nickelmountain

 I haven't posted anything to my journal in a really long time, but I'm going to get back into it. Wincon inspired me.

Just, uh, not tonight. The inspiration will hold another night, I swear.

Sorry for the spam! This one is shorter, so I'm not hiding it behind a cut.

snowflake_challenge  Day 2
In your own space, promote three communities, challenges, blogs, pages, Twitters, Tumblrs or platforms and explain why you love them.

#1: podfic_love podfic_love podfic_love.
podfic_love is a podfic reccing community that started up a few months ago. The comm features both official and drive-by reccing, and it didn't take long at all for it to become an excellent source of recs for podfics in a wide range of fandoms, performed by a wide range of podficcers. I haven't posted there as much as I'd like, but I always love reading the recs other people leave. It makes me really, really happy to listen to podfic fans talk about the podfic they love. Whether it's talking about the podficcer's voice and performance choices, the way the podfic was edited together, or what the podfic meant on a personal level to the listener, it's a joy to witness fellow podfic fans loving what they love.

#2: americancaptaincomic Steve Rogers' American Captain: A Diary Comic

I got hooked on this webcomic right around this time last year. It is FANTASTIC. The comic is Steve Roger's diary (in comic form, since he's an artist) following the events of The Avengers, and it's funny and sad and occasionally pretty triggery for anxiety and depression, and I love absolutely everything about it. Steve moves through the world trying to make sense of the 21st century (oranges are so cheap now! hot dogs are...kind of terrible, but hard to stop eating!), coping with the demands of being a public figure (wearing makeup on morning news shows!), getting to know his team mates, forging a beautiful friendship with Pepper Potts, and generally trying to get a grip on himself. There's a lot of discussion of mental health issues, and it can be really heart-rending and triggery at times, but in the best possible way. This comic is one of my favorite things on the internet right now.

#3: sttngfashion Fashion It So

A fashion blog for Star Trek: The Next Generation. How much more do I really have to say? This tumblr posts recaps of TNG episodes structured around the hair and clothing choices of the characters. There is much discussion of Beverly and Deanna's hair, everything Guinan ever wears, the color beige, colorblock jumpsuits, and the popularity of shoes that exactly match the color of your tights/pants/floor-length curtain-dress-thing in the 24th century. It's hilarious. I love it. (Oh my god, though, I wanted Deanna Troi's hair SO BAD when I was a kid. My bowl cut just could not compete.)

Dear #ITPE Podficcer,

Hello! I'll try to keep this short, because I'm ridiculously easy to please, and the most important thing to me is that you choose a fic you really want to record and have a good time making it. I know I'll love whatever you make for me.

Some general likes: women being awesome, character studies, case fics, explorations of culture. I like gen, slash, femslash, and het, so it's pretty hard to go wrong there.

Some general dislikes: I don't listen to much PWP, and I'd rather avoid whump. Absolute no's include crossgen incest, sexual violence, and any kind of pregnancy.

Now, some general preferences by fandom:

Supernatural: I like Sam/Dean and Dean/Castiel, but I also really love SPN gen fics. Pre-series always does good things for me. But, if you know of an awesome Charlie Bradbury fic that you might want to record, I'd be all over that.

Star Trek AOS: I like Kirk/Spock, Spock/Uhura, and Uhura/Gaila, but I'm pairing-flexible. If you know of a fic that would make me love Carol Marcus, I want to hear it. I have a soft spot for Academy fic, and really love explorations of language and culture in the Star Trek universe. Also, Gaila. Just...Gaila.

Star Trek DS9: I like Jadzia Dax/Kira Nerys, Julian Bashir/Garak, and all the canonical pairings. I really love stories that deal with Bajoran and Cardassian culture, so fics that focus on Kira and/or Garak are always a safe bet.

Star Trek TNG: This is a pretty gen fandom for me. References to relationships (canonical or otherwise) are fine, but I'd rather they not be central to the fic. Also, Deanna Troi is my spirit animal. Just sayin'.

Avengers movieverse: I like Tony/Bruce, Bruce/Natasha, Bruce/Darcy, and Natasha/Maria Hill best, but I'm good with other pairings, too. I really love Avengers fics that focus on Bruce, Natasha, Darcy, and Jane Foster. It's fine to include Agents of SHIELD characters as long as they're not the main characters.

Sleepy Hollow: I'm super flexible here. All pairings are welcome. If there's a Sleepy Hollow fic you've been wanting to record, I want to hear it.

