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Unsurprisingly, one challenge I'm feeling quite fond of right now is the snowflake_challenge itself, which has not only been fun so far but also introduced me to several awesome new people. If you would like to complete up to fifteen low-pressure posting challenges over the month of January and meet other people doing the same thing, it just might be the fannish event for you!

In terms of communities, I have a lot of love for the_good_place, where we've been having cozy little conversations about the current and final season of The Good Place every week it airs. I'm also newly excited about poi_fanworks ever since learning that they're going to be holding a monthly Person of Interest longfic book club this year. Conversation won't be starting for another couple of weeks, but I'm looking forward to it so much!

Finally, in terms of fests, Chocolate Box has been a lot of fun every time I've participated in it. (I'm counting this round, even though I haven't even signed up yet, just because I got so excited about nominations, okay.) It's a low pressure exchange with a minimum of just 300 words or a nice sketch that's 500 pixels on a side, and it turns out that's just about exactly my speed. Plus I love the part where on a day that can be pretty intensely about romance in places that celebrate Valentine's Day, Chocolate Box is basically a great big crowdsourced love letter to the community aspect of fandom and the way we come together to share the things we love. Anyway, right now they're in sign-ups -- the deadline is January 7th -- and I can't wait until I get my assignment on the 10th. ♥

READ

Some more Iron Bull/Dorian, most notably Pas de Deux by CandidCantrix, which is 4k of absolutely lovely Iron Bull POV.

( Some uncomfortable underage fic... )

And, at jmtorres' recommendation, the incredible Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by Nnm, which is a novel length Good Omens fic from the point of view of Crowley's therapist. I always want my favorite characters to get therapy, honestly, but I never expected to find a fic that did such an amazing job at it. I'm on the second to last chapter as I write this, but I feel confident recommending it anyway.

GAMED

Lily's Garden and StarCraft II as before, but... I'm feeling awfully conflicted about the latter since learning yesterday that Blizzard stripped a player of his prize money -- and banned him from competing for a year -- when he declared his support for the Hong Kong protestors. I hope that after Blizzard assesses the situation, they reverse their decision and apologize to Blitzchung.

WATCHED

The second half of The Good Place's season premiere, which just makes me even more excited for the rest of the final season. I love this show so much, okay.

( Doctor Who through 9x01, "The Magician's Apprentice". )

I had hazy dreams of writing far more treats than just the one, but if I could only manage one, I'm glad it was for phoenixfalls, who wrote for me my first Chocolate Box lo these several years ago!

Title: Couples
Fandom: Person of interest
Pairing: Sameen Shaw/John Reese, but like, as bros?
Rating: Teen and Up
Contains: Snark, bad jokes, Shaw's frustration with civilian pastimes.
Word count: 663
Summary: The good thing about getting a number who's on his way to a couples retreat is that it narrows down the possibilities for violence. The bad thing about it that Shaw has to go to a couples retreat, too.

( read on DW )

I do wish I'd finished it just a few minutes earlier, so I could have come up with a better title before the collection went live -- but I did have an awful lot of fun writing it!

( complaining about The Good Wife and, separately, Lost Girl )

*
Less gloomily, I've been enjoying the videos of YouTube user TB Skyen lately. (Unfortunately, most of them aren't captioned.)

I'm unfamiliar with probably 90% of the media he covers, so I've only sampled a scattering of his work, but I love the way he'll sometimes insist that he isn't being political at all, he's purely examining artistic and narrative decisions -- and then he just happens to demonstrate that there is no artistic or narrative justification for the incredibly sexist design choices of the powers that be. Well played, sir.

Not to mention, his delighted squee over the Undertale quasi-sequel (?) Deltarune is incredibly endearing.

*
Also in YouTubery: Why are Siamés' music videos so amazing??

The Wolf was stunningly good, but I might love Mr. Fear just as much. (Cartoon violence in both videos, and possible body horror warning for the latter.) They're just so stylized and stylish and expressive! And the animation meshes so perfectly with the beat!

(And I admire the way they make a genuine artistic virtue of what I suspect is a strategic reuse of footage to keep the workload/budget reasonable.)

*
Possibly against my better judgment, I seem to be gearing up to do Chocolate Box this year! Deadlines can be tricky for me, but surely I can write 300 words in a month's time? (I say knowing full well that last time the story wouldn't let go of me in less than 1000.)

I haven't signed up yet, but I have drafted up some requests and offers, so... I admit it's looking likely at this point. It's just such a fun exchange!

So here's a little fic that I wrote almost three years ago, revised more than two years ago, and only just got around to uploading this week. Story of my fannish life, I guess. But better late than never!

Title: Data Collection
Fandom: Person of Interest
Characters: Harold Finch, the Machine, Grace Hendricks
Rating: Mature Themes
Contains: Inanimate pronouns for artificial superintelligences, canon-compatible matchmaking, awkward conversations with a Machine that sees everything.
Word count: 1,241
Summary: The first time the Machine flagged explicit pornography for Harold's attention, he thought it was confused by the use of handcuffs and floggers.

Read on the AO3, or ( here! )

Wow, Dreamwidth, it's been a little while, hasn't it? And today I come bearing art!

( Finch enjoying a day in the park with two of his favorite canines )

So a few years ago, jmtorres wrote the amazing fic two in the park, one in the hand (also available on the AO3!), which beautifully combines the two fandoms each of us were most into at the time, and it was gorgeous and amazing and I loved it to bits, and then last year I sketched this little fanart for it, struggled briefly with the color scheme, and then... let it sit around moldering on my hard drive until a couple of days ago, pretty much.

