Hi, so, this is one of those guide-to-this-journal sort of things. Lurkers, new people feel free to give a wave, etc. *waves*

Where I keep things:
a. Guide to my journal, fic index, memes, tags, etc. And incidentally, why my lj name is a gimped octopus.
b. Index of (most) of my fic.
c. Tags because I don't index my art, but if you look under 'a', you'll see several art tags.
c. and finally, my policy on coloring or altering my art (for icons, etc).

You know, I'm not sure this exchange really does author letters? BUT I'M DOING IT.

Dear Author,

I am REALLY EXCITED to get a Batfamily story, so just like yuletide, please consider this letter to be HELPFUL BUT OPTIONAL. Please write the story that speaks to you. Even if it doesn't include ANY of these things, I will still be happy!

This letter in one sentence:

My bulletproof kink is my fave being loved, respected, not alone, and also bleeding a little/a lot.

This letter in a lot more sentences:

GEN VS. ROMANCE: My big narrative kink is characters becoming less alone. I want the main characters to find someone (or someones) to be a longterm life companion, someone to put on their medical contact forms. Romantic pairings hit that kink almost automatically, but if you can do it with gen, I’m all for it.

YES, PLEASE:

• Plot, family, world-building, relationship dynamics, interpersonal politics, competence kink. I like drama, mortal peril, and characters caring deeply about each other (and about each other in peril)
  
  
• H/C. Peril. Protectiveness, especially grumpy growly won’t-admit-it, maybe-doesn’t-even-realize-it protectiveness.
  
  
• I love seeing a connection being built step by step from scratch. You don't need to show me the whole journey from A to B. Just one step from the beginning or middle would be great. Strangers –> Family. Estranged --> Understanding. Enemies –> Lovers. Wariness –> Communicating without Words. Etc.
  
  
• POV Characters getting so stressed or injured they’re not really aware of their surroundings. Who gets them out of there and what are the consequences, how does everyone else react. </il>
  
  
• Physical proximity and touch as comfort and safety.
  
  
• I love when characters caring about each other creates problems for those characters (when it fucks up their composure, their reputation, their personal ambitions and schemes, etc). I love circumstances that trick a character into revealing more than they meant to.
  
  
• I love supporting characters and ensemble casts. I love when supporting characters put our main characters into context. I love when a story shows me how a character's different relationships are, well, *different* from each other. Especially when the other characters notice.
  

NO, THANK YOU:

• Any sexual activity between an underage character and an adult, unless the age gap is 1-2 years. Bruce paired romantically or sexually with any of his children or proteges.
  
  
• Fluff without peril. Porn without plot. Crippling public embarrassment. Romantic cliches like first dates, proposals, meeting the parents, the shovel talk, staring into each other's eyes, saying "I love you" out loud, etc. The trope where everyone assumes A and B are dating and no one believes A when A says they're not.

CANON COMPLIANCE OPTIONAL: I view the DC universe as a build-your-own-burrito bar. Beat the continuity into whatever shape you want, I don't mind at all. :) My batfamily is: Dick, Jason, Tim, Steph, Damian, Cass, Babs with a side of Alfred, Bruce, Selina, and Jim Gordon. I don't really know the other characters because I am really, really not up to date on canon.


BRUCE, JASON, DICK, BATLADIES:
Re: Bruce, I prefer him flawed but loving; someone who's done some things wrong but not *everything*.

Re: Jason, I am a sucker for a good redemption arc. I love a Jason who isn't easy, who's made his own bad choices, who's dangerous. A Jason who dug the hole he's stuck in and who’s digging himself out the same way. A Jason who's still the kid who loved school and reading more than any other Robin.

Re: Dick,I would like to see him with some hard edges and darkness. I personally love Dick as a team leader and machiavellian schemer who also works himself to death trying to be involved in a bunch of different teams and support a bunch of different heroes. Who is chatty and smirky and vain and loves attention. Who can get angry.

Re: Ladies, I like selfish, ambitious women who make mistakes and don't know what they're doing all the time, who tough it out or break down or ask for help or fake it til they make it or *whatever*. Ladies who are not any less disaster human beings than the boys. Ladies who go through as much shit as the boys. Basically I like when the ladies are written to appeal to my id and my empathy rather than written to be my role model. Vulnerable BAMFs, yeah?


