ITPE 2019

Sunday, 29 September 2019 11:20 pm
ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)

Please no - bleak endings, extremely explicit gore/violence, AUs other than canon divergent



So the most important thing - I have very, very broad tastes in fic, and am very fond of all the fandoms I’ve asked for. I go more for a good story than for anything else; I’m going to dump a lot of information down here about my tastes and preferences to hopefully give you some ideas about where to start, but if you have a story in one of these fandoms that you love and have been dying to record, go for it. Odds are good that I’ll love it.


Some overall preferences - any rating, any pairing/moresome. Really. I am the *exact opposite* of an OTPer - I will read *any* pairing/+, and be sold (or not) by the story. I love stories that deal with non-monogamous relationships (in any form, sexual / romantic / intimate-platonic), especially if they actually deal with the complexities of having and maintaining multiple intimate relationships - they’re worthwhile, but not easy!


Speaking of sex, explicit is great! (Gen is also great. Really, I’m easy!) My biggest kink, narratively and sexually, is power exchange - sexual or not (see some of the Vorkosigan notes below…) - so most kink fic works for me. (And dub-con, as long as the narrative is aware of / acknowledges the consent problems, usually does too.) I generally prefer seriously explicit/kinky scenes to be M/M - I love (LOVE!) female-character centric stories and femslash, but explicit scenes with a cis-female character can be kind of hit-or-miss for me. (It has to do with dissonance against my own experience, so trans and GQ characters don’t tend to hit this particular block for me. Dominant male / submissive female often does, hard, in addition to coming weighted with a lot of sticky cultural baggage, so that’s usually a dynamic I avoid in fic.) This is absolutely not meant as a blanket “no explicit het/femslash” request, just that if you’re going for straight PWP, especially kinky, (which is great! Sometimes I just want to listen to ten minutes of hot sex scene) dudeslash is my preference.


Other general narrative and trope notes - I’m really, really into found-family, family of choice, and team-feels - and shipping-centric stories that acknowledge (or focus) on the people outside the main relationship. My sense of humor is a bit wonky, so straight-up comedy is a little hit-and-miss; things that are supposed to be funny don’t always strike me that way. Most tropes work for me in direct proportion to how well / thoughtfully they’re written - with the exception of BDSM-verse, which is a pretty bullet-proof win. My power-exchange kink...it’s a thing. I’m a queer woman and love stories that foreground queer experience - I’m just as fond of stories that address internalized and external homophobia/biphobia as stories where everyone is happily gay/bi/etc and no-one cares.


Fandom specific (in order of preference, if you’re looking for a general guide, but I LOVE THEM ALL!)


I'm also trying to flag a few of my favorite stories in each fandom, for a sense of my taste. Some are on my to-podfic list; on the off chance that I manage to record one before reveals and you've picked the same one, please know that I will be THRILLED to have another version that is not in my voice. (and I haven't managed to record anything but ITPE for several years, so it's a small chance.)


Nirvana in Fire: I fell into this fandom in December 2018 like falling off a cliff. Beautiful cinematography, ALLTHE LOYALTY KINK, and knives...yes please. This is a fandom where I am especially fond of canon-divergent AU's (yes, all the MCS survives stories, thank you) and un-fond of alternate-setting AU's.

A few stories I love -

Accustomed To Disguise - possibly my favorite MCS-survives. (Yes, there's already a podfic. I LOVE IT A LOT. If you gave me a re-pod, I would LOVE IT AS WELL.)

Accession - exactly the perfect balance of tear-my-heart-out and healing. Nominally a sequel, but this one stands independently, and isn't quite as sad as Inference

the mist that cloaks the river, the clouds that hide the stars No, for heaven's sake, I do not expect ANYONE to record me 176k, that's ludicris. This is a really great fic, though, and exactly what I do love in canon-divergent AUs.

Ever Onward - OK, so it's a WIP. However, with a very few exceptions each chapter is independent enough that you could pull out a chapter or three to record as a perfectly delightful and self-sufficient fanwork. (I am unabashedly passionate about Chapter 14…)


The Queen’s Thief - Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia are the two books of this series that I love with all my heart, so I tend to prefer fanworks that draw more on them than on the rest of the series - I have nothing against Costis/Kamut, but it’s not my main interest in this fandom. What I do love…


Worth No Less Than a Brother has probably the closest-to-canon voice I’ve read in a fic, and So Much Loyalty Stuff…

if you'll be my bodyguard Oh, Costis. And Thalia is the best sort of OC, who lets you poke the canon characters in interesting directions.