Welcome to Night Vale: I adore Carlos/Cecil, but I also really like fics that explore the other citizens of Night Vale. Dana, Old Woman Josie, Tamika Flynn, even that asshole Steve Carlsberg. If you do go with Carlos/Cecil, maybe avoid explicit Eldritch sex? I'm a little finicky about tentacles. Sometimes it's fine, other times not, all very case-by-case and hard to articulate.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Another mostly gen fandom for me. I like John/Cameron, John/Riley, Sarah/Kyle, and Sarah/Derek, but I'm not strongly invested in any ship. I'm pro femslash in general, but I've just never been able to see Sarah/Cameron. Not sure why. For this fandom, fics exploring Sarah and John's relationship, Cameron's point of view, Riley, and the general badassery of Catherine Weaver are always a safe bet. If you know a really good Ellison, Derek, or Charlie fic, though, I'd love to hear it.

Okay, I hope this was helpful! If you have questions or need clarification on anything, you can always post an anonymous comment. I'm really looking forward to listening to whatever you choose to record!

Rare Characters, a multifandom exchange for rare and underrated characters!

Rules | FAQ | Nominations



This fest is podfic-friendly! I signed up today. Any fellow small fandom/rare character fans want to come join me?

Dear Author/Artist/Podficcer:

*twirls you* Hello! The thing to know about me is, I'm really easy to please. I know I'll love whatever you come up with. Below I've outlined some of my general preferences for the fandoms I requested, but please don't feel constrained by them. What's most important to me is that you create something you feel good about.

All the prompts I offered are gen-oriented, but I'm happy to receive slash, femslash, or het. What I am looking for, though, is something that's more character-driven, as opposed to PWP. Also, I like h/c, but I'm not into whump. I really like explorations of character and culture. I don't have any recs on pinboard, but the fics I choose to podfic are all pretty representative of my taste. You can find them here.

( Fandom #1: Alliance-Union (C.J. Cherryh) )

( Fandom #2: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles )

( Fandom #3: Hannibal )

( Fandom #4: Star Trek AOS )

That's it! I hope it was remotely helpful. If you have questions, you can always ask them anonymously in the comments.

Thank you!!!

If you see something, say nothing, and drink to forget.

Alternately, if you see something, say, "Something."

I just listened to 17 straight episodes of Welcome to Night Vale. That brings me up to episode 19A. I may be a little obsessed.

Okay, so fire_juggler blamed analise010, but I blame fire_juggler. I was doing just fine, thank you very much. My fandoms were under control. Hannibal was the newest, but I still haven't found my sweet spot with the fic and I'm not that great with tumblr yet, so it was pretty low key. And then fire_juggler posted this.

And I was curious.

So I downloaded the first episode.

And Cecil's voice lulled me into a state of calm acceptance of life's inherent miseries, up to and including an excess of sugar in sports drinks given to children and the possibility of a jetliner appearing momentarily in a school auditorium. Carlos's perfect hair and teeth like a military cemetery blinded me with their beauty. The hooded figures gathered in the dog park, but I already knew better than to look, because I knew not to think about the dog park. The dog park will not harm me.

That was yesterday. Imagine how much worse it is today, after 17 back-to-back episodes. I wrote an email at work today, and the voice in my head was Cecil. I actually used this sentence in the email: "And Midwest Regional Accounting spoke together in one voice and said unto us,'Please scan over the following invoice'."

Okay, that lacked context. Take my word for it that Midwest Regional Accounting was being a little ridiculous. And that the recipient of that email is familiar with my sense of humor. But still.

That is what the inside of my head sounds like right now. It's all hooded figures and unmarked helicopters and deer-skinned briefcases full of flies. It's strange and hilarious and intermittently flat-out beautiful.

The Internet informs me that this podcast, which has existed for a little over a year, has blown up popularity-wise within the last couple of weeks. I read the Daily Dot's report on it yesterday after I listened to the pilot. I'm glad I got into it at this juncture. I can't imagine the pain and horror of spending an entire year with glow clouds and invisible clock towers and angels all shifting things around in my head, and having no one to affirm me in my deep and yearning appreciation for the love-struck tones in Cecil's voice whenever he talks about Carlos.

Oh god. My poor husband. He doesn't know yet. How do I fake a return to my brain before Night Vale? How do I not be completely insufferable until I've detoxed a little?

And we're going out to dinner with some neighbors tonight. I don't know how I'm going to do this. Help.

Also, listen to Welcome to the Night Vale so you can a) join me in this beautiful Lovecraftian nightmare of a fandom, and b) read this post without wondering if you should contact my therapist on my behalf.

We're down to the odds and ends here. Just a couple more posts. These are all really small fandom podfics. I probably won't ever record anything else in Dexter or Ginger Snaps, but I'd love to do more with The City & The City, Friday Night Lights, and Fright Night. The covers for Bright Yellow Sky and Pluck are both second or third attempts.


