Ladiesbingo Card 8-13-13

[ysabetwordsmith]

Here is my card for the ladiesbingo fest. This bingo challenge celebrates the various shades of relationships amongst female characters. It's intended to raise the amount of female-centric literature available. All modes are welcome here: het, slash, femslash, poly and gen. All media/formats are welcome, including poetry; fanfic and original material are both acceptable. Some of the content may be NSFW. Read the FAQ and rules first. The signup post is here. Anyone thinking about contributing to Plunge, but not sure what to submit? Get a card for inspiration.  (See all my bingo cards.)

I thought this might be an effective way to attract some new readers. It's also useful for developing some of my series with female leads or other characters as a prevailing feature. Consider The Adventures of Aldornia and Zenobia, Hart's Farm, Path of the Paladins, Schrodinger's Heroes, and Walking the Beat. In other series such as An Army of One, Fledgling Grace, and Monster House there's at least one F&F or F/F relationship amongst a more widely scattered cast and plot. Polychrome Heroics is kind of a unique case because 2/6 of Damask (Mira and Maze) are female; and of course it has other kick-ass superheras.

If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I'll still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.

Underlined prompts have been filled.

B Column: 5 poems
Parallel Diagonals: 5 poems

Miles from anywhere: Geographical Isolation	Everyone thinks we're doing it	Five Things	Dystopias	Androids and robots
First person narration	"It is the way of my people": Traditions	Yentas and Matchmakers	Genderswap	Truth serum, truth spells, and Truth drugs
Epistolatory fic: Emails, letters etc.	The way we were: Pre-canonfic	Wild Card	Fusion with another fandom	Telepathy
Seduction	Crossover: Books & literary	Bodyswap/Bodyshare	Chance encounters	Day-in-the-life
Darkfic	Rare pairings	Worst case scenario	Wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey: Time travel	Woke up in bed together

Comments

[zeeth_kyrah]

F&F or F/F

May I ask the difference between these?

Okay...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

When you see a / between character names or symbols, it means a sexual relationship; whereas & means a nonsexual connection, most often friendship but it can be other things.

Re: Okay...

[zeeth_kyrah]

Thank you. I figured / was "slash", that is, intimate or sexual. I just didn't know what the & was for.

[chordatesrock]

You know, we could race to see who gets the first bingo, if you like. My card is here; what do you think?

Okay...

[ysabetwordsmith]

You're on. I'm writing for the crowdfunding Creative Jam this weekend. We just got home from the farmer's market so I'm good to go. I've got a couple extra squares on my card so I'm a little ahead of you, but no more than 2 in any one line, so I'd still have to write at least three things to bingo, which is where you're at with your fills.

BINGO: column

[ysabetwordsmith]

The three new poems are "Building Where We Are," "Feel the Rainbow," and "Algophism." The previous two were "Sharp Notes" and "The Trains Must Run on Time." Those fill the B column in my card for the ladiesbingo fest. Those aren't all sponsored and posted yet, but they're written.

Re: BINGO: column

[chordatesrock]

Congratulations! :D

Re: BINGO: column

[ysabetwordsmith]

Thank you!

Re: BINGO: column

[chordatesrock]

I'm impressed by how quickly you got those last three done.

Are you planning to try for blackout, or anything like that?

Re: BINGO: column

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I'm impressed by how quickly you got those last three done. <<

Thank you! I have an advantage in that I've been writing poetry in blocks for several years, plus prior experience.

>> Are you planning to try for blackout, or anything like that? <<

If I can, yes. I usually aim high with bingo cards, although I think I've only succeeded once or twice.

Re: BINGO: column

[chordatesrock]

Yeah. I'm also trying to do fannish fills for the bingo and original works for the Creative Jam, so there is that, though I don't think I could've beaten you to bingo even so.

(But who knows? Maybe I'll get more points this round. Want to see who wins once it all shakes out?)

I have plans for a column bingo and a postage stamp that should also get me a length bonus, but we'll see what happens.

Re: BINGO: column

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Yeah. I'm also trying to do fannish fills for the bingo and original works for the Creative Jam, so there is that, though I don't think I could've beaten you to bingo even so.<<

I try to do mostly original stuff, but I do some fanwork too -- it gets me new readers, some of whom then get into my original work. I am planning at least one fan fill for a problem in the Creative Jam, the match is just too good to pass up.

>>(But who knows? Maybe I'll get more points this round. Want to see who wins once it all shakes out?)<<

We can compare cards when the round closes or one of us reaches blackout, sure. I don't usually count for points though. Most of the ways of winning those, beyond simple fills, are more elaborate than I care for. I think I've only made a point of trying once or twice.