The Two Queens Did I mention I love outsider POV? And non-standard fic structure. The gods blessings on you if you try to tackle this one as a podfic, because I don’t know HOW, but I love it.


Machineries of Empire - I want there to be a LOT MORE FIC for this than there actually is, because it is one of my favorite reads of the last few years.

Fealty I do not love this fic entirely for the tag “not sitting on chairs properly is gay culture even in space” but wow is that a great tag. Khiruev’s arc in Raven Stratagem is my favorite part of a book I love a lot, and this is a great tag to it.

baubles of stolen kisses...I’m not sure I can explain what about this one I love, which I realize is not a lot of help, but it’s just odd and delightful

Raven in the Lean Seasons I love this for its voice, and as a particularly good set of missing scenes. Also, you may perhaps notice more Khiruev

Hell of a Spread Another story with a perfect narrative voice. I’m generally more interested in Cheris/Jedao and their allies, but this is pitch-perfect and just works for me.


Vorkosigan Saga - like much of the rest of this fandom, I’m more interested in stories set on Barrayar than in the wider galaxy. I’m fascinated by the older generation, particularly Piotr and Ezar’s history fighting the Cetagandans.

The World That You Need - am I cheating by listing a series, half of which has already been podficced? Probably, but I don’t care, because this is some of my favorite fic in any fandom.

reason free from passion A lot of Phylomithia’s fic scratches my id very nicely (...at least one has already been recorded for me for ITPE..) and which is my favorite changes on any given day...but I love this story intensely. (I also adore Black Ice, which is similar but shorter...)

Tonight Will Be Fine (For A While) Yes, OK, Piotr/Ezar is possibly my secret favorite ship in this whole fandom, and this is one of my favorite pieces about them. What I wouldn’t give to turn Lanna loose on giving me their whole messy history...but this will do. (and “Piotr Vorkosigan Will Overthrow Any Damn Emperor He Pleases” is another of my favorite tags on the Archive.



dear podficcer...

Saturday, 10 October 2015 01:52 am
ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
My first #ITPE - I’m very excited! 

(ETA 10/16/16 - now my second ITPE, but none of the below has changed...)

So the most important thing - I have very, very broad tastes in fic, and am very fond of all the fandoms I’ve asked for. I go more for a good story than for anything else; I’m going to dump a lot of information down here about my tastes and preferences to hopefully give you some ideas about where to start, but if you have a story in one of these fandoms that you love and have been dying to record, go for it. Odds are good that I’ll love it.
Read more... )

Podfic Bingo

Tuesday, 31 March 2015 07:26 pm
ailis_fictive: Podfic (podfic)
I should probably be tracking this here, shouldn't I?

Ailis_Fictive 's Podfic Bingo!









































Record in a New LocationCharacter Voices2+ Hours LongRead SadlyRecord Standing Up
Incorporate Sound EffectsUse a Speed EffectCrackMultiple POVs2nd POV
Random FicRead AnimatedlyFREE SPACEYuletideCollaborate with one or more podficcers
Character of ColorNon-English LanguageChild CharacterPoetryRead Loudly
Read with a SmileWild CardHarlequinRead While LaughingRead Quietly


An Experiment in Hedgehog Physics
- Crack, Random Fic, posted 3/31/15

ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
My entry for Bandom Big Bang Round 2 (podfic), posting after a lengthy battle with my conversion software...more notes to come tomorrow

Title: Want Need Have Series ("just off the key of reason" and coda "a little bit dirty")

Podficcer: Ailis_Fictive

Author: Arsenic (arsenicjade)

Band(s): My Chemical Romance, Fall out Boy

Pairing(s): Gerard Way/Pete Wentz, background Frank Iero/Mikey Way

Word Count: 23,075

Time: 3:07:13

Rating: NC-17/E

Warning(s): No required warnings apply. Author warns for BDSM (epilogue only) Reader would add that, while she doesn't consider it dub-con, the main story contains rough sex with elements of un-negotiated power exchange and some emotional manipulation. Complete version (Want Need Have) includes music before, after, and between sections - music-free mp3 versions of both stories are also linked below.

Summary:
Gerard is always the guy people want.
Complete mp3
Complete Podbook
Just Off The Key Of Reason (no music or cover art)
A Little Bit Dirty (no music or cover art)


Inspired Works

Lovely Fanart:

Several covers by[personal profile] akamine_chan

Fabulous Fanmix:

"Despite What You've Been Told" by [personal profile] dear_monday (and on 8tracks)

Podficcers notes will be linked later!
ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
I don't remember I time before I could write.

