This is my life

intoabar is having signups right now! (That link DW, if you prefer LJ, that's over here.) I signed up with Charlie from SPN because Charlie and I picked Arrow, The Losers, and The Voice RPS. I'm really hoping for The Voice because I may have already hashed out the whole fic.

It's simple. You pick a character to walk into a bar. Then you pick 1-4 other fandoms you feel comfortable working in and sabinetzin will roll the dice and give you a character for your chosen character to meet in that bar. (The bar is metaphorical, as is the walking, and just about everything else. Think of it as a meet cute for two unlikely characters.) This fest has spawned some of the best crossovers out there. Check it out!

Not to mention, it's only 500 words, and now you can do art, vids, podfic and other things too! Those are not 500 words. Those are little more esoteric in their size requirements. :) Come on, join us! Cracky crossovers FTW! (Oh, reminds me I need to advertise on crossovers.)

Also, maharetr, tygermama, and franzeska have jumped in to take over the ante_up_losers Big Bang, and they are SO BRILLIANT! I'm excited about The Losers again and I haven't been for quite a while. Party post for brainstorming goes up tomorrow; I'm sure I'll post again when it's live so I can mention (again) how much I would like a macaroni castle.

From libitina, a really great read, and an awesome article I have things to say about (because the title applies to me): Deeply Embarrassed White People Talk Awkwardly About Race. My energy is too low to produce volumes about this right now, but the article really speaks for itself and is worth a read. I'm sure beware the comments applies, though I didn't actually read them.

( NAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, Reid and Morgan (well, okay, MGG and Shemar Moore) armwrestle! :D )

ante_up_losers is live! There are 20 items in the Exchange and 6 items in the Scramble! I hope to be able to put some more things in the scramble over the next few days, but I was sort of writing my story to the very last second before reveals. I know, totally not like me at all. *koff* Run over and take a look - so much good stuff, including icons, graphics, fanmixes, poetry, art, podfic, and of course fic!

Speaking of, I got the most gorgeous fic in the universe in the exchange, Persephone is having sex in hell, gorgeous, dark, and perfect Aisha/Jolene - so so so beautiful, I can't even, it's like someone took all my favorite things out of my brain and made it into the perfect story for me. I can't lie, I know my author, not just because I made the assignments, but because I betaed the story, and man. Re-reading it now is just the most wonderful sweetness. I love love love it. ( Content notes for those who need might need or want them. )

And I got art in the scramble, too, amazing, gorgeous WERECAT ART. Cool Cats. :D :D :D :D :D Cat is based on storm_petrel's the first eight don't count (one of my favorite werecat stories bar none) and then there's were-Cougar, IN A HAT. How much do I love these pieces? THIS MUCH. OMG, these hit every one of my buttons and then a few I didn't know I had.

I was randomly spoiled for the end of House by a post on an entirely different topic. It was distressing, actually. I don't know that I'll ever finish watching House (I can't even remember when I stopped, season seven, maybe?), but I didn't know what happened and now I do and it was a shock to my system and I'm feeling a little strange and a bit sad.

I think that's the end of my list of random things. I am betaing fic for a good friend that hasn't written in a while and it's so pleasing to see them write, I can't even tell you. So I'm off to do that, and I'll be back tomorrow to catch up on things, now that my Ante Up obligations are done and I have some breathing room.

ETA: Nope, not the end. Just talking to soleta and mentioning that I am close to putting up my 200th fic on the AO3, and I'm pretty sure it's going to end up being Supernatural dubcon Sam/Dean/Castiel. That or fic about Sam losing his viriginity. And she groaned and said "You should write a special fic for your 200th fic," and I said, "Well, I could always finish the Cougar hooker!fic," and she said, "Yes, fine, good. As long as it's not Supernatural."

So, I had not actually planned to do this (when do I plan to do anything, I ask) but I've been trawling the Festivids and holy cow, there's some truly amazing stuff out there.

( My faves of the fest )

( REC CATEGORY: I love this show/movie/fandom, and this vid made me remember why. )

( REC CATEGORY: I have no idea what this canon is, but I want to, after this vid. )

Probably more later - I'm rewatching Revenge right now so I can catch up. Nolan and Jack pretend BFFs FTW!

