hypothetically speaking

I will edit this as I write new fic, so it should be an up-to-date list of everything I've written/recorded.

At the moment, all the links go to the original livejournal entries; once I start posting fic on Dth instead, links will go to entries here. So fic written before April 30th 2009 = on LJ, after April 30th 2009 = on Dth.

( complete list under the cut )

( my policy on warnings )

Oh White Collar. Your slash is so old-school loving and innocent and undefensive! It's like watching The Sentinel, or Starsky and Hutch, except without the women being dead all the time. And I love how your plots make NO SENSE, but your D/s dynamic always hangs together perfectly. Never change. ( other things about white collar that should never change - spoilers for 1x10 )

Other news: sigh, right now I have writer's blaaaah. It's like writer's block, but not so energetic. With writer's block there's this sense of a solid object barring your way forward, something to fight against, it's all very manly and noble and possibly sweaty. But with writer's blaaaah it's like, I don't WANNA write, writing is HARD, I'm TIRED, who even knows what scene goes here anyway. I hate having writer's blaaaah, as it is currently making the fics on my fic roster (three help_haiti fics and four prompt-fics) harder to finish. blaaaah.

So, because it won't turn up on anyone's flist or rlist due to being dated out of order, here is a link to my festivids vid post! The vid I made is called "Here it Goes Back Again," and it's a Back to the Future vid, made with care for valika56.

(nixwilliams, you are probably not too surprised given our recent conversations!)

fan_eunice did guess in chat that this was my vid, but I provided rather copious clues first. :) I think I was pretty incognito on this one!

I had a ton of fun making it, even if it was a struggle at points, and definitely want to participate again next year if I can. I would love for festivids to be a little further from Yuletide, in whichever direction, just because having those two deadlines on top of one another was pretty exhausting, but overall yay! I can't DEAL with how many great vids this challenge produced.

Also, check it out, it turns out that rhoboat made my wonderful gift-vid, Every Star You Chase, for Red Dwarf. Aw! Gift exchanges are amazing, you guys - cool people make you cool things! *dances*

does anyone want Dreamwidth invite codes? I have a bunch here going spare. comment to this post or email me and I'll give you one. some advantages to Dreamwidth over LJ:

-DW doesn't have ads
-DW doesn't have ads that infect your computer with malware
-DW isn't an asshole towards genderqueer/transgender people
-DW isn't an asshole towards any user who offers a critique or asks a question
-DW in my experience has unscheduled downtime less frequently than LJ, even though it's newer and smaller and has fewer people working there
-DW has yet to be caught lying to their users
-DW doesn't have ads that infect your computer with malware
-DW isn't an asshole towards genderqueer/transgender people
-DW has many pretty features and fancy gadgets and doohickeys - the ones I like best are "posts can be like five times as long" and "comments can be like five times as long" and "you can have separate subscribe/access lists" and "I have so many icon slots I don't even know what to do with them," but there are many more.

And, more importantly, there's community over here now. I know some people were reluctant to move last year because their peeps were sticking to LJ, and that's understandable, but hey - many cool and familiar peeps are on DW now! Very few people are sticking to LJ exclusively these days, and heck, you can always keep up with them via crossposting and OpenID, even if they aren't ever going to move. We have done the work of building the roads and the post office and the town hall and look - there's room for you here. There's community for you here.

If you already crosspost, why not consider having your comments at DW-only? Having the discussion in one place has many advantages, DW allows comments to be much much longer (yay for commentfic! yay for kinkmemes and pornbattles!), and that way, nobody will be exposed to malware while checking in on a discussion in your comments.

If you are the mod of a community, why not consider moving that community full-time to DW? That's what eruthros and I did with kink_bingo (a DW-only community), and even with the move our membership went up by over 150% from year one to year two. It's an active, thriving, and more importantly growing community over here, and a wonderful place to grow your community, too. We're really thrilled with the community management features here - like hierarchical tags (oh, hierarchical tags!), more tags for your dollar (up to 2000 on DW, vs LJ's max of 1200), and auto-mod-email (basically, as a mod I can check a box to get notifications anytime anyone in the comm comments on any post). They're working on other cool community management tools, too - like, for example, having different "levels" of comm admins (so you can designate helpers for low-level comm management, like tagging or approving posts, without giving them full modly powers). Plus, as someone who mods a community that enthusiastically allows underage fic/art, I feel much much safer here on DW. Overall, as a mod and as an individual user, I like DW because it's still growing - on LJ, it seems, even when features aren't actively being destroyed, there are no new features coming down the pipe. On DW, they're constantly working to offer us more, more, more, more for the price of less, and that's exciting and invigorating.

