As my requests may rather have given you the impression, I'm something of a slash-hound ^_^ Which is not to say that I don't love a good gen fic (though I'm not a fan of het, generally), or that I particularly want an explicit sex scene anywhere. I'm just as happy to get pre-slash, post-slash, one-sided-and-unrequited-slash, and general homosociality of the Boy's Own Paper kind. I'm generally pretty easy to please.

I'm going to throw out a list of things that I'm generally pretty fond of in fics, and a list of things that I'm generally not so fond of, but please don't think of them as binding - if you've got a great idea that's totally different from my likes, do it! If you've got a great idea that encompasses one of my dislikes - convince me I'm wrong!

Likes:
- pastiches of the style of the books, if they're well done.
- stories that are *completely different* from the style of the books, if they're well done.
- AUs, missing scenes, character-pieces and what ifs.
- intense friendships
- unhealthily intense friendships ^_^
- strong sense of place and time
- intelligent characters, especially unexpectedly intelligent ones. Though I'm not sure this extends as far as Bunny.
- unspoken loyalty
- sex: sex in unusual places, multiple partners, sex 'n' ties, fun-and-established-couple-y, angsty-and-slightly-twisted, more-than-willing or willing-to-be-persuaded.

Dislikes:
- broad humour. I love leavening the tone of a fic with a good sprinkling of wit, but I'm not a fan of comedy from beginning to end.
- mpreg, gender swap, and similar OOC shenanigans.
- unremitting angst, gratuitous character death etc.
- character bashing.
- sex: explicit non-con, tooth-rotting schmoop.

And a few fandom specific notes - again, no strings attached, there's no need at all to follow them ^_^

RAFFLES - I'm convinced E.W. Hornung intended Raffles and Bunny to be More Than Friends, Victorian era be damned. I love Bunny's desperate hero-worship, and Raffles' desperate need for Bunny to worship him. I love examinations of why they're friends and what that means to each of them. I love wondering why Bunny's description of bound-and-tortured Raffles at the end of 'The Last Laugh' is in quite such loving detail.

GIMLET - well, anything's good here really. There being no fic at all for this fandom. If it's at all possible, I'd love a Gimlet + Bertie Lissie fic, maybe even slash if you can bring yourself to do it, and maybe something a little on the dark side. After all, Bertie *does* take an unhealthy pleasure in throwing high explosives at people, and Gimlet *does* tend to blow up troop-trains at the drop of a hat. Something combining their silly-ass upper-class Oxford-educated toff-ness with their cold-as-steel-underneath-ness would be amazing.

ERAST FANDORIN - again, some slash if at all possible would be lovely, as Erast Petrovich is *infinitely* slashable, especially in the first book. Either Brilling/Fandorin (hero-worship-y with dark undertones) or Zurov/Fandorin (reckless and fun, unless it's soon after Erast's fiancee died, in which case I guess WHOA ANGST would be nearer the mark) would be wonderful. Missing scenes (if you can shoe-horn them somewhere into the continuity) or AU (to avoid annoying slash-disrupting character deaths) would be great.

So - hope some of those proved useful! If not, feel free to ignore - I'm going to be happy with whatever present I get come Christmas Day ^_^

love,
me.

Six Ships I Like:
1. Treize/Zechs (Gundam Wing)
2. Jack/Daniel (Stargate)
3. Raffles/Bunny (EW Hornung's Raffles series)
4. Biggles/Von Stalhein (WE Johns' Biggles series)
5. Blake/Avon (Blakes 7)
6. Merry/Pippin (JRR Tolkein 'Lord of the Rings')

Three Ships I've Abandoned: - man, this is difficult. I never *abandon* 'ships, they just hibernate somewhere in the back of my brain...
7. Buffy/Giles (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
8. Jack Sparrow/James Norrington (Pirates of the Caribbean)
9. Tohma/Sakano (Gravitation)

