and I'm one of them.

I present to you... semi-historical literary slash? possibly? after writing this, I realized that there's a whole world of entertainment to be found in writing stories around bits of Roman literature. also, I got bored in Latin class and had to entertain myself somehow.

( party like it's 99 BC (catullus/veranius) )

the poems referenced are Catullus IX (translation), XI (translation) and XVI (translation), which I refrain from copying out because some of them are quite long. if anyone wants a translation, I could probably manage that if you drop me a line to that effect! now with translations linked. I was going to translate them myself, but honestly I'm quite lazy.

mistful updated Drop Dead Gorgeous! go, go, read. if Harry and his saucy, salacious Veela charms don't bring a helpless grin to your face, you're doomed to live one miserably unamused life.

it occurs to me that I never posted this here! I wrote it for the post-Yuletide request mop-up, because there is just not enough Circle of Magic fanfic in the world. especially for Briar and Tris. they're my favorites! (also, there has been far too much rl babble on this journal lately, and not enough fic. I can't actually write fast enough to rectify this, but I'm making a good-faith effort!)

title: Visiting Hours
fandom: Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic series
rating: G
pairing: teeniest bit of pre-Briar/Tris

Tris goes to college. Briar comes to visit.

everyone should get together and write a bit of Briar/Tris or Sandry/Daja - the world would be a better place, and I might be a happier person. XD

but first:

what's YOUR sexual nationality? (I scored as 84% Brazilian. I'm not really sure how.)

now, onto fandom! I'm still working my way through the interesting-looking fics from H/D World Cup. my relationship with Harry Potter fandom is complicated! I don't like very much of it (oh the trashy purple prose, it burns) and for the most part I think of HP as a phase I left behind in ninth grade. but then I see what some authors manage to get out of even the giant hole of suck that was the epilogue to Deathly Hallows, and I reconsider. of course mistful's Coda to the Epilogue is top of this list, being as it fills me with glee and makes me giggle nonstop despite being not even remotely 'shippy. and if Drop Dead Gorgeous is ever updated I might just die of YAY. but some of these fics for HDWC are really quite good! I am an unapologetic Draco fangirl, so, you know, anything where he gets less of a short stick than in canon is good.

I have also taken an unexpected detour into the land of OMGHET with the release of the Ironman movie. I can't help it! Tony and Pepper are just too gosh-darn cute. and while I am a bit wary of het on the internets, I've found some cute fics through del.icio.us recs. also hackthis has written some stuff.

( click me to see why I have a newfound passion for Greek! )

while I'm here, I might as well mention - I'm trying to participate in paliphrase, where you pick a word and then write 10, 15 or 25 responses in different fandoms. I picked "derivative" and now I'm trying to find fandoms to write in. I already did PoT and my Bleach fashion AU, and I was thinking a PoT/Eureka crossover and maybe Pushing Daisies, but I've still got a lot of prompts to fill. what fandoms would y'all like to see? if you can suggest a definition of "derivative" that you think is particularly apt for the fandom or pairing you'd like, that'd just be awesome.

damn you, fandom! why did nobody tell me about H/D World Cup? I was totally going to post about my day and possibly do a mini pic-spam for Greek, but now I have to go read about twenty epic-length HP fanfics.

~le sigh~ I think it's time to break out the Brokeback quote... FANDOM I WISH I COULD QUIT YOU!

...but I can't. so I won't.

wow, it's been a while since I wrote anything! I decided it was time for another challenge community, and after surfing through what felt like every fic challenge comm on eljay, I settled on paliphrase. the word I picked was "derivative," with its myriad definitions. here's installment number one!

title: de.riv.a.tive

fandom: prince of tennis

pairing: inui/kaidoh

rating: g

disclaimer: I own nothing, and especially not the characters in this work of fanfiction.

