Day 17 of Decembermeme!

Because of things being crazy for the last few days, I'll be doing 3 of these today. XD

Today's topic: Harry Potter!

My very first exposure of Harry Potter was in 11th grade. I was editor of the school paper and had to proofread the article a girl wrote about it. I remember cutting out paragraph after paragraph and thinking that it really didn't sound like my thing at all. Fast forward a little bit to where I was getting into Gundam Wing hardcore and the friend who introduced me to that was talking about writing Harry Potter fanfic and had me read little pieces she was writing. That summer, I went to visit her in Tulsa and, that first night while she had a remedial geometry class? I read book one. In the week I was there, I read the next two, as well. (The fourth had just come out, but I got it from the library ASAP once I got home.)

I started out loving Harry/Draco and thinking a lot of other pairings were pretty meh, though I've read some of a little bit of everything, I think. JayKay's "Too Wise To Woo Peaceably" was my first Harry/Snape and it was mainly just because of the Shakespeare. Suddenly, I found myself loving that pairing. A lot. XD

A lovely artist named Yukipon has actually done art for 2 of my fics: my first Harry/Snape called "Chalk Dust" had a few sketches in an art compilation doujin she did and then, later, she made a whole doujin based on my Harry/Draco fic called "Erised Never Lies". They are doujin that I will never sell. :)

I have quite a bit of Harry Potter "stuff". Hardcover and paperback versions of all of the books except Beedle the Bard. Over a dozen shirts. A bunch of little knick knacks scattered here and there... I used to have a lot more, but a lot of it was stuff people got for me because they knew I liked HP, but not necessarily what I liked about it.

So, what I do like? Quidditch. The successful balancing of something like 4 generations of characters. The foreshadowing. How many levels of villains there are (because the villainy of Pansy Parkinson is not like Bellatrix Lestrange's, but Dolores Umbridge will eat your heart with a grapefruit spoon off of a mewling kitten plate). That there are female characters who are significantly more awesome than their male counterparts. People being complicated and stupid and never so inexorably badass that they cannot fail.

The world is so deep in HP that it really feels like an immersive experience to me. There are problems, sure, but I tend to not like high fantasy but I still really like HP. <3

(If you'd like to make a suggestion on something for me to post a day this month, add it as a comment here.)

Day 18 of Decembermeme!

Today's topic: Favorite Christmas traditions!

I don't think I go too crazy with Christmas traditions, so a lot of it is stuff that a lot of people do, I think? But my favorite thing is just the Christmas meal which, well, is basically just the same as the Thanksgiving meal but sometimes with ham. As far as the new traditions? I like that penguin stuff is what everyone has glommed onto to get for me. <3

I also have a tradition of annoying the heck out of my husband by singing Christmas songs all the time. XD

(If you'd like to make a suggestion on something for me to post a day this month, add it as a comment here.)

Day 19 of Decembermeme!

Today's Topic: Top 5 favorite fics!

Standard edition:
* Limitless by solaciolum - Assassin's Creed - This is literally the only bookmark I have on AO3. It's Altair/Malik and is affectionately referred to as the "stump fuck" fic. Yup. I love it.
* Constructive Criticism by aoigensou - Hikaru no Go - This is probably one of my favorite non-serious fics. Liz never disappoints.
* Pine by very - Hikaru no Go - Legit my favorite "solo exploration" fic of any fandom. So good I had to podfic it.
* Boys and Girls by Bianca & Ariana - Gundam Wing - Heero magically changes sex. It's humorous, but it's also a really great look at how a few of Gundam pilots might view gender.
* Five Times Kyoko Did Not Expect Fannish Shipping Explosions by ryfkah - Skip Beat! -

Hard mode(above 50k):
* Falling Into College by TheBugGuy - Daria - This is the best fic I've seen that follows Daria after high school. It's very long, fleshes out a lot of characters, has OCs who don't suck, etc. It gets a little cliche at times, but never so much to override my enjoyment of it. All told, it's closer to 500k.
* And Then There Were Three by Amy - Harry Potter - The Courtship of Severus Snape, basically, but ends in an OT3 scenario with Harry/Draco/Snape.
* Lingering Days by Kumiko and Tzigane - Gundam Wing - AU wherein Wufei is a Chinese boy from Georgia and Zechs is a Minnesota Viking type working as a goatherd and a schoolteacher at a historical compound. Full of silly stuff and in-jokes, but tons of fun.
* Nocturne - Harry Potter - AU wherein Snape is a vampire and Harry basically helps find the cure? Really interesting world building.
* In Which Tony Stark Builds Himself Some Friends (But His Family Was Assigned by Nick Fury) by scifigrl47 - The Avengers - Flying Roombas, sentient toasters, and Stark Snark. <3

Vanity recs (by which I assume Liz means stuff I wrote that I'd rec?):
* Skinship - Hikaru no Go - There might only be a few people who love this fic... but I'm one of them.
* Sharing is Caring - Hikaru no Go - Because smut? Ogata and Isumi and Waya and Yashiro. Oh my!
* A View of the Sunset - Assassin's Creed - Written for Porn Battle, but I like it. Altair/Malik rooftop handjobs!
* WANTED: MUST LOVE CATS - Prince of Tennis - I don't know why, but I really like this InuKai fic I wrote. It's an AU, but it makes me smile.
* Heart Beat - That Thing You Do! - Of all of the fics I wrote last year for Yuletide, this was my favorite.

(If you'd like to make a suggestion on something for me to post a day this month, add it as a comment here.)