pentapus

Already submitted my art, bitches. Oh yeah. (Actually, I'm thinking about what to draw for a second submission. I've gotten as far as: Lydia.)

Come and join

twreversebang!

Rules and Information
Sign Ups: Artists | Authors | Fic and Art Betas

Crossposts: http://pentapus.livejournal.com/329966.html

marycrawford won my yuletide guessing game (immediately and with no hesitation -- which also happened with my KakaIru fic, so I guess I was predictable this year), and she asked for an illustration from Children of the New Court and gave several options. I chose the scene where Chime is putting jewelry on Moon.

(

marycrawford,by the way, wrote a fantastic yuletide fic of her own in another Martha Wells verse:

When the Sea is, Fall of Ile-Rien, Tremaine, Ilias, Gilead
Tremaine had been living in Cineth for more than a month now, and so far, none of her more pessimistic predictions had come to pass. She hadn’t gotten anyone killed, not even Cletia; she hadn’t added Ilias to her previously dismal record of broken relationships; and she hadn’t been homesick for Vienne at all.

which I enjoyed immensely.)

Anyway, here goes:

Crossposts: http://pentapus.livejournal.com/320069.html

Knowing Me, Knowing You
Kakashi/Iruka, G
A simple joint mission goes awry.

Guys, read this. I have never loved -- well, I won't tell you which cliche -- before because it is usually about farcical comedy and misunderstandings, but this story, WOW, uses it to show us so many things about Kakashi and Iruka that they themselves have stopped thinking about, and then of course they each respond to it in their own particular way.

It also contains one of my personal favorite cliches -- when characters who've heard of the giant badass run into the giant badass without realizing who they're talking to.

This story is just so delightfully CHARACTER CHARACTER CHARACTER spread over a delicious cracker made of plot and seasoned with such a detailed world. It won me over entirely with the first description of the Sharingan. Because of course I fucking love the Sharingan -- who doesn't love magical eyes that simultaneously make you a badass and increase your likelihood of fainting in public at inconvenient times.

Also, p.s. it was written for ME. Dear Wednesday: Victory!

Once again, if you need some intro to Naruto fandom, I previously recced it here and a bit here. Basically: it's a ninja village in psuedo-modern japan with plenty of world-building by way of mixing the bad ass with the mundane - a.k.a. deadly secret techniques + paperwork and politics. Also, ninja are basically wizards who know martial arts. ♥

Crossposts: http://pentapus.livejournal.com/319002.html

Okay, so you should just read all of Martha Wells' books on principle, but in particular, you should read the The Cloud Roads. It is extremely fandom compatible.

The first books by Wells that I read were magical steampunk stories rooted in different eras of Western history -- the baroque era, the industrial revolution, the 1930s -- populated by characters and cultures very recognizable to us. I loved them. The Cloud Roads... it's like Wells took the idea of a fantasy universe and decided to go with it all the way.

How to describe the Three Worlds? Basically, take every Star Wars, Star Trek, and Tolkien species and all their crazy, overblown concept art architecture and stick them on one planet. There are cities on flying islands, giant pyramids draped with vines in the middle of rivers, and magical societies living inside of trees as big as mountains. Think Pandora times 10. Even the "normal" humans you meet tend to be blue or green or maybe just have tusks, which is a lovely reminder that there is no "default". For the huge variety of made-up species in the books, the world is deliciously coherent. Because you see it through the eyes of its inhabitants, it all feels like it's supposed to be there, duh.

Unlike a lot of stories with this set up, our main characters are gloriously not-human. Moon, the POV character, is a shape-changer who can shift between two forms -- a human form and a super badass gorgeous gargoyle form. When the story starts off, he's been orphaned at a young age and has spent the last few decades trying to fake it among the non-shifter societies he's encountered. He's kind of awful at faking it, it turns out, but he knows by now that he can't stand living alone, so he keeps trying. It doesn't take long for you to figure that he can handle himself, but you still want to bundle him up and hug him a lot.