In your own space, pimp three comms or challenges and explain why you love them. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it.

This is so easy.

kink_bingo is one of the best run, thoughtful, inclusive, awesome challenges ever. The mods put an incredible amount of work to make it a wonderful comm year round, and so many amazing fanworks are created because of it. Bonus, on the participant side, it's low-stress (as most bingos are) and easy and really, really welcoming. Check it out!

create_my_comm is so cool! Ever really want a comm for something but not have the time to mod it yourself (yeah, that never happens to me). Post here and someone may take up your challenge! Greatest idea ever.

ante_up_losers is a comm that hosts a winter fanwork exchange (new fanworks go live in February, woo!) and a summer big bang for The Losers (movie and comic canons). The Losers is a wonderful small fandom with wonderful people, huge talent, and a huge amount of squee. Check us out, we have a lot of fun and would always love to see more love for The Losers and more Losers fanworks. :D

Soooooooooooooo, sign-ups close tomorrow.

And I know there are several of you out there thinking about playing (I know because I've had conversations with at least three people about it). Come on! You know you want to play! You could get a story, or art, or a vid, or a macaroni castle. Who doesn't want a macaroni castle? You could also make a story, or art, or a vid, or a picspam or poetry or meta or comics or a macaroni castle! (More info here.)

Let me add a little fuel to the fire: if you sign up between now and the close of sign-ups and mention that I made you do it (in your Dear Creator letter, in the comments here, in an email, whatever), I will make a little something in the Scramble just for you. Come on, you know you want to. And I can't say how much I want you to. Soooooooooo much.

I finally finished my Dear Creator letter over the weekend. It's huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge.

Hallo there, you good people! This is year three for this little exchange, and I'm really proud of it, you know? This fandom is full of so much awesome, I can't help but want to hug it and squeeze it and call it George. The big news is that the fest is now open to all types of fanworks. So if you were sad that you couldn't make Losers art for the exchange, now you can! You can also make vids, picspams, poetry, and macaroni castles! If you can dream it, you can request it (or offer to make it) - and we would love to have it in our exchange. Consider signing up? Stories aren't due until January 20, 2013! If not, there's always the Scramble, when I will beg you to make me macaroni castles and film yourself doing interpretive dance. >:D



Rules and FAQ | Sign ups at the AO3 | Need an AO3 or DW invite | Pinch hitters | Beta services post | Contact a mod

ante_up_losers

Dearest My-Favorite-Person-In-The-Universe-Who-Is-Creating-Something-Just-For-Me,

I love you. Yes, you. Seriously, I may not even know you yet, but I love you. Because I love the Losers, and you love the Losers, and I love fanworks, and you love fanworks, and most of all, because you are making something awesome just for l'il ole me. This makes me grin like this: :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Okay, so now the brass tacks. First off - I requested some things which happen to be a few (very few) of my favorite things, but there is honestly nothing off the table. Just because I chose the things I did doesn't mean I don't love a zillion other things including Cougar/Wade, crack!poetry, or any other off-the-wall thing you can possibly think up. A few of my favorite things are expanded on below, but I love everything, so don't feel like you have to include anything mentioned here if you have some other thing in mind. I am totally easy that way.

Pairings-wise, I asked for either Cougar/Jensen, gen, or Aisha/Clay/Roque. I can totally see all of these things working together, BTW. Like, a heist story/comic/picspam where the pairings are together but it's not at all the focus of the work. I also love straight-up non-relationship gen stuff and on the other end of the scale, romance (floofy or not) and porn. I love everything, seriously. I also love many other relationships, both canon relationships (and friendships) and more shippy things. The femslash possibilities in particular intrigue me: Aisha with anyone is a fascinating dynamic, and Jolene is amazing so I always love seeing more of her. Throw Jensen's sister in there and there is much fun to be had (or cross any of them over with any other awesome ladies!). I love the Clay/Roque bromance of the movie (and can and do support slashy Clay/Roque) and OT4 with Cougar/Jensen/Pooch/Jolene. Any of these things floats my boat, so pretty much, you have free rein in this area.

