FKCommentFic 2012 Winter Challenge (12/02/12-01/06/13)
Sunday, December 2nd, 2012 02:09 pmThe ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fkcommentfic/![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fkcommentfic 2012 winter game is open. Everyone is invited! As the challenge is based on current events in real-life Toronto, hopefully the scenario will be fun and flexible for FK fans of every faction and tradition.
The idea comes from![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
skieswideopen's description of the "21 kissing stations" recently installed between Bathurst and Spadina. (Each "station" suspends a red-ribboned bunch of fake mistletoe from a tinsel-bedecked lamp over a white circle with red text: "Mistletoe Kissing Station Approved by the Bloor Annex BIA [Business Improvement Association].") So, the challenge: Picture this real initiative in FK's fictional Toronto!
As the venerable custom of kissing under the mistletoe collides with cheerfully kitschy commercialism in a culture not famous for rampant public displays of affection, the commentfic story possibilities range widely. What do the Raven or CERK staffs think about BIAs? Is someone murdered under the mistletoe? Is it the last place someone is seen? Does it inspire a flashback? Does it attract shoppers? Is it charming or irritating? And — of course! — does a couple kiss... or avoid kissing?
To let us know, come play. ;-)
fkcommentfic/fkcommentfic 2012 winter game is open. Everyone is invited! As the challenge is based on current events in real-life Toronto, hopefully the scenario will be fun and flexible for FK fans of every faction and tradition.The idea comes from
skieswideopen's description of the "21 kissing stations" recently installed between Bathurst and Spadina. (Each "station" suspends a red-ribboned bunch of fake mistletoe from a tinsel-bedecked lamp over a white circle with red text: "Mistletoe Kissing Station Approved by the Bloor Annex BIA [Business Improvement Association].") So, the challenge: Picture this real initiative in FK's fictional Toronto!As the venerable custom of kissing under the mistletoe collides with cheerfully kitschy commercialism in a culture not famous for rampant public displays of affection, the commentfic story possibilities range widely. What do the Raven or CERK staffs think about BIAs? Is someone murdered under the mistletoe? Is it the last place someone is seen? Does it inspire a flashback? Does it attract shoppers? Is it charming or irritating? And — of course! — does a couple kiss... or avoid kissing?
To let us know, come play. ;-)
Rarewomen Author Letter
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 03:45 pmTags:
- character:foreverknight:emily,
- character:foreverknight:fleur,
- character:foreverknight:grace,
- character:foreverknight:janette,
- character:foreverknight:urs,
- character:highlander:angie,
- character:highlander:randi,
- character:highlander:tessa,
- character:youngblades:jacqueline,
- fandoms_not_fk,
- fanfic:likes&dislikes,
- fanfic:process:prompts,
- fest:rarewomen,
- ficathons&fests
Giving Thanks for Beta-Readers (2011)
Friday, November 25th, 2011 06:39 pmA second set of eyes on a story can be invaluable. Generous beta-readers do not only nudge my spelling, punctuation, grammar and capitalization; fight my malapropisms, homophones and purple prose; flag my plot holes, canon loops and thematic dead-ends: no, not only all those wonderful things! Great beta-readers with whom I have been privileged to work ask the questions — the aggravating, unimagined, magnificent questions — that make a story grow into itself and become all it can be.
Here at Thanksgiving (US) time, I would like to thank everyone who has been so kind as to beta-read for me in the past year, from 2010's winter fests through the 2011 Femgenficathon:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
amilyn, batdina, celli, ithildyn, lastscorpion, natmerc, sholio, skieswideopen and wiliqueen. (I would also like to thank much_madness and leela_cat, who did not happen to beta for me this past year, but are the record-holding beta-readers across all my fanfic, ever.) Thank you! In all cases, without you, I could not have done as well. In some cases, without you, I could not have done at all. Thank you.
Those of you listed above, if you would enjoy it, I would be pleased to write you a short thank-you story in recognition of your beta-reading. ( If you choose to claim this offer... )
Here at Thanksgiving (US) time, I would like to thank everyone who has been so kind as to beta-read for me in the past year, from 2010's winter fests through the 2011 Femgenficathon:
amilyn, batdina, celli, ithildyn, lastscorpion, natmerc, sholio, skieswideopen and wiliqueen. (I would also like to thank much_madness and leela_cat, who did not happen to beta for me this past year, but are the record-holding beta-readers across all my fanfic, ever.) Thank you! In all cases, without you, I could not have done as well. In some cases, without you, I could not have done at all. Thank you.Those of you listed above, if you would enjoy it, I would be pleased to write you a short thank-you story in recognition of your beta-reading. ( If you choose to claim this offer... )
Writing for me? Thank you! (aka Fanfic Likes and Dislikes)
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 02:30 pmNo one is presently writing me a story in any exchange fest, so I thought this might be a good time to get around to one of those standing "Fanfic Likes and Dislikes" posts, more comprehensive than an individual fest sign-up. (I'll link to it from my profile.)
— Updated January 18, 2021 —
Preface: If you're creating for me in an exchange-style ficathon or other fannish event — thank you! — and you're seeking more details about what I embrace and avoid as a fanfiction reader, here's... way too much information. Really. Please don't let this be a straitjacket or a formula. Back away if necessary. Laugh it off and forge ahead! Wherever you find your passion for the canon and characters in our shared fandom is the right place to build your story, and I'm sure to enjoy it there. ( You've been warned... )
Preface: If you're creating for me in an exchange-style ficathon or other fannish event — thank you! — and you're seeking more details about what I embrace and avoid as a fanfiction reader, here's... way too much information. Really. Please don't let this be a straitjacket or a formula. Back away if necessary. Laugh it off and forge ahead! Wherever you find your passion for the canon and characters in our shared fandom is the right place to build your story, and I'm sure to enjoy it there. ( You've been warned... )
"Camp Sundown" FK Story Ideas
Monday, November 21st, 2011 12:45 pmThis weekend, the radio program Soundprint featured an article, "Sunshine and Darkness," about Xeroderma Pigmentosum. People with XP, among other challenges, cannot tolerate sunlight. Within the story of Forever Knight, XP is the most practical, realistic basis for Nick's "sun allergy" cover (we all knew that, I'm sure).
