Story: "No Winter Lasts Forever" (Part 12)
May. 22nd, 2013 12:35 am![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithFandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, JARVIS, Bucky Barnes, Nick Fury.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Mind control. Inferences of past child abuse and other torture. Current environment is supportive.
Summary: A mission in Russia introduces the Avengers to the Winter Soldier. Steve wants Bucky back and will stop at nothing to make that happen. Everyone else helps however they can.
Notes: Asexual character (Clint). Aromantic character (Natasha). Asexual relationship. Sibling relationships. Fix-it. Teamwork. Canon-typical violence. BAMF!Avengers. Vulgar language. Drama. Rescue. Hurt/Comfort. Emotional whump. Survivor guilt. Friendship. Confusion. Mind control. Memory loss. Slow recovery. Nick Fury makes stupid-ass decisions. Fear of loss. Fluff. Nonsexual ageplay. Making up for lost time. Tony Stark has a heart. Games. Trust issues. Safety and security. Howard Stark's A+ parenting. Obadiah Stane's A+ parenting. Food issues. Multiplicity/Plurality. Sleep issues. Non-sexual touching and intimacy. Yoga. Personal growth. Family of choice. ALL THE FEELS. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11.
( Read more... )
Let's Go Wait Out In the Fields with the Ones We Love
May. 21st, 2013 10:47 pmyasamanTrouble Will Find Me requires a bit of time to really sink into, like all National albums. I found it an especially weird listen at first, since the first two tracks ("I Should Live in Salt" and "Demons") have weird time signatures that make it hard to find a hook to hang on to. But once I got used to the weird time signatures, which lend an apt tension and anxiety to the songs, I got into the groove of the rest of the album. "Demons" features one of my favorite bits of quintessential The National humor: "When I walk into a room, I do not light it up. Fuck." The wry, weird humor of Berninger's lyrics is one of my favorite things about them, so I'm glad to see it on Trouble Will Find Me, an album that seems otherwise fixated on mortality and failed attempts at connection.
This album strikes me as somewhat slower and mellower than High Violet. There's the same attention to meticulous detail, with sonic landscapes built so exactingly that you don't even notice all their clever little moving parts until you listen closely. But the overall pace of the album feels slower and more subdued to me. The only really immediate rocker in the bunch is "Sea of Love," which I adore for its blunt instrument guitars and relentless propulsion. I think Berninger's lyrics have definitely improved though, striking an excellent balance between his usual strange opacity and succinct perfection. I love lines like the weary "Things are tougher than we are," from "Heavenfaced," and the wry and annoyed "God loves everybody, don't remind me," from "Graceless."
I've also grown increasingly fond of and impressed by the way Berninger's lyrics can quickly sketch out a vivid scene. It was evident on Boxer, like in "Ada" where one line like "Stand inside an empty tuxedo, with grapes in my mouth, waiting for Ada," built a whole scene, or in "Slow Show" where "Looking for somewhere to stand instead, I leaned on the wall, the wall leaned away," perfectly encapsulated that sense of jittery awkward anxiety you get at a party. (Also, I would like to note that I'm beginning to think Slow Show's "You know I dreamed about you, for 29 years before I saw you. You know I dreamed about you, I missed you for, for 29 years." is the most romantic goddamn lyric I have ever heard.) On Trouble Will Find Me, I think he's gotten even better at it, using a line like "Remember when you lost your shit and drove your car into the garden? You got out and said 'I'm sorry' to the vines and no one saw it," to encapsulate the shared stories of an entire relationship. Or a line like "I was a television version of a person with a broken heart," from "Pink Rabbits," which is just...seriously, so great.
What it all really comes down to though, is that Trouble Will Find Me makes me melt into a happy little pool of melancholy joy. I know it's kind of sadsack miserabilist music, but I just really love it so much. Matt Berninger's baritone is so lovely, the music so perfect, the lyrics so interesting and apt. I am an embarrassing fangirl for The National.
