a conspiracy of cartographers

THIS ONE IS QUITE SHORT.

Find a Home, by Aria & filiabelialis, Thor/Loki
Loki lets his head fall back, a despairing smile baring his teeth. "What do you mean by home?"

Part seven; in which the Avengers take the fight to Thanos.

(Previously: part one; part two; part three; part four; part five; part six)

Find a Home, by Aria & filiabelialis, Thor/Loki
Loki lets his head fall back, a despairing smile baring his teeth. "What do you mean by home?"

Part five; in which there is an alien invasion and the Avengers make several difficult decisions regarding Loki.

(Previously: part one; part two; part three; part four)

Find a Home, by Aria & filiabelialis, Thor/Loki
Loki lets his head fall back, a despairing smile baring his teeth. "What do you mean by home?"

Part three; in which Thor makes friends, engages in cultural exchange, and completely fails to be a good brother.

(Previously: part one; part two)

Uh so this is the part of the fic at which I start going LOOK LOOK THIS FIC IS THE BEST THING AND YOU SHOULD LOOK AT IT. Seriously though there are Thor/Loki makeouts and also Steve and Thor go on the Colbert Report (but these things do not happen at the same time).

Oh no oh no I have literally never been more jittery and ridiculous about posting a fic. BUT HERE IT IS.

Find a Home, by Aria & filiabelialis, Thor/Loki
Loki lets his head fall back, a despairing smile baring his teeth. "What do you mean by home?"

Part one; in which Thor realizes that things are not ideal on Asgard, and decides to steal Loki. There are eight parts total, and they'll be posted over the next week.

...now I will flee and maybe eat the rest of this pint of ice cream.

Last weekend's New York adventures were such a good idea. Thursday evening was the Night Vale live show with oliviacirce, and it was SO GOOD. Cecil Baldwin's face is so great, and all their guest voices were delightful; I laughed so hard my belly hurt, and I hid in Olivia's shoulder from the scary parts, and I really hope they wide-release that episode sometime reasonably soon, because I want to yell with everyone about it! The cosplay was really great too: there were some hooded figures, a surprisingly large number of Scouts -- mostly from younger audience members who might actually be Scouts -- several Cecils with really impressive tattoos, and a super cute Carlos who did indeed have perfect hair. (I also spotted two Apache Trackers, one at the show and one at NYCC, but didn't collect myself in either instance in enough time to yell "WHAT AN ASSHOLE" after them.)

Comic Con was also pretty great! Went with polarisnorth, met up with hazellazer and nicoleanelle, though we didn't have the best time keeping track of one another; we did have some good hangouts and lunch and cosplay-spotting, though. I went as casual sundress Thor, and soon realized that this was a good costume in which to ask Loki cosplayers if I could give them a hug. Which was really interesting, actually! Everyone said yes, but most of the ones who were really into it, wanted to hug me back and talk &c, were being Lady Loki. I have no idea if this means anything! Some of them were also like "hey, thanks for asking," which ahhh oh god OF COURSE I WAS GONNA ASK. I think my favorite Loki encounter was one where Loki was this tiny lady in wearing Loki's end-of-Avengers costume, complete with chains and mask; she was the only one who hugged me like she was a super dangerous version of Loki, and the dude Thor she was with was really amused by it. All the Lokis were great, though! I didn't take pictures of most of them, because I didn't want to ask for a hug AND a photo, but one Lady Loki who'd made her own incredible costume did take a picture with me while we were out of the crowd crush.

( Sundress Thor on the New York subway, holding a Starbucks mocha that says 'Nicole' on the side cos the barista wildly misheard me saying Thor; me with the really excellent Lady Loki, in what may be one of the best pictures of me ever. )

Then I stayed over with Olivia; she sat me down with booze and cupcakes and proceeded to tell me about One Direction for like three hours. In the morning before I left we went to brunch with mistresscurvy and one of her friends, and it would've been One Direction all the time except that I kept insistently talking about Tom Hiddleston while having a mimosa. I love New York vacation? and pretending to be an adult? and then talking about RPF at brunch.

