Tiberius: When I grow up, I'm going to be King of England.
Me: You can't be the King of England.
Tiberius: Why not?
Me: You're not English.
Tiberius: I speak<\/i> English.
Me: Yeah, but England is actually an entirely other country. And you have to be English to be the King of England.
Tiberius: *thinks about this* Okay, then I want to be Queen of New York.
Me: ...That<\/i> you can do.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> (
Ugh, I am sort of horrified by this question, weirdly! Three is too many and not enough at the same time! Everything I've ever made is me, even the bad ones are me; they're all me. I can't choose.
I can give you Anything for Love, though. I mean, that represents my life as a fan as much as anything can.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> (
OMG, I am so blessed among fans for fanart and podfic and translations and vids and metacomments and recs and so many different things that are wonderful: people like lim and revolutionaryjo and zabira and danceswchopsticks and lunate8 and fleurrochard and podcath and dodificus and counteragent and and and so many more; I get just, like, amazing stuff, presents galore. (THANK YOU; THANK YOU EVERYONE.) I'm still reeling from the Victors stuff people made in 2007 and I was just reminiscing over Livia's early covers for my DS stuff and - back in the day - the zine covers TACS made for the Nature series, which just blew me away; it was really the first time anybody'd ever made fanworks based on my fanworks. But I love that so much; it feels like such a happy feedback loop: zing, zing, zing. (Btw I have learned not to ask for crazy things, even in jest, like--OH, a PONY - since that time that renenet GOT ME A PONY, or okay, adopted a wild pony in my name, but still. With great power comes great responsibility, people. Do not ask for crazy things!)
Beyond all that, I am terrible about asking for specific things--this includes challenge fic--because if I can think of it myself, I will probably actually make it myself; my prompt is always, \"give me something I haven't thought of!\" which--I can't tell you what that is, because if I knew, then I'd know! My favorite things to read are things I wouldn't have thought to write, because I have my own blinders and limitations. (FWIW, I ask my students the same--the As are almost always \"things I haven't thought of\" which sometimes are REALLY crazy things but I give points for crazy, actually. I want not to see it coming. I want to think a thought I haven't thought before, hear a story it didn't occur to me to tell.) So I'm wildly unhelpful there in terms of making wish lists or creating prompts with any specificity. Make cool fanworks in my fandoms, say I! Make all the things!
(All that being said, I DO have a vid idea that I told somebody wildly talented in fandom and that I know I haven't got the talent to make myself, so I'm hoping said wildly talented person will make it for or with me. Vidding is really hard, and while I've clawed my way back to writing, I don't know that I'll be able to get back to vidding any time soon. I love fanart and the thing that makes me happy with tumblr - which has so much fail in so many other ways - is that it brings amazing fanart across my dash every single day: all you Stucky artists, I love you. Make the things! And I guess I wouldn't turn down any fanworks inspired by The Fifties<\/a> if anyone felt inspired, because that story has my heart for being the easiest thing I wrote last year - I just knew how it would go from the first sentence, and that always feels good.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> (
Day 1: In your own space, talk about why you are doing the Fandom Snowflake Challenge? What drew you to it as a participant? What do you hope to accomplish by doing these challenges?
I read but have stopped posting to LJ\/DW, but otoh I follow directions very well! :D I can't not answer a question, really - sometimes I make myself NOT ANSWER a question. So this sort of structured month of questions should work well and--I mean, I believe in talk. I believe in us talking to each other when we can! Fandom is made of people. So anything that puts more words in the world is, I think, a good thing. :D
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> (
But boy, writing; I didn't realize how much I missed writing in a big fandom until I started writing in a big fandom again; it's been wild and fun - SO MUCH FUN. I've been keeping my trickster site more or less updated - it gets updated a little bit avant la lettre - but I've forgotten to crosspost here (I also figure that if anyone wants to read what I'm putting out they're subbed to me at AO3 or to the stucky tag or whatever.)