Three Ships I've Never Liked:
10. Jack/Sam (Stargate SG-1)
11. Treize/Wufei (Gundam Wing)
12. Yuki/Shuichi (Gravitation)

Two Ships That Have Piqued My Interest:
13. Klaus/Dorian (From Eroica With Love)
14. Touga/Saionji (Utena)

1. Why do you dislike #11 so much? - because Treize and Zechs are MEANT TO BE ZOMG!!111. No, but really. I never have understood this pairing, except as a way of getting rid of the problem of 'ooops, five slashy Gundam pilots, what are we going to do with the odd man out?' Wufei is obsessive about Treize, yes, maybe, especially between the series and Endless Waltz. Treize? Treize *really* doesn't care. Treize has an object of obsession, yes, but he happens to be a six-foot bundle of pretty blond ANGST. Also, 13x5 almost universally leads to what I find singularly unconvincing portrayals of both characters, and (a particularly heinous crime), bastardisation/soppyfication of Treize. No no no.

2. Who is someone you know that ships #13? (Klaus/Dorian) - no one I actually *know*, except in that generic online sense in which you 'know' people if you've read their fics and their ljs.

3. What would be your ideal scenario for couple #3? (Raffles/Bunny) - oh, God. Anything which didn't end in DEATH and DESPAIR would be nice. Perhaps that Raffles faked the whole death thing again and Bunny was complicit in it this time, and that they went off to America or something (and somehow implausibly managed to adjust to Life In The Colonies) and burgled their way happy through high society for a few years. And that Raffles managed to stop being such a bastard. No, wait, that's just *too* implausible.

4. Which is your favorite episode for #1? (Treize/Zechs) - oh, man, too many. The episode where Treize lets Zechs escape with Tallgeese and is all melodramatically 'hurry back to me!' maybe. Or the last few episodes, where they snarl at each other across deep space in an angsty way. Or perhaps any given doujinshi where they get teh happy sexx0rs. Whatever.

5. How long have you been following couple #6? (Merry/Pippin) - tricky question. Merry has been my favourite hobbit for many, many years (yay for the sarcastic-and-slightly-rakish Brandybucks!), since I was about nine and first read the book, I guess. And if you love Merry, you've *got* to love Pippin too. It's not Merry without MerryandPippin. But the idea of 'shipping them didn't quite cross my mind until the kerfuffle before the first film came out. I guess I've been reading them on and off since then, though I'm never tempted to write them.

6. What's the story with #8? What made you stop liking them/caring? (Jack Sparrow/James Norrington) - eh, the portrayal of Norrington in the second film didn't help. Nor did the fact that none of the fanfics I ever read for the pair seemed to get their interaction quite snippy enough. And the fact that the main fic idea I had for them was an ENORMOUS EPIC AUing from the first film, and would have taken freaking *ages* to write, which was a little off-putting. I still like the 'ship, but I've never had the energy to follow it.

7. Which ship do you prefer - #2 (Jack/Daniel) or #4 (Biggles/Von Stalhein) ? - tough call. I've certain read much more Jack/Daniel (well, one doesn't really have a choice about that. There *isn't* any Biggles/Von Stalhein fic out there. None at all.) And I do adore the schmoopy archaeological snarkery that is J/D. But Biggles/VS is currently newer and shinier for me, and involves more messed-up issues of honour and rivalry and comradeship, and so for the present I'll come down on that side.

8. You have the power to make one ship non-existent. Choose from #10 (Jack/Sam) or #12 (Yuki/Shuichi). - oh, man. Jack/Sam, every time. KILL IT. I swear, they're only a pairing because she's the only regularly appearing girl on the show >_< Sam deserves *so* much better than Jack. Not to mention that it would break Danny's heart.