I'm pretty happy now, is what I'm saying here! I have a movie night with friends tonight, and D&D tomorrow, and really kind flexible work hours that are letting me do the last bit of the Avengers fic in a fit of madness. (On the last part! 87,000 words and counting! Gonna try to be done over the weekend! WHEEEE.) I managed to order a new computer today, and I have lots of art from con to put up around the apartment, and ... some days are better than others, but it's good right now.

i. I can't stop listening to Aims, Vienna Teng's new album. (Link goes to the soundcloud album stream she posted. Actual album comes out tomorrow!) Just want to listen to all of it on endless loop, particularly Level Up and Never Look Away. It is good fighting music, and being happy music. It's perfect as a ward against and an accompaniment to the onset of autumn; my brain doesn't know what to make of the cold, because in the general way of things fall and winter make me very happy, but last winter was the absolute worst and of course has attached sense memories, so ... we'll see how that goes. And listen to Vienna Teng on loop.

ii. Last week I went with a bunch of friends to see Dessa! IT WAS SO GREAT, of course it was; she played nearly everything I wanted her to, and I kept running into her in the bathroom because there was no proper backstage, so there was a lot of casual smiling acknowledgement while we washed our hands and I screamed internally. Also, quite by accident, friends I went with to the concert were my D&D group minus scribe, who was ... still out of the country, I think? Unsurprisingly these humans are excellent to hang out with whether or not we're slaying monsters and flirting with other monsters at the time.

iii. I just ... keep playing Dragon Age. Housemate A got Dragon Age 2 and everything! But my elf is nearly to the final battle and my dwarf is being the most hilariously best bros with Sten and I can't move on yet. (Also I got Wynne to ship my elf/Zevran; I'm not sure why I didn't get an achievement badge for that.) Polaris and I are considering whether when we run out of Dragon Age games we should try Mass Effect. I ... have the vague fannish osmosis feeling that it's good? I know some of you have played it! Please deliver unto me your Mass Effect feels, whatever they are; I would love opinions.

iv. Fic update: part five of eight complete! ONLY THREE LEFT. I'm starting to have this feeling like I'm hurtling shrieking towards the finish line, though mostly in a good way; I'm not sacrificing quality to time, it's only that I finally have my full complement of writing enthusiasm back. Getting it done is going to be a bit scary, though, because I want to have it all posted at the very last the day before Thor 2 comes out, which means I have to start posting it by very latest on Halloween, and I have to be done in time that Olivia can reasonably beta it, and ahhh. Current wordcount: 63,826. \o/

This last weekend was really lovely. On Sunday Housemate A and Amiel and I all went down to the Common with A's slackline and did our best to wobble about between two trees; A can go four to eight steps consistently, but Amiel and I were only good enough to stand on the line for a couple of seconds before falling off. A lot of tourists came over while we were at it, and tried it too; most of them were surprised by how hard it was, probably because A makes it look relatively easy. It was lots of fun, anyway, and made my leg muscles do new bizarre things, which of course made seven hours of baristaing the next day mildly painful. Still! Want to try it again soon, preferably without a shift the following day.

We also went (as a group of five, hilariously enough) to see The World's End Sunday evening. It was ... I don't know what it was! I enjoyed it a lot, and laughed a lot, and unlike Shaun of the Dead (which I can never rewatch because dfl;dfkds zombies) I think I'll see it again, even if it never gets the same wear that Hot Fuzz does. That trilogy really likes rejecting ... organized sameness? I feel like there must be a better way to put that; though it also isn't big on punishing the people/beings/&c involved in the organized sameness. Which is cool! I hadn't picked up on that with just the first two to compare.

Real life is being mildly stressful; I have health insurance shenanigans to sort, which will probably involve the bureaucratic phone runaround, which -- well, I don't have full-on anxiety attacks when I have to talk on the phone with strangers anymore! I'll do it, though! And then set up the various appointments that insurance will give me! And those appointments will be so much less stressful than the initial phone calls. /o\

Organizing my real life also makes me think about organizing my online life, especially because I ... don't do fandom the way I used to. I think some of it has to do with the way I'm allotting my time, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that I have both long-distance from-fandom friends whose friendship isn't contingent upon us being currently in the same fandoms, and local fannish friends with whom I frequently have hours-long Avengers discussions or we find ourselves, over dinner, saying in unison "ALL HAIL THE GLOW CLOUD." So at the moment fandom isn't filling any sort of isolation-from-community need. And I'm not in desperate need of any particular fic, either; I read the Avengers fic by authors I know I like, and am writing the Thor/Loki fic I want to see in the world, and Night Vale the show is fulfilling enough that I don't find myself in great need of fanworks. (Although, go go right now listen to thingswithwings' podfic Second Date, an episode-style recording that I have already failed to remember is not canon.) The point is, I am not entirely sure if I miss my fic-devouring ways, but I suspect I should get a Pinboard, and reorganize myself, and that I'll feel much more fandom-settled when I do this.