( definition 6. Also called differential quotient; especially British, differential coefficient. Mathematics. the limit of the ratio of the increment of a function to the increment of a variable in it, as the latter tends to 0; the instantaneous change of one quantity with respect to another, as velocity, which is the instantaneous change of distance with respect to time. Compare first derivative, second derivative. )

who knew I still had tenipuri fic left in me?

free time at last! and what do I choose to do with it? nothing productive, that's for sure.

we've all got those fandoms where we read fic because they have awesome writers, even though we know next to nothing about the canon. most of mine are anime fandoms, so here's my list of great writers for Naruto, FMA, Bleach, Loveless, and assorted other anime. there are also some fandoms thrown in here that I do know pretty well, but are really small so y'all might not!

peroxide_fic. guys, she's hilarious. I mainly read her Bleach fanfic, but she also writes in a bunch of tiny fandoms that I love (Hana Yori Dango, Gokusen 2, xxxHOLiC, to name a few), but really, it's all about the Bleach. her 11th Division is the best in town. THUG LOVE! her fic is organized by fandom in her memories here, and her ff.net account is here. I particularly recommend the series that starts off with How in the Hell Did I Lose to You, as that is how I was indoctrinated into Shuuhei x Yumichika and Ikkaku x Kira, which are now my beloved Bleach OTPs.

Luna P. if you like Gokusen, then you probably like Shinkumi. and then you'll probably love Luna P. she finished the 30 Kisses challenge for Shinkumi, which delights me. also, 5 Dorky Ways Shin Proposed to Yankumi. illustrated. with math. general site is here.

TrixieChick! if you like tenipuri fic then you probably already know how awesome she is, but she also does teensy anime fandom fic that I love to pieces. check her out for Loveless, Earthian, Fruits Basket (both OT3s!), and of course Hikaru no Go. she's also the only reputable writer I know of who's tackled Gakuen Heaven, Kizuna, and The Tyrant Who Fell in Love. her main site is here, but the most recent updates are found at butterflychase.

bookshop is better known for tenipuri and HP (and rightly so; love love love her TezuRyo!), but she has a couple of unbearably cute Hikaru no Go fics. index is here.

ingenius_inc. for all your Viewfinder needs.

Telanu is more prominent in the HP and Devil Wears Prada fandoms (her space-AU of Devil Wears Prada is FANTASTIC, by the way), but also - Pet Shop of Horrors! there is not enough D/Leon out there. her site is here.

I came across The Hoyden by way of due South, weirdly enough. but her fic in anime is pretty much exactly to my taste in pairings, and written with the maturity of someone used to more adult fandoms. Hikaru no Go (adorable Shindou/Touya), Bleach (creepily excellent Gin/Kira and sweetly cute Ikkaku/Kira), and Naruto (the Kakashi/Iruka, it is hot like burning). also, um, she wrote a Viewfinder fic about Asami forcing Akihito to marry him, and turning into Bridezilla. how could you not love her? main index is here.

Ciceqi (aka Sleeps With Coyotes). of all her fandoms, I am only into FMA, but damn. her FMA fic is amazing. you will be infuriated by the fact that both her Altered States series and the Band AU (okay, okay, I know, give it a chance, because it's really good) are unfinished, but read them anyway. and everything else. FMA index is here.

Branch is one of the more prolific anime writers I follow. there's her tenipuri fic, of course, but she also does Bleach (dreaded het warning! but if I have to read het, then Renji/Rukia is clearly the way to go) and FMA. also, weirdly enough, Card Captor Sakura. main site is here.

Rageprufrock. I think I found her through... SGA? maybe? but almost everything on her site is great. she has a smattering of Hikaru no Go, Naruto, xxxHOLiC and Viewfinder. delicious! her site is here.

fandom! (and the gay.)

my TV fidelity wavers more and more, as I am seduced by new, shiny shows that do not take as long to load as Doctor Who on stupid ghetto Chinese youtube. thus I have started watching New Amsterdam, which is sort of like the filthy lovechild of Angel, Bones, and CSI, starring a more angsty and heterosexual version of Captain Jack Harkness. I don't think I really like it all that much, mainly because the title character (John Amsterdam, in his current incarnation) is annoying. he hooks up with a different awesome chick in each episode's flashbacks, and then you're confronted with the knowledge that that awesome chick didn't survive either. and then I worry about new Awesome Chick (who suffers from fluctuating characterization in a major way but is pretty without being obnoxious, competent and reasonably independent, so I forgive her), who will inevitably end up dumped by the wayside as well. also, there can be no slashy tension, because all of the male minor characters are somehow related to Amsterdam. given the size of his creepy stalkerish family tree, though, I wouldn't be surprised if the entirety of North America could win Six Degrees of Separation from John's Dick.

also, I have been watching the OC. it is probably the most ludicrous, OH NO THEY DIDN'T, entertainingly implausible show I've ever watched. someone answer me this, though: Mischa Barton was wonderful in Lost and Delirious. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED. now she is an actress with one facial expression (guileless incomprehension), no vocal range, and probably anorexia. woe.

