This is my life

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."

First off, thank you so much for writing a story about an awesome lady – or awesome ladies – just for me. I am super-excited to see more women-centric fic in the world. So I am super-easy to write for. I write widely and read even more widely, so if you have a character, ship, kink, plot or something you've been dying to write, please, go for it! I am sure I will love it because you had a good time writing it. If you're looking for some inspiration, here are some lists of things I like (and a short list of what I don't). Just grab one that sparks you and go for it – please don't have to feel like you need to include every element ever.

Again, thank you so much for writing a story for me!

General dislikes: I'm starting with dislikes because there's really only a few. Scat, for one, and humiliation, whether kinky or as part of a story, is just not really my thing.

General likes: Everything! I love canon and I love AUs, I love most genres ridiculously, though if pressed for my faves, it'd be sci fi/fantasy, supernatural/horror, heists, action-adventure, romance. For canon, I love mostly missing scenes, or filling in bits of character backstory, or character interaction. I'm not super-fond of casefic in CM because I feel like the show does a good enough job, but I'd love casefic in White Collar or missionfic in SGA and The Losers. I adore crossovers and know many, many other canons! Particularly for femslash, I love crossovers (there have been so many amazing Aisha pairings from crossovers). I like gen a lot, but I also like porn and romance, too, and ace, solo, femslash, het, and moresomes are all peachy keen with me. Themes I enjoy are chosen family, hard-won redemption (that doesn't end with death – I want to see them work at their redemption in the future, too), alienness, fish out of water, and self-discovery.

Porny likes: First off: no porn necessary! I love gen! But if you want to write it and are looking for guidance, here we go. I like both vanilla and kinky sex. Mainly I'm looking for something unusual and interesting, whether in the emotional states of the people or in the sex acts themselves. My fave kinks are marking, bondage (especially of the hands), possessiveness, and tentacles (I blame thank anatsuno), but really, I read and enjoy everything except scat or humiliation. I like pushing boundaries but within a safe framework. I like cuddling and aftercare (a whole story about just aftercare would be awesome!). I like the psychological aspects of sex as much, if not more, than the physical ones.

Losers: Aisha is amazing. I would read everything about her forever. I also love the concept of Jensen's sister (even though she's not canon), I love Jolene, and would love gen about any of these amazing ladies, or, if you can work it, femslash! I love backstory or "slice of life" for Aisha (I use ironic quotes because a slice of her life is likely to be quite different from most slice of life stories, I think), her POV on Losers happenings in canon, and I totally ship her with almost everybody. A kinky D/s about her and Jensen or hate!sex with Roque or general slinky sexiness with Cougar. I don't mind Aisha/Clay, but I feel that was covered pretty decently in the movie and I have to admit that JDM isn't my favorite guy. I'd love to see Aisha/Jolene in any way you can make that work (on the other side of that equation, I totally buy Pooch/Cougar/Jensen, so in my mind it's reasonable that they have either an open relationship or they have "exceptions" set up for circumstances when they're apart for a long time). Actually, I'd really go for Jolene/Jensen's sister in that case too. Or, for a het (and fanon) twist – Jolene/Jensen's brother!

SGA: I have been wanting Teyla/Elizabeth femslash since the beginning of time. Season 1ish, where Elizabeth and Teyla find comfort in each other because they can't find comfort in others because Reasons. I also love later Teyla/Kate (Doppelganger is unfortunately the episode that opened my eyes to that ;_;), and I can deal with sad and dark if you want to deal with fallout from that, or I would love fix it, if you want to go that way, or just fluff! I love Teyla the most, so gen about her would be awesome, whether her POV on a team mission or Athosian culture stuff (I love Athosian holiday fic like burning). I also love Cadman and would love humor featuring her. If you want to write het, I could go for Cadman/anyone, or Miko/anyone (if you like minor characters). I love Teldy and her team and would love those guys, too (Dusty FTW!). I have been known to read Cadman/Keller, McKay/Keller, and others even though Jennifer can be a bit problematic for me because of the inconsistencies in canon. But! If you make her the way she was supposed to be, and not the way of fickle canon, she would be awesome!

