Just a quick reminder that posting for the ficathon starts on 1 August and will run until 14 August. I'm looking forward to it already!

Title: Illusions
Fandom: Earthsea
Pairing: Jasper/Ged
Rating: G
Word count: 286
Disclaimer: This piece, based on Ursula K. Le Guin's work, was written entirely for fun. No infringement is intended.
Notes: Written for espresso_addict , who requested Jasper-centric fic -- a request after my own heart, I might add!

Some of the younger boys were practising Illusions on a field behind the school.

Ok, everyone, the ficathon is now open! To claim one or more prompts, just comment on this post & I'll add your name. You can claim as many prompts as you feel able to write & there's no limit to the number of times a prompt can be claimed. It's fine to claim your own suggestions. I suggest that we don't have formal length limits -- anything goes, from a drabble to a novel, from a haiku to an epic poem.

Posting will start on 1 August.

Prompts
(1) Tenar/Flint, pre-Tehanu: How much does Flint know about his wife's former life as a priestess? Do they ever talk about it?
Claimed by espresso_addict

(2) Jasper/Vetch, A Wizard of Earthsea: Jasper's dislike of the new boy Sparrowhawk has nothing to do with jealousy. Of course not.
Claimed by the_wild_iris

(3) Kossil/Thar, The Tombs of Atuan: It's surprising how much comfort there is in year-long hostility.

(4) The early years of Lebannen's reign, especially restoring order after the events of The Farthest Shore/Tehanu, establishing government & rebuilding the capital, or anything about court life on Havnor before The Other Wind. Not necessarily focusing on Lebannen; minor canon characters from TOW (eg Sege, council members) and/or OCs also possible.

(5) Thorion & Ged on Roke, possibly while Ged is Archmage, taking account of Ged's description of life on Roke in 'The High Marsh' as well as the later events in 'Dragonfly'. Other Roke characters from Tales from Earthsea could be included. Gen or slash (with handwaving as to how it would fit with the celibacy clause).

(6) ellen_fremedon convinced me that Erreth-Akbe & Maharion were lovers. What did Heru think of their relationship? Tales from Earthsea appendix fic.
Claimed by westwind_dragon

(7) Lebannen/Seserakh, The Other Wind: How Seserakh called him back from what was the land of the dead.

(8) Penthe, post Tombs of Atuan: What happened to her after the collapse of the Hall of the Throne? Het/slash romance is fine, but the fic should center on a study of the character.
Claimed by forodwaith

(9) Everyone is the hero of their own story. Even Kossil.
Claimed by miss_morland

(10) What is it like for those few who spontaneously express magic in the Kargish Empire? Canon characters eg Azver or Tombs of Atuan characters, or OCs.

(11) Alder/Lily, pre-OW. A simple, fluffy story about their life together.

(12) Any Seserakh-fic at all. Maybe, why did she agree to travel to Havnor?

(13) How did Berila come by its epithet (City of Ivory)?

(14) Something about the Founders of Roke, the women of the Hand.

(15) Ged and Vetch, after the events of A wizard of Earthsea. (Could be friendship or slash.)
Claimed by miss_morland

Happy writing!

In case you think you're seeing things, I've just changed the journal style to Smooth Sailing: Blue Days, so as to get various features, in particular one-click editing of posts & the tag list in the side bar. I've changed the defaults to improve some of the more annoying features, but it's still not ideal, and if anyone has any better layout ideas (that are available for free), please do suggest them.

I've also added a few more community tags. If you need another tag, just comment on any recent admin post.

All in one post for your reading convenience...

Fandom overview
Sparkweed, by Minerva McTabby (PG-13): Ged/Jasper
The Dark of the Moon, by Daegaer (PG): Tenar, Thar
Lighting the Lamps, by solvent90 (PG-13): Ged/Tenar
The Naming of Names, by Victoria P. (G): Ged, Ogion, OC (Earthsea/Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Epithalamium, by Wild Iris (PG): Therru, Moss
The Veins of the Forest, by Ellen Fremedon (G): Azver
The Inner Dark, by Altariel (PG): Thar
The Song of the Silent, by Werecat (G): otaks
White Hallows, by Melannen (PG): Serret
To Market, by Antosha (PG): Flint, Tenar
Even Beyond All Other Lands, by Bounce (PG): Arren
Naming the Land, by Antosha (R): Ged/Tenar

If you enjoy these stories, don't forget to send feedback to the authors!

The Earthsea ficathon 2009 is now open for people to suggest prompts! Anyone can make as many suggestions as they would honestly like to read by commenting on this post. There's no obligation to write -- though hopefully everyone will get involved in reading & commenting when stories are posted!

