fandom-ish things: podficcing and reading

[sophinisba]

This has never come up so far, but just in case: if you ever happen to see people talking smack about me at an anon meme or under f-lock or whatever, please don't tell me about it. If you don't see people talking about me at the memes please don't tell me about that either. I really prefer not to know. Thanks!

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Signups are open for round two of chromatic_podfic! Let's participate the hell out of this fest, you guys! I feel like characters of color get even less attention in podfic than in fic, and that's really not very much.

Last year I did medium-sized stories in six different fandoms that added up to something like two and a half hours. This year I'm thinking about doing just one longer one, maybe What We've Become (the Mt. Saint Helens Remix), the Martha-centric remix of the Donna/Martha story I recorded for podtor_who. I meant to do both of them for that fest but I couldn't get in touch with the remix author in time, so this might be a good chance to get back to it. What about you?

I am having such a great time podficcing Arcane Asylum for podficbigbang, you guys! I've done maybe a fifth of the recording and a twelfth of the editing so far, so I still have a long way to go, but gosh is it fun. Yesterday I started in on the part about Merlin's childhood, including the part about wanting to tell his teacher what he is and then having that teacher taken away, and Hunith fighting so hard for him and both of them being so isolated and OH GOD SO MANY FEELINGS.

I'm so glad I decided to jump into this, even though I'd been scared off for a long time by the length. Since it's coming along faster than I expected, I am hoping to have time to do something substantial for chromatic_podfic and a few other shorter things over the next few months.

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I can has a Kindle! For a little over two weeks now, though gosh it feels like longer - I am really reluctant to go back to paper books or reading long fics on my computer screen now (thank you so much to authors who post their fic, especially their long fic, at the AO3!!!!). It was not a Christmas gift but a hand-me-down/loan, an older model which I like very much because it's bigger than the newer ones. I like large print and with this big screen I can still see a decent-sized chunk of text at one time. I have read and enjoyed
-Un Lun Dun by China Miéville, a really great, clever, and surprising young adult fantasy novel.
-The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, a much darker young adult novel. I'm still not sure what I think about this except that it was totally engrossing, and I'll probably read the other two books, which my friend thoughtfully left on the Kindle for me.
-As Soon As I Am Able by allothi, a really delightful Gwen/Morgana AU in which Morgana and Arthur are rival superheroes. I love fics like this that show Morgana as a flawed person (selfish, spoiled, often ridiculous...) but that are still done with love, wanting her to be happy.

Then here are a couple other things I've read today (not on the Kindle):
-Do You Wanna Come Over and Kill Some Time? by amber, Bradley/Colin beautiful angst and porn. Like many people, I suspect, I've been feeling warm feelings about Bradley and Colin since their date Thursday night. I've never really gotten into Merlin RPF but I've been clicking through some of ella_bane's Bradley/Colin recs today and this one is my favorite so far.
-Untitled Porn by riventhorn: "Gwen and Merlin like to be dogs sometimes, and their owners [Arthur and Morgana] have brought them together to play." SO GODDAMN HOT. I love that it is Gwen POV and feel our fandom needs way more kinky porn about Gwen okay.
-Oh and can I tell you a secret? Last month I read this Merlin/Morgana puppy play fic by lolafeist, Come Here, Boy, which briefly mentions Morgana trying to read her Kindle and pretending not to be all turned on thinking about the sex she and Merlin are about to have. And ever since then I've been like, "Kindle! Sexy!" It adds to my reading enjoyment. :D

Comments

[pandarus]

1) WTF is up with this whole mindset of let's-slag-people-off-anonymously-in-public? I DO NOT understand. Because nobody is being forced to participate in fandom, and nobody is being oppressed by anybody through fandom, and there is just no conceivable reason to be shitty about other fans where they can stumble across it in a nasty I-am-Spartacus anonymous fashion. It's cruel and childish and chicken shit. (Not saying people shouldn't be able to vent, but either put your name to it or do it privately, ffs. Anything else is just corrosive.)

2) OMG so much word wrt ibooks! Best. Thing. Ever.

[kathkin]

I have the same policy about anon memes, though I don't think I've ever posted it anywhere. I doubt anyone talks about me anyway.

On a much more positive not, thanks for the OT4 puppy play rec! :DD There definitely needs to be more kinky fic about Gwen.

[emei]

Ooh, now I want to reread As soon as I am able, it's so great. Maybe I should make a travel collection of good long fic on my e-reader...

I found the Hunger Games totally engrossing too. Mostly the first and second book, I think - the third one seemed to aim high and not manage to hold it all together quite as impressively. Anyway, some excellent fic on the AO3 once you're done with all of them. :)

[meri]

I like your anon-meme policy up there. I'm thinking about adding something similar to mine. Anon memes seem to me one of the most toxic aspects of fandom now. I'm not surprised they come up so often as places where wank, discontent, and bullying leak over into fandom at large. I really do think that what they offer as a benefit to our community is largely overridden by the hurt and pain they cause.

[yue_ix]

Excited about your podfics, as ever! Let me know if you'd like a second pair of ears for them? Or, idk, covers. I like making covers for you. The fact that I get to listen to your podfics in loop helps. chromatic_podfics didn't seem to have anything in its challenge allowing artists to sign up.

The animal play popped up on my reading circles too and were a lot of fun! (ahaha, I hear you in finding out one of our ticks in a sexy fic and then feeling better about it since). I have a few ideas that just won't get out of my head, too, like Morgana in only a shirt and stretching over the top of sofas as the shirt rides up, or Arthur taking pride in being treated like a stallion and standing taller after playing (Merlin/Gwen/Uther/any stable person examining Arthur's teeth, his calves, his soles, grooming his body hair with a thick rough brush and passing commentaries all the time about his good price and worth) with the great possibility of figging, Morgana and Merlin fighting+making out as 'pets' kind of like hate-sex but as a planned fight by their masters, etc. There's a lot of possibility, it hits my interest in reversing some tropes, and works with my like of objectifying characters tenderly...