A miscellaneous collection of things
- My fandom stocking is up! I love Fandom Stocking so much; it's such a delightful, no-pressure fest. (And they're still taking signups, if you're interested!) I've been having so much trouble writing lately that this is clearly not going to be one of those years when I try to put something in the stocking of everyone I know, but since I haven't really been doing holiday fic exchanges the last few years, this is where most of my fic-gifting efforts take place.
Books:
- Stranger by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith is really fun, especially if you're more into the community-building aspect of post-apocalypse scenarios than the destruction aspects (which I am). There's a large ensemble cast and an overall hopeful, "most people are basically good at heart" vibe. One of the things I liked about the book is that for the most part, even the really unpleasant people in the group (the bigots, the snobs) are still fundamentally decent and willing to come through in a crisis; it's not a case of ~everyone who doesn't get along with the main characters is EEEEEVIL~, which I really appreciated. There's also a general sense that, while the book (being YA) is primarily focused on the teenagers, the adults have a really interesting backstory that I want to know more about! I'm looking forward to the sequel.
- Dresden Files: War Cry - Graphic novel which came in my Amazon order yesterday, and turned out to be an unexpected delight because I somehow missed that it's written by Jim Butcher and is therefore actual canon (it takes place between Dead Beat and Proven Guilty). And as well as featuring the Wardens, so we get to see the comics versions of Luccio and Ramirez, it's FULL OF THOMAS. Thomas and Harry snarking at each other, saving each other's lives, etc ... in case that's, you know, an enticement for anyone. :> You get quite a lot of Thomas's POV in this, too, which is something that's lacking in the novels since they're all in Harry's viewpoint. The cover art for War Cry #5 (the graphic novel is a collection of 5 single issues) is also Relevant To My Interests. Sadly this is not an actual scene from the comic. But it is still nifty.
In general I kinda can't get over how much Butcher obviously loves writing Harry and Thomas, and how fanficcy his side stories with those two tend to be. (Still not over the birthday story. NEVER OVER THE BIRTHDAY STORY.) War Cry also includes a scene where ( Cut for spoiler, which is also span-texted outCollapse )
Something I was also thinking about, Dresden Files-related, is that the part of the series from approximately Blood Rites to just before Turn Coat is where my heart is anchored in that series. I don't know if it's just because that was the general time period when I started reading so I imprinted on it, and it's not that there haven't been plenty of things I've enjoyed in the books since then, but that's "my" Dresden Files, and it was really nice to have another story from that era.
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Books:
- Stranger by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith is really fun, especially if you're more into the community-building aspect of post-apocalypse scenarios than the destruction aspects (which I am). There's a large ensemble cast and an overall hopeful, "most people are basically good at heart" vibe. One of the things I liked about the book is that for the most part, even the really unpleasant people in the group (the bigots, the snobs) are still fundamentally decent and willing to come through in a crisis; it's not a case of ~everyone who doesn't get along with the main characters is EEEEEVIL~, which I really appreciated. There's also a general sense that, while the book (being YA) is primarily focused on the teenagers, the adults have a really interesting backstory that I want to know more about! I'm looking forward to the sequel.
- Dresden Files: War Cry - Graphic novel which came in my Amazon order yesterday, and turned out to be an unexpected delight because I somehow missed that it's written by Jim Butcher and is therefore actual canon (it takes place between Dead Beat and Proven Guilty). And as well as featuring the Wardens, so we get to see the comics versions of Luccio and Ramirez, it's FULL OF THOMAS. Thomas and Harry snarking at each other, saving each other's lives, etc ... in case that's, you know, an enticement for anyone. :> You get quite a lot of Thomas's POV in this, too, which is something that's lacking in the novels since they're all in Harry's viewpoint. The cover art for War Cry #5 (the graphic novel is a collection of 5 single issues) is also Relevant To My Interests. Sadly this is not an actual scene from the comic. But it is still nifty.