A final note: if you find yourself contorting painfully to match my likes and dislikes, please ignore them. Write your story. I am always interested to see another fan's interpretations of the characters. I will read it and enjoy it! Thank you again for writing for me. :D

Sincerely,
Pen

This entry was originally posted at http://pentapus.dreamwidth.org/72939.html. Please comment there using OpenID. ( comments)

Hello Yuletide Author!

I apologize profusely that I am writing this letter belatedly. Also, it isn't very long. For something longer and rambly, and with prompts I am STILL VERY MUCH interested in, you can check out last year's letter (which was the same as the year before that -- yes, I've have two crappy falls in a row. *wince*)

Yuletide Letter 2015

But you can also write without reading past letters!

This year, because of, well, how. uh. Ok, I don't why I'm having trouble saying this but my situation is not good, it's not stable, I'm really, really stressed. The POINT is just signing up for yuletide was a victory and I will be delighted with any story you write.

My favorite narrative kinks are h/c, identity porn (when it makes canonical sense), gossip/reputation/outsider POV, h/c, world-building, found families, and plotty fic in general. I love anything that shows that a character is loved, respected, valued, and NOT ALONE. I love when characters caring about each other creates problems for those characters (when it fucks up their composure, their reputation, their personal ambitions and schemes, etc). I love, love, love seeing relationships build so that they are different at the beginning than the end. Enemies -> Friends, Enemies -> Less-hateful Enemies, Strangers -> Lovers, etc.

If you want to write pairing fic, I usually don't prefer fic that focuses on mushy/sappy/fluffy romantic tropes: e.g. dates, anniversaries, staring into each other's eyes and thinking about how lucky they are to have found the man they love, etc. (Note: I don't actually care if the characters in a pairing ever get to the "I love you" point in your story. I pretty much prefer pairing fic that's nearly indistinguishable from gen devoted BFF fic.)

That said... if writing romantic feels is what you do best, go ahead! I'm seriously just happy to be in yuletide this year, and I will love any story I get in one of these fandoms. A+++, thank you so much.

This entry was originally posted at http://pentapus.dreamwidth.org/72607.html. Please comment there using OpenID. ( comments)

Hey guys,

I am traveling again, which means I'm also sending postcards with fan art, little comics about my trip, or science nerd facts.

Here's the ones I drew on my last trip.

If you'd like one, please send an email to pentapoda at gmail with 'postcard' in the subject line. Please include your address and a few fandoms. Bonus points if you let me know you'd also be into doodles of science, creatures, or little autobio comics. :)

Do not leave your address in a comment here (which is how i used to do this). They are not screened.

This entry was originally posted at http://pentapus.dreamwidth.org/72025.html. Please comment there using OpenID. ( comments)

If you asked for a postcard on the previous post, would you please comment with some fandoms? I've kind of burned out on drawing animals. As always, no guarantees I will match your prompt. :P

Also, anyone who requests a postcard from now on, I can't promise to get to you, but you are welcome to add your name to the list. My productivity is very unpredictable.

ETA: it doesn't have to be current hot fandoms or a fandom at all. Just some things you like would be cool. I am terrible with wide open requests I am realizing. (FYI, I am generally allergic to major slash pairings... except Dean/Cas for some reason.)

P.S. if you already gave me fandoms, I probably already drew you a postcard. And thanks for being excited and interested in getting something I doodled. It gets me drawing more than I ever would otherwise. :)

This entry was originally posted at http://pentapus.dreamwidth.org/71623.html. Please comment there using OpenID. ( comments)

I know I've been fannishly quiet for awhile, but if anyone is still around, I am once again traveling and writing postcards. If you would like one, I have screened comments on this post. Leave me your address and I'll send you a postcard. You can optionally leave fandoms or animals as prompts, but I can't promise either of those things.

The way this trip is going so far (aka me being sick the whole time), I'm probably gonna draw you a dog and call it a win. But it'll be a nice dog. I think.

