swim through the fires to stay in this world

There was a conversation (on a locked post, so) about fanfic authors having Felicity Smoak (of Arrow) be a fan of various Big Fandoms (Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, etc) and while I think it works better with Felicity* than a lot of other characters, I think it's a ballsier move than most fanficcers realize.

The thing is, name-dropping fandoms (especially a fandom that author loves or that is super-popular currently) is one of the easiest ways to throw a reader out of the story, because you have to deal with the reader's opinion about what that character would like** AND their feelings about the property in question.

I mean, when it works***, it really works, but I think that most writers don't realize what they're risking on what is often not a very important detail.

*I bet Felicity is watching Game of Thrones. But I also suspect she liked the books better.

**Sidebar, playing 'what other media would fictional character X love' is super-fun, imho.

***that time Tony Stark thought about his mother singing Simon & Garfunkle's "America" as a lullaby  and how he thought it was referencing Captain America ALL THE FEELINGS MY GOD.

[+] Finally, based on the conversation that inspired this post, now I’m imagining that Felicity is a total arthouse film and History Channel geek, instead of the more common sci-fi/fantasy nerd.

[+] There is a whole other post regarding writing canonically well-read characters like Rory Gilmore, Blair Waldorf, and Dan Humphrey.

Title: Narrative
Fandom: Gossip Girl
Author: redbrunja
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Dan/Blair
Author's Note: Fair warning: I have not actually watched GG since the middle of season two and like one episode from last season.
Summary: "He's watching her get ready to savage any moronic hopes he might have left and he's trying to decide on the perfect words to describe the line of her neck, the tight bud of her mouth."


( Read more... )

Right now, I have too fantastic (and extensive) comment memes in open windows. So to keep track of the fics that I want to be able to easily re-read, I'm going to be compiling links for my favorites. Which means that my lucky flist gets quick access to some of the best. (FYI, if you visit this post in a week, there will be more fics than there are now.)

Animorphs:

There Is No Such Thing As Neutral (Rachel)
We Happy Few (Rachel)

Anne Of Green Gables:

Fairy Princess

Atonement:

My Hand Is Growing Weak (Briony)

Avatar:

As To Matters Of Dress (Sokka/Suki)

Batman:

Lick Your Eyes & Then Mine (Catwoman/Batman)

Beauty & The Beast:

Hold Me Down (Belle/Beast)
Learning Humanity (Belle/Beast)

Being Human:

You Said Your Soul Would Linger On (Annie)

Bones

One Year Later (Brennan)
Turn Around Again (Angela)
Bones Break (Brennan)
Trust Not The Coyote (Caroline)
Conceptual Art Is Bullshit (Angela)
A Reasonable Explanation (Brennan)
Spent So Long Waiting Here (Booth/Brennan)

Buffyverse:

American Girls (Buffy)
Plans (Faith)
Tired Of Being Cautious (Fred)
Travel It All (Faith)
Razor's Edge (Buffy)
But You've Got The Headstone All Ready (Buffy)
There Is No Prince (Buffy/Giles)

Casino Royale:

Juggernaut Heart (Vesper)

Castle:

Takedown (Beckett/Demming)

Carmen Sandiego:

The Catch Is You Stay & See What Becomes Of Us (Carmen/Waldo)

Castle:

Fatherhood (Alexis)
The Magnificent Seven (Martha)

Community:

Do Not Go Gentle (Annie)
It's My Heart, Not Me, Who Cannot Drive (Britta, Jaye)
Take The Wheel (Britta)
On Hiatus (Britta)
My Smile Can Distract You (Annie)
Like A Child (Annie)
With The Lights Out It's Less Dangerous (Annie/Jeff)
Come A Little Bit Closer (Jeff/Annie)
Hey, Hey, You, You (Annie/Jeff)
TV Marathon (Jeff, Abed, Jeff/Annie)
In Limbo Part One and Part Two (Britta)
Sawdust (Britta/Abed)
This Could Be A Brand New Start (Britta)
Temporary (Jeff/Annie)

Criminal Minds:

Close To Home (JJ)
They Are My Own (Haley)
My Heart Has Lost It's Wind Now (Emily)
When It Doesn't Rain It Pours (Emily)
Self-Esteem Is Good For You (Garcia)
I'll Sing You All The Lullabies (They Never Sung For Me) (Elle)
Wrong Number (Garcia/Morgan)
Friday Night Goddess (Garcia, Reid)

Dark Angel:

The Tenderest Touch Leaves The Darkest Marks (Max)
Songs For Fighters (Max/Alec)

Dexter:

A Lion-Hearted Fucking Woman (Deb)
After The Deluge (Deb)

Doctor Who

I Think To Die Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure (Amy)
Climbing Back (Rose)
These Accidents of Faith and Nature (Amy)
Too Much Like A Fairy Tale (Amy)
The Good Wife (Martha)
We'll Be Their Storybook Heroes (Sally Sparrow)
Got A Sky Full of Stars (And Nothing Else) (Amelia Pond)
No Hero In Her Sky (Amelia)
First Run (River Song)
Lionesses (River Son/Liz X)

Dollhouse:

Painting The World You Want To See (Priya)

Dracula:

Phantom (Mina/Dracula)
Firefly:

Your Absence Has Gone Through Me (Inara/Nandi)
Meta (River)
Wolves (Zoe, Kaylee, River)

Fullmetal Alchemist:

Steadily (Riza)
There Goes My Gun (Riza & Rebecca)

Gilmore Girls:

A Perfect Haircut Every Day (Lane)

Glee:

Waegukin (Tina)
Inscrutable (Tina/Mike)
As If You'd Just Woke Up (Rachel/Jesse)
Fathers and Mothers (Rachel)
Linear Progression (Shelby)
Sweep The Room With A Glance (Emma)

The Good Wife

I Lost My Teeth On The Edge Of A Glass (Kalinda)
Something To Think About (Kalinda)

Gossip Girl:

Wants (Blair)
Snapshot of the Artist (Vanessa)
You Know You Love Me (Gossip Girl)
Everything Marissa Cooper Could Have Been (Serena, Summer)

Harry Potter:

On the Nature Of Hatred & It's Uses (Hermione)
Human Behavior (Bellatrix)
When Choice Means Leaving Everything Behind (Hermione)
No Take-Backs (Narcissa)
You Counting On My Failure Make Me Live (Lily/James)
It's Not A Joke (Tonks)
Blow Me Blue-Bell Bubbles (Alice)

Hercules:

Heart & Heaven (Meg)

How I Met Your Mother:

That Girl (Robin/Ted)

The Hunger Games:

REBELLION (KATNISS)

Trust (Rue)
Rise & Fall (Prim)

In Plain Sight

The Art Of Ninja Origami (Mary/Marshall)
Hard Hats (Mary & Eleanor)
Ice Cream (Mary/Marshall)

Iron Man:

The Sea Makes Your Eyes Strange (Natasha Romanova)
Dust Out The Demons (Tony/Pepper)
Fast, Thorough, & Sharp As A Tack (Pepper/Tony)
Brutality (Tony, Emma Frost, Pepper)

Labyrinth:

Missed You All Along (Sarah)
Dreams (Sarah)

Legally Blonde:

Sugar, We're Going Down (Elle)

Legend of the Seeker:

Immune To Pathos (Cara)
It Feels Like Being Broken (Cara/Kahlan)
Dress Code (Kahlan/Cara)
Contrast (Cara/Kahlan)
Life Comes With A Rush (Cara/Kahlan)
Been A Long Road To Get Here (Kahlan)
Where Goodness Used To Be (Cara)
A Friendly Assist (Cara/Kahlan)

Leverage:

I've Looked At Love (Sophie)
Kisses (Parker)
A Lie Will-Told Is Immortal (Sophie)
Translations For Broken & Breaking Out (Parker, Nate)

Life:

Pretty As A Diagram (Reese)

Merlin:

Under The Greenwood Tree (Morgana/Merlin)
Pennies In A Jar (Morgana)

Mulan:

My Story Is Not Like Yours (Mulan)

Mythology:

We Laugh Indoors (Lilith)
She Doesn't Wanna Be (Just A Little Light Turning The Key) (Lilith)

Narnia:

One of those Mink-Coated Ladies (Susan)
The Story Of An Umbrella (Susan)
Just Like The Edge Of The World (Lucy)

The OC:

Houses Out Of Cardboard Boxes (Julie)

Pirates Of The Caribean:

O The Blood And The Treasure And Losing It All (Elizabeth/Will)

Practical Magic:

Fine As A Bridesmaid (Gillian)

Push:

Drove Like Bandits On The Freeway (Nick/Cassie)
Seeing (Cassie/Nick)

Sunshine:

Story (Constance/Sunshine)

SG-1:
What I've Found (Vala)
Conflicting Mission Reports (Vala & Teyla)
5 Times Vala Threw Daniel A Birthday Party When It Wasn't His Birthday (Vala/Daniel)

Sherlock Holmes:

Play The Cards With Spades To Start (Irene)
"Damnation!" (Mary)

Star Trek:

Many Worlds (Naomi, Seven of Nine)
Lethal Poison Through The System (Uhura)
Maybe You Could've Been Something I'd Be Good At (Uhura/Gaila)

Speak:

I Cast My Face Towards The Pavement (Melinda)

Supernatural

And I Don't Owe You A Damn (Bela)
Money (Bela)
An Endangered Species (Ellen, Jo)
Ongoing Arguments (Anna, Castiel)
Fractured (Jo)
Better Find Your Ticket (Bela)
Hurricane (Bela)

Tortall:

Light Is Less (Alanna)
Risk-Taking (Alanna)

True Bood:

Lay Down Your Burden (Jessica)
Language (Jessica)
In The End I Possess My Birthplace (Tara)
Looking For Her Ordinary World (Jessica)
Remember Me When Noses Start To Bleed (Pam/Eric)
I Used To Be A Bad Girl Too (Faith/Jessica)
When Life Gives You Lemons (Tara/Franklin)

The Vampire Diaries:

Roaring Twenties (Anna)
Child Of Mine (Pearl, Anna)
Take The Safety Off (Bonnie)
Old Relations (Bonnie/Elena)
Evolution Is Corruption (Damon/Elena)

Veronica Mars:

Lies, Damned Lies, & Statistics (Veronica)
Leave The Light On (Veronica/Logan)

Wimbleton:

That's How You Know (Lizzie)

White Collar:

Put Another Dime In (Diana)

 After several weeks of questions that sparked nothing or I didn't feel equipped to answer, we finally have an awesome fannish5  question (thanks jakia !):

Five jobs you could see a character have besides the one they already have. (Either five jobs per character or one job per character)

5.) Fi: Navy Seal. You know this would be so awesome it would break the awesome meter.

4.) Blair Waldorf, fashion designer. Honestly, if she couldn't buy every haute couture item her little heart desires, I feel sure she would have had Jenny's arc instead of the one she has now.

3.) Misato, bikini model.

2.) Veronica Mars, spy. With her fetish for surveillance equipment and her ability to lie like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, she'd be a shoe-in for the CIA.

1.) Kahlan Amnell: Mord Sith. We all know she would make a fantastic Mord Sith. She's strong, compassionate (and book!verse states that it was the kindest girls who were taken to be trained as Mord Sith), looks hellishly sexy in the uniform and already has the attitude down pat.

 ( HQ Photo Evidence )

Damn, that should SO be an icon.

 I love that you understand that saying 'I love you' first is not good.

I love that you understand that being honest and sharing your feelings are a smart more.

Also, Chuck Bass is rocking the Lord Byron aesthetic. 

(Which is more me keeping track of when shows come back and which on-going series I'm watching.)

Bones, September 17th

Chuck, March 2010

Fringe, September 17th

Gossip Girl, September 13th

How I Met Your Mother, September 21st

Legend Of The Seeker, November 7th

Leverage (is it only thirteen episodes this year? Mid-season? break September 9th, finishes this winter, season three airs in Summer 2010)

True Blood (finishes season 2 on September 13th, season three starts June 2010)