The Prometheus dvd is out in my part of the world, and so I rewatched the film plus the cut and alternate scenes on said dvd. ( Some spoilery thoughts. )

I must admit I'm starting to get quite anticipatory for Prometheus. At first I was spectical, because our man Ridley is a hit and miss kind of director: meaning that for every Blade Runner and Thelma and Louise, there's a G.I. Jane and Kingdom of Heaven. He always delivers on the visuals, and I happen to prefer Alien over James Cameron's Aliens, but as I said: it's a gamble. Though the trailer was admittedly very tasty. Then I read that Damon Lindelof wrote the script, and now I'm really intrigued. Speaking as someone who watched Lost all the way and for all the ups and downs never failed to find it interesting. (Well, except for the episode about the origin of Jack's tattoo in season 3.) (Sidenote: I always find it irritating when Lost is seen as J.J. Abrams' baby, because as far as I can tell, Abrams never had anything to do with it anymore after setting up the pilot and some initial few things, whereas Lindelof was the showrunner through out, so both credit and blame should be laid at his doorstep.) And Lindelof certainly can write mythic, mysterious and deliver interesting ensembles. As long as there's no love triangle involved, and he gets to play to his strengths (especially with ambiguous characters and ones that prove nice and kind by no means equal dull - hello, Hurley!

And speaking of the joys and terrors of anticipation, does anyone know whether there are any news on the proposed American Gods tv series? Because that will be to me what Game of Thrones is to, well, GoT fans. I recently reread the book, and decided that of Gaiman's non-comicbook writings, tv episodes excluded, I still love this novel best. The Graveyard Book immediately after, but American Gods first among the novels. Back in the day I came to it straight from Sandman, and I used to wonder whether that was the reason, because there are obvious world building similarities - the premise that all gods of every religion exist, came into being because of the faith of various people and fade away as the belief in them fades so they have to take up a variety of crumy (or not so crummy) jobs to still access emotions and survive, plus Gaiman's interpretation of various deities in Sandman (primarily Odin and Loki, but also Bastet on the Egyptian side) is very similar-down-to-identical to the one he gives in American Gods. And let me tell you, these are by far my favourite interpretations of said Norse deities, especially of Odin. (Back when I started to read Marvel comics, I felt terribly let down, which was fortunate because by the time Thor the film came along I had learned to completely dissassociate the Marvel characters from the myth characters and for the most part, certain issues aside, could enjoy the Marvel versions on their own merits without expecting them to be like the beings of Norse myths.) Mr. Wednesday is such a marvellous character/interpretation of Odin, manipulative, ambigous-to-downright-villainous and yet incredibly compelling, and when Shadow at the end after having figured out Wednesday's scheme(s) and what Wednesday did still admits he misses him, without the narrative excusing Wednesday, it captures the effect on this particular reader precisely.

But ten years later, and so many other books later, American Gods still hasn't dated for me. ( Lots of book spoilers follow. )

I have the feeling I did this once before, but no time to check, plus what the hell, it's always fun to rave about the women. Qualification: I'm choosing to interpret as referring to females who can do the kicking of the aforementioned backside both literally and figuratively. So ladies who could rule the universe by force of personality, cleverness and manipulative skills like Laura Roslin or Livia Drusilla won't show up; they're in a class of their own.

1) Abigail Brand (originally Astonishing X-Men, now Marvelverse at large). See icon. Green-haired, tough, abrasive, willing to put her life on the line along with everyone else's, with a gift for sarcasm and (so far) great taste in men. Has even mastered the art of admitting of having been wrong and drawing consequences, which is rare in ruthless types. I love her quite a lot.

2) River Song (Doctor Who). Was interesting in her first outing which due to timey-wimeyness was also her end, and became downright fascinating in the last season when we got to know her better; can wear space suits, uniform and evening wardrobe with the same aplomb and is played by the vibrant Alex Kingston. "Hello, Sweetie" will never sound the same again. :)

3.) Sarah Connor (The Sarah Connor Chronicles and the first two Terminator films). Transforming herself from hunted teenage waitress to warrior woman, Sarah picked up a lot of intimacy issues on the way, not to mention poetic if disturbing dreams. I love that she loves stories, which is rare in an action heroine, that she bonds with strangers but has difficulties with her nearest and dearest, and that she tries not just to win a fight but to do so without losing sight of what she fights for. Oh, Sarah.