Also, guys, I know lots of you have an interest in reversed and/or altered gender roles. Wells has created a central species for her stories with some key, fundamental differences that lead to a whole host of really interesting implications for gender politics in the story. I want to read so many stories about the politics, but I guess it's okay that there's also, like, fights and stuff. Also, I won't lie, it is kind of hot.

So, guys, if you have even a little bit of a kink for world-building or found family or playing with gender roles or just the right amount of hurt/comfort, read these books!

By the way, they are also FUN. Yes. The world it builds is so much fun you will want to read about a hundred fusions where all your favorite fannish characters end up in the Three Worlds. (I still can't decide if Steve Rogers would be a consort, a warrior, or a soldier. Is Jane Foster a mentor or a queen?)

Trust me, you are going to want fic.

And when that happens, come find me because I want there to be a fandom for these books, like, yesterday. It can't just be me and

ileliberte squeeing over IM at each other, right? (Well, okay, it demonstrably can).

And guys, I'm not even telling you about the taciturn, badass old guy that will instantly become your favorite character. Mainly by standing around and being inscrutable and then letting children climb on him. And he likes kids because -- did I mention the gender roles? -- he's basically the world's equivalent of a dowager queen. A dowager queen who can tear your house down with his bare hands. Seriously.

Crossposts: http://pentapus.livejournal.com/317388.html

Here's the last of the

trekreversebang pictures that never got a story.

Winona Kirk and Christopher Pike meet up! Are they on a ship, an office building, a space station? Who knows! I just wanted politcal maneuvering and also love. *looks at

reccea -- or, you know, anyone -- with big, wibbly eyes*

As I said before, my personal canon tells me that Kirk's mom is not an awful mom, though I would be happy to see her join the ranks of Henry Spencer and Madeleine Weston in the flawed-but-loving category. It also tells me that she is alive and that the angry dude in the car is her jerk brother (until they cut that extra scene).

I drew this picture last because, not counting their ages in the picture, it's basically the same thing I prompted last year, for which I got the brilliant Mobius by

miss_porcupine.

On the other hand, I told myself, Miss P gives wonderful pragmatic military realism, and there are plenty of other genres left to angle for (like smooches! Or even better, politcal intrigue + smooches). Also, let's be honest here, what Miss P's story really did was make me want more of it forever. :P

Crossposts: http://pentapus.livejournal.com/316793.html

The art posts for

kakairu_fest are up! In fact the whole fest is posted is it's entirety, and there is one more week of voting. (You can also just read without voting if the competition feel is not your fandom space.) Some seriously good stuff here.

Entry Master Post <- click! Read! Look!

Art Posts:

Remember, you'll have nooooo idea which is mine. In fact, it isn't already obvious just from the previews. That's what I like about art - the anonymity.

<-- Post one: "Lost"

Post two: "Good Sport"

Recs:

I enjoyed the hell out of a lot of the stories that got posted, above and beyond my expectations. Honestly, the whole thing is worth checking out if you are a fan of Kakashi or Iruka. That said, my four very favorite stories were:

Bringing Up Kakashi, which is freaking fantastic Asimov-style AU with robots and artifical intelligence.

Sealed. Really liked this story's canon feel. The event that sets off the story has that special kind of bizarrely-real feeling. Kakashi is found at the foot of the Hokage monument, apparently having fallen, but no one knows if he was pushed or jumped -- ninja can't just fall, can they? I loved the details of the house Iruka spends most of the story working on. You pretty quickly figure out the secret of the house, but the details of the world-building and the characters' emotions keep you interested and invested while you're getting there. And 'there' is someplace you really want to be.

Rhythm of the Heart. Strictly Ballroom AU. Really well executed. Loved the descriptions of the dancing and Iruka's experiences being thrown into it. I wish I could create a world this real just from wikipedia research.

Excuses Solve.... Fantastic canon story in which Iruka is working on a civilian graduate degree and doing research on Shinobi survival rates vs. academy time. Loved all the behind the scenes details -- where the data is kept, who's in charge of processing those ubiquitous mission reports, and the implications of truly awful handwriting. Also how Iruka has to do statistics without computers!

