purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Good Omens)
Q11. Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

I seem to get less shippier as I get older. At present I seem to read a lot of Yusuf/Nicolo from The Old Guard and Crowley/Aziraphale from Good Omens but that is probably more about the general trends of what gets written in those fandoms than any particular investment in the ships themselves.

Questions Under the Cut )
purplecat: A star shining on the edge of a planet. (General:Space)
Q10. Do you have a fandom that you follow - either regularly or casually - with little to no knowledge of canon?

Not exactly, but there are plenty of canon that straddle multiple media where I'll read stuff from the media strands I'm not familiar with. The MCU being a case in point - I've only read a handful of the relevant comics around 40 years ago, but I'll happily read stuff that is based not the comics if it has some kind of a link out to the MCU, so I can keep track.

That said, I've also enjoyed a lot of yuletide fic that has been recommended under "Canon knowledge not required", but Yuletide is a bit of a special case. I didn't read that paper about how to signpost sites of dangerous radioactive waste, but I enjoyed a lot of the fic that was written to that prompt. Ditto some of the fanfic for the NASA "Visions of the Future" posters - I mean these just generated some decent SF, really.

Perhaps more pertinently, I have not read, nor do I intend to read the Confessions of St. Augustine but I enjoyed:

The Very Secret Diaries of Saint Augustine (1185 words) by Jay Tryfanstone
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 4th & 5th Century RPF, Confessions - Saint Augustine
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Saint Augustine/OFC
Characters: Saint Augustine, Saint Jerome
Additional Tags: Very Secret Diary, Yuletide Treat, Yuletide 2012
Summary:

404
Correspondence Jerome continues. Infuriating. Do not understand why he does not see my point! Translation of "gourd" vital to understanding of gospels.

 



I did watch the Youtube vid after reading the drunk texts from an Octopus story:

Texts From Cephalopods (1547 words) by volta_arovet
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Octopus Steals My Video Camera and Swims off with It While It's Recording (Youtube)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Octopus/Squid
Characters: An Octopus, Squid
Additional Tags: Embedded Images
Summary:

It is a well-established fact in marine biology that the octopus is the drunk texter of the cephalopod family.



Does "super-borderline fandom refs used for Yuletide" count as a fandom?

Questions Under the Cut )
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (General:Writing)
Q9: What's the hardest thing about writing, and why are titles the Worst™?

Hmm... it depends upon the length of the story. Over about 20,000 words the hardest thing is keeping track of everything, making sure things happen in a sensible order, characters are visited regularly, no one spends three days walking from their front door to their kitchen, that sort of thing. I keep thinking I should try out something like Scrivener to see if that helps - though its a while since I wrote anything over about 5,000 words in length. I guess, below that length the hardest thing is probably making sure the story has a good strong focus.

Titles are either really easy and obvious or a real pain - just like writing a good summary/teaser for the start of the story is often surprisingly difficult. You'd think you would know why someone might enjoy your story and be able to set that out pithily, just as it ought to be straightforward to come up with a title that somehow reflected the story in a good way. I guess the answer here is that summaries are hard particularly when they need to entice someone to read more without mis-selling what the story is, and that sort of extends to titles only multiplied ten-fold.

Questions Under the Cut )
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Default)
Q8. Squicks - What are some things that squick you in fandom - not necessarily "icky", though it can be. From anything involving blood, to bad grammar.

I'm not keen on rape or torture in fic. I've seen it done well, but mostly it's a nope out for me. I'm also not keen on relationships with big power imbalances, though I'm not sure I'd call it a squick exactly, it's more something that annoys me if not treated thoughtfully in fic. I have a big embarrassment squick.

Questions Under the Cut )
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Sherlock)
Q7. What would make you leave a fandom, or prevent you from getting into it in the first place?

I feel one needs to define fandom first but I suppose I'll treat it as actually interacting with other fans in some way as opposed to reading fic/books/magazines/collecting stuff and so on.

I guess it would have to be small - Doctor Who fandom is so large that even if I'm frustrated with one bit of it, I can find another where I feel well-served (I mean, I'm barely aware of the "not my Doctor" crowd even though I gather there are a lot of them out there). So it would need to be a small fandom that had become super-fractious or "there is only one true way to appreciate this thing" or just odd in some other way and even then I'd probably read the fic - I mean I read a lot of Sherlock fic back in the day but engaged with the fandom only so far as to eat popcorn while things got ever stranger (and tbh, Sherlock fandom was large enough, I bet I could have found a not completely crazy bit of it if I'd gone looking).

Questions Under the Cut )
purplecat: The Tardis against a sunset (or possibly sunrise) (Doctor Who)
Q6: What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom? What fandom was it? Not necessarily your oldest fandom, but a fandom that you started and still continue to read/write/create content for in some way.

