All righty. I was going to hold my tongue on this. I was going to live and let live. But after some of the things I've seen and heard from fandom over the past few days, I can't help myself. I have to say something, even if it's short-ish, and even if it annoys some people on both sides.

I have to admit that I did not expect this kind of garbage - because that's truly what it is, garbage - from BSG fandom. I am not condemning all of the fandom. I'm sure there are some folks out there who, like me, are merely bemused and a little disgusted by the whole thing. I also need to preface this by saying that by and large, BSG fandom has been one of the most considerate, polite, open-minded, non-wanky fandoms I'm involved in. Maybe I just don't hang out in the wanky parts, or maybe I missed the wank, but either way, consider this: within a week of me starting to participate in SW fandom, I'd had my first flamer/batshit person, while I'd gone over a year in BSG fandom before I encountered anyone even remotely crazy, and said craziness wasn't even directed at me. It has been, for the most part, very refreshing.

The funny thing is, I've actually seen more batshit stuff since the end of the show than I ever did while it was running. And that's what I'd like to address - namely, what the hell happened?

( What the hell happened? My theories, under the cut )

Maybe everyone should just become a multishipper, like me! The icon is quite correct: we do complain less, I think.

But I'm not going to make you become a multishipper. Then, I would be forcing my opinion on you - and that's just not kosher, is it? ;)

*Insert requisite disclaimer here about all of the above being merely my opinion, this rant not applying to all BSG fandomers, etc. I have no desire to start even more wank, as should have been made quite clear. :)

Well. You're not. ;)

I emerged from a haze induced by working frantically, with barely a break (and that one break was used to put up the next challenge at karastillness), plus toiling away on improvements to my various communities, to find out Patrick Swayze died. Um, wow. This will sound incredibly insensitive, but I hadn't even known he was ill. :( May he rest in peace.

In other news, I continue to fail at updating LJ, getting my stillness comms back onto anything resembling a sensible schedule, posting fic, writing, answering comments and ... well, basically everything. I'll get back on track someday.

I hope.

On the plus side, I have new icons! :D

(This entry originally posted on August 20th, 2009.)

This post brought to you by LIZ NEEDS TO DISTRACT HERSELF RFN. Because you don't expect to find triggers on hockey of all places, and when you do ... it messes you the fuck up. Oyyyyyyyy.

So! A meme.

This one swiped from albumsontheside.

Pick a character, any character, from one of my fandoms [SW and BSG], and I will give you ten things from my own personal canon about them.

(I'll put up a real life-related post tonight - hell, it's even right here on my to-do list: "POST TO LJ!!!!!" As I said, just had to get this up now.)

Arlene: "Please quit being so much more peculiar than you usually are!"

Terry: "Okay ... I'll try to be normally peculiar."

Liz: *... cracks the FUCK up* *spits copious amounts of coffee directly at her laptop because she is laughing so hard*

I just ... yeah, seriously, THIS NEEDS TO BE IMMORTALIZED HERE even if I have to be Spammy McSpamerson to do it. :D Gods but I do love True Blood. Tonight's episode, without being spoilery, was made of EPIC AWESOME WIN, and that show gets more terrific every time I watch it!!!

*cracks up again*

I'm almost afraid to ask who's going to shuffle off this mortal coil next! Callous perhaps, but this is a one-two-three punch that's left me quite shocked. I was sad enough about Lorena Gale, who of course played Elosha on BSG, that Farah barely registered. And unfortunately, she in turn will be overshadowed many, many times over by Jackson's death. Talk about a punch to the gut.

All the retrospectives they're now doing on TV are making me feel old. Holy crap. He was certainly a character, but I did like some of his songs - "Thriller" and "Billie Jean" in particular. The minute it came on the news Andrew and I started talking about how this would probably be comparable to when Elvis died, which neither of us were alive for but which we've heard about many times. And then a newsreader said the exact same thing.

I just ... yeah, it feels really unbelievable right now. So much death for one day (though I do know that Gale actually passed on Saturday). May all three of them rest in peace. :(

(NOTE: On LJ there is a poll in this post, but as there doesn't seem to be a poll capability on DW, you'll have to, er, use your imaginations. Heh.)