9. What interests you about #14? (Touga/Saionji) - this is a bad pairing to answer this question with, as there's *so* much stuff ^_^ For a start, there's all the usual things that are interesting about Utena - the issues of individuality and reality and freedom and role-playing etc etc ad infinitum. (I could ramble about what's interesting about Utena for *hours*, and occasionally do so.) And then there's all that's bound up in Touga and Saionji - the childhood friendship (did it even exist? Akio, I'm looking at you), the betrayals and the reconciliations, Saionji's desperation to beat Touga, his rose-bride parallels, Touga's puppet-nature, how close he is to the Prince but how far away... Gah. This is the trouble with Utena. Once you start talking about how interesting it is, you never stop.

10. When did you stop liking #7? (Buffy/Giles) - *considers* Sometime around the end of season 3, I guess. Right about the point they stopped giving Giles any decent screen-time. To a certain degree this was a 'ship where I just paired up my favourite character with the main character, so when my favourite character started being side-lined, I lost interest. Also, Buffy went severely downhill after season 2, IMHO ^_^

11. Did your waning interest in #9 kill your interest in the show? (Tohma/Sakano) - *grins* I'm not sure I ever had much interest in the *show* as such. I'm still intending to finish my long Tohma/Sakano fic at some point, but I can't say I'll be rewatching the program before I do it.

12. What's a song that reminds you of #5? (Blake/Avon) - man. No idea. Something bad tempered. Unlike Treize/Zechs, this isn't a pairing that has a mental soundtrack for me.

13. Which of these ships do you love the most? - Treize/Zechs. Easily. They took up residence in my head nearly ten years ago, and they're not showing any sign of shifting. Other fandoms come and go, but the voice of snark in the back of my mind still sounds like Treize.

15. If you could have any of these two pairings double date, who would it be? (even better if they're from different shows) - Treize/Zechs + Biggles/Von Stalhein. They wouldn't have a *clue* what to make of each other :D But Treize would choose the perfect restaurant, and would be secretly impressed by Von Stalhein's perfectly-tailored evening dress. And Zechs would be a bit awkward around Biggles to start off with, but then they'd start talking about aircraft / mecha, and Treize and VS would give each other this kind of rueful look because they both know that they're not going to be able to drag them back to civilised conversation for *hours*. I'm not sure quite how their notions of honour would mesh. Perhaps they'd just avoid the subject. All I can be sure of is that they'd all have the most *perfect* table manners.

16. Have #2 kissed yet? Elaborate if you'd like. (Jack/Daniel) - I...don't *think* they did. Or was there a kiss on the top of the head at the end of 'Need'? No, I could be making that up. But there was a lot of hugging and random touching in the first couple of seasons. It's slashy if you squint.

17. Did #4 have a happy ending? If the show hasn't ended yet, do you think a happy ending is likely? (Biggles/Von Stalhein) - well, sorta ^_^ Von Stalhein has retired from being a Hun/Nazi/Commie swine and turned into a pleasant sort of English gentleman who Biggles seems to have dinner with entirely too regularly, much to the chagrin of his crew. That's a happy ending of a sort.

18. What would make you start shipping #14? (Touga/Saionji) - well, I *do* ship them, in the sense that I read fic about them when I find it and I glee about them every time they have a 'shippy moment in the show. But it's pretty much impossible for me to *actively* ship them, since the nature of the show (I feel) doesn't encourage fanfic. Unless I think up a completely new way of writing fic which is rather closer to a Calvino novella, I think these two are going to remain on the back-burner.

19. If only one could happen, which would you prefer - #2 (Jack/Daniel) or #6 (Merry/Pippin)? - ah, well, Merry/Pippin is practically canon already ^_^ And really, their friendship is close and exclusive enough that I don't really care about other aspects. I'm happy enough to leave them to it. (Diamond Took is clearly a beard.) So I guess it's Jack/Daniel, who need the happy schmoopies like whoa.

20. You have the power to decide the fate of #10. What happens to them? (Jack/Sam) - eh, the show seems to have done my work for me ^_^

Please. Seriously. Give it a rest for a week. That's not so much to ask.

J.