But to be completist about it (man, it's like old times - by which I mean pre-child times): all Captain America, all Stucky except where noted. (Is that seriously like 188,000 words? fuck. well, there's the book I didn't write. There's two of the books I didn't write, really. But I was really happy having fandom back in my life.)
Jan 6
4 Minute Window<\/strong><\/a> (24127 words)
Summary: \"Look, if they catch me,\" Bucky muttered, \"they're either going to kill me or they're going to put me in a box with a little window and\u2014Steve, I can't.<\/em>\"<\/p>
Jan 15
Yelp page for Coney Island Design & Construction<\/strong><\/a> by Speranza<\/strong><\/a>, monicawoe<\/strong><\/a>, counteragent<\/strong><\/a>
Part 3 of 4 minute window
Summary: The Yelp page for Coney Island Design and Construction has many positive reviews.<\/p>
Jan 21
Your Lack Of An Answer Is Kind Of An Answer: Four Questions Natasha Asked Steve Rogers, And One Time Bucky Barnes Answered<\/strong><\/a> (4491 words)
Relationships: James \"Bucky\" Barnes\/Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter\/Steve Rogers
Summary: \"All right, I have a question for you. Oh, but you don\u2019t have to answer it. I feel like if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know\u2026\"<\/p>
March 2
Half of the History (We Shall Never Know)<\/strong><\/a> (36675 words)
Relationships: James \"Bucky\" Barnes\/Steve Rogers, James \"Bucky\" Barnes\/Peggy Carter\/Steve Rogers, James \"Bucky\" Barnes\/Steve Rogers\/Natasha Romanov
Summary: This is a war story.<\/p>
March 10
Coming Out Party<\/strong><\/a> (1891 words)
Summary: \"It's just a party. I can crash a party, don't you worry.\"<\/p>
April 20
Scenes from a Marriage: The Kandinsky<\/strong><\/a> (9478 words)
Part 4 of 4 Min Window
Summary: \"Hey, we're a Brooklyn construction company,\" Barnes replied with a shrug. \"We fix<\/em> things\u2014\"<\/p>
Steve laughed. \"Not like that<\/em> we don't,\" he said, grinning, and then: \"Well, I don't know. Maybe. Just this once.\"
April 23
The Real Thing<\/strong><\/a> (6383 words) Relationships: Peggy Carter\/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark
Summary: Tony talks dirty. Steve gets a nosebleed. This is not a Stony story.
June 2
Scenes from a Marriage: The Studebaker<\/strong><\/a> (11489 words)
Part 5 of 4 Minute Window
Summary: \"Steve, if you don't do this, you're going to regret it the rest of your life.\"
September 4
20th Century Limited<\/strong><\/a> (52010 words)
Summary: \"Where am I? Where is this?\" and he was in Brooklyn, he was on a beach, the train was shaking around him. He was in the plane, ice splintering up onto the windshield. He was in a tank, tubes trailing from his face, from his groin. Christ, he was cold. There was still ice on his fingers. He was in the Grand Canyon. He was in Times Square. This couldn't be Times Square. Where the hell was this? \"Tell me! Where am I, who are you, where's\u2014\" \u2014Bucky?<\/em>
October 19
The Fifties<\/strong><\/a> (28185 words) Relationships: James \"Bucky\" Barnes\/Peggy Carter\/Steve Rogers
Summary: \"Because everything's all right, isn't it?\" Bucky said. \"Everything's great. I'm so happy; I never thought I could be this happy. You're happy, too, aren't you, Peg?\"
Nov 30
The Third Time's The Charm<\/strong><\/a> (2030 words)
Summary: \"Hey, I like the dog show,\" Steve protested.
Part 6: 4 minute window
Dec 24
Scenes from a Marriage: A Month Of Sundays<\/strong><\/a> (11547 words)
Advent Calendar for 4 Minute Window<\/a>
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:344235","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/344235.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=344235"}}],"title":"New Captain America stories","published":"2015-03-04T15:08:57Z","updated":"2015-03-04T15:09:30Z","content":"Wow, I realized that I've been posting so little here, I'm not even posting FIC here. I'm not ready to close down my journaling experience quite yet! Yeesh.
