Femgenficathon 2011 Recommendations

[brightknightie]

The femgenficathon 2011 Masterlist is up.  The game garnered 67 stories in 55 fandoms.  (As you know, by definition, all are gen and star canonically female characters.)

I read perhaps half.  No stories were submitted in my usual fandoms, so choosing what to read across the fest led me mostly to tales where I know the source material, but not the fanfiction.  Of those I read in this game, my favorites are:

• "Dark" (PG, ~3K) by the_alchemist, Henry VI Part 1 w/RPF, Sts. Joan and Mary 
  This story ambitiously sets out not only to reconcile Shakespeare's Joan la Pucelle with today's perception of Joan of Arc, but to explore obedience and rebellion in St. Joan and St. Mary (mother of Jesus), with a non-traditional take on the choice to obey.  Within the constraints of its size and cross-references, it succeeds admirably and affectingly.  I suspect that knowing some of the literature and history of Joan and modern interpretations of Mary amplifies my reactions here, but I think this story can work for any reader even roughly familiar with the scenarios.
• "Cho Chang & the Jasmine Code" (PG, ~5K) by xenokattz, Harry Potter, Cho 
  This is the best use of Cho that I have yet encountered.  The story also offers a larger sense of the war's impacts outside the UK, and delicately points to (by using to the heroes' advantage) the excessive Eurocentrism of canonical wizarding society.
• "Solace and Solitude" (PG, ~4K) by kellychambliss, Pride and Prejudice, Lydia, Lady Catherine and Anne 
  This fun triptych of neglected voices should make almost any Austen fan grimace and grin.  It's fairly light fare (darkest in the vicinity of incorrigible Lydia), amusing all over, and inclines me to cheer for its Anne — an unconventional happy ending made historically plausible via sufficient wealth in the right hands.
• "A Room of Her Own" (PG, ~2K) by aliciadances, Harry Potter, Pansy 
  Quietly, almost poetically, this story supports its prompt in an evocative twining of structure and theme.  This is a believable Pansy, living with — through — consequences.
• "The Road to Asgard" (PG, ~1K) by curia_regis, Thor, Jane 
  Extremely compressed and internal, this piece goes where only gen ever does, even when ostensibly motivated by and wrapped around a love affair.  It supplies a determined, independent, successful Jane, post-movie — the human alien and the golden apple.

Other fandoms represented that some of you might enjoy include Downton Abbey, Life on Mars, Tangled, Chronicles of Narnia, Firefly, and of course Doctor Who (which I can't read because I'm chronically a season behind and ducking spoilers).  My own submission was "Salt Its Tail" (PG, ~7K, Young Blades, Jacqueline).

I support this ficathon's goals, and it's been interesting as a writer and as a reader.  However, there is often a disconnectedness about multi-fandom games, not to mention non-exchange games, and this is both; I think it might benefit from a boost in community fellow-feeling, though I don't know how one would bring that about except by recruiting more writers, and chatting together about it more.

Comments

[skieswideopen]

At some point, I'm going to find the time to go back and read some of those submissions (including yours!).

I wonder if having a couple of chatroom chats over the course of the writing period might help promote more community feeling? Perhaps there could be a couple of semi-official brainstorming chats or something? I realize that can be accomplished in comments too--and perhaps some people would prefer to keep everything on LJ--but I find chats are sometimes more interactive.

Or maybe the same thing could be accomplished with some general brainstorming/support posts on LJ, so that people feel an investment in each other's stories. I don't know. I think you're right, though, that the combination of multi-fandom and non-exchange leaves people a bit distant from each other.

building community

[brightknightie]

When you do have time to read the fest, I'm sure you'll find some to like! Please forgive me if I'm repeating myself, but all the stories I read there were earnest and diligent, even if not all equally excelled.

>"I wonder if having a couple of chatroom chats over the course of the writing period might help promote more community feeling? ... a couple of semi-official brainstorming chats ... comments too..."

I don't have experience with chats, but whether in that forum or on LJ, I think those are very good ideas. As it's not an exchange, there's little need to worry about spoilers, and cross-pollination wouldn't be a bad thing in such an exceedingly diverse field.