Avengers (Movieverse): NATASHA. ANYTHING NATASHA EVER. Gen muchly loved because she has such a rich history to dig into, but for femslash, I wouldn't mind a little snarky Natasha/Darcy or smoldering Natasha/Pepper, and for het, I really enjoy the dynamic between her and Hawkeye. I love them simply as friends, too, so I'd totally love a buddy piece between them. Since the moment I saw her, Natasha has been my favorite in this fandom, and there isn't a thing about her I wouldn't want to read about. If you got me on Avengers and Natasha isn't your thing, I do enjoy Pepper, too, and wouldn't mind reading gen about a day in her life or Pepper/Tony. Darcy, too, is a favorite, so I would happily read any gen or pairing with her (I've read Darcy/Steve and Darcy/Thor! She's just kind of awesome with everybody – and Darcy/Jane would be fun and sexy!).

White Collar: Diana is amazing, and I would like all the fic about her ever (also a femslash option with her and Christie). I have to admit I'm behind on canon, so I really picked this fandom because I have such an abiding love for Diana. Diana and Neal snarkiness, hijinks, or casefic would be dearly loved. Slice of life with her and Christie (or a new lady friend, if they broke up? I'm really behind! /o\) would be loved muchly. Also Diana is ripe for crossover pairings! I would love to see her with other awesome ladies from other canons. I also love Elizabeth, so Elizabeth/Peter is dearly loved if you're looking for het. Also, I adore June! Especially her and Neal and their dynamic (and their singing!). I would totally read Neal/June, if you want to go that way.

SYTYCD: So many amazing ladies! I really love the dancing, so a story about a practice or choreography session would be great. I love Mia and Sonya and Stacey and even Mary Murphy (I sympathize with her even though her laugh gets to me (as do some of her unthinking gender assumptions)), and I would love to see any of the female choreographers working with any of the female contests, particularly Sabra, Melanie, Lauren, Comfort, Katee, Allison, Donyelle, Shauna, Sasha, Ellenore, or Elliana. For femslash, I'd love Melanie/Sasha (their top 4 dance together was amazing), and het, there are so many posisbilities. Melanie/Marko, Sabra/Neil, Katee/Joshua, or Donyelle/Benji. So much love for dance and this show.

Criminal Minds: The ladies of CM are some of my favorite of all time. Prentiss and Garcia are my absolute favorites, but I love JJ too, and Strauss. Not a huge Seaver fan, though I wouldn't mind some gen about her, a background story or something like that. I'm unfortunately about two seasons behind, so I don't know the newest lady (though I've caught a couple of eps this season so I know there is one). Femslash in just about any pairing welcome, het in canon pairings (Garcia/Kevin, so cute! JJ/Will adorable!) or just about anybody with Reid or Morgan. I like Hotch well enough (and his new lady friend (who came around just as I stopped watching), but I'd rather not read 'shippy stuff about him, because I really loved his wife. As a matter of fact, fic about Haley would be super-welcome too.

I hope this sparks some good ideas and you have a good time writing for me. If you're ready to run for the hills because there's just too much, please just chuck the whole letter and write the story you want to write. The most important thing for me is that you enjoy writing it! I want you to have a good time, because that is what I enjoy reading most.

The Fandom Snowflake Challenge
Day 7: In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts. Drop a link to your wish-list in this post. Maybe someone will grant a wish. Maybe you will grant a wish. If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.

It's really tough for me to ask for things. Like, it embarrasses me and it's one of the reasons I never do any of those spiffy writing memes (I'm also terribly certain that no one gives a crap about what I write and is less than interested in doing anything with it - which is why I was so deeply pleased and thrilled with those requests to link works the other day). But I'm doing this challenge, and so, here are things I am embarrassed to admit I would really, really like.

1. I would absolutely love transformative works of my transformative works (including art, podfic, fanmixes, translations, craftworks, remixing, continuing, or changing the story itself, anything) for any of my stories, any of them, seriously. But the one thing I want more than anything in the world, is art for Kinky Boots: the image of John, naked except for thigh high leather boots. That is the only time I've written a story from a single image I saw in my head, and to have that image be out in the world would be amazing.