I really do need to catch up on Torchwood, though. I ran out of space on my hard-drive after Reset. I will say that even though I don't really like much about Torchwood as a show (UGH URGE TO PUNCH CAPT JACK IN STUPID SMUG FACE STILL GOING STRONG) Jack's relationship with Ianto makes me go, "awwwwwww," repeatedly. maybe possibly someday Ianto will get to have a relationship on equal footing, like a real independent woman!

however, that said... where is the fanvid of season one Jack/Ianto to "I Don't Mean Maybe"?

Do you love yourself?
Do you love anyone?
Because you stay for a while
and you take what you want
and then you're gone.
...
I found out you've been messing around,
I heard it was all around town,
You said that nothing went down,
But I don't know if I believe you baby.
It's time to leave you baby
And I don't mean maybe

so many, many clips to choose from. stupid Jack and his stupid smug face and his stupid smug serial infidelity. ~cuddles Ianto~

gacked from athena8

( cut because you probably don't care )

(posting in the brief respite from work that occurs between the end of responsibilities on Friday night and the commencement of weekend rehearsals on Saturday)

It occurs to me that my taste in music has been losing a lot of its power of differentiation. I've always had a hard time classifying anything in categories besides "classical" and "not-classical", but I have to admit, even I know that some of the bands I like are downright embarrassing. But then I remember that Beethoven will always be my favorite, and his bad-assery trumps all my other poor choices in the musical sphere, and I am reassured.

The Fratellis - Costello Music
I am really infatuated with this album. I don't really know what some of the songs are about (impenetrable accents ahoy!) but the melodies are really cool and the band is tight. The chorus in "Flathead" is in 7/8, but it keeps switching back and forth between 3+4 and 4+3! I am so in love with that song. I sing along, loudly, in the street. (It helps that the lyrics are "ba-da ba-ba-da ba-da-ba.") Major props also for the songs "Everybody Knows You Cried Last Night," "For the Girl," and "Cuntry Boys and City Girls"; honorable mention to "Vince the Lovable Stoner" for most ridiculous lyrics and "Whistle for the Choir" for being a pretty decent attempt at a love song even though their sound is all wrong for it.

Hellogoodbye - Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!
It is really embarrassing that I like this band, but I can't help it. They're so boppy! I nurse a sick sick affection for technopop. I challenge you not to bounce around when you listen to this CD. I really like "Touchdown Turnaround (Don't Give Up On Me)" and "Here (In Your Arms)" but the song that made me find the whole album was "Oh, It Is Love." I keep thinking I must have heard it somewhere else first! Does it ring romantic comedy bells for anybody else?

Explosions in the Sky - The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place
The concept of an entirely instrumental rock band amuses me, but Explosions in the Sky makes really good background music, and the slow build-up of intensity makes their songs worth listening to on their own. The songs I've listened to most are "Six Days At The Bottom Of The Ocean" and "Your Hand In Mine," whatever that tells you. There aren't very many tracks on the CD, but they're all pretty long.

Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
I am also really embarrassed to like Death Cab For Cutie, after I spent so many years scoffing at their followers. But I have pretty terrible taste in music, anyway. I find Death Cab kind of soothing to listen to, and then the other day I actually listened to "Soul Meets Body" all the way through (the intro is pretty boring) and fell completely in love. The chorus is so pretty! Why is the whole song not the chorus? The parts that aren't the chorus suck. And, stereotypically, I like "I Will Follow You Into The Dark." I think I've seen that song on half a dozen wincest mixtapes.

Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
Sometimes I really like Regina Spektor, sometimes I really don't. I love "Fidelity," "On the Radio," and "Hotel Song," and I like "Better," "Samson," and "That Time," but the rest of the CD I could kind of leave. Oh well.