Title: Half of the History (We Shall Never Know)<\/a> (36675 words)
Author: Speranza<\/a>
Chapters: 1\/1
Fandom: MCU
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: James \"Bucky\" Barnes\/Steve Rogers, James \"Bucky\" Barnes\/Peggy Carter\/Steve Rogers, James \"Bucky\" Barnes\/Steve Rogers\/Natasha Romanov
Additional Tags: War is hell, Please Heed Archive Content Warnings, Soldier Boys, Love under fire, To the end of the line, Threesomes, winterwidow - Freeform, Dancing, Realpolitik, We're All In It Up To The Neck Darling
Summary: This is a war story.
Title: Your Lack Of An Answer Is Kind Of An Answer: Four Questions Natasha Asked Steve Rogers, And One Time Bucky Barnes Answered<\/a> (4490 words)
Author: Speranza<\/a>
Chapters: 1\/1
Fandom: MCU
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: James \"Bucky\" Barnes\/Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter\/Steve Rogers
Characters: Natasha Romanov, Pepper Potts
Additional Tags: 5 Things, Find Bucky, Natasha likes to know things, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Rude is culturally relative
Summary: \"All right, I have a question for you. Oh, but you don\u2019t have to answer it. I feel like if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know\u2026\"
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:343866","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/343866.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=343866"}}],"title":"Rec for IT security services in NYC","published":"2015-01-10T03:37:23Z","updated":"2015-01-10T03:37:23Z","content":"My husband's firm has been the victims of a ransom cyber attack and they now are thinking about changing their security people for IT (their IT people are having trouble coming up with good backups, ugh)- so anybody have any recs for good geeks who work NYC and environs? (Is this you?)
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:343721","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/343721.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=343721"}}],"title":"New Story: 4 Minute Window (MCU, Steve\/Bucky)","published":"2015-01-08T19:54:58Z","updated":"2015-01-08T19:54:58Z","content":"Title: 4 Minute Window<\/a> (24127 words)
Author: Speranza
Fandom: MCU
Pairing: Steve\/Bucky
Rating: Explicit
Additional Tags: Surveillance, It's Like Grand Central Station In Here, Brooklyn Boys, Power Couple, People Are Sick of Conceptual Art
Summary: \"Look, if they catch me,\" Bucky muttered, \"they're either going to kill me or they're going to put me in a box with a little window and\u2014Steve, I can't.<\/em>\"<\/em>
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:343524","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/343524.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=343524"}}],"title":"Bye 2014 - don't let the door hit you, etc.","published":"2015-01-01T02:59:01Z","updated":"2015-01-01T02:59:01Z","content":"So this was a tough year where I spent a lot of time in the hospital (being the sandwich generation suuuuuucks)...but everyone survived and is fine and I learned that I am actually really pretty awesome under stress. I also learned (rediscovered) that I have the best friends in the entire universe. Even my husband was like, wow, how would we survive without your friends?
LET'S NEVER FIND THAT OUT.
Anyway, fandom was one of my happier places this year. I've long had a theory that people sometimes drift away from fandom when they're really happy - you see it when people get new sexual partners, new jobs, new lifestyles, increased commitments to other things. Fandom, otoh, is a great place to be if you're tired, sick, disabled, breastfeeding, bored, underutilized, stressed, isolated, or just need awesome pleasure served up to you JUST THE WAY YOU LIKE IT ALL THE TIME FOR REASONS, DAMMIT. Fandom totally came through for me this year with awesome fic and art and meta and vids and er, crafts (sob - I totally needed Marvel crafts!) - so thank you, fandom, for being great when I needed you to be great.
A few more thank yous:
Thanks, awesome friends, for dragging me to CA: The Winter Soldier the week after my kid came out of the hospital--THAT WAS THE FANDOM I NEEDED WHEN I NEEDED IT.
Thank you, CA:TWS, for your operatic multivalent shippiness and operatic soulmate story.