Character-wise I asked for Aisha, Cougar, and Jensen, but you really can't go wrong with most of the main characters. I admit Clay is not really my thing, so if you're going to create something about him you're going to have an uphill battle with my sensibilities - that's not to say I don't love having my mind changed! If you looooooooooove Clay and you want to show me why, feel free! I love being proved wrong!

Category-wise, I asked for absolutely anything. So for any kind of art, graphics, fic, or meta, I'm going to point you at previous posts of mine, including my first ante up letter, my second ante up letter (sorry, these are obviously fic-focused, but they tell you a lot about my hot-buttons in general), my weird idea for a Max/Wade vid, and my (brief) dissertation on Jensen = Vash the Stampede. These are all just jumping-off points. If you don't really feel any of this, or you already have some Losers fanwork eating your brain, go ahead and do that! I will love anything because I love the Losers and I love you.

Remix: I would love to see any story, piece of art, graphic, or podfic remixed, honestly, because one of my favorite things is to look at the same object from many angles. I ask that you get permission from the original creator first (if they don't have a blanket statement out there somewhere). My own stories and podfics are totally up for grabs and there's a list of folks signed up here and another list of folks signed up here (some overlap). I'd love to see some of Pistol's stuff remixed because I think that there are really interesting possibilities in there for choosing different POVs to reveal information (blanket permission statement in her AO3 profile). I love lady_krysis's stuff too, and I know she gives blanket permission, too.

Podfic: Man, there are so many good stories that I'd love to see podficced. Here's a short-ish list. Anything that resembles anything on this list is totally fair game, too (assuming the author has given blanket permission or you have sought specific permission for the work).

Anything by Pistol, because I can't get enough of her fic, but especially Applied Force (dark!fic, written in 2nd person - it'd be so creepy!), Ten Dollar Rock Stars (OMG Mama Roque would be amazing!), or Between Your Smile and Your Sleight of Hand (more dark!fic, selkie!Cougar and dark!Jensen - so lovely).

Ooooh! Also Resonant wrote Losers fic, holy crap! And it is AMAZING! If you feel like podficcing awesome sexytimes Cougar/Jensen, then Impersonation would be brilliant (also, Res has a blanket permission statement on her profile).

If you're not a Cougar/Jensen person, then anything by lady_krysis will fit the bill, because she's awesome! And writes all the amazing things that are not Cougar/Jensen! In particular I'd love to hear Hard to Get (Aisha/Salt (crossover with Salt)) or Mission Myth Intervention (Clay/Roque Mythbusters crossover).

Oh, yay! I just found storm_petrel's blanket permission statement! That means all hir Losers fic is on the table for podfic or remix! I love all of them, but podfics of these things get louder (or, five times the losers met the a-team) and inside there's an army waiting (for their marching orders from you) (warning - dark and sort-of-but-not-really-deathfic) would be especially nice.

Fanmix: I love everything! Well, mostly everything. There are particular examples of every genre that I don't love, but then, there are particular examples of every genre that I do, so that's probably not much help. I have a Masters in music which means that I am woefully undereducated about popular music. I listen to the radio in bursts, for a few months and then not at all for a year or more, so I almost never have a solid idea of what's popular. I love classical, obviously, and if you put together a Losers opera fanmix I would love you forever. I would also love an alternative-themed Losers fanmix (there's GOT to be a way to do a Losers AU fanmix, yeah?) or a country-western/bluegrass/southern Rock one, or a crazy completely mismatched rap/zydeco/tango thing. Any way you want to try your hand, I will love it - especially if it introduces me to music I don't know (and there is much of that). I have a music tag, but I don't know that it will help, actually. I think that tends to be meta. But maybe worth a look? In the end my thought is: fanmix, yay! Do whatever you makes you happy. :D

Off-The-Wall: I'm not kidding you, I would LOVE a macaroni castle. I have wanted one for about a zillion years. Also, if I get a macaroni castle, my girlfriend has said she will make little chainmail Losers to put in it. :D!!! I thought we might have gotten some interpretive dance out of zoronoa for the big bang this year but no luck. I got a drum solo out of pistolera but then she never posted it anywhere. Please! Feel no shame! Produce the wackiest off-the-wall thing you can think of and give to me! I love all things Losers, and your mashed potato bust of Pooch will find an enthusiastic recipient in me.