If you have a large community whose needs aren't currently being met by LJ, why not talk to denise directly about moving, and whether moving your community would be to your advantage? My understanding is that DW is willing to give moving communities bunches of invite codes, help with the moving process, help with layouts, whatever you need, so it needn't be a daunting process. And while you're considering that, consider what it's like to live at a journaling site where you can contact the head cheese directly, and she (she!) will listen to you.

Just in case you're wondering what you're missing, or whether the things you love can be found at DW as well, some other wonderful dreamwidth comms include:

scans_daily
vidding
veni_vidi_vids
myth_confirmed
holmes_watson
vulcanreforged
queerlygen
transfic
white_collar
podficmeta
you_know_thats_right
access_fandom
vorkosigan
girlgay
smallfandomfics
amplificathon

. . . and many more! Those are just, like, some comms I like. There is an incomplete list of DW comms up at this page, or you can see what comms people are promoting over at dw_community_promo, or you can just search the site (because, wow, DW's site-searching features actually work).

eta: ooooh, I didn't know about this, but apparently Dreamwidth received DMCA takedown notices back in December, targeted at scans_daily, and was awesome about it. Oh I have stars in my eyes!

I have too too many recs and links to give you guys! I think I'll fall back on that old friend . . . THE NUMBERED LIST.

1) Apologies to those who requested drabbles who haven't received them yet - I promise I am working on them! I hope to get a few more done tonight. But I have written a bunch of them that folks might be interested in, so here are some links to the "drabbles" I've finished. Yes, one of them is 2000 words and none of them is less than 900, what of that? I am constitutionally incapable of brevity. As this post shall illustrate.

Roped In, Sherlock Holmes, Holmes/Watson, breathplay, pre-movie, for kanata
Grounded, ST:AOS, Uhura + pals, gen, for such_heights
Operation Quiet Panther, SGA, OT4, for blushingflower
how to feel better, Mythbusters/The Sentinel fusion, Jamie is a sentinel, for toft
Circuit, Sherlock Holmes, Holmes/Watson, electricity, post-movie, for damned_colonial
The Pie Job, Leverage, OT3, for fish_echo

2) And speaking of the drabble meme! It has produced many fics that have poked me delightfully in the heart. Just a couple of those include John Henry split this heart split this full moon heart, a Mythbusters Adam/Jamie post-apocalyptic story by gloss, which I love SO MUCH I cannot even tell you, and Stargaze, by toft, a Psych Gus/Shawn story that is so full of cuteness and adorable detective boyfriend-ness that I actually tried to hug my computer screen when I read it.

3) Sherlock Holmes fandom! Sherlock Holmes fandom is blossoming delightfully, I must say. Some vids I have thoroughly enjoyed in this fandom include giandujakiss's most excellent untitled Holmes vid thing and settiai's lovely Watson/Holmes/Irene vid, The Boxer. For those who like a little more of the old-fashioned Holmes, I must recommend dkwilliams's fabulous Holmes/Watson vid Your Mistake, which is a vid to the Granada series and absolutely fills me with awwwww. It's also a great showcase of how fun and physical the Granada series is. So, that's vids; some STORIES I have thoroughly enjoyed in this fandom include Change of Plans, by blue_soaring, which is fantastically hot Holmes/Watson, really well characterized, and Infinite Variations Upon a Single Moment, by lisztful, which has (re)awakened in me the desire for Holmes/Watson transfic, yay!

4) Speaking of that Watson/Holmes/Irene vid up there, have you guys noticed how many fabulous OT3 vids there have been lately? OT3 vidding is developing into its own bigass genre all of a sudden! Here are the OT3 vids of my heart: Apple Candy (Spock/Uhura/Kirk) and Imma Be (Parker/Hardison/Eliot), both by talitha78; and, from the festivids collection, Let's Misbehave (Elizabeth/Peter/Neal) and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow (Oliver/Geoffrey/Ellen). OH TEE THREEEEES! I love them so. All of those vids are so amazing, too, you'll love them I promise. The White Collar one is so great, I cannot wait to find out who made it.

