CI5 Headquarters

I have created a new group over at Bam for Pros vids & somehow ended up at Mod :D If you have Pros vids that have been deleted by YouTube or need a place to replace Imeem - here's the spot! Post new or repost older vids:

BamVidVault: The Professionals

Cheers,
bistokidsfan

At my website for download of mpeg2 & mp4 versions:
http://www.bistokidsfan.com/videos.html

Bamvidvault for stream:
http://bamvidvault.ning.com/video/all-together-now

Cheers,
bistokidsfan

The fic for this week is: "Harlequin Airs" by Ellis Ward:

http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/3/harlequinairs.html (illustrated!)

http://hatstand.slashcity.net/ellis/airs1.html

( My computer feels better; apparently it needed a long lie-down )

Hmmn - can anyone think of any summertime Pros stories, for a palelyloitering story list? I'm sure I've asked before, but I didn't save the list, for some reason - ack!

I've got one these so far:

Sun King by Anonymous

B&D Beside the Sea by Sebastian

Blue Pool by Tauna

Florida Sunshine by DVS

One Night in Bangkok by LilyK



Help? *g*

Just rushing in, late again, with a reminder that the fic for this week is:

"Harlequin Airs" by Ellis Ward:

http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/3/harlequinairs.html (illustrated!)

http://hatstand.slashcity.net/ellis/airs1.html

Recced by

gritsinmisery

 

 

Below is the schedule of fics for July. Next week is still available - any willing volunteers? : )
( Things to look forward to... )

OK, so I've been watching the warnings debate, and I've made a post in my own lj about what I, personally will do in future, because that seemed fair and reasonable, to let people know. And I didn't want to say "caveat lector" even though I do (rather selfishly) appreciate it, as a reader who doesn't have any major triggery issues but who really, really doesn't like spoilers.

But there was something about certain presentations of the pro-warnings argument that had me wriggling in my seat, fundamentally disagreeing with something in many, many of the posts, only I didn't know quite how to articulate it. It was something to do with the connection between "if you don't warn you are made of fail" and "it's only fanfic, what purpose is there in talking about artistic integrity", only I couldn't put my finger on it.

Then today I followed some metafandom posts and found the beginnings of what may become Phase II of the discussion - people thoughtfully disagreeing with the concept of blanket warning and/or labelling conventions saying why. Here are two examples:

1. in which swanswan makes the following point in comments: The subject of the presentation of our creative works is important to a lot of people, and there are valid reasons to be concerned about any blanket ruling on how those fictions should be treated. These issues have ramifications, and though they do not seem as pressing (and are not as pressing) as the plight of someone seriously affected by a disturbing story, they exist, and go to the heart of what we are as community and as artists, however pretentious that may sound.

2. In which phoebe_zeitgeist puts some pretty big ideas forward, very eloquently. My summarising here is probably crap, and missing many nuances, so go read what she says for yourselves, but anyway - she says that while a lot of fan writing, and reading habits, are about "comfort reading", "...Not all readers are looking for comfort reading, and not all writers are trying to provide it." As well as noting that many of the fics she likes to read don't fit comfortably into categories, she argues that a set of labelling conventions would in many ways impact on writers from the moment of story conception, with the end result being an increasing sorting or categorisation of fanworks, and that this is actually harmful in that it tends to limit the possibilities that writers may entertain.

That's the background. Discuss it if you wish, but really what came to mind and prompted me to post were these thoughts (which aren't, you know, solid opinions, but definitely ideas I'd like to kick around the restroom):

Is it possible we (in Pros) are already affected by a kind of categorisation, or 'streaming' of creativity? That there's more of a tendency to write according to a formula than there was 10, 20 years ago, when everything was new and in many ways revolutionary? Maybe because there's more knowledge around about story arcs, or "how to write a bestselling romance novel", we feel more secure following the same steps rather than stepping out on our own? Or does writing for a specific audience & their known likes/dislikes encourage more of the same? Writing for a particular comm - do people have different ideas about the sort of fic they'd write for a DIALJ challenge, or for the_safehouse or for T&SR? Does it matter if my next story is very much like the last one I wrote? What are we doing this thing called fandom for, anyway *g*?

Please discuss.

To try and figure out how many copies to print, I've posted an open poll over at my livejournal to judge interest in ordering a copy of the Pros novel I've written.

The zine will be coming out in time for Close Quarters in mid-July.

(Crossposted to the_safehouse and teaandswissroll)

Thank you very much to sc_fossil for tea and biscuits and "Fly on the Wall" by Lezlie Conch.

Just let me finish tidying up the crumbs here...

Right, this week I'm stepping in with a recc for "Holding Back the Flood" by Lacey McBain:

http://thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/14/holdingback.html

See you on Thursday...

( Forthcoming fics )

Hello again, back on schedule this week thanks to school term and being able to just get on with things.

Thank you very much to byslantedlight  for reccing "Voice-over" by Elizabeth O'Shea. For once consensus broke out all around, and we didn't give you much to do.  Maybe next time. *eg*

The fic for this week is "Fly on the Wall" by Lezlie Conch (recced by sc_fossil), at

http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/5/flyon.html.  Have fun!

( The schedule for forthcoming weeks )

Title: Voice-Over
Author: Elizabeth O'Shea
Links to Story: In Roses and Lavender 3, at the Circuit Archive and at the Hatstand

Voice Over - what can I say about the glorious Voice Over that I haven't said a thousand times before? Well, lots of you probably know it's my favourite Pros story of all time, but for those who are a bit newer to Pros in particular - and anyone who'd like a bit more detail about why - it's because...

( ...Voice-Over by Elizabeth O'Shea )

Fellow Professionals Fans!
While Requiem Publications is unable to attend the con, we'd like to bring to your attention the excellent new Pros zine: Professional Adventures! It debuted at Media West this year, and will be available without postal cost through Mysti at AgentWithStyle for you to pick up at Close Quarters. Requiem also offers Secret Agent Men, and a number of other great Pros novels and collections. You can browse at http://requiem.ravenshadow.net or at www.agentwithstyle.com

Order your Pros zines, or any of the great Requiem Publications zines Today for NO POST prices! Save $5 or more a book!

Thanks to byslantedlight for pointing me at this comm. I've been testing out my newly resurrected OCR reader on some old hatstands, and they may as well be re-exposed to public gaze - for those with historic bents (and haven't we all?)

Title Routine Surveillance
Author Oriole AT (Ina MacAllan)
Link to storyRoutine Surveillance
( rating/AN )

Title: THE COOK AND THE WAREHOUSEMAN
Author: Helen Raven
Link to story: http://www.kelper.co.uk/cook/index.html

Warnings: NC-17

The first ships of the alien fleet came into orbit around Earth on Wednesday, September the 7^th, 1983, just after 6pm, GMT.

 

So begins one of the classic AU stories of Pros fandom.

 

 The original discussion thread started here

Review of Helen Raven's source material HOSTAGE TO PEACE by Wally is here.

Please continue!

jaycat92 asked if I could make a couple of icons she could use on The Reading Room. Typically, I went overboard and ended up with quite a few, so we decided to post them all here. These are up for grabs by anyone interested.

01. 02. 03.

( More Reading Room Icons )

Edited: 06/06/09 to add two more icons.