magnetic_pole

Happy year of the dragon, everyone!

Birthday wishes go out to aunty_marion and joanwilder! May this next year bring you everything you hope for.

Finally a couple fannish notes for a Monday:

Glee: A rec: fix-it femslash: Rumor Has It, Santana/Brittany, Santana/OFC, 4000 words or so?, NC-17. In which Santana Lopez learns the hard way that a life can never be ruined, only lived, and lived, and lived. I don't watch this show and don't follow this fandom, but if you're like me, and third-hand reports of Santana's outing raised your blood pressure, you need to read this. Heartfelt, fierce, and pointed.

On a related note, I'm struck by the number of comments left by women who identify as queer. I always suspect fandom's filled with queer women, the notable lack of femslash aside, but here we are.

HP: dysfuncentine! In an effort to write more this year, I signed up. *plots and schemes*

Sherlock: krabapple has posted a thoughtful meditation on what a "fall" might mean in Sherlock. If you're interested in thinky thoughts about the last episode, take a look. And if you have any smart meta recs, link me, please? Somehow I'm not really in a fic-ish mood, but I'd love to read an intelligent review or analysis of any part of series 2.

Lewis: A quick question for folks who've seen "A Life Born of Life" ( under the cut (spoilers!) )

Happy birthday, secretsolitaire!

( Hot chocolate for you under the cut... )

Here's hoping this next year is filled with friendship and fun and all the yummy things in the world...

I think I missed doing this last year. A brief version of the fannish meme ( under the cut... )

A happy belated birthday to Severus Snape, Sherlock Homes, and cordelia_v! (There ought to be a joke about these three formidable figures walking into a bar; comment if you can think of one.) All of my warmest wishes, Cordelia. Snape and Holmes only wish they could keep up.

An exciting fandom announcement: Sign-ups for the fifth annual HP Beholder begin January 26!

A quick rec: I had a busy holiday season and am *still* catching up on fic, at small gifts and elsewhere. But in the meantime, let me recommend the first of the hoggwartyxmas fics I've read: The Circle, by pale_moonlite, various witches, 1700 words, rated PG. Great witches through the ages. Wondering why Hogwarts, A History featured so many wizards and so few witches? Unsatisfied with the superficial egalitarianism of the books? Read on. It's clever, revisionist, and funny.

Link me? My anxiety grows as we approach Sunday's final episode of Sherlock. Have you read any intelligent discussion of what might be in store for us? Do you have any theories of your own?

Last night while watching the new Sherlock episode, I found myself wondering how a show produced today might have gender politics that are even more disturbing to me than the late-Victorian short story it was based on (A Scandal in Bohemia, 1891). Then I remembered, my dear reader, that for years Sherlock Holmes scholars have wrestled secretly with alternate editions of many of the original stories, choosing to keep the more openly misogynist Holmes from a judgmental public which might, in these more enlightened times, chose to condemn Holmes and his creator for their bigotry rather than understand the motivations behind it. I risk a Scandal in the Blogosphere by sharing one of these highly guarded alternate versions with you, but after reading it, you may be able to better understand the historical accuracy of the adaptation we saw last night.

( To Sherlock, there are no women, only *women.* )

Title: Cunning Linguists
Characters: Astoria Malfoy/Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, Draco Malfoy
Word count: 1700
Rating: R for adult situations
Summary: "If at first you don’t succeed..." Pansy Parkinson tries to find the right words.

Notes: Written for dexstarr for woldy’s 2011 Informal Femslash Exchange. Thanks to woldy for filling this holiday season with femslash! Best wishes for another wonderful year in fandom, dexstarr!

( As the Sorting Hat says, perhaps in Slytherin, you'll make your real friends. Those cunning folk use any means, to achieve their ends. )

So many birthdays this time of year! A happy, happy birthday to redvelvetcanopy, who celebrated earlier this week, to lolaraincoat, sleeper6, and velvetmouse, who all celebrated on Wednesday, and to snegurochka_lee, whose big day is tomorrow. It surprised me to realize just how many birthdays we've celebrated here together. (I've known some of you for six years now.) As for my own big day, thanks for the birthday messages, flist! It was a bit anticlimactic--I had a headcold, and I spent much of it writing an exam--but that's the glory of late-November birthdays--a long weekend is always right around the corner. And the better half made me an architecture cake, which was AMAZING. (It's sponge cake with matzo surfaces, with straws for the I-beams.) May the next year bring good things to all!

*
rs_small_gifts is almost upon us! We're starting the festivities this week with some discussion--if you're a participant or a reader, please drop by to introduce yourself or speculate about Remus' family.

Title: Us. Here. Now.
Pairing: Severus Snape/Evan Rosier
Word count and rating: 200, G
Summary: On Halloween, you can move between worlds.
Notes: Written for verus_janus for the exchange at hp_halloween, a Death Eater Halloween coming out story. Many, many thanks to mods _lore and shadowycat for hosting this fun short-fic fest!

( Four months ago, they were friends. Now Severus wasn’t sure. )

Key things to note this Sunday evening:

* It's tetleythesecond's birthday! I have been in awe of tetley's way with words since I first ran across her fic, and my admiration only continues to grow. Plus she's a fun flister--what more could you ask for? Hope the next year's a good one, t!

* woldy is running the informal HP femslash exchange again! This is a fun and very low-key chance to enjoy some femslash during the year-end holiday season. Sign-ups [on LJ] and [on DW] run from today, October 23, to Monday, October 31. Claiming begins Tuesday, November 1, and gifts are due Saturday, December 10.

* One more week to sign-up for rs_small_gifts! Claiming begins on Saturday, October 29.

* In the meantime, we're reading Charlotte Mendelson's Daughters of Jerusalem this month and next over at LGBTQ Recs.

* Just signed up for hp_halloween, a low-key, Halloween-themed fest for ficlets of 200 words. Two hundred words! Hey, even I can do that! Looking for something low-pressure and fun to do this month? Sign-ups are over here.

* Also just picked up my copy of Daughters of Jerusalem at the library today. (We're reading it this month at lgbtq_recs this month, where minervas_eule and therealsnape have gotten us off to a good start with lots of discussion.)

* Happy birthday, therealsnape and marguerite_26 and Minerva McGonagall!

* Have been eating apples, apple cake, and pumpkin baked goods, but there's very, very little color here. Something to do with the long, wet summer, perhaps? Here in northern New England it should be peak foliage season right now. Temps last week just under freezing at night, while today it was sunny and 80. Crazy fall weather!

*** Sign-ups for the sixth annual rs_small_gifts begin this Saturday, October 15! Claiming will take place on Saturday, October 29.***