Thank you, Tony\/Steve shippers, for your many excellent insights into Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. (One of my more hilarious LJ posts from earlier this year, pre CA: TWS: I think I'm starting to get what's so interesting about Steve Rogers. Ha. Ha, ha, ha ha.)
Thank you, Bucky Barnes, for finally giving me an attainable makeup look. (PS - for those of you wanting to try it, angry raccoon looks great pretty much on everybody, it turns out.)
Tumblr, you still scare me a little (your endless scrolling makes me dizzy) but I think I am starting to like you; thank you for the nonstop fanart and also for the many pictures of Chris Evans trying not to look anxious and of Sebastian Stan a) kissing boys b) posing like a supermodel in a vodka ad or c) frantically trying to think of something to say and failing. They have been very entertaining! :D
Anyway, I wrote a bunch of fic<\/a> (mostly MCU, Steve\/Bucky) this year and am primed to write a whole ton more, so I'm pretty optimistic about 2015.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:343191","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/343191.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=343191"}}],"title":"Librarians! Scholar-nerds! Help!","published":"2014-11-12T19:43:23Z","updated":"2014-11-12T19:43:23Z","content":"I'm making a bibliography that I want to be useful to others.
There are a couple of great reprint collections that bring together 10-12 really useful articles in the field. So I really want to put them in the bibliography so people see and buy them.
BUT - that means that the writers themselves don't appear separately listed in the bibliography. Which I keep forgetting! and being like, OMG how have I not put in Smith!--except of course Smith's most famous bit is in one of the readers.
Any advice on this problem? Should I write out all ten or twelve articles in the reader rather than the reader itself? Like:
Brady, B. \"Truly Awesome Article,\" Really Awesome Reader,<\/i> 2014.
Jones, C. \"Outstanding Article You Should So Read,\" Really Awesome Reader,<\/i> 2014.
Smith, A. \"Great Article,\"Really Awesome Reader,<\/i> 2014.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:342905","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/342905.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=342905"}}],"title":"New Story: All The Angels and The Saints (CA:TWS)","published":"2014-10-11T20:01:33Z","updated":"2014-10-11T20:01:33Z","content":"So maybe I got a little out of control on this one. :D
Title: All The Angels and The Saints<\/a> (48733 words)
Author: Speranza
Fandom: Captain America, MCU
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: James \"Bucky\" Barnes\/Steve Rogers
Additional Tags: Socialism, Science Fiction, Atheism, Roman Catholicism, Blasphemy, World War II, end of the line, Steve Rogers' Whole Life, St. Michael's Muscled Arms, Greenwich Village Is Full of Freaks
Summary: In which Steve Rogers loses God and finds God and loses God, and also: Bucky.
You wanted a novel about Steve Rogers' religious crisis of the 1930s? Right? You wanted a story in which Steve is beaten by nuns, intrigued by feminists, and drags Bucky to hear Bertrand Russell speak in Washingon Square Park? SURE YOU DID. Well here it is! I HAVE YOU COVERED, FANDOM.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:342577","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/342577.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=342577"}}],"title":"DMCA!!!","published":"2014-10-04T19:33:39Z","updated":"2014-10-04T19:33:39Z","content":"Being lazy and so c&p Tisha Turk's post<\/a> - but vidders, please please read the below!!
~ ~ ~
The OTW's Fan Video & Multimedia Committee is once again working with the Legal Committee and the Electronic Frontier Foundation to petition for a DMCA exemption granting vidders, AMV makers, and other creators of noncommercial remix video the right to break copy protection on media files. In 2010, we won the right to rip DVDs; in 2012, we got that exemption renewed and expanded to include digital downloads (iTunes, Amazon Unbox, etc.). In 2015, we'll be pushing to add Blu-Ray\u2014and, of course, to renew the exemptions we've already won in the last two rounds of DMCA rulemaking.