ETA: I am not sick anymore (mostly)! Thank you for your well wishes. :)

This entry was originally posted at http://pentapus.dreamwidth.org/71408.html. Please comment there using OpenID. ( comments)

ETA: since offline life has gone a little crazy and since I requested the same fandoms, this 2014 letter has become my 2015 letter!

____

Dear Yuletide Author,

Before I say anything else (and I’m going to say a lot, it’s just my way), thank you for writing for me. Every fandom I requested this year is a fandom in which any story, of any shape or size will make me happy. So write the story that grabs you.

I am a sucker for world-building, plot, and fully-formed characters, even in small doses. Now, you could write from just that, but if you would like more info, what follows is an extended digression on likes, dislikes, and the wee, tiny fandoms I've requested.

( More on that... the infamous optional detailsCollapse )


Fandoms:
( More optional details: The Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells, The Element of Fire by Martha Wells, Scrapped Princess, Ronin Warriors/Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, GothamCollapse )

That’s all for my requests. I hope you found something in there that helps you. If not, go where your heart takes you. You are writing a story in a wee, tiny fandom of my heart. I already love it. Thank you!

Cheers,
Pen

This entry was originally posted at http://pentapus.dreamwidth.org/70933.html. Please comment there using OpenID. ( comments)

[Tumblr link] A continuation of the Always-a-different-gender AU where Sid is a female biathlon gold medalist, and Taylor is going to kill Geno. Goalies can do that. As requested by several people.



[Tumblr link] justalrkr asked for Natasha pwning the Hulk.



[Tumblr link] Methos and cats, as requested by thisnewdevilry, who I was thought was a random stranger until her wife, aka my first fannish friend, reblogged this picture snickering about us being totally predictable people and I went OHHHHH.

This entry was originally posted at http://pentapus.dreamwidth.org/70816.html. Please comment there using OpenID. ( comments)

I gave asking for prompts on tumblr a try earlier today, but for reasons enumerated there, I am not really... arty at the moment.

I don't know if anyone wonders why I don't fill all prompts/ask for more soon after not filling all from the last request. Here's some general rambling:

- a lot of the prompts end up being stuff I can't quite paint a picture for. That's not quality or appropriateness of the prompt, just me not being able to come up with an idea for it

- some of them are things I could have told you ahead of time that I wasn't going to draw (so feel free to leave several). But unless you consistently ask for only dominant slash pairings with NO lady options, ever, then I am not silently judging you. :P (and even if I am, keep liking what you like, ok?)

- even the prompts that I can paint a picture for, there's kind of a "shelf life" for when I have the most energy from that idea, just after it's first caught hold and it kind of depends on luck how many prompts I get before that runs out

- it's a positive fun thing to get prompts. I really like reading them, and I draw best when I read a lot of them. Options, options, options! Unfortunately when there isn't fandom overlap between requesters, the fact that your teen wolf prompt helped this hockey picture get drawn is probably not that great for you

- feeling guilty about unfilled prompts would mean I never got any art done or asked for any prompts ever, so I basically made the unilateral decision that is okay not to fill prompts (and I'm pretty certain most of you agree with me on that, but I had to make a personal internal ruling, because I am very pleasing people/other's happiness oriented, so I want to make something for you when you take the time to prompt me)

So thank you for leaving prompts. I know you don't have to, and I really enjoy it. :) Even though I say I don't feel bad about unfilled prompts, I do try not to ask for them unless I have a good chance of finishing 2 or 3. Which is not today. But please give me lots anyway.

This entry was originally posted at http://pentapus.dreamwidth.org/70407.html. Please comment there using OpenID. ( comments)

For amezri, Lydia and Allison. I don't know why, but I always want to draw characters falling. In all fandoms. It's just fun. And Lydia could make it happen. In a Mary Poppins kind of way.

(On tumblr.)



After I drew this, I thought to myself, "They'll be okay. It's a surprise Raksura AU." Which is a pretty small fandom overlap there, but I cracked myself up anyway. XD And also a sign that have been drawing a lot of Raksura fan art (reverse bangs! To be revealed soon!). :P

This entry was originally posted at http://pentapus.dreamwidth.org/70307.html. Please comment there using OpenID. ( comments)