4.) Ellen Ripley (Alien and subsequent sequels). Like Sarah, Ripley didn't start out as a warrior. She was the space equivalent of a trucker, and one of several reasons why I'm in the minority who prefers Alien over Aliens is that the crew of the Nostromo strikes me as much more real - they aren't marines who banter in movie speak, they are people doing their jobs who have been together far too long. (Also, more British actors.) And it's far from obvious or signaled that Ripley will be the one to survive. But survive she does, and while her life becomes one out of time nightmare in which she keeps being reborn, she never loses her humanity. I ♥ Ripley.

5.) Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess). Actually, most of the women of that show, but Xena is in a class of her own. Cheerfully anachronistic as her show was, she did the dark-haired brooding former villain seeking redemption stick before Angel and various imitations of same, and she did it (more often than not) better. Lucy Lawless gave her a fierce joy in fighting that ex-villains not often get to display, a deadpan sense of humour and a confident sexuality.

It's that time of year coming closer again; the Multiverse ficathon results. Ever since andrastewhite and iamsab started it in 2004, I've been enjoying reading and writing for this particular ficathon more than for any other. So, for new readers of my journal, or for those who have discovered new sci fi fandoms since the last time I raved about this, what is the Multiverse ficathon? One devoted to sci-fi crossovers. You can find the results of past years here:

Multiverse 2004

Multiverse 2005

Multiverse 2006


Crossovers are a particular art form in fanfiction. There are so many ways they can go wrong - too much exposition, for example, i.e. characters from one universe tell characters from another their basic backgrounds in a terribly clumsy way ("Hi, I'm Captain Kirk, my ship is the Enterprise, my best friends are, and did I mention I had an illegitimate son who died?"), or conversely, characters from one universe behave as if they already know the character from another as well as the author and the fans do. And then there is the question of tone, of atmosphere; many fictional universes are very specific there, so which ones to match? Stories who manage to get characters from two universes right, and do tell their tale in a way that makes equal sense to readers who know both universes, or know just one of them, are all the more amazing.

Here are some of my favourites from the last years:

Home from the Sea: a Star Wars/Star Trek crossover which is a wonderful and heartbreaking portrait of Leia.

Pieces of the Dead: Farscape/Babylon 5, an encounter between Stark and G'Kar and Lyta on their travels. It answers a question in FS canon the show never did and offers fantastic characterisation for all three participants.

That Magical Sum We Were: Battlestar Galactica/Dr. Who - Laura Roslin and the Doctor. Lyrical and haunting.

Outside In: Alien/Dr. Who: the Ninth Doctor and Ripley - Ripley8, that is, from Alien: Resurrection. It's gut-wrenching and won't leave you for a good long while.

Catch a Tiger by the Tail : Farscape/Battlestar Galactica: Harvey and Head!Six, the encounter that had to happen, and is made of pure awesome.

Travel Light: Dr. Who/Farscape: my very favourite Doctor/Companion team, the Seventh Doctor and Ace, encounter Moya, Moya's Pilot and Stark. This, incidentally, is one of those crossovers who pull of the magical trick of working even if you don't know one of the canons in question - if you're, say, a DW only fan, then regard Stark & Co. as the guest star, about whom you find out exactly as much as a DW episode offers about its guest stars as well - and if you do know both canons, then you find it doubly layered.

Take care of yourself for me: Firefly/Babylon 5: River finds another woman who's been experiment on. The River pov is poetic and crazy and scary and intense, just as River should be, and I love it to bits.

Where the stars are strange: Star Wars/Farscape: Yoda and Rygel, and no, this is anything but crack fic. I love it.

There and back again: Stargate/Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Sam Carter goes through another wormhole and meets Jadzia Dax. It's that rarity, a story meshing plot, character exploration, and a completely believable pairing. Bonus points for a nod towards My Darling Quark and his not so secret Jadzia love.