And we need your help to do it! If you make or watch vids, AMVs, or other forms of fan video, we need you to tell us:
1. Why making fan videos is a transformative and creative act;
2. Why video makers need high-quality source;
3. Why video makers need to be able to manipulate source (change speed and color, add effects, etc.);
4. Why video makers need fast access to source (such as using iTunes downloads rather than waiting for DVDs);
5. Why video makers need to be able to use Blu-Ray;
6. Anything else you think we should keep in mind as we work on the exemption proposal.
If you have thoughts about any or all of these topics, you can comment on this post OR contact Tisha directly at tisha dot turk at gmail dot com or fanvideo-chair at transformativeworks dot org. You don't have to use your real name; we can use your name or pseudonym or describe you anonymously as \"a vidder\" or \"a fan video artist.\"
The DMCA is U.S. copyright law and only directly affects U.S. vidders, but it does potentially have ripple effects outside the U.S.: Strong DMCA exemptions help send the message that fan creativity should be protected everywhere. With that in mind, please feel free to send your thoughts even if you don't live in the U.S.
Also, please help us signal-boost! This info is being posted to LiveJournal and Dreamwidth communities and on Tumblr; if you can think of other places the OTW should post, please let me know -- and if you can spread the word in your own communities, on streaming sites, etc., please do.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:342499","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/342499.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=342499"}}],"title":"The TV is back! Reports on the TV!","published":"2014-09-24T23:49:54Z","updated":"2014-09-24T23:49:54Z","content":"I am slow to watch things because I am slow on everything, but here's my first thoughts on some of the TV! (Please to be reccing me things to watch!)
Okay, so my reactions to these two were basically the opposite of what I'd expected, which was that I thought I'd be charmed by Sleepy Hollow and bored by SHIELD (I was very bored by SHIELD last season) and it was the other way around: I was bored and made sort of giggly by Sleepy Hollow (I was moaning NO DANNY CONCANNON NO! NO WALTER! NO! I just--I spent the whole time feeling bad for the actors. The actors are all of them SO GREAT but the whole feels like a video game written by sixth graders, and I'm just embarrassed for them somehow. I don't know, I can't deal with people asking each other if they've seen Benjamin Franklin's key. It's just--whatever suspension of disbelief that requires, I haven't got it. It's not you, Sleepy Hollow--I don't know, maybe it IS you.
On the other hand, 201 was the first episode of SHIELD that really held me more or less throughout. I bless the spirit of Peggy Carter hanging over the thing--AND THE COMMANDOS, I was so happy to see all the Howling Commandos, and so delighted to see that she sort of replaced Steve there! -- and I actually was really interested in the whole cast for once--not just Melinda May, who was always awesome, and J. August Richards, which ditto! - but the characters I was meh about (I know, I'm out of step here, but I was much more interested in Fitz and Simmons with him nuts and her a ghost--it was very dramatic! - and I wasn't upset from the shipping because, IDK, they always seemed like siblings to me) - and even the ones I sort of loathed: is it me, or was Skye not at all annoying? She was actually kind of great! And even Ward wasn't annoying! And he had a Star Trek beard of evil! IDK, I was interested--and then, you know, plus Bonus Lucy Lawless and suddenly it really did seem like an incredibly cool show where a bunch of amazing women, black people, and Brits (though nobody got the hat trick - fuck, SHIELD, please cast somebody like Marianne Jean-Baptiste? Please? I'd love you FOREVER.) -- did cool shit--and I was good with it! So I'll be sticking with that for the foreseeable, which seems remarkable because last season even the mention of Bucky Barnes couldn't keep my eyes from fluttering closed at the screen.
<\/a>
Next up, Downton (hush) and POI.<\/a>
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:342216","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/342216.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=342216"}}],"title":"What I Know About Coding, by Speranza Age 44 1\/2","published":"2014-09-24T16:33:04Z","updated":"2014-09-24T16:33:04Z","content":"Today's XKCD represents in one panel what I learned about coding from the AO3.
