Fic recs, celebrity brushes, club_joss

[lunabee34]

1. Hubby's family is from Jackson, MS. We spent this Thanksgiving with them and the day before T-Day had dinner at Little Tokyo. Where we ran into Laurie Smith of "Trading Spaces" fame who mother-in-law is apparently acquainted with on first name basis.

2. Since my club_joss post got no love, I'll ask the same question again and more annoyingly. claireweasley, executrix, potential lurkery type peoples--Are you interested in participating in a book club type community for fanfic? If not, do you think other people in the Firefly fandom would be? It would not be a stretch of the imagination to amend club_joss to include Firefly.

3. Fic recs

BtVS/Ats fic recs

http://www.livejournal.com/users/wisdomeagle/497292.html?mode=reply "The Five Games you Play in Heaven" by wisdomeagle Features the afterlives of a variety of characters (mostly minor characters) All pairings are het or femslash. This is just a damn good read. "Great! So, we're dead, we're lost, and we're bored out of our skulls." Cordelia pouted fiercely, then suddenly smiled in a way that Wesley hadn't seen in years. "We should totally play a game to pass the time." "Have you got Scrabble?" Wesley asked, only half-joking. Cordelia dismissed him with a wave. "Pshaw. Like I'd subject myself to the geekdom of word games. We'll play cliff-shag-marry. You first. Angel, Spike, Gunn." She grinned wickedly.

http://www.angelfire.com/vamp/swordandstake/in_search_of_spike.htm "In Search of Spike" by spikendru This is just brilliant. Like, I wish I'd written it brilliant. It's composed almost entirely of emails and consists of Lydia Chalmers's search for Spike after she survives the destruction of Council Headquarters. A must read.

http://www.speaker-to-customers.me.uk/buffyverse/iwm1.htm "I was made for loving you baby" by speakr2customrs This is a fic about the Buffybot. It is a glorious, funny, tragic, SMART piece in which the Bot becomes self aware. Read it for the sci-fi/pop culture references alone. Then read it for this beautiful, fragile being struggling to discover an identity. This is a WIP, but read it anyway. Even if it's never again updated, this is so worth it. (Don't be discouraged if in the first chapter or two, the voices outside the Bot's are a little stilted. That normalizes. And anyway, the Bot's the important character anyway, and she's so interesting here.)



One lone Firefly rec

http://www.livejournal.com/users/executrix/223298.html#cutid1 "Five Things that Never Happened to Kaywinnet Lee Frye" by executrix My nasty and sadistic has rubbed off on Exec. These short vignettes will truly blow your mind. These are shockingly and discomfittingly plausible. One in particular is the most Jossian thing I think I've ever read. Even more so than The Man himself. A must read.

Comments

[executrix.livejournal.com]

1. Thank you for the shout-out!
2. And thanks so much for pointing me at the wisdomeagle story, which I adore and wouldn't have found without you. (And I bet Roland Headley's British counterpart is called Cliff Shag-Marry.)
3. Yo, calling it club_joss sounds to me like you had plans for future expansion. But it's not really my kind of thing. One of the salient characteristics of book clubs is that even if still above-ground, the author *isn't there in the room*. And since I can't take it, I don't dish it out. And in fandom, although not in life, I'm pretty good at being able to appreciate whatever nugget of goodness is found in a story. No matter how deep I have to dig--it could be too much of the wrong kind of fun to tell the writer just how far I *had* to dig.
I even have some reservations about fandom awards, but I can fanwank it that they're a positive expression of appreciation for things that are loved rather than a putdown of things that didn't make the grade.
However, there is definitely an interest in using literary critical tools for fanfic. I'd say the best way to assess interest would be a Cortex post.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

It would appear that I had envisioned my future Firefly fanaticism. LOL

I totally get your reservations. However, if it changes your opinion, the author's permission is always asked first and the author is asked whether the discussion can include concrit or not. In about six months, we've never had a discussion that wasn't positive. And often the writer chooses to actually participate in the discussion, either asking or answering questions, which I think is neat. But if that does not change your opinion, cool beans. :)

Hmmmm......do you think they'd link it if I asked?

[executrix.livejournal.com]

lunabee34: oh, I'm so far up my own issues that I don't even have a beta, so I'm the last person to consult about criticism!

And that's a big dang ranh, goodbuddy. Because the_cortex isn't a whole heavily-modded, l33t kind of thing, it's supposed to link to as much of everything out there they can find. In the abstract, I appreciate what a good idea it is.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Well then. What I think I shall do is post something in firefly fanfic that's more carefully worded than what I've done here, and if they don't pick it up tomorrow, ask them to.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Except for that I'm gonna wait a few days as per below. LOL

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Hey, every Cortex post ends with "Obviously this isn't everything in fandom. If you have a tip or something you think we should keep a look out for, feel free to drop us a line at fireflynews[at]gmail[dot]com or leave us a comment." so I think you should totally hook them up.

Also, it would probably be a good idea to ask the current club_joss readership if they would mind having the span of the community expanded, 'cause if most of them would rather keep it just Buffy/Angel-verse then you should probably make a separate community for Firefly fic discussion.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

You're right. I should do that first. I'll wait a day or so then so as not to interfere with commentary on "Flight Pattern." People tend to stop commenting when I make a new post even though no discussion ever "closes." Although with comments being all wonky, bugger me if I'd KNOW if anybody commented on an old post. *kicks lj again*

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

People tend to stop commenting when I make a new post

Too true.