Crossposts: http://pentapus.livejournal.com/315274.html

Thank you for linking me to all those challenges, guys. I have now signed up for:

1.

Stargate Atlantis Reverse Big Bang 2012 banner

(Due Feb 29)

2.

trekreversebang
(Due April 1)

3.

sgaartvalentine, for which I have no idea what to actually draw. Please leave more prompts.
(Due Feb 9)

4.

kakasaku Reverse Bang, which is a pairing that generally worries me, but I'll be a writer, see? So that will... work... right.
(Art due Feb 20, claims until April 15, story due April 30)

Though I didn't sign up for it, there's also
5.

kbl_reversebang
which is currently suffering from too many writers and not enough artists, if you happen to be a graphic-inclined glee fan. :)
(Sign-ups until Feb 7, Art due March 28)

Crossposts: http://pentapus.livejournal.com/309016.html

Guys, if you are somehow not reading XKCD, you should be. The author/artist has a fantastic knack of explaining little known or counter-intuitive concepts in different fields and then making them funny. So, you, like, learn stuff and generally feel really great about being a geek.

Anyway, this latest was even more educational than usual -- I had no idea! My friend who is in comp sci confirmed that the comic is true facts. Even more hilariously, when I tried to put it into practice, the site for which I was altering the password forbade me to use the format suggested in the comic because the algorithms most sites use to check password strength are apparently not that smart.

In other words, I learned, tried, and failed. Good day.

XKCD on what actually makes a good password.

Do you have a moment to recommend some books?

What is the single most memorable thing you liked about it? In other words, which button did it press? :D I am pretty sci-fi/fantasy oriented, though other genres can and have appealed. I'm a sap for a good romantic pairing set in a solid plot. Also world-building. Oh yes.

As for my favorites, these are the current top two winners for pushing all the right buttons:
The Baroque Cycle and Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (basically, historical fiction for nerds who like badasses. There is ALSO a super sweet, ridiculous--and badass, of course--love story in The Baroque Cycle. It hit all of my buttons so hard, oh my god.)

Everything by Patricia A. McKillip but especially In the Forests of Serre, Ombria in Shadow, and The Tower at Stony Wood, etc, etc. High fantasy here, without being inconveniently epic length. Love the way magic appears here -- there is no attempt to make it scientific or anything less than eerie. ♥

ETA: Also, everything by Ursula K. LeGuin (How did I forget her?!), especially The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness,, and all of the Earthsea books, including the new ones with Ged and Tenar.

Some other favorites are:
Ender's Game and Enchantment by Orson Scott Card
Last Call by Tim Powers (haven't read any others of his)
Matter by Ian M. Banks (and various culture novels)
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
Alanna and Wild Magic (plus sequels) by Tamora Pierce
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffery (Yes, I like Lessa. And F'lar. And Robinton.)
Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold (though apparently this is part of a giant book universe I have never read)
Wraeththu by Storm Constantine (which is an angst-heavy love story fantasy epic about gay metahuman sorcerers whose super powers include being really beautiful. Reading it feels sort of like being drugged.)
Archangel by Sharon Shinn (More people need to read this just because every fandom needs an Archangel AU. Pre-industrial society! Watched over by winged individuals who are gifted with heavenly voices and who ask the god for good weather or medicine or for some smiting by singing beautiful music beautifully. EVERYONE HAS A JEWEL IN THEIR ARM THAT LIGHTS UP WHEN THEIR TRUE LOVE IS NEAR--well except for the Edori, who are basically Native American Jewish Tinkers. COME ON, GUYS.)

Every time I try to get into a new, large fandom -- H50, Inception, Xmen -- somehow it always ends with me thinking, "Man, Kakashi is totally awesome."

Maybe later more recs, but until then here's a link to my previous mini-pimp post with a few recs.

