisson*

And finally, something that has me grinning like a loon. More of a fic-outline than an actual fic, I hope this comes out of the Bigbang fully formed, because the world needs it. From gekizetsu of Proof-series fame, Carriage driver appoints the entertainment; the good Doctor withholds his opinion (at the bottom of the post)

To all my flist:


I love you gals! I don't think I'll be near a computer until the night of the twenty-fifth, and I didn't have time to make personalized cards like I usually do, but know that I think the best of you, always :-D

There's this fascinating post about Trolls on the nets that I read today that, once again, has proven to me that though I consider myself an old hat at fandom, it can still surprise me. I have to say, I never realized the full extent of the Troll phenomenon (or that, indeed there was a phenomenon to be had at all!). Only peripherally related, a post about purple prose in a published book that needs to be seen to believe it. It's a little old, so maybe you've seen it, but if not you really, really must. It's a description that goes on for pages. Be sure not to miss the video (yes, someone illustrated the purple, meme-style, in a vid. it's awesome). This also comes apropos, because I was re-reading some of my finished fic, and realized that holy shit that last comment-fic I did was way purple. Note to self: your usual cooling period before you post? It's there for a reason. This is what happens if you skip it. Live and learn, my friends ;-P Have you seen the new trailer for Ridley Scott's Robing Hood, with Russel Crowe and Cate Blanchett?

Two things about it:
1 LoTR has really set the bar for medieval-esque action sequences. No movie after them has failed to recognize the debt.
2 At the caption "the story behind the legend" I started laughing and I didn't stop 'till the end. It threw the whole thing into campy territory for me, and the more earnestly angsty it got, the more I thought it looked ridiculous. That last shot. Dear god, that last shot. He really, really believes it. Too bad I don't.

ETA: the newly released clips from Guy Ritchie's Holmes, on the other hand... YES. A MILLION TIMES YES PLEASE.

Went around and left the 'corrected' leaflets this time. Will print more tomorrow, hit a couple of parishes and more schools.

Also, as long as the stuff I ordered over the net arrives in a timely fashion, I completed my Christmas shopping today! (somehow I'm convinced I will find myself remembering someone else and going into a total panic on the twenty fourth... holiday jitters!)

Fannish bit! There's some pretty behind-the-scenes pictures of Merlin over here (non spoilery, unless you didn't know they have pretty horses done up in pretty finery, and girls in pretty dresses, and Bradley is quite hot in his chain-mail, especially when accessorized with sunglasses). My absolute favourites are the last two, where Colin is sneaking a pic of Bradley while the makeup ladies sneak an attack on both the boys!

Speaking( of Merlin... )

FYI, nothing says "I'm a competent teacher, hire me and your kid's grades will improve immediately!" like misspelling a word in your leaflet. Thank God I noticed while I was taping up the second one. Now I have to drive back and make the first one disappear. Also, three A4 wasted. DAMN.

What's the code to get the "style mine" thing working on other people's LJ? I just found an author I really dig, but she posted in such a tiny font my eyes rebelled against protracted reading. XD

If you give me the code I'll rec you some *bats lashes*

Wow, has it been that long since I posted? The holiday season has really knocked me for a loop! Not to mention that the past five days I was on a "visit the relatives!" tour (plus tonight I'm driving up to my sister's with my father for dinner... three hours and a half round-trip!). On the plus side, I think I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping...

Now I really should plan that e-mail to my deputy-advisor... after a calming cup of tea. :D

How are you guys coping with The Season? PS Thanks for the snowflakes!!! Especially to the anonimous sender, since I can't reciprocate!

Two things have happened since my last post: one, I had bronchitis. I finished the antibiotics today, and the cough has mostly gone as well. Man, I hate winter illnesses almost as much as they seem devoted to me.

Two, my computer finally crapped out on me after bravely struggling on for the past two months in a pitiful state of uncertainty. In the end it was the power pack, which I changed today All By Myself (\o/).