All righty, enough angst. ;) I'm in the midst of both working on fic and replying to comments, but I've been meaning to put this particular poll up for quite some time, and hey - there's no time like the present, right?

I've seen this on a number of f-list journals, and the basic idea is this: an author takes a fic they've written and basically writes a DVD-style commentary about it. If you've ever listened to the commentary track on a DVD, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. The director (or fic author) discusses why they made the creative choices they did, what inspired a particular scene, what they thought about while filming/writing, etc. There's a movement afoot to write commentaries for fics, and I'm wondering what you guys would think of me doing one (or several). Incredibly, boorishly self-indulgent, or actually somewhat interesting? Below is an informative poll that asks you to decide and, should you vote yes, requests that you pick one or more fics that you'd most like me to provide commentary on.

A few notes with regards to the fics included: 1) I haven't listed either of my works-in-progress. Both Insanity Underrated and the 50-chapter monster are, for the purposes of this exercise, unfortunately off-limits. Because I haven't completed To Ignite the Stars or Insanity Underrated, I have doubts about my ability to reliably comment on them - and in some cases, it would be difficult to do so without mentioning huge spoilers for upcoming plot poins in both. That's not to say I would never write commentaries for these fics, just that I'm not able to do so right now. Maybe in the future! 2) The fics listed in the second part of the poll are the ones I'm willing/able to comment on at the moment. I don't list all the fics I've ever written, partly because ticky-box polls have limited boxes and partly because some of my earlier stuff is so jaw-droppingly bad that I should probably just pull it off the internet altogether. However, if there's a fic not listed here for which you really want to see commentary, do mention it in the comments, and I'll consider it. 3) Commentaries, if I do them, will be posted to padmeonpaper and linked back here, so no worries about missing them. The anal part of me just wants to keep everything organized.

Should I do a fic commentary?
Yes, that would be awesome!
No way, self-promotion sucks!

If yes, for which fic would you like to see my commentary?
The Sound of One Hand Clapping (BSG; Lee/Kara)
In Medias Res (BSG; Kara genfic)
Feeling Good (BSG; Lee/Kara)
Insanity Theory (Star Wars; Obi-Wan/Padmé)
The Promise (Star Wars; Anakin/Obi-Wan)
A Hard Bargain (BSG; Sam/Kara)
At Day's End (Star Wars; Obi-Wan/Padmé)
The Jedi's Code (Star Wars; Obi-Wan/Padmé)
Surprise (Star Wars; Anakin/Padmé)
Intrusion (BSG; Lee/Kara)
Like Fine Ambrosia (BSG; Adama/Roslin)
Threaten to Reconcile (BSG; Sam/Kara)
Second Chances (BSG; Lee/Kara)

Any other questions, comments, or other gripes about this exercise? Throw 'em at me in comments and I'll see what I can do. :)

(I started typing this at work when it was relatively slow this afternoon and Twitter was broken, and I'm now finishing it at home. Heh. I pretty much fail sometimes, heh.)

I've been thinking some more about bsg_bigbang, and I have to say that I am leaning towards not signing up. It would suck on one level because I wouldn't have the fun of participating and seeing my fic made into icons and vids and so forth, but at this point I'm just not sure whether making Insanity Underrated into a bsg_bigbang work would be the best thing for the fic. For one thing, it would delay it being posted until November-ish, when online stuff will not be first and foremost in my mind, and when interest in BSG fics may have dimmed significantly. I don't like to think of the fandom potentially dying, but it's a possibility I need to plan for. And it's not even about the reviews - far from it. If that were the case, I'd have abandoned TIS a long time ago. I just think that posting Insanity Underrated while there is significant continuing interest in BSG fandom would be more fun, and there's better potential for that to be the case now as opposed to in November.

The other thing is that I seem to have at least partially rediscovered my inspiration to write Insanity Underrated. Now, signing up for bsg_bigbang wouldn't necessarily preclude me working on it right now, but it would preclude me posting Chapters 3 and 4 once I've edited them, as well as any future chapters. And I'm not sure whether waiting to post a longfic until it's done is really my style. I did that with The Sound of One Hand Clapping, but that was kind of a special case. I didn't originally intend that to be a longfic, and it wasn't until it was about three-quarters done that I did a word count and realized, "Whoops, I'm going to need to post this in multiple chapters." Insanity Underrated was a multi-chapter longfic from the start, and I never had any illusions that it would be anything else.

