Music

itsabigrock has been asking about inspirational music for writing fic. I have to say that I often prepare for writing while listening to music but I don't write while it's playing, as I need to have the prose rhythms clear in my head. Since I got the iPod, I've made up playlists specific to each story. Nothing obscure or clever, just obvious pieces: Pulp's This is Hardcore for SHK, Yoko Kanno's Blue for Blue, and Cohen's Take This Waltz for anything involving Spike and Dru. The most common artists to turn up in these playlists are not always the ones I listen to most under other circumstances: Cohen, Cave, New Order and the Prodigy. I can tell you that if you ever want to warm up to a scene of lost sanity, putting Chelsea Hotel on an endless loop with the Prodigy's Breathe is one way to do it.

I am filled with fannish enthusiam and joy

peasant_ has begun to publish her tsunami relief fic, The Sign of Fanged Four. With a title like that, it has to be Sherlockian. Hansom cabs! Handsomer vampires! The possibilities make me giddy. She promises four chapters, more if people donate extra money.

---

kita0610 has written a stand-alone sequel to Manus. Second Hand is post-NFA, and is rated R for imagery, sex and general bleakness. It's right up there with her other work, which I presume you all adore and read, natch.

---

azdak has sometimes recommended fan vids to me, but I've been slow to follow up because it required installing new software. Tonight, however, I had truck with the dark lord Microsoft and downloaded Media Player, thereby sullying my up-til-now MS-free Mac. (See what I will do for my fandom?)

I've now seen Sisabet's Closer and Catatonic's Take This Waltz. Bloody hell! (OutofMud's site is temporarily unavailable, so no Spike/Harm Jolene yet.)

*attempts to look innocent*

So, any vid recs?