PS. It's the fact that the twist at the end of the novel which I pretty much saw coming only I didn't want to believe would actually happen because it makes my favourite character a liiiiiiittle bit of a nutcase just makes the fic I had in mind a) somewhat twisted, b) considerably less fluffy, and c) considerably more attractive. *headdesk*

(Don't ask why I was looking up lyrics to 'The Derby Ram' when I ought to have been writing my thesis, due in in something less than three weeks time. It's not something I want to examine too closely.)

Heh. Last time I took this I was an ocelot. Evidently I'm feeling creepier today.

EDIT: Well, I *was* a spider for a while then. Now I'm a freakin' ocelot again. Gee, thanks Helen.

I taste like Menthol. I am refreshingly different; some people don't appreciate that. My sharp honesty gets up some people's noses, while others really enjoy it. I am something of an acquired taste. What Flavour Are You?

Heh. No.

Today I'm avoiding editing an extended essay (bad), writing Really Wrongfic (worse), and going to see both nee-sama and Ian Bostridge tomorrow (really Very, Very Good.) I think I probably ought to stop writing fic (better) (though H will probably look at me mournfully if I do. *sighs*), start editing essay (better still), then do some reading for *other* essay, and then I shall be able to bugger off to London tomorrow with Comparatively Clear Conscience (best).

Hence procrastination, obv.

Fandom stuff seems to be migrating vaguely in the direction of my livejournal, by the way, for those what might be interested. They may stay there, they may not, but at the moment I'm enjoying benefits of friend's pages, tags, memories and muchly icon-spammage for fan-related purposes. Only catching on to these benefits five or so years late, right?

Jesper Tydén. D'awwww.

Oh, Jesper. We knew you had a caffeine addiction. We just didn't imagine it was *canon*.

One for Tasha:

Uwe Kröger. Because on occasion, he is both dark and sinister. When he's not being a big girly dork.

Hmmm, maybe more a de-motivational poster, that.

Lukas + Maté. My immediate thought was 'bitch, please!' but that's not motivational, now is it?

The soundtrack of my life

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc.
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...

Opening Credits
The Monkees - Saturday's Child
Wow, apparently I'm the kooky free-spirited heroine of a 60s madcap romantic comedy! So long as that madcap romantic comedy isn't I Dream Of Jeanie, because hareem pants aren't for me.

Waking Up
Gravitation - Gravitation, pure silence mix. You know the one. The slightly melancholy piano background music that plays when Yuki and Shuichi have a serious moment.
Hum. So apparently I'm a kooky free-spirited heroine with a really sad homelife, who probably wakes up in the morning and looks at herself in the mirror and wonders if people are ever going to accept her kooky free-spirited ways, before sighing in a matter of fact way and going downstairs to wake her alcoholic father from the chair where he's fallen asleep in front of the football with a bottle of cheap whiskey in his hand. Oh noes.

First Day At School
The Beiderbecke Collection - Vive Le Van
And we're back on the madcap romantic comedy! I quite clearly rollerskate down to the bus stop, but miss it by inches, so I hook the rear bumper with my umbrella handle and hitch a lift, picking up a coffee and a newspaper on the way from some comedically startled vendors as I zoom past. I may fall into a thyme bush when the bus pulls into school, leading to my getting a reputation as kooky and free spirited.

...I think my character is bipolar.

Falling In Love
Corelli - Christmas Concerto.
...apparently I fall in love with the serious-minded leader of the school orchestra. I sense madcap odd-couple shenanigans! He clearly doesn't think much of me at this point though.

Fight Song
The Monkees - Randy Scouse Git.
Evidently, Monkees are the major soundtrack influence on my life. Apparently I'm leading the students in a sit-in which goes wrong after someone starts playing loud music and smoking dubious substances, leading to fight with The Man as represented by the teaching staff. I think there are some comedy props involved. I suspect I've got my serious-minded violin player involved, for which he won't thank me.