I wasn't sure at first why I lost my inspiration to work on it, but that was one of the only reasons I had considered signing up for bsg_bigbang. (The other had to do with the special icons and vids, but I'm sure that if I really want icons from it, I can hit up the lovely folks on my f-list. :D) I thought it might keep me on track as far as writing Insanity Underrated goes, but I'm now starting to realize that a lot of my anxiety towards the fic had to do with a major plot point that's going to come into play in the S2 arc, and whether said plot arc would be believable and true to character. I think it will, so long as I handle it carefully, but it's going to mean a few changes to the canon arc of Season 2. I just hope I can do those well, and that folks will forgive the long period of time between chapter updates. Heh.

As far as To Ignite the Stars is concerned, I posted Chapter 50 last night, so I am just a little proud of myself. I knew it was going to have to go at least 50 chapters length-wise, but what I didn't know was whether I'd be able to keep up my interest in the fic. That's been a problem for me in the past - I don't know how many writing projects I've started and then subsequently abandoned because I lost interest or got bored. With TIS, though, I soon discovered that it was a story I had to tell. I didn't really have a choice as to whether to write it or not; it was going to make its way out regardless. I've learned a lot about myself while working on it, and I'm sure I'll learn even more before it's finished. Ideally, I would like that to be in October, which is another reason that going out for bsg_bigbang might not be the slickest idea. TIS is very important to me, and it tends to try and snatch my attention away just when I'd prefer to be working on something else. It usually succeeds, too - let's just say I have like zero willpower when it comes to that sort of thing. Heh.

Right now I am once again being pulled between two projects, and while Insanity Underrated is currently winning, I don't want to leave TIS un-updated for very long, at least not as long as I'm working my way through the current plot arc. The last chapter ended on a crazy cliffhanger, and even though that was mostly by design, I get the feeling I'll have some very freaked out readers if I don't update soon. ;) It's wonderful to know that they're so wrapped up in the story, though. While the response to To Ignite the Stars has been small, those who read it leave some amazing and very flattering reviews, and although I emphasize again that my world does NOT revolve around comments, it is nonetheless wonderful to know that something in which you've put your heart and soul is being so well-received. Which reminds me, I really need to respond to those comments on the Anonymous Feedback Meme. Yet more proof that I fail, heh.

I have stillness community stuff to do tonight - lots of it - but I will in all probability squeeze some writing in there somewhere. Along with more True Blood. SO glad Andrew and I decided to do a Season 1 rewatch before the S2 premiere on June 14. I LOVE ALAN BALL and I don't care who frakking knows. *grins*

(Behind in crossposting again. Yeah, I fail at life. *facepalm*)

What the hey, I'll throw my hat into the ring. Honestly not expecting much, but you miss 100% of the shots you don't take! ;)

THE ANONYMOUS WRITING FEEDBACK MEME

(Real post and fic to come later, I promise. And the "sick" mood? I HAVE A COLD, OKAY? ;) *snerk* *pets the mother hens*)

Good morning, dear f-list! Hope y'all are having a good day so far, though judging by some of the posts on LJ and tweets on Twitter, it's not going very well for some of you. :( *hugs* I hope it gets better soon!

I've been grappling with a dilemma the past several days, and while it's not really that much of an issue in the grand scheme of things, it has nonetheless been occupying a rather large portion of my brainspace. And since I'm evidently incapable of making a decision for myself without consulting teh intarwebz, I decided to hop on here and ask you guys - particularly the Kara/Lee shippers - about it.

See, there's this really awesome new community on LJ, and it's called bsg_bigbang. The idea is that authors, artists and vidders will sign up, and from May to November the authors will write a 20,000+-word BSG fic. When said fic is complete, it will be posted to that community, and the artists will make special icons from it and the vidders will vid scenes from the fic. Cool cool cool, right? And good for those of us who may need a kick in the pants to finish those AUs languishing around our hard drives.

