we're all stories in the end

Day 1 - A vid that made you start watching a brand new show
Day 2 - A male character study vid you love
Day 3 - A female character study vid you love
Day 4 - An ensemble vid you love

Day 5 - A vid everyone should see at least once

Women's Work by Luminosity and sisabet (Supernatural)

Okay, my 'everyone' here is very caveated - if you have triggers related to graphic, sexualised violence against women, then this is not the vid for you.

I find this vid profoundly disturbing to watch. I'm also very, very glad that it exists. It's a damming portrayal of some of the worst of Supernatural, but the worst thing is that it's so easy to imagine many other sources that have more than enough material to make similar vids. The issues about representation of women that this vid raises are ones I feel very strongly about, and so this presents a visceral argument that I'd like a great many people to see. I generally subscribe to the notion of 'comfort the disturbed, disturb the comfortable', and this certainly accomplishes the latter - well, it's disturbing all around, really. It's also a really excellent example of how much vidding is capable of.

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On a totally different and much lighter note, I realise that is Femslash Day and unfortunately I have nothing to offer at the moment! This ought to be rectified.

Give me some ladyslash pairings and I will attempt to write ficlets, or rec some things, or flail about why they're awesome, or similar. No guarantees I'll get to everything, but have at it!

+ Signal boost: yuki_onna is stranded far from home without funds. More details here.

+ Some stories I enjoyed recently:

Twitterpated by fled_music [Supernatural, slight Dean/Castiel, Sam]
Castiel insists that Dean and Sam start using twitter as a means of communication (seriously).

I clicked on a whim and was totally charmed!

A Cautionary Tale About Tomatoes (and zombies) by netgirl_y2k [Merlin, team Camelot, gen]
Armed with two swords, a slightly dented helmet and a wooden spoon, our heroes fight zombies.

Hee, this is delightful and brilliant! Not to mention exactly how a zombie invasion would go down on the show.

The Assist by 51stcenturyfox [Torchwood, Rhys/Gwen/Ianto, R]
Three adorable Welsh people have sex.

The summary nails it, really - this is sweet and fun and well-characterised, and reads like a breath of fresh air.

+ Ahahahahaha. Ha. Um. So I just did a stupid thing, namely count up approximately how much writing (academic, fannish and otherwise) I have to do over the next month or so by word count. And, well. Let us just say that frankly, I might as well be doing NaNo based on how it breaks down for words per day. D:

I keep deciding that I will sit down and write out some recs for lgbtfest, but then my tabs keep multiplying as everyone keeps posting wonderful stuff. \o/ Clearly I'll be doing in this batches, here's the first lot. I've only had time to read the transgendered stuff so far, so here's ome of the things I've read there already and loved, on something of a theme:

Discworld

Modern Love, by penknife
Discworld ensemble ; PG-13
It's amazing how the world rarely gets less complicated.

penknife takes on issues of queerness and gender presentation in the dwarf community and brings a thoroughly enjoyable story to life with her usual lightness of touch.

Iron Man

Walking in these Shoes, by redfiona99
Pepper/Tony ; PG ; spoilers for the film
Pepper Potts is the woman she'd always wanted to be. It's probably not all Tony's fault that her well-ordered life has just been blown to pieces. But it's definitely mostly his fault.

Not only is this a thoughtful and kick-ass study of Pepper, it also features explosions. That's all you really need to make me a happy reader.

Supernatural

Now You're a Man, by cho_malfoy
Dean ; PG ; spoilers for 4x01
Dean completed a journey in the body he was born with, but just because he's started a new journey doesn't mean he's likely to forget the last one.

I love Dean in this, I love the style, and I love the twist on the fourth season presented here: I know it's one I'd loved to have watched.

Turn The Page, by messageredacted
Sam/Dean ; NC-17 ; AU of the pilot
Sam hasn’t seen his sister in four years. A lot more has changed than he ever imagined.

Sam/Dean is not particularly my thing, but this is a very good story. The retelling of the pilot is very nicely done, and there's a lot of detail and pitch-perfect interaction here.