It's such a fine line between \"crazy simple; hey! let's do it!\" and \"mindbogglingly complex pls pay me a million dollars and also stab me in the face right now.\" When I was doing AO3 comms, I found myself often trying to explain why sometimes we were like, \"Sure! Let's make it happen!\" and \"Er, we have no idea when that's ever gonna go down.\" I learned always to ask though, because sometimes the dream stuff (\"Could we--maybe!--possibly!--\") turned out to be the easy stuff, and the seemingly easy stuff turned out to be the backbreaking stuff.
So, er, I laughed a lot at XKCD today. Like all good comedy, such a HIGH proportion of TRUTH.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:342014","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/342014.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=342014"}}],"title":"Your BOFQ quote of the day!","published":"2014-09-16T01:55:31Z","updated":"2014-09-16T01:55:31Z","content":"For reasons, I have been thinking a lot about The Man From Uncle today, which led me to look up the reboot movie, which led me to finding out that Henry Cavill has replaced Tom Cruise (WHICH GOOD I HATE TC), which led me to this article<\/a> on \"12 things We Learned from 2014's Summer Movies\" (which has a nice shoutout to The Winter Soldier as the year's first big hit, so yay) but also this quote, which made me cry and feel old, and now I hate everybody:
Word on the street says that 2014 was an off year between mega-franchises\u2014that next year will unleash Hollywood\u2019s A-Game. After all, summer 2015 has Avengers: Age of Ultron. And a Jurassic Park reboot starring everyone\u2019s favorite new movie star. And a Fantastic Four movie that didn\u2019t show up to Comic-Con. And a Terminator movie with a funny name. And\u2026 oh, um, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. remake your grandparents have been asking for.<\/blockquote>
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:341540","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/341540.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=341540"}}],"title":"The stories we don't tell","published":"2014-09-12T13:15:11Z","updated":"2014-09-12T13:15:11Z","content":"Trigger warning: discussion of male rape below the cut.
I just want to signal boost GQ's article on male rape in the military.<\/a> Factually, statistically, rape is a male problem - more men are raped each year, numerically, than women: lots more, lots lots more, in prison, and we don't care<\/i>: we make jokes about it on TV. (\"Hope you like your new girlfriend har har.\") This sickens me beyond measure and every time I teach the facts of male rape to students, they don't believe me. I hadn't known a lot about rape in the military, but considering how prevalent it is in other male institutions (prisons, boarding schools, etc.) of course the military; of course.
While I'm on the subject, let me also link a more fannish piece about male rape that I like a lot: Sophia McDougall's The Rape of James Bond<\/a>. We're not crazy, people. There's LYING going on here, there is a skewed version of reality being fed to us, and we're choking on it.<\/a>
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:341483","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/341483.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=341483"}}],"title":"cesperanza @ 2014-09-09T21:34:00","published":"2014-09-10T01:35:13Z","updated":"2014-09-10T01:35:13Z","content":"Holy crap. They found the Hand Of Franklin<\/a>, the reaching out one. This is a game changer for DS like the end of Don't Ask Don't Tell was for SGA. Wow: ficathon anybody? *boggle*
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:341052","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/341052.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=341052"}}],"title":"Taxes and Vids (Not together - that was years ago!)","published":"2014-09-08T03:12:15Z","updated":"2014-09-08T03:12:15Z","content":"Sorry, fell off the posting wagon there, but who's the bad-ass mother who did her parents' 2013 taxes over the weekend? YES, ME. The excitement, it's--zzzzzz. *falls over*
Anyway, lim moved her website - you can now find streaming and downloadables of all her vids here, at some vids by lim<\/a>.
I took Tiberius to the Ren Faire today in upstate New York with astolat and counteragent and the assorted fannish gaggle of our kids, which was fun. Tiberius wanted butterfly wings and a wand with streamers, which I bought him, and he mostly liked climbing rocks and standing there, poetically, wings flapping.
He also wore them to the supermarket tonight, running down the city streets. \"Are you an angel?\" one old man asked him. \"No, I\"m a fairy,\" my son explained prosaically; that's my boy.
Anyway, I am optimistic that as of tomorrow, with school finally kicking in full time again, I'll finally be able to get on top of things that have been on top of me. Me and this glass of Jack Daniels are drinking to that right now anyway!