In general I kinda can't get over how much Butcher obviously loves writing Harry and Thomas, and how fanficcy his side stories with those two tend to be. (Still not over the birthday story. NEVER OVER THE BIRTHDAY STORY.) War Cry also includes a scene where ( Cut for spoiler, which is also span-texted outCollapse )
Something I was also thinking about, Dresden Files-related, is that the part of the series from approximately Blood Rites to just before Turn Coat is where my heart is anchored in that series. I don't know if it's just because that was the general time period when I started reading so I imprinted on it, and it's not that there haven't been plenty of things I've enjoyed in the books since then, but that's "my" Dresden Files, and it was really nice to have another story from that era.
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New Dresden Files book: obtained! And read!
Skin Game was my on-plane reading for the flight(s) from Tampa to Fairbanks, interspersed with writing fanfic in which characters are stranded in the Canadian wilderness (while flying over the Canadian wilderness). And boy, flying from Tampa to Fairbanks is a LOT OF PLANE. First there was a 1.5 hour hop from Tampa to Atlanta, then a 5.5 hour Atlanta-Seattle flight, then the 3.5-hour Seattle to Fairbanks stage. BUT IT GOT WORSE! We were delayed for 2 1/2 hours in Atlanta (2 1/2 hours of sitting on the plane, because there were mechanical issues that they kept thinking would be resolved quickly, which weren't) so that ended up being 8 hours in the same seat (ow my legs), and I missed my connection in Seattle and ended up being rebooked on a flight that got into Fairbanks at 1:40 a.m. I think that was 19 hours in airports, total? I really needed a distracting book, is what I'm saying.
Luckily I had one.
( Spoilers for Skin GameCollapse )
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Luckily I had one.
( Spoilers for Skin GameCollapse )
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Books!
I finally read Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, which means I am all caught up on recent Vorkosigan books! Who wants to talk about it with me? :D
(In non-Bujold news - hey Dresden Files people, LOOK WHAT'S AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER! I'm not looking forward to the next Dresden book as avidly as the last couple because of ~~Cold Days spoilers~~, but I'll still be waiting for that pre-order to drop in the mail, you betcha.)
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(In non-Bujold news - hey Dresden Files people, LOOK WHAT'S AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER! I'm not looking forward to the next Dresden book as avidly as the last couple because of ~~Cold Days spoilers~~, but I'll still be waiting for that pre-order to drop in the mail, you betcha.)
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A somewhat random Dresden Files question
I've been doing a Thomas-centric reread of the series (... so sue me XD) and there's something that's been bugging me for a while.
( Spoilers for Blood Rites, but nothing thereafterCollapse )
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( Spoilers for Blood Rites, but nothing thereafterCollapse )
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I finished reading "Cold Days"
( Herein are my thoughts and spoilers!Collapse )
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You know what I really, really don't have time for right now?
... Reading the new Dresden Files book. Which still didn't stop me from staying up 'til 3 a.m. doing exactly that. (Sleep. Who needs it.)
I'm halfway through the book, and NOT READING ANY MORE 'til lunchtime, but I have a (spoilery) comment on the part read so far.
( Cold Days spoilers under the cutCollapse )
Please do not spoil me for the second half of the book! Especially if anything major happens. Work to do! Aarghhelp!
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I'm halfway through the book, and NOT READING ANY MORE 'til lunchtime, but I have a (spoilery) comment on the part read so far.
( Cold Days spoilers under the cutCollapse )
Please do not spoil me for the second half of the book! Especially if anything major happens. Work to do! Aarghhelp!
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Dresden Files
Oh, I've been forgetting to mention this, but the usual pre-release chapters of the new Dresden book are coming out on Jim Butcher's website! There are two chapters up already. :D :D :D
My spoilery thoughts:
( Under the cutCollapse )
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My spoilery thoughts:
( Under the cutCollapse )
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Yessssss!
NOVEMBER 27, 2012
... is the release date for Cold Days, the new Dresden Files book.