AWW13: The Year of Ancient Ghosts by Kim Wilkins
May. 22nd, 2013 03:19 am![[syndicated profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
stephaniegunn_feed
The Year of Ancient Ghosts is the first collection of stories by multiple award-winning Australian writer Kim Wilkins. Born in England, Kim Wilkins is the author of over 20 novels for readers of all ages. Her debut novel The Infernal won two Aurealis Awards. Her latest books, contemporary epic romances, are published under the pseudonym Kimberley Freeman, and include Lighthouse Bay and Wildflower Hill. Kim Wilkins is a four-times winner of the Aurealis Award, twice winner of the Sassy Award for popular fiction, and winner of the Romantic Book of the Year award. The book collects 5 novellas, comprising two written especially for this collection and 2 reprints and the first print publication of “Wild Dreams of Blood.
Kim Wilkins is one of the authors who has long been on my “automatically buy” list, so when Ticonderoga Press announced the publication of “The Year of Ancient Ghosts”, a collection of novellas and short stories, I happily pre-ordered the signed limited edition hardcover. As an aside, if you’re ever in the position where you’re trying to decide if Ticonderoga’s limited editions are worth the money, they absolutely are. They are absolutely beautiful books.
This collection is filled with vibrant, beautiful prose which highlights Wilkins’ expertise in the medieval period. In all of the stories, fantasy blends seamlessly with reality, to the point where it is difficult sometimes to tell which elements are fantastical and which are historical.
The collection opens with the titular “The Year of Ancient Ghosts”, original to this collection, in which Jenny, unable to live by the side of her husband Lachlan, comatose after an accident, brings her two-year-old daughter Mary to the Orkney Islands, a trip that had been planned in order for Lachlan to write a book there. The ancient atmosphere of the Orkneys is vividly captured, along with the magic and mystery of the place. Gripping and emotional from start to finish.
“The Crown of Rowan” is an fantasy piece, reprinted here, set in a fantasy version of eight-century England. Told from the perspective of Rose, wife of one of the kings of Thyrsland, this story, for me, doesn’t quite hit the mark emotionally. In the afterward, Wilkins states that this story is a prequel to a fantasy epic in progress, and the worldbuilding in this indicates that the novel could be something really special.
“Wild Dreams of Blood”, also a reprint, intertwines the life of a modern-day woman, Sara (named in memory of Sara Douglass, a fact which brought a tear to my eye when I read the afterward), with Norse mythology. Wilkins renders Sara, and her violent tendencies and strength, so vividly that the appearance of a Norse god feels just as real. One of my favourites from this collection.
“Dindrana’s Lover” is another reprint, slightly reworked, in the Arthurian mythos, telling the story of Percival’s sister, and what happens to her after she is left in a sinister castle by her brother and Galahad. Dindrana herself lives and breathes, bringing real life to her tragic story. Creepy, gorgeous and heartwrenching.
The last story in the collection is the original “The Lark and the River”, which juxtaposes Christian mythology with the pagan/heathen worship which Christianity replaced. There is a real reverence for both kinds of religion in this piece, and Wilkins’ beautiful prose highlights the emotion of the protagonist Merewyn as she confronts her fate.
Overall, this is a collection well worth owning, even if you own the books in which the reprinted stories first appeared. “The Year of Ancient Ghosts” alone is worth the price of the book, I think. If you’re a fan of Wilkins, then buying this one is going to be a no brainer. And if you’ve never read her before, this could be a very good place to start.
AWW13: The Year of Ancient Ghosts by Kim Wilkins
May. 22nd, 2013 11:19 amazhure
The Year of Ancient Ghosts is the first collection of stories by multiple award-winning Australian writer Kim Wilkins. Born in England, Kim Wilkins is the author of over 20 novels for readers of all ages. Her debut novel The Infernal won two Aurealis Awards. Her latest books, contemporary epic romances, are published under the pseudonym Kimberley Freeman, and include Lighthouse Bay and Wildflower Hill. Kim Wilkins is a four-times winner of the Aurealis Award, twice winner of the Sassy Award for popular fiction, and winner of the Romantic Book of the Year award. The book collects 5 novellas, comprising two written especially for this collection and 2 reprints and the first print publication of “Wild Dreams of Blood.
Kim Wilkins is one of the authors who has long been on my “automatically buy” list, so when Ticonderoga Press announced the publication of “The Year of Ancient Ghosts”, a collection of novellas and short stories, I happily pre-ordered the signed limited edition hardcover. As an aside, if you’re ever in the position where you’re trying to decide if Ticonderoga’s limited editions are worth the money, they absolutely are. They are absolutely beautiful books.