Speaking of the Thor/Loki fic I want to see in the world, it has just passed 47,000 words. We're ... about halfway through. I'd like to get it done by the end of September, just so I'll have it all posted before Thor 2 comes out (plus, uh, we have a lot of feelings about this universe and there are side stories where Steve takes Thor and Loki to art museums or Natasha and Sif hang out talking about feminist theory, it'd be cool to be able to post those before Thor 2 also, oh pipe dreams). That effectively means writing another 50k in a month, but ... I've done 50k in two weeks while on summer vacation, I can do 50k in a month while also having life obligations. Yes.

Another Wednesday sans reading meme, because I'm still mid-King of Attolia; my reading time has mostly been on meal breaks at work. Nor do I have fic-reading to report, because I have instead been writing huge swathes of my Avengers fic. Apparently all I needed was the new Thor trailer! I did ~8000 words last Thursday, which finished up part three of the fic; I'm ~5500 into part four; and, uh, all told so far this fucker is ~38,000, which I just counted for the first time and now I'm wheezing slightly. Welcome to definitely the longest fic I've ever written! (I mean, not yet, but I'm halfway through part four of seven, so ... yeah, I'm definitely going to break 50k this time.) To be fair, filiabelialis is cowriting it with me; they're generating all the outlines and about 1/4 of the final written material, I think? Something like that. Anyway, this monster is not my fault alone, but it's finally picking up speed and I am so excited about it and hoping to have it up well in advance of Thor 2. (Not only because it's going to be Jossed, but because the new trailer is also giving me inexplicable Thor/Loki/Sif/Jane sedoretu feelings, revisions to these feelings pending what actually happens in the next movie. But oh gosh all the stuff I want to write.)

I should also probably get a new computer this weekend. Or order one, anyway, because this poor laptop is now officially on its way out. The 'm' key hasn't been working for months (every single time I use it, I'm doing ctrl+v) but eh, whatever. And then two days ago, part of the back of the computer just ... warped outwards, twisty metal sticking out, plastic very unhappy; the screen is still working fine but the back of it keeps popping out, so I backed up all my files this morning, and yeah, new laptop this weekend. I am a Windows-using heathen and I'm perfectly fond of the Windows 7 OS, but if anyone has laptop models they particularly like, feel free to rec! I'm used to Dells, but they do have a tendency to bork in exciting ways, so other options are always good.

...oh god, that means I have to sort out all my tabs. THE HORROR.

Meantime, until it gives up the ghost, gonna write like the wind. It's ... really nice, discovering my brain is behaving enough again now that I just have this endless well of writing excitement again. :D

A lot of lovely stuff has been going on lately! The new job continues excellent, and I have been spending lots of time with Amiel (we are rewatching Firefly, which I still love despite its numerous flaws), but apparently for Dreamwidth posting, Reading Wednesdays are basically my speed right now. Even if today is Thursday.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. This book ... reminded me a lot of Diana Wynne Jones, in weird ways, where adults are not to be trusted to keep you safe, and some of them are inhumanly evil, and being a child will not protect you; but it was less safe than most DWJ books are. I think I liked it? I think it's worth a reread, anyway, although the older I get, the less Gaiman's view of the universe feels anything like mine. The language was lovely and precise as usual, though, I do just straight-up enjoy Gaiman as a storyteller.

a love song for schrödinger by pathopharmacology, Night Vale, Cecil/Carlos. Baby's first Night Vale fic! And what a good one it was. I'm in the middle of several others, and it seems like fandom's Cecil runs a spectrum from sliiightly off to total eldritch abomination; this one features a Cecil who is slightly off, and it's lovely. Nothing much happens except for Carlos having a conversation with an angel and sort of ... settling in and loving Night Vale, and it's so great. I want a million fics like this to savor during the time between episodes.

Recruitment Practices by thingswithwings, Community/Night Vale. Cecil interviews Troy, Annie, and Abed for a morning show slot! Everyone is in-character and hilarious and weird! I just want to wrap this fic around me like a blanket, seriously, I think it's become an instant comfort read.

What are you currently reading?

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. Don't start yelling with joy yet, though, I'm only three chapters in, and all Gen has done so far is charm me utterly and hate horses a lot. I'm really liking it so far, though!

What do you think you'll read next?

Presumably The Queen of Attolia! And lots more Night Vale fic.