So If I haven't been around and you haven't heard from me when you thought I'd make a peep, them's the reasons. There were days when the browser wouldn't even load web pages beyond the most basic of texts.

Now, to get back in the spirit of things, Castiel's fall back career (actually true. no, really)

And why did I not hear Great Squeeing about this movie when it came out? It looks fantastic!!! (plus, I've actually visited many of the fantasy locations you see in the trailer during my trip to India... they're true! And it tickles me pink :-D)

I have commited commentfic in the form of an episode tag for 5.10 over at the spoilery meme that goes under a cut.

( So here's the cut )


This is still in the vein of SPN-related stuff, but it ain't spoilery unless we still count 4.10, and we don't, do we? Check out the angels Falling meteor shower!



Jesus, it just took me forty minutes just to post these two things because the cuts weren't frigging working! Effe you, LJ.

I said I was gonna post about 5.10 today, and I have a little time now, so I'm using it...

I have a lot to say about last night's SPN. So much so, in fact, that I'm feeling a little daunted by the amount of stuff. So I'm thinking I'll sleep on it, forget half of it, and then write a normal-sized post tomorrow-ish ;-P

And for now just cheat. BY POSTING THIS YEAR'S MERLIN'S CIN SKIT, FOR IT IS AWESOME!


It is so... iconable. You know, like quotable, but with icons!

A quick note because it's too cool/geeky to leave this simmering. I was hunting for a reference for the show Merlin, and as usual I was having no luck with the BBC site or the great oracle (google). A helpful fan pointed me towards this: an official map of Camelot, drawn LotR-style, with all the places, borders and stuff. Awesome.

From the land of head colds and sore throats, I bring you a flaily, gushing author rec. And I'm only on aspirin, so I ain't pinning this on any cold-medicine nonsense, it's pure unadulterated genius, is what it is ;-D.

So, here's a little background to how come I'm this excited. Last night, feeling all miserable and sniffly, I went hunting for fic. Specifically, shiny new Castiel h/c. And I didn't find any that didn't set my teeth on edge with the prose or the characterization (or that wasn't a far AU, but I didn't want AU or anything funny. I wanted canon-compliant gen Castiel h/c, but I could settle for Dean/Cas slash and skip the sex like I always do).

So I ended up at Astolat's site, reading some of her Merlin fic.

Well, obviously I had given up on the SPN fic finding game, I was desperate for something I hadn't read already, and despite the heavy slant towards slash, Astolat writes such truly brilliant fic every damn time that I always enjoy it. Giggling my way through Arthur's and Merlin's exasperation with each other, I found myself wishing she shipped (or at least tried her hand at) Dean/Cas.

This morning? unoshot , who's relatively new to the whole SPN fic lark, posted a longish (I want more! MOOOORE!) canon-compliant gen Castiel h/c fic, with Sam pov, Dean being Dean, with everyone so perfectly in character really, in her usual lovely and very eloquent prose, and even the mode of the Whump was something I've been secretly waiting for since the beginning of the season. 5.03, to be specific.

You need to read all of her fics. Then regale her with praise, so she writes more.

I recommend in primis Aurora Borealis, which is a pg13 SPN/The Last Unicorn fusion. Now, I gather this is a pretty famous book for all you native English speakers... I hadn't even heard about it until I found this fic, but one thing I can say it's that the fic itself? Is bloody brilliant and I enjoyed it immensely. And makes me want to hunt down the book (!) and read it. And if you haven't seen season five, this one's perfectly safe, since it follows the events in the book rather than the show (if I'm honest it's also the reason I've started fantasizing about a Merlin/SPN fusion, I believe).

Secondly, you need to read In Excelsis and then The Mountains In Reply (Mountains is the new Cas h/c one), which are both pg13, and gen, and I need a thesaurus here because I can't keep chirping "bloody brilliant" like some ignorant baffoon, really. In fact, you know what? I think I'll go and read them again right now... you know, to find the proper praise to convince you *shifty eyes*.