Ok, I'll add one more rec:

The Girl from Whirlpool (Naruto, Minato/Kushina) by SilverShine is a delicious world-building romp through a functioning ninja village, complete with school, missions, gossip, and plenty of peril, all centered around the story of how Naruto's parents meet. Minato is a likable, good-natured genius who kind of floats through life wondering when it's going to get difficult. And then he meets Kushina, a refugee orphan covered in dirt. He saves her from some bullies, and she thanks him by punching him in the gut. She is pretty much the most awesome, impossible person ever.

As bonus, the story sports a compelling plot that manages to weave in plenty of character development, and almost all of the events originate from some part of Naruto canon. Naruto has a huge cast of characters and multiple generations -- many of them appear here and all of them are distinct, interesting people with a part to play in ninja life. Did I mention that includes Kakashi's awesome, prickly, badass dad and wee Kakashi? On the other hand, it's so well woven, you don't need to be know any Naruto at all to follow it.

But FORGET ALL OF THAT. The best part of this story is that these are the most badass ninja ever. The author writes all of the weird ninja abilities of the Naruto universe with a common sense and simplicity that leaves you shivering with delight. Like, watching Erik Lensherr send back the missiles of an entire battalion kind of delight. In particular, Naruto canon is obsessed with his dad's secret technique (Hiraishin aka Flying Thunder God - ok, I admit, that's a really cool name). I never cared until I read this story -- and now I think the Flying Thunder God technique is the coolest fucking thing ever.

Yeah, so, read it.

If you're not familiar with Naruto there are roughly a bajillion places to read or watch it online or download it. I just use the manga reader on Naruto Spot.

trekreversebang

Authors write a 6k story based on works submitted by the artists.

Artist sign-ups: I LIED. TOTALLY STILL OPEN. CLOSE TONIGHT.
Writer sign-ups: end March 25th

ileliberte: Man, I forgot that the sign-ups end today for my own challenge.

pentapus: Hahahah--WAIT. WHICH CHALLENGE.

ileliberte:

trekreversebang

pentapus: WHERE.

Jeez, I am never taking a break from fandom again. TERRIBLE THINGS ALMOST HAPPEN.

I am reunited with an internet connection and with Yuletide, belatedly. I was very lucky this year, and received four fantastic stories, 3 for Temeraire and 1 for Tamora Pierce's Tortall Universe.

Gifts:
Sweet William by

Quasar, Temeraire
The Spanish Armada is about to descend upon England, and her greatest hope is a captainless dragon hatchling.

Temeraire is one of those premises that I want to see mixed into everything, not just specific fandoms, but classic story arcs, famous historical events... and here we have Temeraire dragons and the Spanish Armada! This is a very sweet story with a POV character with whom you immediately sympathize and an appealing plot -- longwings! refusing handlers! the Spanish Armada! A little romance!

Lieutenant Bennet's Visit by

Beatrice_Otter, Temeraire, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
Elizabeth’s reality is far different from her sisters’.

Beatrice Otter pulls off the Temeraire/Austen fusion spectacularly -- this is everything I wanted in a crossover. The tone is perfect -- Elizabeth slides so naturally in the role of aviator, and you are so glad to see her using all that wit and intelligence. At the same time, Beatrice Otter stays true to the culture of the time, so effectively using the other P&P characters to really highlight the very different worlds of canon Elizabeth and Temeraire Elizabeth. I HAVE WANTED SOMEONE TO WRITE THIS FOR SO LONG, GUYS.

Iskierka and the Crimean War by

Jenn_Calaelen, Temeraire
About Iskierka and her crew, set at the start of the Crimean War.

I do like Iskierka, but I wonder what she'd be like with more life experience. Jenn Calaelen gives a little glimpse into the future with Iskierka captained by another Granby. Liz Granby's a bit accidental, with grand ambitions but inexperienced, waiting for her chance to prove herself. And poor Izkierka does not enjoy peacetime. I especially liked the aviators speculating on what other Kaziliks would be like, having only Izkierka as an example.