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:340768","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/340768.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=340768"}}],"title":"cesperanza @ 2014-09-03T22:41:00","published":"2014-09-04T03:02:42Z","updated":"2014-09-04T03:03:03Z","content":"Tiberius starts kindergarten tomorrow.
(I know!)
(I know<\/em>!)
To celebrate the NYC school system, I give you Robert Klein's rap on NYC public schools.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:340575","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/340575.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=340575"}}],"title":"Socialism and Star Trek: Your Links For Today!","published":"2014-09-03T02:51:05Z","updated":"2014-09-03T02:51:05Z","content":"Sorry I missed yesterday - hey, it was Labor Day! - but let me offer as an apology a link to synecdochic's little red songbook\/socialist!Steve mix<\/a> and, for today's post, a link to what looks the best Star Trek fan film yet!<\/a> - this is the trailer! imagine what the real thing could be!!!
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:340421","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/340421.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=340421"}}],"title":"Things I Am Crotchety About, Rant #2","published":"2014-09-01T04:09:19Z","updated":"2014-09-01T04:27:46Z","content":"So my last mega-fandom was SGA, and the thing is, I could pretty much go anywhere with SGA, because in a way, the characters were paper thin: you tell me John Sheppard is a robot, I say sure! A dogwalker? Fine! A barista--with that hair, absolutely! He wears lingerie under his uniform: makes perfect sense. And Rodney--you could do anything with Rodney so long as he had a) lots of coffee and b) was high maintenance: scientist, sure, but a diva of any kind, really; symphony composer, hair colorist, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist: you betcha.
These were happy, happy times.
Imagine my surprise to find myself in Cap\/Marvel fandom now and having all these OPINIONS about what I think the characters would and wouldn't do, particularly Cap and Bucky, since they're where my heart is, but also because they seem to me so specifically of a time and place, but also all the rest of them really--Tony, Clint, Pepper, Natasha, Bruce, even Thor!--they just all seem really really specifically<\/i> drawn. And for the first time, I'm vaguely crotchety about trope fic--don't get me wrong, I'm far from a purist about historical accuracy, mainly because it's seriously no fun to have Steve or Bucky have period attitudes that are unpleasant (though I do think they'd both be seriously judgy! Steve Rogers: totally judging you for your wastefulness and adolescent attitudes!) but it's more like I can really hear when the author is 20-something and totally unhistoricized about what's 20-something about them; like, when they can't imagine that things might ever have been different. It's almost a matter of body language - like, Steve totally doesn't look like Chris Evans, and Bucky doesn't stand like Seb Stan, and much as (swallow) I like looking at both of them, I have to keep Evans and Stan out of my head when I'm writing, because theyr'e not Bucky and Steve at all! The bodies, their stances, are wrong!
All that being said, I totally support everyone's right to write--and take pleasure in!--whatever they're writing, and god knows that Marvel fandom's totally got enough in it to keep everybody happy, and my guess is (sob!) that most people even slightly younger (sob!) than me or those who have less old parents and grandparents probably don't even notice the contemporary vibe (footnote: vibes themselves are contemporary; Steve and Bucky don't have \"vibes!\" or psychology! pop-psychology didn't really take hold of people till the 1950s) in these stories, but I'm whining because I'm backbuttoning out of so many stories for this sort of temporal dislocation, pooh, pooh, thpppt.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:340204","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/340204.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=340204"}}],"title":"Geeking Out: Cap Edition","published":"2014-08-31T01:13:26Z","updated":"2014-08-31T01:13:26Z","content":"Anybody wants to know what NYS Regents exams<\/a> Steve Rogers might have taken in the 1930s, here you go and you're welcome (though I personally postulate - am postulating, in this current WIP, that Steve wouldn't get a Regents diploma because he was a lousy student on account of all the missed classes due to being sick.)