General things I adore muchly in my fanworks:

--Families of choice, especially fiercely protective ones.

--Queer people and queer relationships - at any rating! I am a mod at queerlygen and I heartily stand by the idea that just because folks are queer does not mean they can't do everyday things like get their hair dyed and eat yogurt for breakfast. I love asexual characters, poly relationships, non-heteronormative relationships (particularly het ones), androgyny, and QUILTBAG characters. Whether fluffy happy fanworks about a society where no one looks at your twice no matter who you love or a fanwork all about DADT and dealing with being gay in the Army, it's all good to me.

--Were-creatures. I'm not a huge vampire fan, but I enjoy most other supernatural-type elements, particularly the more darkly-tinged stuff.

--Things that make me cry, whether from joy or sadness, I don't care.

--Non-sexual kink. I also like sexual kink, and I also like stories that have nothing to do with sex or kink! Don't feel like you have to include kinky stuff at all. But if you like kink and would like to include it, my favorites are held down, bondage, tentacles (there hasn't really been any Losers tentacle fic, has there?), orgasm denial, and marking. I am kind of all about possessiveness and control.

--I adore really clever fusions and crossovers. Not just jamming two things together (though that can be a lot of fun too), but finding that little quirk that neatly slots two fandoms together and makes them make so much sense!

A few specific prompty type things, should you need something slightly more concrete for inspiration:

--The Losers are in the Olympics! A hockey team, a gymnastics team, a swim relay team (or two), a bobsled team (plus coach? I dunno), whatever.

--The Losers is a traveling carnival! Could be fabulous fun for crossovers.

--I'd love art of Cougar with his hair up in a bun. That shit never gets old. Also, Cougar in a tux, because yum.

--I know very little about the military and would love meta on any (or all!) the Losers' military background. Anything about their histories based on where they are when we meet them in canon.

--I also know little about military equipment, so a picspam/meta about weapons and/or transpo would be awesome.

--I am always up for icons, and I would really love some truly Cougar/Jensen ones, as well as Aisha/anybody, Clay/Roque, Jolene/Pooch, and gen. A set of icons with a throughline would be amazing.

--I'm in the mood for some sweep-you-off-your-feet harlequin romance. I've just been in need of some floofy fun.

--I love forced marriage fics, and I don't think I've seen that done in the Losers fandom. Somebody please write me an AU where Cougar and Jensen are forced to get married and then fall in love?

--I'd also love AU art. The Losers as fairies or New York fashion models (oh, that could be a picspam too!) or at Hogwarts or as actors on a daytime soap or at culinary school (or on Top Chef!) together... how brilliant would that be? Or crack!art - that would be fantastic! The Losers as animals of some sort (kittens, puppies, birds, bugs, whatever) or items in a make-up counter or toys in a kid's playroom! Stories or poetry or knitting patterns of any of these things also awesome!

Hopefully, that is enough to be getting on with. Don't worry about doing everything (I don't think you're worried about that, but just in case - put your mind at ease) - if something strikes you, go for it! If the variety is overwhelming and freaks you out, set this letter aside and just go for the first idea that pops into your head. I'm totally easy and will love anything you make for me, dearest Ante Up creator-person. ♥

Of course, I worked 14 hours yesterday and 12 hours today. Nargle.

Apparently you can donate the little travel-sized shampoos and such from hotels to women's shelters or other places. I need to find someplace local that wants them. Anybody know somewhere in Baltimore offhand?

I've found a hotel that's walking distance from my next assignment. It seems like a really spiffy one, too, so I'm excited. :D :D :D

I'm still plugging away on my Losers bang story. It's grown a third head and is likely to end up around 25k, maybe? Maybe a little less. I've finally hit the end of the UST (man, I thought was going to go on FOREVER). I write a little here and there, but it's tough because I'm tired a lot. Anybody feel like cheerleading me to the end of a 25k Jensen/Cougar Losers story? I've got 15k already, I just need to sort of keep going on the downhill slide to the end.