5) Speaking of festivids, I haven't done festivids recs at ALL yet, have I? Okay, well, here you go. Some wonderful as-yet-unknown person made me a sweet and hilarious Red Dwarf vid called Every Star You Chase, which is just as silly and cracked-out and lil-bit-heartbreaking as the show itself; it was a fabulous gift to receive, and made me oh so happy! Other people also received cool gifts, many many cool gifts, but I will give you a little list of my very top favourites. Really there's something for everyone at festivids, and I recommend that you just cruise through the masterlist and watch everything you can, because seriously there is a lot of quality. Okay. But, if you can't watch them all, in addition to the aforementioned White Collar and Slings and Arrows vids, you should be sure not to miss:

Past In Present (Chak De! India) - omg LADIES SPORTS FILM VID! I have not yet watched this without involuntarily exclaiming "awwww!" at the end of it, srsly.
Never Be (Criminal Minds) - brilliantly edited, difficult to watch, and full of hard triumph. Amazing work.
Radar (Die Hard) - It's just like watching the Die Hard movies, but compressed into this tiny space so that it's CONCENTRATED AWESOME.
Facts of Life (Facts of Life) - it is FACTS OF LIFE FEMSLASH YOU GUYS. What else do you need to know?
No Fate (Flashforward) - I haven't kept up with this series, but holy SHIT this vid makes me reconsider that decision. OH JOHN CHO!
Cemeteries of London (Forever Knight) - I didn't know you could still make a non-ironic Forever Knight vid and make it interesting and compelling! But friends you CAN, and this is it.
Enchantment (Kamikaze Girls) - oh god, so sweet and soft and cracked out and violent and AWESOME. ttly hot vid.
One (Magnum PI) - again, who knew this could be nonironic and still compelling? This vid made me feel emotionally invested in TOM SELLECK's PTSD, yall.
Le Disko (Neverending Story) - again with the amazing crack!
The Transported Man (The Prestige) - god, I wish the FILM gave me the kind of shivers that this vid gives me. Gorgeous, gorgeous editing, amazing clip choice, omg.
Feel It (SYTYCD) - wheeeeeeeeee!
Lullabye for a Stormy Night (The Sound of Music) - oh my goodness, MARIA! and LIESL! I ship them secretly, but really this vid is about their friendship and strength, and the strength that Maria brings to everyone around her awwww.
Passenger Fever (Twin Peaks) - chilling and disconcerting and beautiful.
Mr Blue Sky (Wall-E) - really wonderfully edited vid about ROBOTS IN LOVE! I adored the vid, but oh god, the fatphobia of the source still puts me off so much that I almost can't deal. But it is a beautiful vid.

6) WHEW THIS WAS A LONG POST. Next time I will not let things build up so, I promise.

I've been thinking I should get back into doing prompt-fic again (remember when I used to do it all the time? I miss those days) and this meme seems like a good way to go about it. So, voila:

Meme: The first ten people to comment in this post get to request that I write a drabble (loose definition of term) for any pairing/OT3/OT4/character of their choosing. In return, they have to post this in their journal, regardless of their ability level. Some other equivalent gift, like icons or mini-fanmixes or quickie meta, would make sense for people who don't (want to) write fic themselves. [You don't have to, really, I'm not going to check. But feel free to say that I made you do it, if that's what you're into.]

So prompt me in: Sherlock Holmes, Mythbusters, Leverage, Hustle, White Collar, ST:AOS, Psych, or SGA. Yall know which characters and pairings and moresomes I like, right? If anyone would prefer meta to fic, I can prolly do that too, just give me a topic or an episode to talk about or what have you.

1. kanata (Sherlock Holmes, H/W, perhaps a bit of breathplay) - done! Roped In
2. such_heights (ST:AOS, Uhura, away mission) - done! Grounded
3. blushingflower (SGA, OT4, cuddling and perhaps kinky sex) - done! Operation Quiet Panther
4. toft (Mythbusters, Jamie is a Sentinel) - done! how to feel better
5. chagrined (Mythbusters, Adam/Jamie something something)
6. damned_colonial (Sherlock Holmes, H/W, electric fork experiments) - done! Circuit
7. fish_echo (Leverage, OT3, pie and/or unicorns) - done! The Pie Job
8. anoel (something about The West Wing probably)
9. rheanna (Sherlock Holmes, Watson Holmes and Adler, bondage)
10. feanna (ST: AOS, some combination of Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and/or McCoy)

---

ALSO, REMINDER: even though I'm sorta giving it away for free here, I want to remind everyone that I'm still up for sale over at help_haiti; and over there, instead of drabbles, you get stories of at least 1000 words (and let's face it they're likely to be longer), with probably some thought put into them! There are only 25 hours left to go in bidding, as it closes at noon EST January 20th, and all three fics that I'm offering are still relatively reasonably priced. My thread is here. It's obviously a really important cause, so if fic by me doesn't do it for you, maybe go skim the community threads for someone more to your taste, see if you can find yourself an excuse to give money. They now have posts up indexing offers by fandom, so you can just go, "hmmm, who's offered Merlin fic?" and find yourself someone you like who'll write you Merlin fic, or whatever. There are some seriously tiny fandoms on offer, too. Also there are offers for vids, art, manips, podfic, icons, food, crafts, care packages, postcards, you name it.