Given the small pool of writers, there will be no restrictions on how many prompts people can claim, or how many times a particular prompt can be claimed. It's fine to suggest prompts that you later intend to claim, as long as you don't mind others writing them too!

No special formatting for suggestions is required and you can be as specific or as vague as you want. However, to avoid disappointment, please make it clear in your suggested prompt if you want:

*a particular character or pairing, or if any canon character or original characters would be acceptable
*a particular setting, either within Earthsea or within the book series
*a particular genre, such as drama or humour, or if you have a preference as to gen/het/slash
*a maximum or minimum rating

I will collate prompts periodically and add them to the list in this post.

The suggested timetable:

29 April - 15 May: suggesting prompts
16 May - 31 May: claiming prompts
1 June - 31 July: writing
1 August - 14 August: posting, reading & commenting

Please comment asap if there's a problem with any of this, or if you have any queries. Also do please advertise the ficathon anywhere it seems relevant!

A few people expressed an interest in participating in a second ficathon this summer. Rather than running it as an exchange, I'd suggest a slightly different approach this time: start with a brainstorming few weeks in which anyone can suggest prompts (without an obligation to participate), then a prompt-claiming time where participants can claim as many prompts as they feel able to write, allow 6-8 weeks writing time, then have a couple of weeks of posting, reading & commenting.

As to timing, I'm away late June/early July, forodwaith is away in late July & miss_morland is away sometime in July. Mid-June doesn't feel to give time for slow writers like me to complete piece(s), so I'd suggest we put off the posting period until early August.

Thoughts, anyone?

Cheered by the interest in my recommendations at crack_van, I thought I'd post quickly to remind people that all the ficlet challenges remain open indefinitely. Many have no responses yet, so it would be great if people were to write for them. Responses can be any length, from ficlets to novels, from haiku to epic poetry cycles.

The earlier challenges are a theme. Where I've added a few ideas, they're just suggestions to stimulate the muse -- go with anything that the challenge theme sparks. The later challenges are in the form of a theme, a letter & a quotation. The letter can be a person, place or object with that initial letter, or whatever you will. Challenge responses may use any of the three individually, or two together, or even all three, if you're feeling in the mood. The unfilled challenges are marked with an asterisk, but feel free to write for any -- the more the merrier!

( Existing challenges under the cut )

If anyone's interested in new monthly challenges please comment -- I'm not sure which format worked best. Volunteers to set them are always welcome!

Also, way back when the community was new in 2005, we ran the first Earthsea ficathon, which produced a small harvest of great stories. I wondered if anyone would be interested in a second one in 2009?

lgbtfest is a multifandom fanfiction fest that focuses on the experience of being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. There are three Earthsea prompts available -- see this post.

(561) Ged -- discovering you have a sexuality in middle age is hard enough, without also discovering you desire men as well as women.

(562) Jasper -- He let them think he left Roke because of the Lady of O, but it wasn't the Lady who lured him out of their cloister.

(563) Any character -- What are the Earthsea residents' attitudes to homo-/bisexuality, especially in environments dominated by one sex, such as Roke's wizard school or the tombs of Atuan?

Additionally, there are many 'any fandom' prompts, listed here.

Although stories must reflect the LBGT theme, I believe that they need not feature a same-sex relationship and gen is welcomed; PWP is excluded. There's some more details on what kind of stories the fest is looking for here. Stories must be at least 1000 words and must be posted on an assigned date from 15 April to 15 May. To claim a prompt, go to this post. All prompts can be claimed twice.

Written for </a></b></a>aberforths_rug, who bought a ficlet at auction lo, these many months ago! Her request was, "For Earthsea.... really anything would be great. Maybe some sort of missing moment... maybe focused on some minorish character? " I hope this meets your specifications. :-)

Title : To Market

Rating : PG

Warnings: None?

Length: ~1650 words

Summary: Flint finds foolishness. (Flint/Tenar, pre-Tehanu missing scene)

( To Market )

If anyone feels like starting 2009 by writing Earthsea, there are three prompts in the yuletide New Year's Resolution challenge. Stories should be written specially; they must be at least 1000 words and at a minimum include all the requested characters. Prompts will be removed from the list once filled this year; however, it's still possible to upload a story even if the prompt has already been taken.