I should probably note that I did not personally upload any of these albums; I stole the links (and the CDs) off the internet. Three cheers for the internet, provider of free music!

behold, the love child of my two passions: slash and academia. I think I may have succeeded in writing the most pretentious, referential ficlet in the history of the internet - but no. this is the web. there must be something worse out there. written for the love-a-thon over at lucyjanesparlor.

( prelude to catullus ix (classical literature; catullus/veranius) )

several Catullus poems are referenced throughout:

IX. ad Veranium (translation), LXXXV. (translation) and, rather in passing, XII. ad Matrucinum Asinium (translation). I was totally going to do my own translations, but then I was lazy. Maybe later.

Latin FTW!

ETA: now with new shiny and slightly more coherent sequel! who knows, maybe there will be more!

behold, I live! and I return to bring you all the joys of hot hot fanfiction. or at least grammatically-correct fanfiction; nothing turns me off worse than a misplaced semicolon.

I have another fandom. ~shame~ it is not my fault! imbrilim said, you must watch this show, it is delicious crack! and you must watch this other show, it is the delicious crack's insane gay AU fanfic cousin! and I said, goddammit imbrilim you KNOW I have to do schoolwork! I will resist your wily ways!

and then daughterofelros mailed me a DVD of the insane gay AU fanfic cousin, and imbrilim sent me a link to episodes of the delicious crack on the ghetto asian youtube, and I said, ...okay fine you win.

the upshot of that, if you're currently shaking your head in confusion, is that I'm now watching Doctor Who and Torchwood. they really are awesome, if you like cheesy scifi. which I do. come on, I was raised on Star Trek. this is like mother's milk for me. I mainly ship Jack/Ianto, but with extreme reluctance, because I love Ianto. no, I mean, REALLY love him, adore him with the burning passion of a thousand fiery suns, and I think Jack is a sleazy slimy asshole. charming, yes! good-looking, well, I'm not hot in the panties for him, but I know other people are! but still. ASSHOLE. I want to take Ianto home with me and hug him for hours and make him speak in that adorable Welsh accent until I burst into flames of ardor. and maybe just possibly kick Jack in the nuts on the way out.

but Jack/Ianto is the main ship of TW, and I do like it when it's done well (Ianto is competent, not a damsel in distress - seriously, people, I hate it when Jack has to rescue him). I also adore Tosh and Martha Jones, and any gen that has either of them bonding with Ianto = awesome. (Tosh/Ianto porn also = awesome.) Ten/Ianto or Ten/Jack/Ianto kind of works for me, too. Nine/Rose/Jack definitely, though. (I have not seen the finale of the first season of Doctor Who PLEASE TO NOT BE SPOILING ME.)

( follow the cut to find the pretty fic! )

do YOU have a favorite TW author that I, being totally new to fandom, do not? tell me! if Ianto's in there somewhere, I'll be happy.

and, to wrap this up - if I did a sort of generalized anime-fic rec post, would anyone be interested? there are a few authors out there that I read in fandoms (HnG, Naruto, FMA, stuff like that) I wouldn't otherwise look at, and I thought it might be nice to sort of put them all together in one big happy post. but I won't if it'll just be spamming your flists. opinions?

online quizzes! pretty pictures! I am kind of shallow, I admit.

( CLAMP quiz )

hmm. has anyone read the trilogy by Megan Whalen Turner beginning with "The Thief"? they're quite good books, and rather interesting in what they do and don't borrow from Greek culture. the setting is a place that's sort of like ancient Greece but isn't really. people have Greek names, eat Greek food, and live in varied terrains that sound like Greece to me, but their gods and governments are different.

but this is me! we all know what I'm reading the books for. the first book is purely gen, the second is het (and a scary pairing indeed, though it ends up being weirdly cute) and the third still centers on the scary-but-cute het pairing, though slashiness abounds amongst the minor characters. the narrator's best friend is named Aristogiton! nobody is fooled here, people. (for those who don't recognize the reference, Harmodias and Aristogiton are the Tyrannicides, probably the most famous homosexual couple in ancient Greek history.)