Oh, I remember learning the mechanism of forming letters just fine, but I was telling stories before that. The earliest piece that I know of, that I remember seeing when I was nine or ten (it may still exist, somewhere; I hope so) is a poem in my mother's handwriting. I think it was about winter, and I was two or three when I wrote it.
Cut becuse I am long-winded )

ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
If you're here, I hope you've read "The Wrong Ground to Hold" first; this really doesn't stand alone, and isn't designed to. (I also hope you've read the Author's Commentary for "The Wrong Ground To Hold", because I'm going to try not to repeat myself.)

Read more... )
ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
Title: Blood Yet Must Flow (on Ao3 here)
Author: [personal profile] ailis_fictive
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga/Barrayar
Rating: Teen
Wordcount:  1060
A/N:  A prequel of sorts to "The Wrong Ground To Hold"--a scene from the episode "Blood Yet Must Flow" from the (imaginary) TV show Barrayar.  Inspired by Barrayar Expects That Every Fan Will Do Their Duty: Excerpts From A Fandom by [archiveofourown.org profile] lannamichaels .  Author's commentary here.
Warnings: Implied recent torture and death, blood, non-explicit description of serious injury, a fair amount of swearing.

*     *     *
Read more... )
ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
This one...oh, dear.

This one takes a bit of explaining. And probably a disclaimer; this is not the sort of thing I usually write. Which is to say, please don't hang out here expecting a lot of explicit kink, because you won't get it--conversely, if this horrifies you, I promise you won't see much of it!

In which I babble at length... )
ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
This one...whoa.  I really don't know where this came from, except that I was reading some fic about Simon and Aral, around Escobar and after, and a few things that touched on the Aral/Ges relationship, and then I got the first line and the last line for this, and had to put together enough middle for them to fit around.

This was my first Simon PoV, and it's rather addictive; I'm working on a much longer piece.  I finally figured out that part of the reason Simon wants to be in present tense (I can write in past tense, truly I can!) is something to do with his chip-recall, and the fact that the past is as accessible as the present to him, and in much the same way.  Which is possibly my rationalization of the fact that I cannot write him in past tense.  Believe me, I have tried!  He's in such a neat--well, awful--position here, privileged and powerless.

The Ges/Aral relationship interests me, because it is so broken--and in such odd directions.  I'm not sure I could write much more of it than this--I can write broken, but I have trouble with monster.  I'd probably end up having to write an epic about why Ges ended up the way he did, and I don't want to give him that much head-space.  He's of interest to me mainly as he illuminates some of Aral's fracture-lines--which, of course, is what I'm playing with here.  I hope it's worked.

This piece was actually conceived as part of a thematic set--most of which has not yet been written, so I don't want to go into it too much.  Writerly superstition.  All the bits are self-contained ficlets, though, so you're not missing any context!

(timing notes, written early Oct '12, posted 12/5/12, author's commentary written in a haze of fatigue 12/5/12.)

eta: so far, these are going up without beta.  I welcome comments, and if anybody is interesting in beta-reading for me...the longer stuff I'm not going to post without at least one set of eyes on it that aren't mine.

ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
Title: Breathing (on Ao3 here)
Author: [personal profile] ailis_fictive
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga
Rating: Teen
Wordcount: 684
A/N: Warnings for Ges Vorrutyr being himself and Simon Illyan having to watch.  Inappropriate touch, nothing explicit.
Read more... )
ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
Still not a real post, just a few thoughts. (Note the length that my "few thoughts" tend to grow to; it's one of the reasons that "real posts" take a while to happen.)

I'm working on timeline for a story, and (working quickly from canon) appear to have constructed a year with at least fifteen months in it. Argh. (I can handwave Barrayaran year-lengths, but I was hoping not to have to. I wanted an easy answer to when in my story-timeline Alys gets pregnant, and when does she know she's pregnant, and then I realized the first autumn of the Regency is a very, very long season. Ack. I'm going to have to go back for a closer read, but I have to leave for my office Christmas party in an hour and I'm still mending the shirt I want to wear. This was not a cheap garment, but you wouldn't know it from the fastenings. I was *hoping* to have my timeline sorted so I could do some scene-building in my head during the boring speechifying.)