The answer here is mostly easy - Doctor Who. Though to be perfectly honest I think I was technically writing Star Wars fanfic (age about 6) and collecting those Star Wars cards, before I was doing anything particularly fannish about Doctor Who. But there's a point where fannishness merges back into simply being a child in the playground and I can barely recall a time when we didn't play both Doctor Who and Star Wars (and sometimes both at once, because why not?) regularly in the playground.

That said, my engagement with Star Wars these days is mostly through reading fic by [personal profile] thisbluespirit or [archiveofourown.org profile] rain_sleet_snow and I read it mostly because I like those authors not because I seek it out.

So, yes, Doctor Who, for, umm... going on 44 years?

Questions Under the Cut )
purplecat: Herne the Hunter from Robin of Sherwood (Robin of Sherwood)
Q5: What's a fandom that you wish had a bigger following?

Again I'm not sure I have an answer to this. I fish in a couple of smaller fandoms such as Sapphire and Steel and The Queen's Thief but I'm not sure either would be improved by being larger (I'm a book behind on The Queen's Thief anyway so definitely less is more there).

I'd like to see more Robin of Sherwood fic, I think. Sapphire and Steel has a steady stream of stuff being written for it, but Robin of Sherwood not so much, though it doesn't lend itself as well to short fic (or at least not to short fic that isn't just romance at some level) in the way Sapphire and Steel does.

Questions Under the Cut )
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Default)
Q4: What are the origins of your penname/username?

On DW - my daughter's favourite toy (depicted in the userpic). On LJ? Well I wasn't that familiar with the concept of pseudonymity when I signed up...

Questions Under the Cut )
purplecat: Publicity still of the Team from Series 1 Primeval. (Primeval:S1 Team)
Q3: You've got your OTP, you have to throw a third into the mix (from the same fandom), creating an OT3. Who is the OTP, and in your opinion, why would they make a perfect third for them?

Errr.... I'm not sure I really do OTPs but, for the sake of argument, let's pick Nick and Claudia from Primeval. I'd probably throw in Ryan since I've always thought Ryan/Claudia is a nice pairing and he'd be a good rock against Nick's more obvious foolishness.

Questions Under the Cut )
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Default)
Q2: Your newest fandom.

My newest fandom is probably The Old Guard but I'm not sure I'd describe myself as in the fandom as such. I've read quite a bit of fanfic - mostly trying to find historical case mission fic in amidst all the Yusuf/Nicolo AUs. But I've not really followed any comms or, I don't know, Tumblr tags and I've not commented much.

It was a cute movie though.

Questions Under the Cut )
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Default)
I've been seeing this popping up on my flist. [personal profile] trobadora seems to be the origin and I thought I might as well give it a go. The concept that I might actually answer a question a day for a month is frankly laughable, but presumably I can let it take longer. Anyway Q1 is: "What's changed about your fandom life in the last 365 days?".

To be honest, not a lot. There were some big changes a year or two back. Work got busier and fic writing took a nosedive. It's two years, I think, since I attempted Yuletide, and I only just staggered through Public Call and the Primeval Denial Secret Santa last year, though the fact that my father died shortly after sign-ups may have been a contributory factor there.

However, a year ago today, I was in the middle of the fall out from the first lockdown and, among other things, had stopped reading fic altogether. Since Christmas, I've been slowly getting back into it. At the moment I'm mostly reading my way through stuff posted last Autumn. I have hopes of catching up with saved fic around Christmas - but at least I'm reading again. I don't know about writing though. I'll definitely attempt Public Call again, apart from that we shall see - work is not going to be getting any less busy.



Questions Under the Cut )

Icons

Dec. 29th, 2017 04:41 pm
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Default)
The Rubric: Reply to this post with "PORGS!" and I will pick three of your icons for you to talk about in your own journal, and then keep the meme going by making this offer on your post.

Why PORGS I don't know, though as comical animals in the Star Wars universe go, there are worse offenders. Mind you, I like the ewoks so what do I know?

[personal profile] kayim gave me these three icons.

Stephen Hart from Primeval.  Behind him can vaguely be seen a shield and some indecipherable text with the heading Bodyguard

This is an icon of Stephen Hart from Primeval made by [profile] crazypandabear who used to make these wonderful icons in a style which, I confess, I spent several years unsuccessfully trying to emulate. She made just one batch of Primeval icons and I use and re-use several of them. As for Stephen himself, he's hugely popular in the fandom though not actually one of my personal favourite characters.