In addition to making a direct donation to Doctors Without Borders for earthquake relief in Haiti, I'm joining the ranks of those offering themselves up at help_haiti.

So go here to bid on my services. I'm offering THREE (3) fics, to the three highest bidders, in SGA, Sherlock Holmes, Mythbusters, Psych, or Leverage. Bidding starts at $25 apiece. Fics guaranteed to be 1000 words+. Let's raise a little money, guys!

Bidding closes on the 20th, so go now. There are lots of people in MANY fandoms offering up all kinds of skills - fic writing, original fic writing, beta services, podficcing, and so forth. And there are other posts at the comm for non-words-related auctions (food, audio, art, etc), as well.

. . . I finally went today to see the new Sherlock Holmes film. I know, I know, you'd think I would've been first in line, but look, it was COLD, the movie theatre is FAR AWAY, and moreover I spent the last couple weeks wearing pajamas and wrestling with my festivids vid, so anyway I kept not going to see it despite good intentions.

And while I kept not going to see it, I kept reading reviews that said it wasn't good - wasn't really Sherlock Holmes, was just an action film with Sherlock Holmes pasted on yay, was stupid, was lowbrow, was overblown, was badly acted, blah de blah de blah, and then I went to see it, and okay

It was FABULOUS. It was well-written, beautifully acted, raw in a way Holmes hasn't been in a long time, beautifully canon-compliant as well as canon-faithful (there's a difference, and the latter is more important), slashy as all get out WITHOUT being misogynistic (whew!), fun and funny and sweet with plenty of heart and character, and oh my god the OT3s and the OT4 and and and. I loved it to bits. I'll take another ten just like it, please. In a slightly more spoilery vein, I'll also say ( this: )

This is a post about my vidding technical process, what I've learned over the last little while, and the problems I have with the two main strategies I've tried out. I confess up front that there's a lot a lot a lot I don't know - I taught myself to vid like two years ago, so/but I've never taken the time as I should to read manuals or the like, and I've never really had another vidder show me the ropes (except inasmuch as I've stalked mac_vidding_101, which is awesome, but isn't really an organized step by step how to). Anyway, I wanted to write a post sort of outlining how I've been going about some of the technical aspects, talking about the limitations I've encountered, and asking anyone who's passing by to either a) benefit from my dubious experience or b) take a moment to tell me about the obvious things I'm probably missing. I've made an effort to explain the terms I'm using here in case any non-vidders or newer-than-me vidders want to read this, but if there's anything that doesn't make sense, terms or whatnot, please feel free to ask.

( mostly, this is about workflow, from DVD or downloaded avi into Final Cut, then out of final cut to an avi or divx )

If anyone has any advice, or recognizes some mistake that I'm making here (like I said before, I really don't know much about Final Cut or things and most of this is trial and error), I'd be really glad to hear it.

1) *bangs face against festivids vid* why aren't you done yet! Argh! Look at all the people on the flist and rlist, all those people are done theirs! Be done already!

2) I will have my festivid done in time for the deadline on the tenth, I'm not worried about that, but right now it's being TRUCULENT and I want to stab it a little bit.

3) Apropos of nothing, I feel the need to inform the internet that, the other night, I had a dream in which I was watching Fred Penner (on tv) with Allison Janney. Like, Allison Janney was sitting next to me on the couch, and we were enjoying some Canadian children's tv reruns. Not bad, subconscious!

4) I should probably stop rewatching The West Wing. I do it like once a year, I don't even know why, and every time I'm like, "yay that was so good *cries*" and then immediately I'm like "oh my god that was so incredibly sexist I hate you Aaron Sorkin you lump of smirky misogynist buffalo dung your show makes my gorge rise in disgust." I go back and forth. Anyway, I'm in the fifth season now, which is where a lot of people stop liking the show, but actually I'm finding season five not too bad. And, hey bonus, season five is like 340% less sexist than the first four seasons! That's pretty cool. I hadn't noticed that before.

5) Mostly I have nothing to post. I'm just sitting here, being angry at my vid. Hoping that if I don't look at it for a while, that little instrumental transition section will fix itself. *whistles innocently*