letterblade: (writer)
[personal profile] letterblade
So I am doing Blogathon this year. Comma goddamnit.

As with some previous years, Blogathon is not officially running. However, I will be joining [livejournal.com profile] shadesong and her wonderful co-bloggers, pit crew, and cats for the yearly Blogathon Madness.

And now the question is what I'm doing.

For those who don't know: Blogathon is a nerdy, butt-in-chair take on your usual walk/bike/whatever charity 'thon. Starting at 9 am EST on July 31st, I will stay up for twenty-four hours straight and post once every half hour. In 'thon tradition, readers may pledge to a charity of my choice to support me in my mad effort.

Since this is not a year where Blogathon is officially organized, the pledge system will be very home-grown. I will soon be making a designated pledge post in this journal; comment with the amount (either lump sum or per hour I manage to stay up--though I will say that I've done Blogathon twice before and am unlikely to crash) you're pledging, and after the 'thon is over, make your donation. If you do not make your donation, I shall harass you!

This year, I will be returning to my old standby: Heifer Project International. HPI is an international hunger and poverty relief organization that has their own take on the "teach a man to fish" principle: rather than simply providing food to families in need, they provide livestock. I've been involved with HPI in one way or another since I was a child, and I'd be happy to blog for their benefit again.

But the real question, for me, is not the charity: it's what I'm going to write. Because I don't just blog randomly for twenty-four hours. I take on a major writing project, write it during Blogathon, and post it raw and steaming for your benefit. The first year, over the course of Blogathon, I wrote the first draft of Thirty-Five Owls, the Dumbledore/Grindelwald correspondence fic which would become my most recced and reviewed fic ever. The second year I wrote various scenes from a large genderswap Avengers AU project, which remains unfinished because, er, Iamaflake. -.-

At any rate. I need a writing project. Something that can keep me busy for the whole twenty-four hours, and hopefully something that won't bore the shit out of y'all. Something that I'm really intensely invested in right now, because otherwise I won't still be working on it at 5 AM the next morning.

I have two things on my mind.

First: I just signed up for [community profile] kink_bingo, and have a card that I like and am thinking of going for a blackout on. What will this mean for you? A slew of short fics, of various sorts, in various fandoms (Xenosaga, some Kingdom Hearts, a little Utena, whatever else comes out), all kinky pr0n. I probably won't finish the blackout entirely during Blogathon itself; that's twenty-five fics, after all! But I'd go through as much of it as I could, which would probably be a fair chunk. (I can write about 10,000 words of material in a Blogathon. Things I know about myself.) There'd be no chance of leaving a WIP hanging after Blogathon like last time. But it would break my streak of writing long-form gen or close-to-gen for Blogathon.

Second: In the long-form gen category, yes. Something I'd be super-passionate about, yes. Something that would be a hanging WIP after Blogathon is over, yes, because the scope of this project is big. Something anybody else is actually interested in? Well, not quite sure about that. Because I have this urge to write a novelization of Xenosaga. Yeah, all of it, incorporating supplemental material that never quite made it into the games, etcetera. I am potentially insane. This would be a long-term project; I'd get maybe halfway through the first game's worth of material, if I do well, during Blogathon, and then hopefully be continuing it. But it's not a can of worms I'd even want to open unless there was interest. Because, seriously, the main reason I'm thinking of doing this? Is because I am currently seriously in love with a fucking obscure fandom and wish to share this love with the fanworld. This is an amazing canon full of fabulous characters and boggling fic potential...and nobody seems to know it. And rather than saying "dude, it's epic, trust me, wade through three long CRPGs, some hard to obtain, and obscure fan-translated background material" or "hey, trust me, watch these 293847287367 cutscenes on Youtube," I'd love to be able to have all this canon information collated in a friendlier format.

In case you're wondering: a quick description of Xenosaga: the travails of an adventurous female scientist, Shion Uzuki, who travels with her battle android (girlfriend) and a motly party of friends. The genre could best be summed up as high-drama high-angst space opera (think Bujold) thrown in a blender with Christian mythos, Karl Jung, the Kabbalah, and sufficient interesting and accurate psych and spec-psych to make my psych major girlfriend squee endlessly.

I can't even say "watch the anime" because it sucks. Yes, there's a Xenosaga anime. It's a somewhat changed version of the first game's story. The changes aren't that big a deal; the fact that it sucks is.

Anywho. Anime rant some other time. This is supposed to be the what-the-shit-do-I-do-for-Blogathon post. And since you guys are hypothetically going to be giving me money for this...

[Poll #1594371]

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 05:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zrealm.livejournal.com
That's a shame blogathon isn't happening this year :( I was hoping to do a 24 hours of board gaming for Foam Brain for it...

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 05:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wired-lizard.livejournal.com
That's an awesome idea! There's always the "goddamnit we're doing it anyway" option, assuming you're up for promotion and pledge-tracking. I didn't find that doing it on a non-official year hurt my pledges, but I do blog with a well-established group led by somebody who really knows how to promo and has a network, so that may be skewed data.