Playing Poster Child: Farscape/Babylon 5: Zhaan and G'Kar are both characters who in their respective shows went through epiphanies. But this story presents them long before they reached this point, when they're still raw with anger, and it's fascinating and compelling to read.

Displaced Persons: Blake's 7/Farscape: Kerr Avon, meet Scorpius. It's terse, laconic, full of one liners as you expect with these characters, and the punchline is one of the best ever.

Crosses and Naughts: Firefly/Farscape: Mal Reynolds lost nearly everything (again); so has Aeryn Sun. Still the best Mal and the best Aeryn characterisation I saw in fanfic, imo as always.

Now: just one more week or so before Multiverse 2007!


In other news: it's always good when other fans write rants you don't have to: go read this excellent post on JKR and the sense of fannish entitlement. What she said.

1) Right now, what do you feel are the 1, 2 or 3 best stories you've written since becoming/admitting you're a fanfic writer? What was it about that/those stories that really made you proud, or thrilled you about them?

Hmmmm. Tricky. Okay, here are the three that come to mind right now.

The Burying Kind: an Angel the Series/ Six Feet Under crossover, based on an idea of kangeiko's, which was: Angel picks Fisher & Sons to bury Cordelia. (Though to make it fit date-wise, it had to be Fisher & Diaz.) Writing a crossover is always a particular challenge: not only do you want to make two universes which each have their distinct style and atmosphere gell, but you also don't want to overdo the exposition, i.e. tell readers what a part of them know anyway. (Ala "Angel is a vampire with a soul. Listen to this brief summary of his history on two shows. Also, the Fisher brothers have lots of issues. Here's David's backstory, here is Nate's.") On the other hand, you can't count on all readers to know both fandoms; on the contrary, chances are, in this particular case, that the majority is familiar with the Jossverse but not with Six Feet Under, and you want them to enjoy the story, too.

Then there is the ensemble question. Both shows are ensemble shows. Which characters to use, which make sense, which ones don't? For example, this story is set in s5 of Angel, post-You're Welcome (well, duh), and in middle to late s4 of Six Feet Under. As it revolves around Cordelia's burial, I knew I'd want at least some of the Sunnydale gang to come as well, which made it in fact a triple crossover. But I really did not want to write a reunion between Buffy and Spike, because that would have been distracting from the main story, and all the issues which such a reunion would have to raise could not done justice to in a short scene or two anyway. So, given that Spike has several things to sort out at the end of You're Welcome and does not show up again at Angel's until the end of Why We Fight, I decided it was ic to declare he went by his lonesome for a few days (which would conveniently cover Cordelia's burial) and would not return until Buffy & Co. were gone again. (likeadeuce and I have decided by now that Spike met up with Billy and Brenda, aka the two main Six Feet Under characters I didn't use, and had some crazy nights.*g*) So far, so good. But of course there was the other vampire/Buffy combination. Angel and Buffy also had several things to sort out, which would distract from the main story, etc. The solution I came up here for was that I did Angel's pov early on, before the arrival of the Sunnydale gang, and wrote the burial itself from Xander's pov, and Xander would be focused on Cordelia, not on whatever Angel and Buffy had to say to each other, if they did.

After that was sorted out, I started writing, and it turned out to be the story with the most points of view I ever did in fanfic. But they did fit together, I felt - still feel - I did justice to the characters I chose, and managed to get the mixture of comedy and tragedy which is inherent in both shows across. As love declarations to fictional universes go, this one still makes me very happy.


Five Things Which Never Happened Between Kira and Dukat, a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine story. iamsab, bless her, dared me to write Kira/Dukat. Which, despite the chemistry on screen, has obvious obstacles in canon, even with pre-“Waltz” Dukat. However, I saw it as a challenge – would it be possible to explore that particular relationship, and not necessarily just in a sexual sense, without changing Kira into a Harlequin heroine or changing Dukat into a whitewashed Knight? Then I recalled the “Five Things Which Never Happened...” format which I have used before, in another fandom, and suddenly everything clicked. In a rather dark way. The result, I think, presents both Kira and Dukat in a three dimensional way, and does justice to their other relationships as well.