This collection is filled with vibrant, beautiful prose which highlights Wilkins’ expertise in the medieval period. In all of the stories, fantasy blends seamlessly with reality, to the point where it is difficult sometimes to tell which elements are fantastical and which are historical.
The collection opens with the titular “The Year of Ancient Ghosts”, original to this collection, in which Jenny, unable to live by the side of her husband Lachlan, comatose after an accident, brings her two-year-old daughter Mary to the Orkney Islands, a trip that had been planned in order for Lachlan to write a book there. The ancient atmosphere of the Orkneys is vividly captured, along with the magic and mystery of the place. Gripping and emotional from start to finish.
“The Crown of Rowan” is an fantasy piece, reprinted here, set in a fantasy version of eight-century England. Told from the perspective of Rose, wife of one of the kings of Thyrsland, this story, for me, doesn’t quite hit the mark emotionally. In the afterward, Wilkins states that this story is a prequel to a fantasy epic in progress, and the worldbuilding in this indicates that the novel could be something really special.
“Wild Dreams of Blood”, also a reprint, intertwines the life of a modern-day woman, Sara (named in memory of Sara Douglass, a fact which brought a tear to my eye when I read the afterward), with Norse mythology. Wilkins renders Sara, and her violent tendencies and strength, so vividly that the appearance of a Norse god feels just as real. One of my favourites from this collection.
“Dindrana’s Lover” is another reprint, slightly reworked, in the Arthurian mythos, telling the story of Percival’s sister, and what happens to her after she is left in a sinister castle by her brother and Galahad. Dindrana herself lives and breathes, bringing real life to her tragic story. Creepy, gorgeous and heartwrenching.
The last story in the collection is the original “The Lark and the River”, which juxtaposes Christian mythology with the pagan/heathen worship which Christianity replaced. There is a real reverence for both kinds of religion in this piece, and Wilkins’ beautiful prose highlights the emotion of the protagonist Merewyn as she confronts her fate.
Overall, this is a collection well worth owning, even if you own the books in which the reprinted stories first appeared. “The Year of Ancient Ghosts” alone is worth the price of the book, I think. If you’re a fan of Wilkins, then buying this one is going to be a no brainer. And if you’ve never read her before, this could be a very good place to start.
Mirrored from Stephanie Gunn.
The Llama Problem
May. 21st, 2013 04:49 pmysabetwordsmithFrom time to time, I mention that I am different from most people, that my mind doesn't work the same way. And one of the more dramatic examples goes like this.
*movie with cannibalistic scaly llamas*
Me: "This is stupid. Llamas are fluffy."
Normal person: "No they aren't."
Me: "There is a fluffy llama. Look, llamas are fluffy."
Normal person: "WTF? Everyone knows llamas aren't fluffy!"
Me: "Also they hum."
Normal person: "How would you EVEN KNOW THAT?"
Me: "By knowing some damn llamas!"
Normal person: "ZOMGWTFBBQ! Shut up now!"
Me: *write fluffy llamas*
I'm social teflon. Everyone saying something that is observably false does not convince me that they are right. It convinces me that everyone else is crazy. And of course, they think I'm the crazy one, because when there's a disagreement of claims, I go looking for evidence and I favor factual examples over people's beliefs. This is really, really unpopular. It drives many people bugfuck.
On the other hoof, it's great for crowdfunding. You want some fluffy llamas? Bring 'em. I'll write something. I'm really good at filling cultural gaps that way. I enjoy it. I actively look for this stuff, because it leads to stories that haven't been told a million times. Fresh stories are often better stories; they hook readers more and harder. I like that a lot. I like it as a reader, a writer, a reviewer, an editor, a prompter, a donor ... everything. I just like it.
And yes, real llamas do hum. I learned this at the county fair one year when somebody brought llamas. Because I am a writer and everything is research it never really shuts off. I am a fountain of random weird trivia like that, and that's where I get the cool concrete details that I drop into my writing.
New Crowdfunding Project: "Rite of Passage"
May. 21st, 2013 04:26 pmysabetwordsmithSteampunk: it's not just for white blokes anymore. I am so thrilled to see someone else working that angle.