Breaking Up
David Bowie - Five Years.
Wow. It's the end of the world. Bummer. I choose to interpret this in the light of Kacho Oji, and have it so that only a synthesis of my kooky 60s wildchild modern-rhythm-type-music and my serious-minded violinist's classical skillz can create the music which will bring about world peace and stop the asteroid hitting the planet. Kinda like Bill & Ted. With less time travel. (Sadly.)

Prom
Ding Dong Merrily On High
....all right, so it's a Christmas prom. What are we doing here when we should be saving the planet?! Maybe we finally bond over our mutual love of traditional English Christmas carols.

Life Is Good
Gundam Wing - Far Off Dawn (Zechs Merquise's image song.)
...holy crap. Life is *not* good if the soundtrack is anything to do with this song @_@ I mean, not that I don't love it, but... But maybe it's just in here because it's kinda got a motorbike-across-wide-plains-of-the-midlands feel to it. My serious-minded violinist and I have set off on his newly purchased Vespa to study music under a reclusive guru. Although the burden of our future bears down upon us, I'm sure we can still have some madcap adventures on the way. Just...not to this song @_@

Mental Breakdown
Damien Rice - Volcano.
This is too mellow for any kind of mental breakdown. Well, maybe a very quiet kind of psychotic break. But it seems our love was never meant to be, as he thinks I'm too immature to save the world. ...man, my 60s madcap life is getting waaaay too serious.

Driving
I *already* drove! But it's okay, I got -
Vashti Bunyan - Iris' Song (version 2)
so instead of driving, I've managed to get hold of a tiny gypsy caravan and an old plodder of a horse to pull it, and I've set off to find the true England. *That's* more like my kooky free-spirited 60s life! Though my serious-minded violinist and I have now parted ways, so I am in a Sad and Reflective mood.

Flashback
Koko wa Greenwood - No-Brand Heroes
D'awwww. My serious-minded violinist is remembering the various kooky scrapes I got him into. I am gradually winning him over by the power of spaz!

Getting Back Together
The Kinks - Where Have All The Good Times Gone?
See??! He has realised the error of his ways! He has finally realised that the kooky madcap 60s life embodied in his kooky madcap 60s ex-girlfriend (viz. me) has much to recommend it. And, after all, we *do* need to save the world.

Wedding
Belle & Sebastian - We Are The Sleepyheads
Heh. He's in entirely correct morning dress, I'm wearing an op-art print dress and far too many beads.

Paying The Dues
Poulenc - Salve Regina.
Whoa, dude @_@ Who died?! Please say it's not my reformed-serious-minded-violinist! Though maybe he did :S We just had time to create one perfect song, and then he got shot by a sniper who's in the employ of the Russians, who want the asteroid to strike because it'll wipe out America and its decadent free-love ways, allowing Mother Russia to become the undisputed super-power of the world.

The Night Before The War
The Smiths - Never Had No One Ever
Apparently I prepare for battle by angsting about my beloved dead reformed-serious-minded-violinist. I am teh emo.

Final Battle
Tori Amos - Hotel
...whoa @_@ Trippiest final battle *ever*. This is apparently the song which stops all wars and can be channelled at the asteroid as a sort of sonar-weapon. Holy crap.

Moment of Triumph
OH MY FUCKING GOD
I COULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT BETTER IF I'D PLANNED IT
WINAMP IS PSYCHIC ZOMG SO SCARED
Kacho Oji - Cautionary Warning.
Nobody is *ever* going to believe I didn't cheat to get that, or go through and generate all my songs before I started writing the plot, but I swear on all I hold dear, I didn't @_@ IT'S THE SONG THAT SAVED THE WORLD, PEOPLE.

Death Scene
Elisabeth - Der Letzte Tanz. - about two-thirds of the way down the page.
...holy crap. Death was in love with me and my kooky 60s ways all along. That explains *such a lot*. An asteroid being thrown at the earth is his equivalent of a bouquet.

Funeral Song
The Monkees - Take a Giant Step
ZOMG. Death has joined me in my madcap kooky 60s ways, and is serenading me in Monkees lyrics, encouraging me to join him in madcap 60s capers Beyond The Veil.