*BOUNCE*
(Also ... I, um, like the cover rather a lot. I definitely approve of the scruffy look for Harry. XD I might have to swap out my regular Dresden Files icon for a new one!)
Note for ultra-spoilerphobes: The link has the back-cover blurb for the book displayed rather prominently below the cover art, so don't scroll down. (I may have already read most of it, because I'm hopeless.)
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... is the release date for Cold Days, the new Dresden Files book.
*BOUNCE*
(Also ... I, um, like the cover rather a lot. I definitely approve of the scruffy look for Harry. XD I might have to swap out my regular Dresden Files icon for a new one!)
Note for ultra-spoilerphobes: The link has the back-cover blurb for the book displayed rather prominently below the cover art, so don't scroll down. (I may have already read most of it, because I'm hopeless.)
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100 Things #5
100 Things: 100 favorite scenes from anything (books, movies, TV, fanfic, etc)
Scene #5: "Families stay, Harry" from Dresden Filesbook 11 book 10 actually *facepalm*
Aaah, Dresden Files. I know so many people who've tried to read the series and quit in the first couple of books, usually complaining that they're poorly written and cliche and sexist. And ... it's not like it isn't true! But I have to struggle with my obsessed-fan tendency to wail, "But ... but it gets so much better later on! Give it a chance!"
I know these books aren't going to be for everyone. But they really do get better later on, not just in terms of picking up richness and layers and depth as a series, but also giving depth and agency to a lot of the characters who didn't have all that much to begin with, particularly the female characters. One of the things that makes me love the series is the way that a lot of its characters start out as little more than interesting/amusing ideas or one-note cliches and slowly turn into full-fledged, living, breathing people when you aren't looking. I love to be surprised in that particular way.
And one of the stellar examples of that is what happens to Charity in the course of the series.
Charity is introduced as a gigantic cliche, and a fairly sexist cliche at that. She is Michael's nagging wife. Her main role in the first few books is to take care of Michael's large brood of children and harangue Harry for making her husband stay out late.
But then Book 8 (Proven Guilty) happens.
( Spoilers for books 8 and 10Collapse )
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Scene #5: "Families stay, Harry" from Dresden Files
Aaah, Dresden Files. I know so many people who've tried to read the series and quit in the first couple of books, usually complaining that they're poorly written and cliche and sexist. And ... it's not like it isn't true! But I have to struggle with my obsessed-fan tendency to wail, "But ... but it gets so much better later on! Give it a chance!"
I know these books aren't going to be for everyone. But they really do get better later on, not just in terms of picking up richness and layers and depth as a series, but also giving depth and agency to a lot of the characters who didn't have all that much to begin with, particularly the female characters. One of the things that makes me love the series is the way that a lot of its characters start out as little more than interesting/amusing ideas or one-note cliches and slowly turn into full-fledged, living, breathing people when you aren't looking. I love to be surprised in that particular way.
And one of the stellar examples of that is what happens to Charity in the course of the series.
Charity is introduced as a gigantic cliche, and a fairly sexist cliche at that. She is Michael's nagging wife. Her main role in the first few books is to take care of Michael's large brood of children and harangue Harry for making her husband stay out late.
But then Book 8 (Proven Guilty) happens.
( Spoilers for books 8 and 10Collapse )
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Finished Ghost Story
Just popping in briefly
I am hooooome and have a to-do list as long as my arm, so what am I doing instead? Reading the latest Dresden Files chapter (and the last preview chapter before the book comes out on the 26th - though apparently there will be early copies available at the San Diego Comicon, for those of you in the area!).
( Under cut, spoiler spoilerCollapse )
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( Under cut, spoiler spoilerCollapse )
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Dresden Fiiiiiiiles
Chapter 2 of Ghost Story is up at Jim Butcher's website! ( Spoilers spoil! (but not much)Collapse )
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eee eee eee!
The first chapter of Ghost Story is available on Penguin Books' website!
WHO WANTS TO TALK ABOUT IT?