Read "The Museum of Mortality"
May. 21st, 2013 04:12 pmysabetwordsmithBrelig works in a museum while recovering from a sea monster fight.
Brelig works hard to regain his stamina for warsailor work.
This is a sequel to "Without Fail" so if you haven't already read that, I recommend starting there.
Warsailor Brelig meets License Master Alaaffi on a cruise ship.
asking for advice
May. 21st, 2013 02:02 pmbrushwolfThe question I'm afraid of being asked is about my prior temporary work - I've done a lot of temp work, so was that intentional? I'm afraid that either answer I could give might suggest I'm a flaky person (wanting to work temp jobs could suggest that I just have no commitment and will jump ship whenever, wanting to go permanent but not going permanent might imply I'm not worth hiring on a permanent basis).
What do you think I should say if I run into that question?
Thanks!
CFC Recent Projects of Interest?
May. 21st, 2013 02:41 pmysabetwordsmith posting in ![[community profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
crowdfundingWhat do you want that you haven't been seeing, or would like to see more of? Do you have ideas that you want to prompt, but aren't sure what creator would be a good match for them?
Mass Effect Footage: Opinions Sought?
May. 21st, 2013 05:23 pmbeccatoriaMan, I have been busy. VIDUKON! In general I'm glad to say that I think most people had a good time, and hopefully the few things that did not go, err, smoothly, will be worked out at future cons, since people did seem keen to have another one. Which is aces! Also it really was awesome to get to meet a bunch of people for the first time, and to see a bunch of others returning - it started to feel...familiar, like a reunion, and that was nice.
Hopefully in the next few days I'll actually get together a bunch of recs and perhaps a slightly longer report on things.
But for now, because I am impulsive and stressed and realised (a) I have slightly more money than I thought this month and (b) you can, actually, buy a small HDTV for less than a hundred quid these days, I am...somewhat seriously considering getting one and then capping my own Mass Effect footage. So far I've been using generic walkthroughs from YouTube, which are fine as far as they go. Problem is not everything is easily available, and bluntly, I end up manufacturing a bunch of it myself with masking different sources together and it's sort of a nightmare. And I would like to be able to just...clip myself a standard library with all the major variations.
I mean, it's a stupidly huge undertaking either way. But.
HYPOTHETICALLY. IF I DID IT. Here is my dilemma:
What Shepard do I use?
No, no, of COURSE I mean Femshep, but what I mean is. I've been using what is, essentially, an amalgamation of the two default Femsheps throughout the series because it's generic enough it was easier to source footage and I didn't feel like I was ripping off anyone's custom Shep.
I also don't want to use either of my Sheps because, well, I don't particularly think I'll be vidding their journeys?
But I guess I have residual bitterness from that stupid competition they ran for the ME3 default face when of COURSE the generic blonde, white chick won. (And then they didn't even stick with that because they went back to the red hair which if they had to change the default model part way through at least they stuck with that much. *sigh*)
But on the other other hand, I do think there's something useful about using a character model that is as close to the "default" version as possible. We all have our custom Sheps, but we also all recognise Sheploo (man I hate that name, makes me giggle EVERY time) and a shaggy-haired redhead as "Shepard" too.
Especially the few vids I have actively planned, I kind of...don't want to necessarily read as though they're the adventures of someone's personal Shepard, but rather explorations of her as an archetype.
Which in turn brings us back to the unavoidable fact that the fact "default" Shepard is a white dude is all kinds of ist, and making her a chick only solves one of them. :/
I'm kind of leaning towards keeping the model I've used for my previous vids for consistency and because she's more recognisable. And that iconicness is actually pretty important to me. I want to vid...varying versions of the pop culture icon, not my game's playthrough. So, you know, I kind of want to stick with the Default (or as close as possible with Femshep since they kept changing it).
But I'm not totally comfortable with the way I'm leaning. Cus there's no avoiding the underlying reasons for how the default looks. Should I just jailbreak this thing and make an awesome new Femshep for vids purposes (including possibly remastering Machine into higher quality)?
EITHER WAY THIS WILL PROBABLY TAKE YEARS. o.O
[ETA! I should also say, if I do this, I would totally be willing to share footage with any other fine folks who wished to vid ME...]