But no time to say them. D:

Got goosebumps in rehearsal today. Tomorrow's concert is going to be amazing. Anyone close-ish to Baltimore want to hear the Brahms 1st symphony tomorrow at 3pm?

Still job things - I have a huge post to write about that.

OTW grant things are happening - and it's the April drive week, um, if you haven't seen it all over your flist and need direction, let me know and I will point you.

Put finishing touches on my remix, that's one thing off my mind. Now on to my ABB. Impromptu or bust, baby.

ante_up_losers is hosting a bang! ATTENTION ARTISTS AND VIDDERS: can you let me know what kind of parameters you think would be a good way to equate art or vids to 10k words of fic? I don't know whether we want to do size of the art somehow, or how many pieces count for a big bang... not being an artist, I just don't know. Also, vids: how long does it take to make one? What could you produce if you had three months to produce it? I want to make sure all the possible options for bangs are both reasonable and kind of equivalent. Any suggestions or ideas welcome!

(You can't tell from that paragraph there, but we're allowing anything to be a bang piece, fic, art, vids, meta, poetry, graphics, podfic, crafts, filk, whatever. So we're trying to find parameters for everything so that the amount of work folks are putting into it is roughly the same, no matter what the media.)

And more on the way - in non-Losers fandoms, even! Just need to edit them.

Take You For A Ride Down the Mind Way, Baby (5 Fantasies of Jake Jensen), the podfic read by me!
Take You for a Ride Down the Mind Way, Baby (5 Fantasies of Jake Jensen) (2608 words) by Grammarwoman
Rating: Explicit
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Franklin Clay/Jake Jensen, Jake Jensen/William Roque, Jake Jensen/Jolene (The Losers)/Linwood "Pooch" Porteous, Aisha al-Fadhil/Jake Jensen, Carlos "Cougar" Alvarez/Jake Jensen
Characters: Jake Jensen, Franklin Clay, William Roque, Linwood "Pooch" Porteous, Jolene (The Losers), Aisha al-Fadhil, Max (The Losers), Carlos "Cougar" Alvarez
Summary: Dude, of course Jensen has fantasized about his team. Anyone who's seen the gorgeous motherfuckers he works with would not blame him at all.

A Cry For Help, the podfic read by me!
A Cry For Help (2875 words) by Pistol
Rating: Not Rated
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Carlos "Cougar" Alvarez/Jake Jensen
Characters: Carlos "Cougar" Alvarez, Jake Jensen, Linwood "Pooch" Porteous, Franklin Clay, William Roque, Jolene (The Losers)
Summary: A short and cracky Office!AU where Jolene is probably the sanest person in the building.

So I actually wrote something for my own fest. I suppose I should let people know.

I don't know why I thought I'd try my hand at steampunk, but I did. the antechamber to another world, Cougar/Jensen, NC-17, ~12k words. I told exactly the story I wanted to, which is a prelude to the real story (which I may tell eventually, but not for a little while, at least), though I didn't get every single scene in exactly like I wanted (I was writing up until the very end).

We got 49 new Losers stories, guys! \o/\o/\o/

Other links: Exchange masterlist, Scramble masterlist, my recs for the stories I received, and my other recs from the fest. Still one more rec coming, but that one is going to take a while to write.

There were SO MANY good stories this year! Here are a smattering of the ones that really hit me hard. (OMG 48 NEW LOSERS STORIES! EEEEEEEEEEEEE!)

First of all, I got an incredible six stories, all of which are truly amazing, as I outline in that post (and this one for the one that came as a delightful surprise after the fest went live).

1. We Aspire to Be Reasonably Sane People, the first of a two-part series. I haven't gotten through the second part (it's 85k! there's an 85k word story in the Losers fest!), but this intro, a history of Jake Jensen and his sister, is amazing for all its bleakness. I can't wait to read the next part! The author chose not to use warnings, and it is very dark with things that would typically require warnings, so let me know if you want me to vet it for you.