(Obviously spoilers through "Changes" abound. Also, Jim Butcher's website has the schedule for the release of the rest of the chapters leading up to the book coming out in July, although Chapter 2 won't be out until JUNE. *wibbles*)
( Spoilers for Ghost Story chapter 1Collapse )
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WHO WANTS TO TALK ABOUT IT?
(Obviously spoilers through "Changes" abound. Also, Jim Butcher's website has the schedule for the release of the rest of the chapters leading up to the book coming out in July, although Chapter 2 won't be out until JUNE. *wibbles*)
( Spoilers for Ghost Story chapter 1Collapse )
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NOOOOOOO! *clutches pearls*
According to Jim Butcher's website, Ghost Story's release date has been bumped to July 26, 2011.
I like the quote on the blog post: "It came down to, readers could either get a half-assed story in April, or a full-assed one in July!"
And 'tis true, I like my books fully-assed! So I'm not saying it's a bad decision or anything. But ... but another four months on top of the old release date ...! How will I LIVE~!
(Although July 26 is my birthday, as it happens. I know what I'm getting for MY birthday this year! *grabby hands*)
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I like the quote on the blog post: "It came down to, readers could either get a half-assed story in April, or a full-assed one in July!"
And 'tis true, I like my books fully-assed! So I'm not saying it's a bad decision or anything. But ... but another four months on top of the old release date ...! How will I LIVE~!
(Although July 26 is my birthday, as it happens. I know what I'm getting for MY birthday this year! *grabby hands*)
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Apparently, constant posting is my default mode now
I got tired of beating on my NaNo (... not gonna post a word count update; too depressing) and went to finish reading Turn Coat instead, which means that now I'm even MORE depressed. Not in a seriously depressed kind of way, I mean; just more of a "wow, I really need some kittens and puppies now" kind of way.
I did have an interesting thought, though. ( Spoilers for ChangesCollapse )
Think I'll go take a shower and try to get my NaNo plot to shuffle into something that makes sense.
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I did have an interesting thought, though. ( Spoilers for ChangesCollapse )
Think I'll go take a shower and try to get my NaNo plot to shuffle into something that makes sense.
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Dresden Files fic: Five Things Justine Never Told Thomas About Herself
Title: Five Things Justine Never Told Thomas About Herself
Fandom: Dresden Files
Pairing/Characters: Thomas/Justine (also a bit of Harry in flashback)
Rating: probably a light R
Word Count: 3100
Summary: "Love" doesn't begin to describe what they have. Neither does "broken". - Harry Dresden, Turn Coat. Spoilers through Turn Coat.
WARNINGS: Non-graphic mention of abortion, nonconsensual sex, suicide and suicide imagery
Disclaimer: The Dresden Files is copyright (c) Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction.
Notes: Crossposted to AO3.
( She wonders who else she might have been.Collapse )
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Fandom: Dresden Files
Pairing/Characters: Thomas/Justine (also a bit of Harry in flashback)
Rating: probably a light R
Word Count: 3100
Summary: "Love" doesn't begin to describe what they have. Neither does "broken". - Harry Dresden, Turn Coat. Spoilers through Turn Coat.
WARNINGS: Non-graphic mention of abortion, nonconsensual sex, suicide and suicide imagery
Disclaimer: The Dresden Files is copyright (c) Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction.
Notes: Crossposted to AO3.
( She wonders who else she might have been.Collapse )
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Still totally gone for Dresden Files. Just in case you wanted to know.
So I discovered 
smallfandomfest yesterday and, surprise surprise, have been posting Dresden Files prompts like there's no tomorrow. :D (Mostly involving some combination of Harry, Thomas, Murphy & Justine.) The 'fest will be open for prompt claiming on the 21st; here are the rules and a link to leave your prompts. Go prompt! Or look at the prompts and see if you might like to write one! If you leave a tasty enough prompt, I just might write it ... (I know, I know. But I still have an entire month and change to write my Secret Santas and Yuletide! I can do this!)