Finds But Riddling Shrift by

lotesse, Tamora Pierce's Tortall universe
George finds Arram Draper juggling in the snow.

I really, really love the prose at the beginning of this. Such great visual descriptions of George and Arram/Numair and fantastic dialogue in George's brief exchanges with Alanna, as well as including George's less-than-noble background. I wish it had not been a yuletide madness story, because George's discovery of Numair could so clearly be spread over a much longer, delicious plot arc.

I wrote:

Toward a Golden Age by

pentapus for

Lazulia
BPRD, Panya, Langdon Everett Caul (a.k.a. Abe Sapien), the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra,
As always, Panya professed an unfortunate amnesia.

Lazulia asked for Panya and Abe Sapien. Panya! I love Panya -- she's an Egyptian mummy who wakes up after she's unwrapped at a party for wealthy Egypt enthusiasts in Victorian England. She immediately takes to being a minor Victorian celebrity, picking up the language, the fashion, and overall deciding she likes London better than Thebes, especially the mad science experiments of the secret society that shelters her. She has her own interests and self-interest, and just generally feels like your sweet grandmother who is definitely smirking as she slaughters everyone at bridge.

The request opened up a whole host of possibilities, especially concerning Abe Sapien's previous identity as Langdon Everett Caul aka the wealthy Antebellum Virginian and member of a rival creepy, paternalistic secrety society. I had envisioned a whole story of lost continents (Kergeulen Plateau Lemuria) and Abe! on boats! It turned into a meeting-that-might-have-been between two characters who canonically moved in the same circles at similar times, which was also fun.

In other words, despite being very, very absent for most of it, Yuletide this year went very well. Hope you all had a good time and are having a great new year. :D :D

So, I sort of disappeared off the face of the planet there for a while. School has been, it turns out, really time consuming -- who knew!

I've been spending a lot of time searching for My Next True Fandom after Stargate: Atlantis, and to be honest, I haven't had much success.

1. Leverage -- I came for Parker (Best Parker Moments - youtube) and stayed for Parker, Hardison (character intro -- youtube), and most importantly: Eliot (Eliot on knives and people - youtube). Parker is honestly weird in way that's not supposed to make her sexy, and is given a lot of the comedy in the show -- 2 big pros for me in a female character. Hardison is gorgeous, ridiculous, sweet, super nerdy -- the writers know their stuff too (unlike SGA's attempts to make a WoW reference) -- and very good at what he does. He has unresolved Romantic Tension with Parker that will make your heart melt.

I recommend Season 1 and Season 2, and the parts of season 3 with Parker/Hardison. ( Season 3 - not my happy place. But at least it has Parker. )

2. Inception - I loved this movie, and I loved this fic -- for about a week, until Arthur/Eames bored me beyond reason. In canon, Eames objects to Arthur on a fundamental philosophical level. In short: Arthur is a technician; Eames is an artist. From what we see of Arthur, this is not a wrongful accusation. Hardly an obstacle to a slash pairing, but inception fic never addresses it -- fic!Eames finds Arthur irresistible. Also, good luck finding anything about Ariadne, Saito, Dom, or Yusuf. Sigh. ETA: I don't really think Eames hates Arthur's guts, but I did feel like Arthur was this guy he'd worked with before who rubbed him the wrong way.

That said, do go read the two inception fics by

rageprufrock. Presque Vu is temporarily down from Ao3, but it's the fandom's best piece of world-building, backstory, and portrayal of Mal, Dom, Arthur, and a really endearing, ridiculous Eames. The second is just funny.

So long, Inception, it was a deeply enjoyable, whirlwind affair.

3. Naruto - The bad: too long, weak girls, bad animation. BUT --
1) It's about ninja!
2) It successfully creates a huge, interconnected, varied cast of characters that reaches across generations. And while the girls don't win the big battles, I do like them a lot. But my favorite character is, of course --

3)Kakashi!