aside from Costis and his flamboyantly named best buddy, my slash-tinted glasses are looking at you, Teleus and Relius! your names rhyme, which makes you a bit revoltingly twee, but I forgive you, because... oh. basically because Teleus carried Relius out of a dungeon cell with such tenderness. and because they had such dramatic tension when they both thought Teleus was going to have to execute Relius. ~cuddles the puppies of angst~

speaking of angst-puppies, the brothers Erondites get very little time together and yet fit in so much fraternal love! pretending to hate each other to protect the one from the father's wrath! confessing to attempted murder to save the other from execution! oh, boys. and oh, Eugenides, who sees straight through the facade.

so where is the slash for The King of Attolia? I cannot be the only person seeing the potential here.

ganked from argentum_draco

( Who comments the most on this journal? )

though the compilation program doesn't know that imbrilim, nansuo and etiolation are all one person with a terminal identity crisis. =P

OMG SUPERNATURAL FANDOM. NEVER STOP BEING AWESOME.

am I the only person who has never heard "The Ballad of Jared and Jensen"? seriously, it is an epic tragedy that I have never experienced this work of meta-fandom before - a tragedy remedied only by watching this genius vid many, many times in a row.

Jensen and Jared are in love
even Kripke can see
which is why he puts all kinds of hella awesome sexual tension into his show even though the characters are BROTHERS!

okay, you've watched that and cracked up immensely? now go read this amazing fic called "The Con-Going Fangirl," wherein Jared overhears the J2 slashers talking at a convention, and then gets sucked headlong into the world of RPS. it's completely worth it just to see what all of our hyper-jargoned conversations even sound like to an outsider - an outsider who just happens to be the object of our perverse fantasies, but whatever. oh, fandom. never change.

hmm, what else? I have also discovered this fantastic blog called Smart Bitches Who LOVE Trashy Books, which is really amazing for me because I admit, with very little shame, that I also love trashy romance novels! I went through a phase in seventh grade when all I would read was Nora Roberts novels. this was followed by the phase when I realized that between homework and fanfiction I had no time to read books at all, so I recall it with fond nostalgia. also, the two women who maintain the blog recently kicked up a shitstorm by discovering that a very prolific romance novelist was also a very prolific plagiarist; the story's been picked up by assorted news outlets and moniker'd "2008's Sexiest Plagiarism Scandal" by NPR, but my favorite response to the whole mess has been that of Paul Tolme, one of the plagiarizees. he's an environmental researcher of ferrets. (yes: ferrets.) you can read his reaction in Newsweek here. SBTB's readers and author Nora Roberts have since contributed over $10,000 in response to Tolme's request that someone think of the ferrets.

at least some good came out of a terrible romance novelist's plagiarism!

and then I hopped over from reading about romance novels to reading about sex, in Dan Savage's column, Savage Love. I really do love me some Dan Savage. don't you?

ganked from imbrilim and tinuvielchild:

Reply to this post, and I will list three things I love about you. Maybe more than three. Then repost to your own journal and spread the love.

because it's finals week for me, and I need to remind myself why I love everybody. =D

I wrote this for sylvie_the_elf, but I figure she probably won't mind if I share it. also this is the only non-academic writing I've done in months, so...

( holiday spirits - LotR; Glorfindel/Erestor )

go, listen. I'm writing a paper about this piece and I want to share the joy. (actual joy, not ironic: this is a fantastic piece. I've been listening to it on loop for hours and I'm not even sick of it yet.)

Boccherini, Guitar Quintet in D: Grave assai - Fandango

it has Spanish guitar! and castanets. so much love.

but ohgod, Due South. I keep watching the last scene from "Burning Down the House," over and over, because a) Fraser asks RayK out! and Ray smiles so pretty! and b) Fraser and his dad are assholes to each other. I feel that Due South fandom as a general rule downplays how much of a jerk Fraser can be, especially to people he's very familiar with (mostly his dad and Diefenbaker - PUPPY! I LOVE YOU PUPPY!). Fraser's conversation with his dad goes as follows:

FRASER SR: We need to start looking for a new place to live.
FRASER JR: What do you mean, we?
FRASER SR: Now that's a cruel joke, son. I've been thinking about getting an office...
FRASER JR: What the hell would you do with an office?
FRASER SR: Office work, memoirs, catch up on my taxes...
FRASER JR: Taxes? Dad, you've been dead for two years!
FRASER SR: Oh, they find you, son. They find you.

it's so... plebeian! I love you, Due South. you are an awesome canon and an even awesomer fandom. can I just express my gratitude for how good Due South fandom is? not necessarily the big archives, because I admit I'm too wary of badfic to go poking through those, but the author archives I've found have been as a general rule excellent. also Due South has fantastic AUs, and I admit I'm a huge sucker for wildly unusual scenarios for characters to be flung into. there are hockey AUs, and academic AUs (it's like my two separate universes are colliding!), and even an AU where RayK is a freaking dance instructor, and they are all fantastic. I don't know if anyone wants recs, but have a few anyway. I may do a more comprehensive post when finals are over and I have more time.

Eight Sessions, by Speranza
this is one of my all-time favorite set-ups for stories of any kind. you start in the middle, after the enormous disaster, and work both forwards and backwards until you, the reader, know what's going on. the characters know what happened, but they won't say - in this fic, they can't say - and I for one was completely blindsided by what was going on under the surface of the entire fic when everything finally came to light. honestly this is one of the best-written, best-structured stories I've ever read, in any fandom or even in print, and I don't think I can possibly recommend it highly enough. (PS: if you have any interest in Due South fandom, read everything Speranza's ever written. it will be recced to you sooner or later; why wait?)

Broadway Hotel, by Resonant
another excellent example of a story told from the inside out. we start with Ray, alone in Chicago, and move simultaneously forward, to find out what will happen to him, and backward, to learn what happened to Fraser. (goodness, that sounds dark! there's also a wonderfully schmoopy ending to all the angst, no worries.)

Sunday's Child, by Dira Sudis
I am very deliberately not reccing Dira Sudis' hockey AU. I enjoyed every minute of the six or so hours I spent reading that fic, but still. not something to pick up on a whim. Sunday's Child is really almost heartbreakingly ordinary - it's Ray in Chicago, without Fraser, taking care of Frannie. because she's pregnant, and she can take care of herself, but Ray's going to help anyway. I'm pretty slow on the uptake, so I really didn't figure out the twist until it happened. maybe you won't be surprised, but it really is a cool twist on the story. (again, there's a happy slashy ending, don't worry!)

Blind Justice, by Crysothemis
Fraser goes temporarily blind. I am such a huge sucker for hurt/comfort that I really don't need more than that.

Academic Punk, by the hoyden
RayK is an English professor. SO MUCH LOVE.

Deke, by Rhi Marzano
RayK is a hockey player! SO DAMN HOT.

Pas de Deux, by Sihaya Black
RayK is a dance teacher; Fraser needs to able to waltz at his wedding. so much crack that it came out on the far end, completely serious.

okay, Due South, I have many more recs for you but I need to go to bed sometime soon!

in other fandom-related news, I have just started watching Chuck, due to the lack of ANY NEW TV, DAMN IT, GIVE THE WRITERS THEIR DAMN MONEY SO I CAN HAVE MY DAMN TV. Chuck is amazing! obviously, any show that combines Adam Baldwin (Jayne from Firefly) and a Cake soundtrack must be awesome, but I actually love... everything. the title character is a computer repairman working in a Best Buy, living with his older sister and her boyfriend (whom Chuck has nicknamed "Captain Awesome" because of his habit of declaring everything to be, "Awesome"). then Chuck gets an email from his old college roommate, the one who incidentally got him expelled from Stanford and stole his girlfriend on the same day, containing a CIA/NSA database that Chuck accidentally downloads into his brain. so now Chuck is the only person who can access the super-spy database. he gets assigned a super-hot CIA agent (Sarah) and a super-deadly NSA agent (Casey) to protect him. sexual tension ensues between Chuck and Sarah, and Casey and his guns and his gadgets and his car (Casey really is just like Jayne, now that I think about it). the script is a bit Whedon-esque, lots of witty banter and lots of blowing stuff up.

so far as I can tell, the Chuck fandom is miniscule. someone tell me where I can find slash?