2. Kill Game is a brilliant Team AU. Beautifully characterized and written, and suspenseful and POKER! I mean, just... I love this story like burning.

3. Grace is a beautiful story that is gorgeous in its fierce clarity. It's Jolene and Aisha being awesome. These are the women I love in this canon.

4. The Only Thing Left Worth Stealing is a surprising and pitch-perfect crossover with Once Upon A Time in Mexico. Agent Saaaaaaaaaaaaaands. And Roque. Amazing Roque.

5. Staring Down the Barrel is a gritty, plotty, gorgeous story about Team, about Roque and about zombie parasites! Or parasite zombies. Or something like that. It's brilliant and long and perfect.

6. I'm going to point to james's rec of hir gift on bestthingever. the dashboard melted (but we still have the radio)

7. Applied Force is a gorgeous, dark character study of Jensen and Cougar.

8. It Takes a Thief, a brilllllliant AU where Jensen's a cat-burglar. Amazing Jensen POV on this, and whirlwind pacing. I love all the AUs we got this year, but this and the poker one take the cake!

9. In the Dust, a Death Proof/Losers crossover that is some fantastic Pooch/Jolene. Love it, and I don't know the other source material at all. Pooooooooooooch. Joleeeeeeene. Love it.

10. Important Life Skills, Aisha and Jolene learning from each other. I love all the ladies that were in the fest this year!

OMG FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC! There are 49 new Losers stories today!

The Ante Up Losers: Fic Exchange, 21 stories

The Ante Up Losers: Fic Scramble, 28 stories

And holy crap, guys, I got five stories! I am blushing over here, because the embarrassment of riches, seriously. THEY'RE ALL AMAZING, TOO, HOOOOOOOW DO PEOPLE DO THAT?!!

My exchange story: Family Means No One Gets Left Behind (Except When It Doesn't), which is the story of my heart - Roque, post-movie, watching the team's backs, saving Jensen's life (twice!) and the beginning of what is undoubtedly a rough reconciliation. Not to mention competent!soldier!Jensen, which is a rare occurrence and much loved.

My scramble treats (OMG SERIOUSLY, FOUR OF THEM, WHAAAAT):

A Boy and His Dragon, a short Losers/Temeraire fusion that is amazing (everything is better with dragons!) not just because of the fusion, but because it's modern-day Temeraire world, which is brilliant.

Take You for a Ride Down the Mind Way, Baby (5 Fantasies of Jake Jensen), a gorgeous piece about five fantasies of one Jake Jensen. The Jensen voice in this is awesome, the way the story is woven together is perfect (I admit my preference for five things stories that are woven into a cohesive story is a button that's mashed hard here), and the ending exactly what I want, in every fic, ever. Also, the individual fantasies? ARE HOT AS HELL AND STILL GIVE AMAZING TEAM.

Stand Reborn (Before Us All), a Losers/Hellraiser (movies and the new comics) crossover. This story, you guys, omg it is so gorgeous, the language so evocative (and dark! which I love, but if you have sensitivities or triggers, please note the warnings), so terrifyingly beautiful... I don't know what else to say. If you like dark, or horror, please read, this is an absolutely magnificent piece. I cannot even come up with more praise, I'd just be chucking superlatives at you. Just, if you can, go. Breathe it in.

Four Coffee Morning, a missing (Cougar/Jensen) scene from the movie. It is pitch-perfect movie Cougar/Jensen, exactly as I see it in my head - slightly angsty but mostly not (despite the angst? I have no idea how the author does that), Jensen being both perfectly Jensen and yet smart and determined in a way sometimes gets lost in fic, I think (my own definitely included here). This is one of those scenes that my slash goggles just assumed was behind the scenes of the movie, and someone wrote it out, exactly like in my daydreams, and handed it to me on a platter. Perfect, gorgeous, beautiful Cougar/Jensen.

ETA: And another, OMG!

A Brief Conversation About Forgiveness, Roque and Jolene, post-movie, post-Max, a conversation that tells so much in just 242 words. Brilliant.