What was new to me was Camp Sundown, a "night camp" offering sun-sensitive children the traditional camp experience, "just on a different time clock." ( related FK story concepts )
I think that there is potentially a lot of rich storytelling material there, if anyone might like to take it up. I might come back to that Schanke idea, myself, someday, but I absolutely do not mean to hog "Camp Sundown" as a font of FK story ideas! It's available for all.
What was new to me was Camp Sundown, a "night camp" offering sun-sensitive children the traditional camp experience, "just on a different time clock." ( related FK story concepts )
I think that there is potentially a lot of rich storytelling material there, if anyone might like to take it up. I might come back to that Schanke idea, myself, someday, but I absolutely do not mean to hog "Camp Sundown" as a font of FK story ideas! It's available for all.
Why Romance Is More Popular Than Gen
Friday, September 16th, 2011 10:41 amI periodically lament and wonder why romance is so overwhelmingly more popular than gen, when romance represents just one component of human experience, while gen encompasses all the other components.
Jesse Bering, evolutionary psychologist and Scientific American blogger, recently posted a sardonic and potentially enlightening contribution to that question. "Listen Carefully: The Evolutionary Secret To Making a Hit Record" (08/30/11) discusses how "across music genres, the more 'embedded reproductive messages' [i.e. courtship, sex, procreation] a given song contained, the more likely it was to have become a smash hit." That is, "Country songs averaged 5.96 reproductive messages per song, Pop had 8.69, and R&B a whopping 16.77 per song. For all genres, however, and across a sixty-year history of the Billboard charts, the sheer number of reproductive messages in a song was meaningfully linked to that song's commercial success," even when controlling for the singer's popularity and skill.
Similarly, he reports that research analyzing newspapers in multiple cultures from the past three centuries shows consistently that:
The blog post includes a handy list of the 19 categories of "embedded reproductive messages" tracked and analyzed in the study. Writers of romance, you may wish to refer to it. ;-) They're almost like prompts, assuming that you have a preferred couple to which to apply them.
Jesse Bering, evolutionary psychologist and Scientific American blogger, recently posted a sardonic and potentially enlightening contribution to that question. "Listen Carefully: The Evolutionary Secret To Making a Hit Record" (08/30/11) discusses how "across music genres, the more 'embedded reproductive messages' [i.e. courtship, sex, procreation] a given song contained, the more likely it was to have become a smash hit." That is, "Country songs averaged 5.96 reproductive messages per song, Pop had 8.69, and R&B a whopping 16.77 per song. For all genres, however, and across a sixty-year history of the Billboard charts, the sheer number of reproductive messages in a song was meaningfully linked to that song's commercial success," even when controlling for the singer's popularity and skill.
Similarly, he reports that research analyzing newspapers in multiple cultures from the past three centuries shows consistently that:
[T]he hallmark of sensational news — what makes something particularly alluring to any readership — is its relevance to reproductive success in the ancestral past. Most high-profile, front-page stories dealt with things such as altruism, reputation, cheaters, violence, sex, and the treatment of offspring. In other words, argued these scientists, what whets our appetites in the social domain today are the very same gossipy topics of conversation that the first humans were probably gabbing about 150,000 years ago in sub-Saharan Africa.
The blog post includes a handy list of the 19 categories of "embedded reproductive messages" tracked and analyzed in the study. Writers of romance, you may wish to refer to it. ;-) They're almost like prompts, assuming that you have a preferred couple to which to apply them.
Collective Bargaining Story
Saturday, February 26th, 2011 09:23 amI support collective bargaining rights for all workers. Surely everyone who knows the history does. Of course, those rights, like any rights, can be misused and abused; that's reason for ongoing vigilance, prudence and reform in all human institutions, not for eliminating the institutions.
Many people are out in the winter cold across the US today, seizing this "teachable moment" of the Wisconsin drama to make that point in public gatherings. I'm not doing that, but for what it's worth, I pledge to write a fanfiction with historical flashback content on what unions have done for us all and why collective bargaining rights matter. I don't commit to a deadline, but I'll aim for within 2011. The story might be either Forever Knight or Highlander, whichever yields the best story idea.
If you'd be interested in reading such a story by me, please feel free to let me know what story elements you might like to see! If you'd like to chat calmly, reasonably and relatively briefly about how the existence of collective bargaining rights does or does not benefit the entire society, we can do that, too. ;-)
Many people are out in the winter cold across the US today, seizing this "teachable moment" of the Wisconsin drama to make that point in public gatherings. I'm not doing that, but for what it's worth, I pledge to write a fanfiction with historical flashback content on what unions have done for us all and why collective bargaining rights matter. I don't commit to a deadline, but I'll aim for within 2011. The story might be either Forever Knight or Highlander, whichever yields the best story idea.
If you'd be interested in reading such a story by me, please feel free to let me know what story elements you might like to see! If you'd like to chat calmly, reasonably and relatively briefly about how the existence of collective bargaining rights does or does not benefit the entire society, we can do that, too. ;-)