So revise that to say, if anybody wants to see the NYS Regents Exams that JAMES BARNES would almost surely have taken, here you go. :D
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:339848","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/339848.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=339848"}}],"title":"Things I Am Crotchety About, Rant #1","published":"2014-08-30T01:54:17Z","updated":"2014-08-30T01:54:17Z","content":"So yeah, here's your first installment of \"Things I'm turning into a BOFQ about!\"
I have mostly made my peace with Tumblr (I appreciate all the art, I appreciate the spreadability of vids, I am still annoyed about the way in which it makes me into an endlessly scrolling monkey and they way it makes conversation impossible and--here I near to my point! - attribution impossible, in that I can never figure out who actually made the thing I like and ENGAGE THEM DIRECTLY, which is how I've made most of my many friends in fandom. Going to people and saying, omg, I love your work, how are you so awesome, can we talk more?)
But I've mainly been irritated at that from the reader\/spectator\/fan position, in that I'm finding it hard to connect with the writers of meta\/ makers of art that I fangirl.
BUT NOW. I am NOW irritated at it from the writer's perspective, because my latest story, Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes, have gotten tags\/comments\/recs like the following:
\"I don't always read Stucky, but when I do? It's by Astolat because holy hell.\"
and
\"by: seperis\"
and okay, astolat, seperis, I love you both! really! a lot! but MY NAME IS AT THE TOP OF THE STORY! and besides, astolat is a lot shorter than me, and seperis is a lot taller. I can only assume that people are clicking to the story from astolat's tumblr and\/or seperis autofills like speranza? or something like that? But it clearly shows me that some number of people are having as hard a time attributing my work to me as I am attributing their work to them, and I HATE IT, because in an online world, I only know you by what you make, write, say, etc. I hate this disassociation! I know a lot of people fled LJ\/DW for Tumblr to avoid personalities (and like the anonymemes even more because NO personality)--and I will admit that I was, years ago, resistant to LJ\/blogs in the first place because I thought there was TOO MUCH PERSONALITY - too much about people's dogs and kids and whatever, dentistry, and not enough fannish stuff--but can't there be a happy medium?
SIGNED--Goldilocks, looking for a fannish mix that is juuuuuuust right.
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:cesperanza:339683","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/339683.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/cesperanza.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=339683"}}],"title":"What the hell - writing meme!","published":"2014-08-29T03:19:09Z","updated":"2014-08-29T03:19:09Z","content":"Via
<\/a>aerye<\/b><\/a><\/span>. Pick a letter(s)!
A. Describe your comfort zone\u2014a typical you-fic.
B. Is there a trope you\u2019ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?
C. Is there a trope you wouldn\u2019t touch with a ten foot pole?
D. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?
E. Share one of your strengths.
F. Share one of your weaknesses.
G. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you\u2019ve written and explain why you\u2019re proud of it.
H. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you\u2019ve written and explain why you\u2019re proud of it.
I. Which fic has been the hardest to write?
J. Which fic has been the easiest to write?
K. Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?
L. Is there an episode section of canon above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?
M. What\u2019s the best writing advice you\u2019ve ever come across?
N. What\u2019s the worst writing advice you\u2019ve ever come across?
O. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?
P. If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?
Q. Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?
R. Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines?
S. Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse?
T. Describe your perfect writing conditions.
U. How many times do you usually revise your fic\/chapter before posting?
V. Choose a passage from one of your earlier fics and edit it into your current writing style. (Person sending the ask is free to make suggestions).
W. If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?
X. Have you ever deleted one of your published fics?
Y. What do you look for in a beta?
Z. Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you?
AA. How do you feel about collaborations?
AB. Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.
AC. If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?
AD. Do you accept prompts?
AE. Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?
AF. How do you feel about smut?
AG. How do you feel about crack?
AH. What are your thoughts on non-con and dub-con?
AI. Would you ever kill off a canon character?
AJ. Which is your favorite site to post fic?
AK. Talk about your current wips.
AL. Talk about a review that made your day.
AM. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?
AN. Write an alternative ending to a fic you've written (specify by title, link or general description].
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth<\/a> ( comments)<\/small>"}]}