As most of you probably know, I am the writer of one such AU. I love Insanity Underrated, and I'm excited about and devoted to its plot. The problem? Zero motivation. Part of the issue is that To Ignite the Stars is consuming my motherfrakking LIFE right now, but the other part is ... zero motivation. And I figure that if I signed up for bsg_bigbang, I'd have at least a fighting chance of getting back to work on it due to the guilt complex that will ensue if I didn't finish it in time. (I am good at guilting, yo. Almost as good as Obi-Wan or Lee.) The comm is even offering cheerleaders to each author, and while I have a ready cheerleader/beta reader in Katie, other peer pressure can't hurt, right? I asked the mods if it's okay to use a fic that you've already posted two chapters of, and they said that's fine as long as you hold back all further chapters until the November deadline. And ICONS. And VIDS. Of MY FIC. Seriously, it doesn't get much cooler than that!

So why have I not gotten my ass over there and signed up? Well, first of all because there's always a chance that I'll rediscover my motivation without the help of a fancy-shmancy community. It's certainly happened before, as TIS readers can attest. Plus, there's the fact that if I did sign up for this, Insanity Underrated readers wouldn't get any more chapters of the fic until November. I'd be working on it, I'd be completing chapters, but I wouldn't be able to post them since I would have given first rights to bsg_bigbang. And now to November is a looooooong damned time not to post a fic in which, presumably, you want there to be ongoing interest.

My dilemma is therefore this, f-list: should I sign up for bsg_bigbang? If I did, it would have to be with Insanity Underrated, since monster fic plotbunnies are somewhat difficult to come by. The pros are that I would finish it, and I'd get it iconned and vidded to boot. The cons are that readers would have to wait until November to get the whole thing - but I'd probably finish it in October due to certain, ah, time constraints. ;) At least it would be completed, though, and there wouldn't be any fear that I'd suddenly abandon it.

So. Opinions? Suggestions? Yays, nays? Lemme hear 'em! :D

(I doubt there'll be much interest over here, but since I'm crossposting the last few updates from my LJ, I figured I'd include this.)

Okay. So. I want to make something very clear up front: this is totally, completely and entirely viva_lla_gloria's fault. She posted the drabble request meme on her journal, I was perusing my f-list, I saw it, I commented to request something from her, and so I am now bound by the Meme Gods to do the precise same thing lest they smite me! 'Cause they do so love to smite, y'know. ;)

I am, however, making a couple of significant alterations to the original. If I get smited for that, well, then I guess I get smited. Yaaaaaay masochism!

The first fifteen people to comment in this post get to request a drabble from me. You don't have to repost this in your LJ if you don't want to - just be sure to read the guidelines/caveats below. :)

The aforementioned guidelines/caveats:

1) Fifteen slots rather than the original ten. Because I am generous like that. :D

2) Despite the "drabble" moniker, I reserve the right to transform the drabbles into ficlets depending upon the prompt and the vagaries of my muse. In fact, they probably will be ficlets, since I SUCK at the 100-word-limit thing.

3) My two main fandoms, as most of you probably know, are Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica (2003). Anything else I'd be kinda twitchy about writing, not to mention inexperienced.

4) Things I will not write. Every writer has them, and I am no exception. Anything involving marital infidelity and non-consensual sex I am absolutely not comfortable with, for personal reasons. Similarly, though I'm pretty equal-opportunity when it comes to most BSG pairings, I can't abide Kara/Leoben and Tigh/Caprica Six in a romantic capacity (those damn personal reasons again). Sorry, guys. I'd also shy away from requesting BSG slash, but only because I'm really inexperienced at it. Heh. No real issues with most SW pairings - aside from Qui/Obi, which I'm just sort of "eh" about. I'll say this as well: suggest Dormékin, and I WILL shoot you. Yes. Through your computer screen. With my invisible non-existent gun.

5) Slash is perfectly acceptable set in the SW 'verse.

6) I will write all ratings, from G (K) to NC-17 (MA).

7) If you request Obi-Wan/Padmé - totally legit, by the way - it may be set in the TIS universe, as my brain seems to be incapable of placing O/P in any other context at the moment. Heh.

All drabbles/ficlets will be posted to padmeonpaper and linked back here. Just basically my way of keeping things tidy, and there's no need to worry about missing any of them since I'll also comment back to you when your drabble has been posted.

I believe that's it, so ... GO!