( Kakashi shows up late for his first day as Team 7's teacher -- and gets hit by the eraser Naruto's wedged above the door )

4) As a side note, I sort of feel like every Naruto fan has to have their personal vote for next Hokage (aka the Ninja Mayor). My vote is Nara Shikamaru. Laziest grumpy genius ever. The most annoying moment of his life was when he got promoted. And then it turned out he was good at it. So troublesome. :)

How to Read Naruto Fic:
1. Use Delicious tags, a recs list/comm, or a good favorites page on ff.net. Read fic until you realize you have been on ff.net for two hours looking for someone who knows the difference between "lose" and "loose" or who at least doesn't refer to Naruto as "Sasuke's little whore".

2. Read one of these stories to regain faith:

rageprufrock: Telephone, White Wedding

thehoyden, Opening the Roads, Spies Like Us, How to File Form 39-B
Megyal is also a good author and Paxnirvana.

They're all Kakashi/Iruka, which seems to rise to the top when reading Kakashi fic. (I don't think you need much Naruto to read these. All you need to know is that Naruto is the host to a demon that almost destroyed the village and killed many people the year he was born. Iruka lost both his parents to the demon fox. He was Naruto's teacher, and while initially cold towards him, eventually caved and is now Naruto's main source of parental affection. Say Aww.)

3. Return to Step 1. Repeat as needed. I think I'm a few weeks away from memorizing Telephone and Spies Like Us in their entirety.

And that's where I've been. What are you guys watching/reading these days?

I went to see Due Date on Friday. Don't do that. Not even Robert Downey Jr could make it worth it, though he was pretty.

I went to see RED last week -- definitely go see that. Not only was it entertaining, hilarious, and a pretty fucking awesome action move, but - GUYS, GUYS - when Helen Mirren has to switch from "Elegant, Formal Outfit" to "Asskicking Assassin Time", she takes off her heels and puts on hiking boots. Do you know how long I have been shouting this at TV and movie screens with no real hope? It's right up there with "Tie your god damn hair back, Black Widow*." I may have made some really undignified noises of joy in the theater.

Also the love interest was really adorable. So was Bruce Willis' character, actually. N'awwww.

Bonus: my cat keeps trying to attract my attention by stretching adorably, at which point she stretches too far and falls off the bed. But that has nothing to do with movies.

*Iron Man II. One of the most egregious examples of hair as an obstacle to vision. Iron Man one features Pepper Potts running on steel mesh in 4 inch heels. Double trouble, Iron Man Franchise.

I know, what with Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Zoe Saldana (and that guy from Push), fandom doesn't need any more reasons to see The Losers.

But, oh my jesus, it was fantastic. Hilarious, perilous, special-ops teamfic in the context of an action movie with explosions, Leverage-like capers, and a scorching hot man with a sniper rifle. Oh yeah, there will definitely be relevant slashy fic in yuletide this year.

Thumbs up.

(I was going to link to the trailer, which looks awesome but also full of spoilers in retrospect. Still: http://www.the-losers.com)

Hi all, I am in the middle of trying to tag all of the leverage fic I read way too fast (and liked). Which at this point is basically anything that reminded me I like Eliot Spencer. You can see that current list on delicious here.

I have also lost a fic: an SPN/Leverage crossover in which Eliot walks into a bar and spots an amateur pool hustler (hint: Dean!). Does anyone know it?

trekreversebang

Authors write a 6k story based on works submitted by the artists.

I'm in. :)

TW Reversebang!

Art: Jade, Moon, Chime from the Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells

Rec: Knowing Me, Knowing You, Kakashi/Iruka (Naruto)

Book rec and art: Jade and Moon from The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

ST Reboot art: Winona and Pike

KakaIru Fest!

Challenges!

Rec: XKCD on Passwords

Book recommendations?

the story of my life + REC: my favorite ninja story ever

Star Trek Reversebang: Round Two!

Yuletide

Fannishly MIA

Movies, in short.

The Losers

Have you seen this Leverage fic? (I lost it.)

ST Reboot: Trek Reversebang

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October 2016

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