Links to podfic & text
Fandom: The City & The City (China Mieville)
Characters: Mahalia Geary, David Bowden, Yolanda Rodriguez
Summary: Mahalia has the room on the corner, less because she'd asked for it than because nobody else had wanted it. The view is nothing special: no neon, no dazzling architecture, no illicitly schizophrenic vista of the cities—nothing particularly Ul Qoman at all.


Links to podfic & text
Fandom: Dexter
Characters: Dexter Morgan, Brian Moser, Debra Morgan
Summary: We haven't met, but I killed someone you passed in the street once.


Links to podfic & text
Fandom: Friday Night Lights
Characters: Jess Merriweather, Vince Howard, Landry Clarke, and Vernon, Caleb, Darius, and Andre Merriweather
Summary: You just gotta keep doing it, okay, just keep doing it over and over, do it thousands of times, 'cause you'll get that muscle memory. Just y'know, just forget about the guys, the big guys charging at you, and the fans, the chaos, just like, zone in, inside yourself and forget it all, let it all, the chaos, just let it go. Just let it go, you know?


Links to podfic & text
Fandom: Fright Night (2011)
Characters: Charley Brewster/Jerry
Summary: Charley's friend has been turned and now his neighbor is dead. Charley goes back in for the kill. It doesn't go as well as he'd planned.


Links to podfic & text
Fandom: Ginger Snaps (2000)
Characters: Ginger Fitzgerald/Brigitte Fitzgerald
Summary: Ginger's wants have never been anything but dangerous.

Here are today's set of podfic covers. I'm still not completely happy with the first one in the Star Trek batch, but I feel pretty good about both of the Fireflys.

Here's four for Star Trek:


Links to podfic & text
Star Trek AOS
Characters: Jim Kirk/Spock
Summary: "During a rare shoreleave on Earth over the holidays, Kirk convinces Spock to take a road trip with him. He didn't count on a record snowfall. Now they're stranded in a motel room for Christmas, and stir-craziness is beginning to set in..."


Links to podfic & text
Star Trek AOS
Characters: Gaila/Christine Chapel
Summary: "On her birthday, Gaila takes Chapel on a surprise trip."


Links to podfic & text
Star Trek TNG
Characters: Deanna Troi/Selar
Summary: "Deanna had never done it with a Vulcan before."


Links to podfic & text
Star Trek DS9
Characters: Kira Nerys/Jadzia Dax
Summary: "The monastery scene in 02x03, 'The Siege': Kira makes sense of Jadzia in vedek's robes."

...and two for Firefly:


Links to podfic & text
Characters: Inara Serra/Kaylee Frye
Summary: "The second time Inara kissed her, Kaylee realised there were things she hadn't even dared to dream."


Links to podfic & text
Characters: River Tam/Kaylee Frye
Summary: "'If Serenity were a woman, River thinks, they would be much the same.' Four drabbles on the same theme."

I've made six Fringe podfics to date, so here are six shiny new covers to go with them. A couple of these covers are among my favorites so far. A warning - the sixth cover is mildly NSFW.

You know what I discovered while I was making these covers? I discovered that doing a Google image search for Anna Torv is an exceptionally pleasant way to spend an afternoon. Her face, you guys. Her face.

Actually, the same goes for Jasika Nicole. Hmm.

I may need to go find myself some more Astrid/Olivia. I haven't read any new Fringe fic since S5 stomped all over my heart, but Astrid/Olivia sounds really good to me right now.

Anyway. Here they are:


Links to podfic & text
Characters: Olivia Dunham/Peter Bishop, Walter Bishop
Summary: "It starts like this." Spoilers through early S2.


Links to podfic & text
Characters: Olivia Dunham/Peter Bishop, Astrid Farnsworth, Walter Bishop
Summary: "It is hard to let go of what might have been, especially when it's been presented in the flesh." Spoilers through mid S3.


Links to podfic & text
Characters: Olivia Dunham/Astrid Farnsworth, with references to red!Olivia and red!Astrid
Summary: "Set post-3x09 Marionette to the tune of care, equations, untainted, comfort, lab time, probabilities, milkshake, numbers, desire, something new, and intervention."


Links to podfic & text
Characters: Astrid Farnsworth & Walter Bishop, with Gene the cow
Summary: "Astrid didn't want to be Walter Bishop's lab assistant. Unfortunately, neither did anyone else." Set during early S1.


Links to podfic & text
Characters: Olivia Dunham/Olivia Dunham (red!/!blue!)
Summary: "They need each other." S3.




...and here's the mildly NSFW one:





Links to podfic & text
Characters: Olivia Dunham/Emily Prentiss (crossover with Criminal Minds)
Summary: "Sometimes they win." No spoilers for any season of either show.