About Me

This is Aja. I write fanfic and blather about gay serial killers. I have a guitar named Rex Stout that I can’t play, and a piano named Maayah that I can. In the endless war between zombies and unicorns, I am Team Zombie. Welcome to my journal!

All content on this site is duplicated on my livejournal. This blog is a mix of fandom & media commentary. I frequently blog about films, YA literature, and some sf/f.

If you want to know more about this journal, my contact info, and my review policy, start here.

If you’re feeling sentimental and you want to check out the old livejournal welcome post & poll, it’s here.

Feel free to drop me an email or find me on twitter if you have any questions or just want to say hi! Or, since this is ye olde welcome post, you can say hello right here. :)

Thanks for dropping by, and thanks for reading my journal!

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Protected: i got this, you got this

T

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It’s May Fifth! You know what that means….!

Happy Hikago Day!!!

Technically this LJ is on hiatus until the end of June, but it’s May 5th, and on May 5th, exceptions must be made.

For anyone new to this journal, Hikaru no Go is my true love. If you have never watched this show or read the manga, here’s my Top 5 pimp post about why it is the best. Best, best, best. Best story ever, best characters ever, best epic metaphor for life turned into a shounen manga series ever. Oh, my heart. Hikago has a unique place in the annals of beloved manga/anime series for many people. There’s just something about it that’s truly special.

This year, Manga Bookshelf, a wonderful fan review site run by my friend Melinda Beasi, is doing a very special roundtable on Hikaru no Go to celebrate the publication of the final volume of the series’ English translation (which was released, fittingly enough, on May 5th).

Melinda asked me to be a part of the roundtable discussion, which has been fantastic. If you’re a fan of the series (or don’t mind being thoroughly spoiled), please check it out. Those ladies are so smart and articulate, and we had a wonderful, fun discussion.

Every year since 2007, I have done a special Top 5 meme in honor of Hikaru no Go to celebrate May 5th. It’s my favorite post of the year – Hikago fans ask each other for their top-5 Hikago-related things! It’s so much fun and reminds me every year how wonderful this series is.

Melinda also asked me if I would like to do a very special Manga Bookshelf version of this year’s Top 5 meme, the only answer was: of course! What better to celebrate the 5th anniversary of my meme? And what better way to celebrate a story that’s all about connection than connecting with other people who aren’t on LJ? :D

So! Hikago fans! You can find this year’s Top 5 meme at Manga Bookshelf, right this way!

Bring your game faces, and LET’S FIVE! :D

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Fic: The Sons & Daughters of Hungry Ghosts. Inception, Mal/Dom/Saito.

Title: The Sons & Daughters of Hungry Ghosts
Author: Aja
Pairing(s): all permutations of Mal/Dom/Saito
Rating: R
Word Count: 5,500
Warnings: mindfuckery, dark themes, mild descriptions of graphic imagery, mild dubious consent

Summary: Mal becomes Orpheus to save Dom, or maybe just to save herself.

Written for .
Challenge art is by koushi; view/review it here!

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fic: reason #398534 why Monte Carlo is never a good idea

So far in this fandom, i have consistently shown that i can only produce fic while drunk, drunk, or drunk. To this tally we can now add: while high on Vicodin.

This is a twitter fic that mirabellawotr told me to write. Apparently, she tells me to do things and I do things, because 1600 words eked out in 140-character-limit tweets later, I am bringing my shame to LJ to tell you all, DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME. And by “this” i mean, “please do not spam your twitter followers with terrible unbeta’d clichefic written off the cuff while you are nursing a burgeoning career as a dope fiend.”

But anyway, here is 1600 words of fake boyfriend twitterfic. And no, it hasn’t been beta’d, it’s twitterfic. The amount of self-loathing I feel right now is roughly equivalent to the amount that Arthur is going to feel when he wakes up in the morning and realizes that he got totally sloshed and pawed Eames’ Cavalli and Eames let him because he’s a posh slut.

(Eames’ Cavalli, btw, is this number from the Fall 2011 collection, because of course that is what he would wear to a gay cruise night in Monte Carlo, come on. Have I mentioned I was high when I wrote this.)

right, okay. onward.

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Take the challenge! Join the OTW.

Earlier this month I was asked to write a guest blog post for the Organization for Transformative Works (the OTW) in support of their March Fundraising Drive. I hope you will please read this post and others from around the community and think about what the OTW means, or could mean, to each of us in fandom. Please follow this week as they update! My guest blog is crossposted below.

________

Recently, I’ve had two of my default assumptions about fandom overturned.

Assumption #1: The Powers That Be know what fandom is.

In May, I attended the first annual Book Blogger convention, where a room full of publishing reps were asked, “How many of you know what fanfiction is?” I was stunned when less than half of them raised their hands.

In fandom, we face constant threat of exposure, legal repercussions, etc. It’s hard to grasp that lots of media professionals don’t find fanwork threatening because they don’t even know what it is. When they *do* discover fanwork, their response hinges on their overall view of fan culture. When they perceive fan culture as a positive thing, fandom becomes safer from threat.

I believe that no one can portray fandom more positively than fandom itself. But do we always?

Assumption #2: Fans know fandom is nothing to be ashamed of.

If fandom has taught me anything, it’s that legitimized fanwork exists everywhere. So when I posted a long list of examples to show how fanfic fits into a larger cultural spectrum of reworking previous sources, I assumed I was re-stating the obvious.

But the outpouring of response I received was overwhelmingly one of surprise. I hadn’t realized how many fans saw fanfic as illegitimate, or how eye-opening and empowering a simple list of examples to the contrary could be.

Fandom may no longer be widely viewed as something closeted and shameful, but we’re still transitioning. We often need reminders that fanwork has cultural and creative significance. We need fans advocating for the legitimacy of fanwork–not just for legal reasons, or as liasons to the general public, but for ourselves.

That’s the reason I’ve been a member of the OTW since its inception. I want my community to take pride in itself and the things it creates. And I take constant pride in the OTW, not only because it secures legal protections for fans, rescues endangered fanworks, and tirelessly educates the public about fandom, but because just by existing, it proves that fans and fanworks are a part of a larger collective experience. The OTW exists as an invitation and a challenge for us to express, to the world and each other, what a vast and valuable part fandom plays in modern culture, and what a wonderful, irreplaceable community experience it is.

Take the challenge! Join the OTW.

23-29 March 2011 OTW Membership Drive

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Fic: Goes Down Easy. Arthur/Eames, NC-17, 5,000 words.

So, I’m supposed to be reviewing Moon Child instead of writing porn, but I said that if I magically was inspired to write something that I’d post it no matter what; and there’s this whole thing where Tom Hardy is a mythical being?

See also:

And now that I have your attention–porn.

Goes Down Easy.
5,000 words, NC-17, by Aja.

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