I always feel bad about not going back and commenting after I finally read a fic that was discussed in the comm -- or I feel bad about getting lazy and never reading a discussed fic that sounded interesting 'cause it was intimidatingly long or whatever.

[rayne-y-daze.livejournal.com]

These so rocked! I'm holding off on the Buffy-bot one only because I've been horrible at keeping up with WIP's, no matter how good they are. But OMG, the other two were so great, I can't wait till that one's done. Thanks for the recs!

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I don't know if the writer has any plans to finish or update the WIP. It's so hard to tell on fic sites because the fics usually lack posting dates. I hope he does finish it soon; I'm dying to see how it ends. I'm so glad you enjoyed the other recs, though.

[jjjean65.livejournal.com]

You know i lurk at club_joss, but I have no objections to it taking in all of Joss' creations. Bring on the Firefly!

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Woooooo hooooooo!

:)

[rayne-y-daze.livejournal.com]

I forgot to answer your question regarding Firefly fic. This is probably because I have no strong feelings one way or the other. I have not seen more than two eps of Firefly and haven't been able to make it to Serenity. (Yes, the rock I live under does have air conditionoing *g*) That said, I think it's a great idea to expand the horizons of club_joss if that's what you want to do.

I don't participate in every discussion, and my feelings won't be hurt if the discussion on some weeks centers around something I don't understand. I'll either lurk and learn or wait for the next reading assignment. I've friended lots of people who write fics that don't always fit with my fandom, tastes or OTP (okay, so I'm extra bendy on OTP). No reason I should expect an entire community to cater strictly to what I like... :-)

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Oh you darling! And you read all my Firefly fic even so. *twirls you*

And thanks for your opinion on club_joss. I'm kinda hoping that's the way the rest of the comm feels too.

[phenway.livejournal.com]

If I could get Tom into LJ, I'm sure he'd love the Firefly fic. He's nutty for that show. Even sings the theme song regularly. Yikes.

Is Laurie Smith as perky and bubbly in person as she seems on TV?

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Ha ha. Emma knows all the words to the song too. It's very cute when she sings it. Well Tom is welcome if the comm goes that way. And if it doesn't, I do have a rather large list of fic recs that I'd be happy to pass his way if you think he'd enjoy them.

Laurie was actually pretty quiet. We saw them as she and her husband(?) were leaving the restaurant. She spoke briefly to Margaret along the lines of, "Hey, how are you?" and then they were gone. She's very beautiful in person though. Her hair is more glorious.

re celebrity brushes etc

[kaleecat]

(i'm surfing friends' flists, thought i'd say hi).

Whenever i'm in Jackson i look around to see if i'll see Laurie Smith, which is highly unlikely b/c i'm hardly ever in jackson.
Small world though isn't it? Its not like you go out expecting to meet a celebrity in the real world. Especially not in MS. More importantly, was the meal good? :-D

Re: re celebrity brushes etc

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

*waves back* Hi! It is a small world, isn't it?

The meal was great. I live in Oxford, which has a ton of great restaurants, but only one sushi place and it's only so so. So we gorged ourselves on crab isobe age and sunomono and shumai. *sighs happily*

I actually see a good deal more famous people in Oxford since so many writers come through Square Books on signing tours.

Re: re celebrity brushes etc

[kaleecat]

::grumbles about real life::

I've never been to Oxford, having lived here (hattiesburg) off & on for over 7 years (there was a 2 year stint in Louisiana) I still haven't explored much of MS beyond the immediate area & Natchez. We have a pretty good sushi place, so i'm told, i've never gotten into it & i don't know anyone who could go with me & steer me to whatever is least fishy. I find the food choices here pretty disappointing - so many chain restaurants. Though i won't complain when the olive garden opens up, too bad it will be after i'm gone.

We used to see a few more famous people here when the Ye Olde Book Shoppe was open. Back in 98 or something (during my first stint here) I "met" John Grisham & got his autograph for my dad.

Re: re celebrity brushes etc

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Ya know, I'm from Hattiesburg. I spent the first 21 years of my life there and go back all the time to visit my family. If you ever want to get together, I could take you in hand and show you the best sushi (for you are correct, Hattiesburg does has good sushi. We used to live right beside Sakura and got to be very friendly with the staff and the owner.

Re: re celebrity brushes etc

[kaleecat]

you know that would be just - just neat. I so very very rarely get to talk about fandom, fic and all thats related without the electronic intermediaries. Plus i could gush about how much i love 'shadowlands' in person. :-) And you could keep me away from the scary looking sushi stuff. :-)

Quite familiar with Sakura--the exterior at least. I still mourn the loss of the place that was in that building before it, New York Burrito. Sigh. Loved that place.

Glance at my journal to see if you would actually want to meet me. (i'm not an axe murderer, really). Email me off list whenever. I'd be thrilled to get mail specifically sent to me. :-)

Re: re celebrity brushes etc

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Yay!!!!!!! It's so easy for me to think of all my lj friends as living "far away"--across the pond or in Chicago, or whathave you. It's really cool to meet someone who's in my hometown. I'll email you offlist; if you're gonna be around over the holidays, we should get together. :)