End Credits
Stephen Lynch - Superhero.
....oh, *yes*. It's kooky! It's crazy! And now Death and I can go on and be the kookiest, craziest superheroes of all.

Sorry, deceased-but-formerly-serious-minded violinist dude. But if it comes down to a choice between you and der Tod, then he wins every time.

....I think I love my film. I want to see this, like, now. Any suggests for a title?

I should also perhaps note that there are 1692 songs in this particular playlist, of which 30 tracks are by the Monkees. So I think the fact that Winamp picked three songs by them as the soundtrack of my madcap 60s life proves once and for all that the damned program has developed sentience.

Well, I didn't cheat at all, and yet this is so very not right ^_^ Damn, I *wish* I was more like Lord Vetinari!

*eyes today's outfit, which coincidentally features a black velvet jacket of a pattern most normally associated with Anthony Ainley's incarnation of the Master, or Edmund Blackadder in Blackadder the Second.* Well, okay, I'll admit Vetinari is an ideal to which I sometimes actively aspire.

So, apologies for the unscheduled down-time this last few days - as Nee-sama already pointed out, it almost certainly wasn't *our* fault. I love that the worst happened when I'd just done a fic update and posted a new site. Ohhh happiness. We're just waiting for our webhosts to upload some godawful three year old backup copy over the top of our nice freshly fixed and uploaded sites. Huzzah.

In other (veryverydull) news, I'm back in Oxford, occasionally pretending to do some work (which is why I'm procrastinating by blogging, natch), and I haven't actually spoken to anyone I know in a format that is not typed in...hmmm, nearly a week now! -1st week is always a strange thing. No one about, no seminars, no choir. So I've compensated by buying More Blakes 7 Than The Human Mind Can Comfortably Conceive (of). (I think the phrase is from Hitch-hiker's Guide somewhere, only, y'know, not in relation to Blakes 7, and I'm sure it doesn't include the preposition. Which seems...odd. To me.) I've now got the first two seasons in shiny DVD box set form, which means I've been rewatching at every available opportunity, scampering back to the old fic archive I used to frequent, and generally fangirling Avon and Servalan (though not together, for preference. Not that Avon/Servalan would be in any way *implausible*, you understand, it's just the fast track to Very Unpleasant Things, I'm sure of it >_< Not to mention poor Blake would be heartbroken. ....okay, no he wouldn't. I sometimes like to pretend he would. *sighs*) to anyone who turned up and gave the impression of listening.

Oh yes, and I also bought Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Reservoir Dogs, the Errol Flynn Robin Hood, and the first half season of All Creatures Great And Small. Because my tastes are eclectic, and I have frivolous Christmas money to be spending.

So, if anyone's in Oxford, and reads this, and wants coffee or strange DVD-watching, then please give me a text. Talking to myself is all very well, but the conversation can get a little predictable.

*plots gloatingly in corner with rather scared looking Raffles and Bunny*

Oh, and a detailed summery of the first W.E. Johns 'Gimlet' book over on my livejournal, for those who're interested ^_^ Which may only be me. *sighs*

Rudolf and Death gaying it up in disturbing ways in the original production.

Oh. Hell. Yes. (Now if I could only find a copy of the Dutch production, and the Mayerling Waltz section, I'd be one happy bunny...)

EDIT: Woot! Mayerling Waltz! Complete with kiss! Okay, so Death's just encouraged Rudolf to shoot himself, but that's just how Death rolls. Sadly in the Dutch production, so no dance between Rudolf and Death, but I don't think you get the kiss in all the productions, so you have to make your choice, really.

*snrk* Well, I didn't *deliberately* cheat on that one. I think it was mainly because the only particularly distinctive answer I gave was essentially 'velvet coats, woohoo!', which rather seals one's fate. But as anyone who's seen my wardrobe can attest, I *do* have rather more than the average number of velvet blazers, so it's not that I was *fibbing*.

Still, I've always thought of myself more as the Romana type, myself...