Naomi from The Expanse.  She is holding onto an upright beam or similar and there is writing superimposed suggesting equations of the motion of planets and orbits

This is Naomi from The Expanse by [profile] swanee. I like the show The Expanse a lot for its thoughtful approach to near future space opera, in fact I've started eyeing up the books it is based on and considering adding them to the endless "to read" pile. Oddly The Expanse feels sufficiently self-contained that I've not really been inspired to go seek out fanfic (and that doesn't seem to just be me - it didn't get any fics that I can find in this year's Yuletide despite being the sort of show you'd expect to be popular with Yuletiders).


The Tardis on green grass against a blue sky with the words Any Time Anywhere

I made this one myself. It is based on an icon I made in my early LJ days and then somehow lost, so I had to recreate it and, with more advanced iconing skills tweaked the colours a little. I don't "think" the caption is actually a quote though I was thinking at the time of, I think Paul Magrs' comment, that the Tardis is really a magic door into different genres of storytelling and while "Any Time Anywhere" can just as easily refer to its in-show function as a time and space machine, it sort of suggests to me the wider idea of the Tardis being the framing device that can lead you into any kind of story.
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (roleplaying)
Via [livejournal.com profile] philmophlegm. Very bizarre, am I very, very certain that I'm not an Elf. I definitely put "Very Short" when it asked me my height.

I Am A: Lawful Good Elf Wizard/Sorcerer (3rd/3rd Level)


Ability Scores:

Strength-11

Dexterity-14

Constitution-13

Intelligence-16

Wisdom-10

Charisma-11


Alignment:
Lawful Good A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion. However, lawful good can be a dangerous alignment when it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.


Race:
Elves are known for their poetry, song, and magical arts, but when danger threatens they show great skill with weapons and strategy. Elves can live to be over 700 years old and, by human standards, are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. Elves are slim and stand 4.5 to 5.5 feet tall. They have no facial or body hair, prefer comfortable clothes, and possess unearthly grace. Many others races find them hauntingly beautiful.


Primary Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.


Secondary Class:
Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast.


Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Memeage

Aug. 4th, 2016 10:15 am
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Default)
I was tagged by [livejournal.com profile] philmophlegm, but won't be tagging anyone since I get the impression that's not popular on my flist. However, feel free to consider yourself tagged if you wish.

44 Questions under the Cut )
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Default)
So there is an AFI 100 greatest movies meme doing the rounds (you know the "bold those you've seen" type). Anyway this is on the list and I realised that the sum total of my memories of the movie are:

a) It has donkeys in it
b) And possibly people undone by their own greed
c) I think I watched it in a Colorado motel room with [livejournal.com profile] adaese after (or possibly before) a somewhat tiresome search for somewhere to eat - given we were in Colarado and on foot.

I'm wondering if she recalls this at all, and if she remembers any more about the movie than I do!

Silly Meme

Dec. 5th, 2010 03:39 pm
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Default)
A. Turn on your MP3 player or music player on your computer.
B. Go to SHUFFLE songs mode.
C. Write down the first 15 songs that come up—song title and artist—NO editing/cheating.

And the Songs )

From which I think you can only conclude that I have a penchant for 80s pop and Classical Music.

This entry was originally posted at http://purplecat.dreamwidth.org/26935.html.

Silly Meme

Dec. 5th, 2010 03:39 pm
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Default)
A. Turn on your MP3 player or music player on your computer.
B. Go to SHUFFLE songs mode.
C. Write down the first 15 songs that come up—song title and artist—NO editing/cheating.

And the Songs )

From which I think you can only conclude that I have a penchant for 80s pop and Classical Music.

15 Games

Oct. 14th, 2010 08:57 pm
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Default)
The rules: Don't take too long to think about it. 15 games you've played that will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends.

I got tagged on Facebook, as usual I'm not tagging, but feel free to consider yourself tagged if you so wish.

15 Games under the cut )

This entry was originally posted at http://purplecat.dreamwidth.org/22116.html.

15 Games

Oct. 14th, 2010 08:57 pm
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Default)
The rules: Don't take too long to think about it. 15 games you've played that will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends.

I got tagged on Facebook, as usual I'm not tagging, but feel free to consider yourself tagged if you so wish.

15 Games under the cut )
purplecat: Hand Drawn picture of a Toy Cat (Default)
THE RULES:
• Anyone who looks at this entry has to post this meme and their current wallpaper on their LiveJournal.*
• Explain in five sentences why.
• Don't change your wallpaper before doing this! The point is to see what you had on!

Picture under cut )

So that's me age, I think, about 4 or 5 and looking distinctly glum. I've done this meme before and explained my desktop gets picked at random from a big folder full of stuff. Said stuff includes a lot of pictures extracted from relatives' photo albums and scanned into the machine in the name of genealogy. Hence gloomy childhood photo of me.

*Assume less dictatorial tone than in the wording of the meme.

This entry was originally posted at http://purplecat.dreamwidth.org/6729.html.

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