ETA: OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG LOOK WHAT danceswithgary made me!!!!! <333333

( Cover for Kinky Boots! )

2. I would like some very specific Criminal Minds recs. This fandom is tough for me, because so far what I've read just doesn't work for me. For one, I love the team as a team, and I don't ship them. I like them as friends and family, and I love all their partners (Lila or Austin for Reid, Sarah for Gideon, Kevin for Garcia, Will for JJ, Haley for Hotch), so I'm not interested in 'ship fic for this fandom (which is probably why I haven't really been in this fandom so much). Now, that said, I don't mind 'ship fic, and I have read lots of it (Garcia/Morgan, Morgan/Reid, Prentiss/Reid, JJ/Reid, Garcia/Morgan/Reid, okay, I really like Reid, so what?!), but my problem with it is not with it being 'ship fic but with the fact that it doesn't feel like the show, or the characters feel OOC to me. On the other hand, I'm not really interested in case fic for this fandom; the show itself scratches that itch just fine. What I am looking for is this: character-based fic that specializes in backstory or fills in bits and pieces of their characterizations that we see in canon. I love CM because it really only hints at their characterization (for the most part). I would have thought that the fandom would have run with those savory little bits of information, but either I'm looking in the wrong places or it just doesn't exist. Help a girl out here? I will read 'ship fic, if it specializes in characterization or backstory, and the characters I love best are Reid, Garcia, Morgan, Prentiss, JJ, Gideon, and Hotch (pretty much in that order). Elle and Rossi, no thanks. They're just not my cup of tea (I don't mind if they're in the mix, they're part of the team, obviously, but I'd rather they not be the focus of the fic). I know those are really specific requirements, so anything you can give me would be awesome.

ETA: Five Times that Emily Prentiss Celebrated her Birthday (and one time she didn't) by twtd. \o/ BRILLIANT. GO READ NOW, KTHX.

Is This Your Card by lalaietha, Reid/Austin (the bartender from 52 pickup!)

2a. Okay, I lied. There is ONE 'ship fic I am desperately seeking. I want the fic where Reid and Hotch get it on in the car after interviewing Chester Hardwick in Damaged. Hotch taking off his jacket and being all "OH YEAH? I'M GONNA MESS YOU UP BIG MAN" and then Reid saving the day with a 13-minute ramble? Something about Hotch taking off his tie set me off, and I want the porn, man, with a simple "that was so hot" sort of explanation. I don't even care if its plausible, because to me it's plausible based solely on Hotch ripping his tie off and Reid stepping in to save his ass. <333 Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeid.

3. Icons! :D :D :D I love icons, and I suck at them so bad. :( I would love icons for the following fandoms/characters or interests: Losers/Cougar, Cougar, Cougar, Jensen, Pooch, Aisha, Roque; CM/Reid, Morgan, Garcia, Prentiss; Fringe/Olivia, Astrid, Walter, Broyles; How to Train Your Dragon/Toothless (or Toothless and Hiccup), Astrid, Ruffnut and Tuffnut; Leverage/Eliot, Parker, Hardison; ballet; classical music; Kate Winslet; Vin Diesel; Wylie Dufresne; fooooooooooood.

ETA: OMG SO MANY AWESOME ICONS! Check the comments for Losers, Leverage, Fringe, and Criminal Minds! :D :D :D

So, sabinetzin hosted A Ficathon Walks Into A Bar, and the Master List has gone up!

I wrote a ~2000 word fic for the prompt "Reid walks into a bar and meets... Hardison!" called The Clusterfuck Job, which is rough around the edges because I wrote it in a single afternoon at the absolutely last second, but I still sort of like it anyway.

Some that I've read and have liked:

zillah975 wrote Hope, Ronon Dex and Boromir meeting in a dream bar. Really nice feel for these characters.

demonqueen666 wrote One Drink to Forget, Another to Remember, Topher from Dollhouse and Snape meeting in a very unusual bar. This is one of my faves from the fest so far.

Cedara wrote Clandestine Meetings, Spencer Reid meets Mozzie in a bar. The premise is brilliant, the execution less so, but it's nice to think about.

596spark wrote At the Bookshop, Crowley meets Willow in a bookshop. Nice execution; Willow is a little spread for me (at times, she seems season six-ish, others, season two) but still a good premise and nicely written.

I've only read six, so reccing four of them is a pretty impressive ratio! Go forth and read crossovers! There's a a collection on AO3, too, though I don't think it's complete (as the Master List obviously is).

Oh, and since this is going to be a regular thing (YAY), join intoabar or intoabar if you're wanting to play next time.