I must say that I foundsmallfandomfest's prompt interface very difficult to navigate at first; it took me forever (and a lot of frustrated searching) to figure out how to look at the list of other people's prompts. Possibly that's just because I'm an idiot. But if you have the same problem, from the prompt entry window there's a link at the top left.
I've now reached Turn Coat on the re-read, and if it seems like it took me forever to get around to this one, compared to the others ... it's true; I'm finding it just as wrenching to read as I was afraid it would be. ( Spoilers, spoilersCollapse )
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smallfandomfest yesterday and, surprise surprise, have been posting Dresden Files prompts like there's no tomorrow. :D (Mostly involving some combination of Harry, Thomas, Murphy & Justine.) The 'fest will be open for prompt claiming on the 21st; here are the rules and a link to leave your prompts. Go prompt! Or look at the prompts and see if you might like to write one! If you leave a tasty enough prompt, I just might write it ... (I know, I know. But I still have an entire month and change to write my Secret Santas and Yuletide! I can do this!)I must say that I found
smallfandomfest's prompt interface very difficult to navigate at first; it took me forever (and a lot of frustrated searching) to figure out how to look at the list of other people's prompts. Possibly that's just because I'm an idiot. But if you have the same problem, from the prompt entry window there's a link at the top left.I've now reached Turn Coat on the re-read, and if it seems like it took me forever to get around to this one, compared to the others ... it's true; I'm finding it just as wrenching to read as I was afraid it would be. ( Spoilers, spoilersCollapse )
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Dresden Files fanfic: "Small Favor" missing scene
Title: Poker Face
Fandom: Dresden Files
Rating: PG; no pairings (except possible canonical hints of Harry/Murphy)
Word Count: 3300
Summary: "Small Favor" missing scene. Because Thomas and Murphy on a fishing boat in the middle of a Lake Michigan winter gale was too awesome not to write. Plus, canon hypothermia, how could one resist? (And by "one" I mean "me".)
Disclaimer: The Dresden Files is copyright (c) Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction.
Notes: Also crossposted on AO3
( Poker FaceCollapse )
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Fandom: Dresden Files
Rating: PG; no pairings (except possible canonical hints of Harry/Murphy)
Word Count: 3300
Summary: "Small Favor" missing scene. Because Thomas and Murphy on a fishing boat in the middle of a Lake Michigan winter gale was too awesome not to write. Plus, canon hypothermia, how could one resist? (And by "one" I mean "me".)
Disclaimer: The Dresden Files is copyright (c) Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction.
Notes: Also crossposted on AO3
( Poker FaceCollapse )
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??
Let us say, simply for the sake of argument, that one might be writing a short Dresden Files story from Murphy's POV, in the third person. Which would be a more natural-sounding name to call her, "Karrin" or "Murphy"? I started out with "Murphy" because it's how I think of her, then decided that most people probably don't think of themselves by their surname and went through and replaced it all with "Karrin", but now it reads a bit odd to me since the books always call her by her surname. Thoughts?
ETA: After trying it both ways, I think I'm going with Karrin because that's what sounds right for the story and for the level of third-person that I'm going for here. Thank you for the input, everyone; I'll be back to answer comments but right now I'm rushing off for work! :)
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ETA: After trying it both ways, I think I'm going with Karrin because that's what sounds right for the story and for the level of third-person that I'm going for here. Thank you for the input, everyone; I'll be back to answer comments but right now I'm rushing off for work! :)
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Oh ... oh, eep
Yes, Dresden Files again. :D
I'm reading the end of "Small Favor" and I just hit what looks for all the world like a patch of fairly obvious foreshadowing for next April's book.
This is pure speculation on my part. I don't have any spoilers along these lines. But, well ... see what you think.
( Quote from Small Favor, spoilers for ChangesCollapse )
I'm reading the end of "Small Favor" and I just hit what looks for all the world like a patch of fairly obvious foreshadowing for next April's book.
This is pure speculation on my part. I don't have any spoilers along these lines. But, well ... see what you think.
( Quote from Small Favor, spoilers for ChangesCollapse )