Ged, Tenar
I'd like something taking place in or after Tehanu. A contrast between when Tenar loses her virginity, and then when Ged does, would make me squeal, but any other look at their life would also be great -- like parallels between events in or after Tehanu and events earlier in their lives.
for allie (latentfunction) -- further details here

Any characters
I'd adore something set in the Kargad Lands, drawing from the new material in Tales from Earthsea & The Other Wind. Some possible ideas: how & why was the Labyrinth built? why do they distrust magic & writing? what happened to Erreth-Akbe there? what's it like in Awabath, or Hupun, or Mesreth, or ...? what's the Godking's court like? tell me some of their folklore, or whatever inspires you. I'm particularly interested in the unexplored corners of this canon, geographically or historically, so I'd prefer something that isn't set on Atuan during The Tombs of Atuan. If this setting isn't your cup of tea, then anything historical based on Tales from Earthsea would also delight. Gen, het & slash all equally ok; prefer nothing beyond hard R.
for Firerose (espresso_addict) -- further details here

Ged
I would love something with Ged as archmage. Perhaps about how he feels cooped up on Roke or about the interminable politics that goes with his job. Or a conversation with Asver when he first becomes the Master Patterner. Basically, I'm easily pleased - anything with Ged in it!
for sacred_sarcasm -- further details here

yuletide this year produced two Earthsea stories...

As Long Ago As Forever, There Lived a Prince, by Cinaed (PG)
This is a tale of the Archmage and the prince of Enland, of the mountain of Gont and of the kingdom of forests, and of the difference between doing and being. (Arren/Ged, spoilers for The Farthest Shore)

Unspoken, the Name for Home, by allie (G)
There is always the next thing to do. Post-Tehanu.

I'm sure everyone reading here has already signed up for yuletide, but just in case, there are currently five Earthsea requests, as well as several for Le Guin's Hainish cycle & Paradises Lost, and a host of other rare-lit fandoms. Do come and join in the Sunreturn fun!

Sign ups are here (deadline Monday 10 November), and the full list of the 2573 fandoms offered, requested & currently orphaned can be browsed here.

As part of the amplificathon, luzula has just posted a reading of my Earthsea fanfic The Inner Dark. It's in mp3 format, and you can download it from here.

amplificathon is an annual podfic challenge designed to promote the diversity of podfic across fandoms and pairings. This year it's running from April 7th to June 2nd.

majoritython, a ficathon about women and people of color in positions of political power.

A quick look through the Earthsea novels reminds me that I can't think of anyone in this fandom in a position of political power who *isn't* a person of color or a woman. So, any takers?

Response to Challenge 13: marriage, the letter D, and an Auden quotation (well, there's a mention of stars).

Title: Epithalamium
Rating: PG
Length: c.1100 words
Summary: Therru is staying over with Moss on her parents' wedding night. She asks the witch to perform a charm.
Disclaimer: The characters and universe, as always, belong to Ursula LeGuin. Any mangling thereof is my own responsibility.

Dedicated to our valiant mod, espresso_addict.

( Story under the cut )

hi all, just to say that i've made a song, inspired by Ursula's short story 'Darkrose and Diamond' , one of my favourites from 'Tales from Earthsea' ....it's a mellow guitar track that uses her words, but not the music.....hope u like...
http://www.myspace.com/embertime

Theme: Women
Letter: E
Quotation:

my heart's grown heavy, my knees will not support me,
that once on a time were fleet for the dance as fawns.
This state I oft bemoan; but what's to do?
Not to grow old, being human, there's no way.

Sappho (transl. Martin West)

Challenge responses may use any of the three individually, or two together, or even all three, if you're feeling in the mood. The letter can be a person, place or object with that initial letter (Isolate Tower has a lot of suggestions), or whatever you will.

Challenges remain open indefinitely; previous challenges can be found in the memories. If you'd like to suggest a challenge, or even take over doing them, do comment!

Theme: Marriage
Letter: D
Quotation:

But the stars burn on overhead,
Unconscious of final ends
'A Walk After Dark', by WH Auden

Challenge responses may use any of the three individually, or two together, or even all three, if you're feeling in the mood. The letter can be a person, place or object with that initial letter (Isolate Tower has a lot of suggestions), or whatever you will.

Challenges remain open indefinitely; previous challenges can be found in the memories. If you'd like to suggest a challenge, or even take over doing them, do comment!

Response:
Epithalamium, by the_wild_iris
Therru is staying over with Moss on her parents' wedding night. She asks the witch to perform a charm.

Theme: Weather
Letter: C
Quotation:

Experience is never limited, and it is never complete; it is an immense sensibility, a kind of huge spider-web of the finest silken threads suspended in the chamber of consciousness, and catching every air-borne particle in its tissue.
The Art of Fiction, Henry James

Challenge responses may use any of the three individually, or two together, or even all three, if you're feeling in the mood. The letter can be a person, place or object with that initial letter (Isolate Tower has a lot of suggestions), or whatever you will.

Challenges remain open indefinitely; previous challenges can be found in the memories. If you'd like to suggest a challenge, or even take over doing them, do comment!