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 05:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zrealm.livejournal.com
I don't know how much promo we can do for it beyond general promo for us, but thats an interesting idea.

When are y'all planning on doing it?

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 05:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wired-lizard.livejournal.com
Blogathon is Saturday, July 31, 9am EST through Sunday, August 1, 9am EST. The folks organizing this have also tried to set up a site, http://www.altblogathon.com/, but given how close we are to the 'thon itself, I doubt that will actually be much of anything.

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 05:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zrealm.livejournal.com
Damn - we'll be at Otakon anyway =(

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 01:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] prettyarbitrary.livejournal.com
Xenosaga! \o/ You did not include an option for "Yes, BECAUSE I know this canon!"

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 02:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wired-lizard.livejournal.com
...mostly because people who know the canon aren't quite my intended audience? But, yeah, should've put that in there...

...also, you know Xenosaga! XDDD

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 03:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] prettyarbitrary.livejournal.com
I have drabbled for Xenosaga! (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6132181/1/Evidence_and_other_drabbles)

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 04:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wired-lizard.livejournal.com
Squee! Shall add to my mental (and probably soon LJ-post-al) inventory of good Xenofic. :)

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 03:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mllelaurel.livejournal.com
This is also where my vote would go. *g*

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 02:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nevacaruso.livejournal.com
I would be very interested to know more about the Xenosaga-verse, especially after hearing you and Lily talk about the characters. Novelization would make for a very interesting experiment, and not something that I've seen too many fans try.

But I like all these ideas (and I think I also sent you the link for another Blogathon thing you could possibly do?).

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 04:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wired-lizard.livejournal.com
I got the idea from somebody I knew back in the Myst fandom who did novelizations of her favorite old obscure computer games. I never actually read them at the time ('cause I have 'net-ADD), but the idea kinda stuck in my head.

And you would so get a kick out of parts of this canon. ;)

Am I having a brain-fart about this other Blogathon thing? Tory is confused...

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 04:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nevacaruso.livejournal.com
[livejournal.com profile] fandom_me mentioned [livejournal.com profile] polybigbang on her journal, and I thought it sounded like something you might potentially enjoy. Various information on deadlines and requirements is here (http://community.livejournal.com/polybigbang/13306.html#cutid1).

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 04:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wired-lizard.livejournal.com
...okay, yeah, that is kinda tempting. :D And would be v. easy to do as Xenosaga post-game fic, and...yeah.

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 10:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nevacaruso.livejournal.com
Yes! One of the things that I do know about Xenosaga is that it is very poly-friendly.

(I am, as we speak, also having minor ZOMG WHAT DO I BLOG woes. Because I thought I knew what I was doing, and then this old plot-bunny popped up and was like, HI I AM A CROSSOVER AND YOU SHOULD WRITE ME. Mrrrr.)

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 02:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] miraba.livejournal.com
I have no opinion what you should do, but thank you for reminding of a good gift alternative right in time for a wedding celebration.

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 04:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wired-lizard.livejournal.com
You're welcome! Giving critters is always fun. :)

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 04:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] miraba.livejournal.com
Will you be around the third week of August? I'll be up in Boston before a wedding and I'm trying to see as many people as possible.

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 03:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mllelaurel.livejournal.com
Also, I would love an anime rant from you. Cause rants are mad entertaining. I was considering doing one of my own, along with a rec for Baccano.

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 04:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wired-lizard.livejournal.com
Ah, mine will pretty much be yours, except with less in-character ranting from Shion-who-wants-her-fuckin-MWS. :D You should totally do it, and then I'll link to it, because I'm lazy. :P

Yay Baccano!

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 04:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mllelaurel.livejournal.com
Posted (http://mllelaurel.livejournal.com/355540.html)! Though may not be all that coherent. I really wish I remembered exactly what I said in that rant.

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 04:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wired-lizard.livejournal.com
God, so do I, because it was wonderfully ranty. Also you were talking at about sixty MPH. :D

Date: Jul. 20th, 2010 10:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] juldea.livejournal.com
WANT XENOGEAR NOVELIZATION

I love watching people play video games because I want to know the stories!!! But I suck at the level-grinding parts. :(

Date: Jul. 24th, 2010 04:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tenshikurai9.livejournal.com
Less, I don't care, and more, I don't have the time.

Date: Jul. 29th, 2010 05:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] usernamenumber.livejournal.com
So, how exactly do donations work? Make a donation of arbitrary amount, email receipt to you? (basing this on the instructions from [livejournal.com profile] nevacarusso's post on the subject.

Date: Jul. 29th, 2010 06:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wired-lizard.livejournal.com
I just made a post to this effect here: http://wired-lizard.livejournal.com/442185.html?mode=reply

And thanks! <3

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