I have been reminded of late how much I love the passion--and the acceptance of passion, and the shared passion--in fandom. One of the other things I do is historical recreation, and I've always described that as the ur-hobby--whatever you want to do or study (that was done pre-1650), someone somewhere is going to be thrilled by your work, and/or be working on it or something similar. Fandom's great about that too, for finding the things you want and the things you didn't know you wanted. (two words: Draco/Neville)

I'm also learning things at a fairly appalling rate about myself and the stories I tell and the way I tell them and my writing. (My writing...! I *must* get the Big Intro up soon, as it's hard to talk about my headspace here without digressing madly into the history.) It's terribly reminiscent of being a teenager, as though the last 15 or 20 years have left me all of the baggage and none of the adult stability. It's...frankly terrifying. I would have a deeply non-standard not-quite-midlife not-really-a-crisis.

Any organism that is not growing is dying. I choose to be grateful that I am growing.
ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
This is not the Big Intro post. (I'm procrastinating.) This is Random Thoughts.

Speaking of procrastinating, I'm putting off finishing The Queen of Attolia because I don't want it to be done. And I'm kind of hating everyone I know who didn't sit me down and tell me to Read This Dammit. I've read three-volume epics that didn't pack as much Good Stuff in as this little 250-page YA book. I have The King of Attolia on a shelf looking reproachfully at me, and I'm almost scared to start it. For QoA I was rather thoroughly spoiled, and have actually read most of the rest of the pages, just not in order. (A book has to get me really worked up to make me do that...) For KoA...I know the basic plot-motif, but none of the actual plot or the end.

But what I actually wanted to say was...I came (finally) to this series after being reminded by a Vokosigan crossover. And in my head, the minister of war is Aral Vorkosigan. Just is. I've no idea what he's doing there, or, contrarily, how he ended up on Barrayar later, but...same person. (And now I really want Eddis and Gregor to sit down and have a natter. Though I'm not sure Gregor and Attolia would do as well. Or possibly they'd do even better, and I'm just scared to bend my brain that way.)

Second random thought of the day, pulled over from a comment else-journal and refined a bit. Even though I'm still not writing the essay. Though I may go hunt up some of the academic work out there on fanfiction.

One of the things I find really fascinating about fanfic is that we can tell the same story--not just the same core theme/idea ("becoming a parent changes your relationship with the future") but the same basic plot with the same characters ("Gregor learns the truth about the Escobar invasion")--in many different ways. It becomes a prism, light coming through in different ways, reflecting and refracting. As soon as I hit that image, though, I was reminded of the way I describe Criminal Minds--it's a fugue on certain themes, hung on an episodic crime drama. They repeat and reverse and refine a set of themes about good and evil, about survival and recovery. There's a little more variation in the actual storytelling but...not much. Now I wonder if *really good* episodic TV (and crime series, both TV and book, since they have *such* a defined structure) aren't doing something very close. Of course, any sufficiently large body of work by a single author will usually start to show something similar--we all have our elephants--but there is something different--and, I think, richer--about multiple people telling the same story.

I'm starting to get really interested in looking at the various fandoms I've read extensively in and brushed against, and figuring out what stories tend to...ah, develop the largest prism, and isn't that metaphor becoming unwieldy? But...there are stories that get told once or twice, and then there are the ones we converge on.

And I'm stopping now, or this will turn into that essay I'm not writing. Or possibly a thesis.

(and, post scriptum, if you happen on this or any post of mine months or years from when it's posted, feel free to comment anyway. I'm happy to get blast-from-the-past commentary!)
ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
So I've decided that I get to do an author's commentary post on anything I write, because otherwise I'll end up posting author's notes that are longer than the fics, and that's just tacky. Read or ignore at your whim; I do this as much for my own longer-term reference as to inform my Gentle Reader.

Take This Oath... )
ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
Title: Take This Oath
Author: [personal profile] ailis_fictive
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga
Rating: General
Wordcount: 403
A/N: Tip of the hat to [archiveofourown.org profile] lannamichaels for the title and header quote (which inspired this), from her lovely "In This Stranger World". The rest is all my fault. Author's commentary post here.

Take this oath... )
ailis_fictive: Ailis (Default)
This is the post with no content.

Well, no, clearly there's some content, or there's be nothing for you to see here, Gracious Reader. But it's not going the be the Big Intro Post...that's coming in a day or two, when it's written. And it's not going to be the First Fic...that I'll probably post tomorrow, when I'm awake enough to make sure that it goes up reasonably neatly.

But I wanted to post tonight, because I'm here. I'm writing again.

Hello, world.
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