Obviously I'm all caught up on Night Vale now! WHAT A GREAT PODCAST. Polaris and I are also slowly and steadily making our way through Orphan Black, which remains completely phenomenal. And ... honestly all I've been doing lately, while not at work or hanging out with friends, is watching footage of Tom Hiddleston at ComicCon, snarling at my screen in despair. Seriously, at this point the only thing standing between me and a total RPF-writing breakdown is my stupid long Avengers fic.

Oh, and I saw Pacific Rim! I don't have any deep complicated thoughts about it; I love all the excited meta about Mako Mori, and also all the slightly angry meta about Amazing Sci-Fi Films That Could Have Been (this post of barometry's is especially great), but really what I've taken home from it is [a] IDRIS ELBA YOUR FACE IS THE BEST FACE and [b] wow, let's talk about all the fusions where characters from other fandoms are Jaeger copilots. Clint and Natasha! Sherlock and Joan! Troy and Abed! &c &c.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson. IT WAS SO GREAT. I loved how casually queer it was, not just in the sense that m/m and f/f relationships were normal and uncommented upon, but also in the sense that in the place of a love triangle there are three people who all love each other a whole lot in various different ways, and try to take care of each other and respect each other's decisions. I loved a lot of the worldbuilding (particularly the semi-sentient city, I'm so easy for sentient cities!); a few of the plotlines, like the one where the main character realizes that her rival at school is actually lovely and it's too bad they haven't been friends, were on the predictable side -- but even when I did guess some things, they felt well-executed and satisfying, and for the most part everything was unexpected enough to keep me guessing. This book is good, also, both as its own thing and as a Gilgamesh retelling; I was compelled to go look up a summary of Gilgamesh after I'd finished (since I hadn't read the epic in ... five years?) and was impressed all over again, because the thematic things Johnson pulled are really, really great. I'm buying this one forthwith, in fact; it will definitely hold up on rereads.

Outsider Perspective by Neery, Person of Interest, Finch/Reese. I can go either way on amnesia fics, although I'm kind of a sucker for them if they're done well, and this one is indeed! Finch and Reese, of course, assume that [a] they are dating and that [b] something really weird is going on, what the hell is with all the fake IDs? It's funny, and the characterization is sound; it also takes time to deal with the fallout once they have their memories back. And, like a bizarre number of PoI fics, it made me tear up at the end, because ... idk, I guess I'm just really a sucker for intense caring D/s and John Reese getting nice things.

What are you currently reading?

Tides by Betsy Cornwell. I looked over an early draft of this one in college! It is much better now, as I expected; it's charming and engaging, and I like everyone a lot, and it does fun things with selkie mythology.

What do you think you'll read next?

WELL. I just started working at a bookstore! There are discount and free books everywhere! My to-read pile is therefore already kind of alarming. The short list, though, is Neil Gaiman's Ocean at the End of the Lane, and after that possibly the Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner, since I read the first one in middle school and have roughly zero memory of it besides that it was good, and because Polaris thinks I'd really enjoy them.


Also, I have been watching some television! (Some of it is TERRIBLE. For some reason for instance I'm still watching Teen Wolf! What a stupid show, how I love it.) Fortunately I don't have thoughts about Teen Wolf, but I do have thoughts about several other things:

Warehouse 13! ( Spoilers for the last few episodes of this season; some squee, not much spec, a bit of talk about cancer. )

Avengers! Specifically, I watched the two-part opener of Avengers Assemble, and ... I have the vague idea that the internet is unenthused? I'd be curious to hear why; I'm not thrilled by the fact that there is literally one lady so far, but otherwise I find it unobjectionable! Honestly as long as I love Thor and I love Natasha (which I do in this iteration so far!) and I don't actively want to punch anyone in the face, we're doing okay. (Ftr in EMH I actively wanted to punch like ... half the cast in the face the whole time, but T'Challa and Jan and Carol and Hulk and Hawkeye were so unrelentingly great that it was okay.) I do find it interesting, though, that the recent Avengers shows -- and also the movie, tbh -- are really interested in having the Avengers fight each other a lot! Like, omg guys who would win?? And I don't know why that seems to be a focus/something the creators think we're clearly interested in? (Which I guess says something about who their assumed audience is?) I'm trying to remember how much, say, X-Men Evolution had the team fighting each other vs just hanging out in the mansion being bros, and I think the ratio was a lot better, and I want me some of that! Sure, Hulk and Thor can beat each other up, that's clearly their version of hanging out being bros, but I also want a billion scenes of everyone going out for burgers. Yep.