But now I've finally finished it! And Dreamwidth actually has image hosting now, which is pretty amazing, so I get to upload this here and not just on Tumblr, and this wasn't actually supposed to be a parable about the benefits of procrastination, but whatever, I'm just happy to have actually done an artistic thing. *g*

I still love Juls' fic to bits, for the record. If you haven't read it before, I'm sure now would be a great time.

alhflkahsgldhsgls so last month I signed up for this gift exchange called Chocolate Box, which is beautifully low pressure, because all you're agreeing to do is create one (1) nice sketch or short fanfic of at least three hundred words for the person you're assigned. So simple, so adorable, so tiny, right?

That's what I thought right up until I got FIVE WHOLE AMAZING GIFTS -- from, I am guessing, at least two separate people -- and just, HOW IS MY LUCK EVEN?

I DON'T EVEN KNOW. IT IS A MYSTERY TO ME.

But since author reveals aren't for a week and it's killing me that I can't go lurk adoringly at my writer(s) and bask in how awesome they are, I'm just going to tell you all about it. IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER (or rather, in what I think might have been chronological order, only the AO3 is confusing me now so you know what, don't even worry about it):

In How to Get Away with Murder news, I got ACTUALLY FEUDAL ANNALISE/BONNIE FEELS, and I'm not sure I have actually stopped screaming. When I wrote about my quasi-feudal feels in my dear author letter I never dreamed I would get an ACTUAL MEDIEVAL AU, but it is so amazing and so perfectly HTGAWM-awful and so them. HOW IS THIS MY BEAUTIFUL LIFE.

In Person of Interest news, I got ZOE/JOHN FEMDOM OF INFINITE HOTNESS. Oh my gosh, I just casually mentioned in my letter that I would be delighted by kink, and in return I got a Zoe who's both careful and confident in her handling of John and a John who is so there for that, and just, it's the most wonderfully nuanced take on how BDSM could work for them. I know there's at least one of you here whose interests this might be relevant to, okay. SHARE IN THE CELEBRATION.

In Elementary news, I got the loveliest, loveliest portrait of Sherlock and Joan's lives growing, as the summary says, increasingly intertwined. It's so painstakingly, heartbreakingly in character, and I can't even say how delighted I was to see Marcus make an appearance too. I almost don't want to capslock in case I disturb the perfect delicate balance of this fic somehow, but seriously, THIS FIC.

In a surprise twist of MORE PERSON OF INTEREST NEWS, I also got this absolutely classic Finch/Reese fic of wry observations, understated pining, and just the most gorgeously gentle resolution. There are so many amazing things about the later seasons of this show that I wouldn't give up for the world, but you remember that quiet intimate feeling of the first couple of seasons with these two shut up alone in a library? NEVER GOING TO BE TIRED OF THAT. Also if you like hands, the name of this fic is "Palmistry", I am just saying.

And then as if all of that were SOMEHOW NOT ENOUGH, I said in my letter that I'd love to see some Bear character development, because I'm weird like that? AND I GOT BEAR POV. With Finch/Reese as well, and so many pack feels that I can't even. It is so hard not to quote the last line here, seriously, but I'm going to be strong so you can read it in context. HEARTS.

This is the first time I've ever gotten gifts in an exchange[1], and I'm still not sure what to do with the fact that I basically won the fannish lottery. I got some of everything! Three different fandoms; four different relationship categories, including gen; tiny perfect 300-word fics and lovely longer ones; and so many of the things I love best about these fandoms and pairings. It's an embarrassment of riches, and I'm just so happy that I had anything at all to do with these stories coming into the world.

Best February 14th ever.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

1. Although I will always have love for a brave unknown anon who tried, and so clearly wanted to make me something wonderful, but who must have ended up getting overwhelmed by life or something in the end, as so many of us do. Let us remember the fallen soldiers of fandom as well as the glorious heroes, okay. (back)

Hello Dreamwidth, I live! And am on an antidepressant that might actually be working! And I even have hopes that I might be more active hereabouts at some point!

But today I am not here to talk about those things. Today, I am here to flail about Person of Interest, because I just threw a couple hundred words at Tumblr, and there is something that feels so wrong about posting meta there while this account languishes. So without further ado!

This is probably way too much to hope, but--

( spoilery speculation )

Have you ever found yourself with just enough of a thing that you felt you ought to do something with it, but too little of it for anything you could think of to do? That seems to be where I am with energy at the moment. I wanted to start this paragraph with a concrete comparison -- one involving food preparation, maybe -- but I couldn't manage to think of one. You see what I mean.

It's a frustrating situation, but possibly a good one, if it means that I'm returning to the world of people who can occasionally do things. Because I do like to do things, occasionally; I tend to feel much happier about life when I do.

In the meantime, have some disorganized and spoilery and largely cranky thoughts about recent television. (Content note for the Almost Human one: I start out by saying there's an abusive relationship at the heart of the show, and I absolutely mean it.)

( Elementary 2x13, All in the Family )

( Almost Human 1x08, You Are Here )

( Sleepy Hollow 1x11, The Vessel )

( Intelligence 1x02, I cannot be bothered to look up the name )

( Person of Interest 3x13, 4C )