Lost in Translation, a Babylon 5 story. This one owes its existence to andrastewhite's ficlet War Stories, a "missing scene" from the B5 pilot The Gathering, in which G'Kar blackmails Londo with evidence of war crimes Londo's grandfather committed. Simultanously, I talked with iamsab about Londo speaking Narn. This had me thinking, and going to vacation - on St. Maurice, among other places, where there were stories about slaves fleeing to the top of a mountain - and the result was a story set in Londo's childhood, which is simultanously an attempt to say something about occupations and relationships between occupiers and their "subjects" in general which asked me to be written at once, though my laptop wasn't with me. So I wrote it down on borrowed paper. It felt that urgent. It still does, to me, and that's why I'm proud of it.


2) What Professional writer (that is, paid author) would you love to see write a fanfiction story? What ship or fandom? Tell me a little about it.

I'd love to see Sharon (Kay) Penman having a go at Alias, specifically the Spy Family and Uncle Arvin. She is great with twisted family relationships, torn loyalties, and given what she did with Davydd ap Gruffyd and his relationship with his brother Lwellelyn, in "The Reckoning" or John and his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and his daughter Joanna, in "Here Be Dragons", she'd be great with Arvin Sloane and Jack Bristow, or Jack and Sydney, or Arvin and Sydney, and of course Irina and all of them.



3) What show/cartoon/kid's book from your childhood would you be amused to see in fanfiction? Would you consider writing one for this early love?

Not exactly a kid's book, but in fact the first one I've read: Winnetou, by Karl May. (Aka the reason Germans will always sympathize with the Indians and never with the cowboys.) The slashers would go wild about Winnetou/Old Shatterhand, there'd be a tiny but distinctive Winnetou/Old Firehand competitive 'ship, everyone would bash Nscho-Tschi as a Mary Sue until as a backlash Nscho-Tschi/Old Shatterhand would emerge as a "we'll show you" het pairing, and of course there would be crazy Apache incest fic as well.

And no, I wouldn't.


4) Is there a fanfic of yours you'd like to see made into a Broadway show? Tell me about it!( "_____________: the Musical!")

Trio: The Musical, obviously.*g* I'd let have andrastewhite the royalties so she can come from Australia and visit me. Also, I bet the boys would be available and feel grateful to us, since Joss so cruelly excluded them from Once More, With Feeling.



5) Think about it--what could possibly be the WORST crossover out there? A story that Should Never Be Written? Hamtaro/V? Lost/Gilligan's Island? Come up with your most terrible pairing!

Trust me, someone, somewhere has written it: an Alien AU in which everyone is in High School, Ripley, the crew of the Nostromo, the marines from Aliens, the prisoners from A³, and the mercenaries from Alien Resurrection. And the Alien. And then a Firefly crossover, they meet Mal Reynolds, and Jayne looks at Ron Perlman's character and goes "hang on a minute..." while the Alien becames best friends with River.

Now I've rewatched Alien³ and Alien: Resurrection as well, or rather, watched the Special Editions for the first time. If I had to sum these films up in one sentence, I'd say "flawed but interesting". Certainly more original than the sequels in most other franchises.

( Ripley the Alien Slayer )

minum_calibre recced this wonderful story, which is so many things: a season 6 BTVS AU, and I usually don't go much for a AUs. This one does everything right, presenting alternatives that aren't just "fix-its" for things the author doesn't like in the canon but events which could have happened equally well. It's a story about Buffy and Faith, and Faith and Buffy, with the dynamic between them right, and neither of them bashed (nor is any other character); about Slayers and death and life as gifts.

In other news, the imcomparable Timov has arrived at theatrical_muse, and she and Londo already started with the snark. Now all that's missing is a G'Kar...

Several things on my friends list recent months, from the serious to the not so serious, made me rethink what TV (and some movies) offer us on alien sex loving the alien.

( Rambling on... )