Torchwood

What He Should Have Been, by sunnyrea
Ianto, Ianto/Lisa, Ianto/Jack ; PG-13
When Ianto was a little girl all he wanted was to be able to wear his father's suits. Now he does, but his family doesn't want anything to do with him.

This story's got a lot of heart to it, and it makes me smile. Oh, Ianto.

Also, not connected to the fest but nonetheless a great story - Little Sister by invisible_lift, a beautifully-written family history for Tosh.

It occurred to me, whilst replying to comments for a flame in two cupped hands the other day, that I have written stories about Sirius at Christmas three years in a row for holiday exchanges, and they all run on something of a theme, namely that Sirius loves his friends, his makeshift family, so very much. That's probably one of the things that makes me fall the very hardest for characters, that complete, fierce love and devotion, even when it's ill-expressed. See also: Jack Harkness, Lyra & Will, Kaylee Frye, John Sheppard, Luna Lovegood, Dean Winchester, etc.

I like seasonal-themed fic, any time of year, and all the wintry and Christmas stories at the moment are delighting me. I have teand's A Midnight Clear (Supernatural) open in tabs which looks great already. Also there is copperbadge's The Gift Of The Mad Guy (Doctor Who) which is entirely wacky and fun. Should the Christmas special on Thursday not thrill me, I shall simply imagine that this was on my TV instead.

Speaking of the Christmas special, I'm not actually all that excited about it. I mean, I will sit down and watch it on time, obviously, and no doubt enjoy it, but I will miss my companions! And I'm so hugely looking forward to a new regeneration that I'm probably not appreciating Tennant's last hours in the role, heh. Still! Cybermen in the snow, that should be entertaining. (Oh, as a note: I haven't watched any of the preview clips and very few of the trailers, so please don't spoil me!)

Anyway, I now return to working on the charming tale of a very Torchwood Christmas, in which there are in-laws, and Rhys has a run-in with alien tentacles. (Not that sort of run-in, you'll be relieved to hear.) Hopefully that will be posted this evening, timing being of the essence and all that.

Oh, and lastly, for neatness: sheafrotherdon had a SGA cold!fest the other day which resulted in the following little comment!fic - That Time When The Team Had To Snuggle For Warmth. Teeeeam! :D

And I didn't even mention Merlin once, I am so proud. Mostly because this entry is garnering enough tags as it is.

Fun multi-fandom activity: buckle_berry is hosting a Valentines Cardathon, whereby you list some pairings, and then send in-character Valentines cards to each other, as imaginatively as you like. I think this is entirely made of win myself, so if you agree, hop-to! Sign-ups end at the end of tomorrow, full details and sign-up information here.

And now, some things I have very much enjoyed reading recently:

Nineteen Years Later: A Short Rock Opera
by furiosity

Title pretty much says it all, really. Featuring characters such as the International Chorus of Pedantic Fanficcers, this is both mad and hilarious.


The Seduction of Sirius Black
by anonymous at hp_holidaygen
PG-13, Sirius, James, Marlene, Lily, Remus, Peter, others
I hope to Merlin that everyone's collective wisdom was very wrong and that neither Sirius Black nor James Potter has been the death of me – try though they may have to have been so.

I've been terrible at reading hp_holidaygen, which I really should rectify over the rest of the week because there's all kinds of amazing stuff there, however. I am so, so glad I clicked on this one. This has pretty much everything that I most enjoy reading in First War fic, all rolled into one story! Featuring James and Sirius getting into pub brawls, international wizarding politics, Polyjuice high jinks and a take on the Order that I really, really like, this is seriously fantastic work.


Baking for the Dead
by trolllogicfics
Supernatural/Pushing Daisies
PG, Ned, Chuck, Sam, Dean
In which the girl called Chuck and the Pie Maker runs across the brothers Winchester and a soul stealing demon.

MADE OF WIN. Can this be the Supernatural finale, please? The Narrator talking about the Winchesters is a joy to read, oh my.

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And now to try to one of the things I've been trying to write actually finished, good grief.