Kink Bingo had an awesome selection of extras, like "bingo with asexual characters" and "bingo with characters of color" that I won. But the overall theme was just too narrow for me to repeat that fest. My favorite was Cottoncandy Bingo, but alas, that one hasn't repeated. :( Origfic Bingo is a decent replacement, but with the disadvantage of locking into original material only. Rainbowfic is the same way, no fanwork allowed, and its lists have to be blackout to completion. You can have up to 5 open at once, but it's still a nuisance.

>> I have plans for a column bingo and a postage stamp that should also get me a length bonus, but we'll see what happens. <<

That sounds good.

Re: BINGO: column

[chordatesrock]

Which prompt is the fanwork for? I don't think I'd do that because I don't think any of the Creative Jam crowd shares my taste in fandoms.

It would be awesome if they gave out banners like that for people's non-fest fics. "Oh, hi, random stranger in my fandom! I noticed you wrote five ace fics! Have a banner!"

This is my first bingo fest, so I can't compare it to anything. It's confusing, but I am enjoying it. I just wish there were more interaction and less solitary staring at my card. We're all doing the same thing and none of us are talking about it with each other.

I seem to recall that you were doing a Trope Bingo a while ago. Did that compare well to the others?

Re: BINGO: column

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Which prompt is the fanwork for? <<

Saudade -- for Bruce Banner.

>>I don't think I'd do that because I don't think any of the Creative Jam crowd shares my taste in fandoms.<<

That's okay -- although you never know with fandoms unless people say what they're into. Also don't discount the possibility of hooking people into a new fandom via fanworks. That's mostly how I decide if a TV series is worth watching now, seeing what friends say about it; and I know I've sold canon materials to several folks who read my fics.

>> It would be awesome if they gave out banners like that for people's non-fest fics. "Oh, hi, random stranger in my fandom! I noticed you wrote five ace fics! Have a banner!" <<

That is an awesome idea. Anyone could do that. It would be a splendid project for asexuality, or that whole branch with demi and aro and whatall else. A page could be made with links to the banner winners so folks could enjoy work of that type, too.

>> This is my first bingo fest, so I can't compare it to anything. It's confusing, but I am enjoying it. <<

It takes practice. The first several months and first few cards, I didn't know what I was doing. It took me a while to figure out how to handle the cards and the fills, when to request a new card, and how to monetize the fills so I wasn't just goofing off when I should be working. I'm still learning. I'd advise at least 3-6 months and 2-3 cards to get the hang of it. Also, not every fest is a match for every writer; you might not get a thrill the first time but could later.

>> I just wish there were more interaction and less solitary staring at my card. We're all doing the same thing and none of us are talking about it with each other. <<

Yeah, that's a problem. Rainbowfic gets chatty in the comments once you post fills, and an advantage is you don't have to wait for a bingo, you post them one at a time or up to 5/day. But there doesn't seem to be an open discussion place. Hurt/Comfort does make a "talk about your progress" post, usually about once a week. Here is the latest one. I don't recall having seen another fest do this, but I think it's a great idea.

>> I seem to recall that you were doing a Trope Bingo a while ago. Did that compare well to the others? <<

So-so. I only made one bingo, although I loved the prompts and there were plenty more I wanted to write. I think I got the card before I started seriously hoofing these things in my prompt calls. Also it had a shorter timespan, 4 months instead of 6; that undercut my ability to fill the card. I might play this one again.

Much the same happened with Darkfantasy Bingo. I liked the concept but the genre limitation made it harder to work with. I tend to favor the more versatile fests.

On the other hoof, a fest whose theme matches something I want to promote -- like Ladiesbingo, or the ace specialization in Kink Bingo, can be very useful. It's challenging to work with that limitation, but worthwhile for the sake of boosting content in an underrepresented field. I already have some series with 2+ female characters I can match up, but anything out of that fest that becomes a new series will necessarily have that feature. We could use more F+F anything. I'd love to see someone do an alt-sex fest. I keep watching for more fests of various flavors, because I like the potential to encourage certain types of material.

Re: BINGO: column

[chordatesrock]

Hmm. What did your kink-bingo banners look like?

There are some fandom-specific things I'd like to see more of (TPL-era fic, for instance), but the non-fandom-specific things would probably include:
Gen
Psychological healing fics
Nonsexual affection and intimacy
Minor characters being competent

What would you add to that list?

I wonder whether Ladies Bingo would be willing to host check-in threads. Maybe I should consider bringing that up. But then, I might be the only one interested in answering.

Alt-sex fest?

Re: BINGO: column

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Hmm. What did your kink-bingo banners look like? <<

I have assorted ones posted here:
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/pics/catalog/752

>> There are some fandom-specific things I'd like to see more of (TPL-era fic, for instance), <<

What does that mean?

>> but the non-fandom-specific things would probably include:
Gen
Psychological healing fics
Nonsexual affection and intimacy
Minor characters being competent <<

Those all sound interesting.

>> What would you add to that list? <<

Nonviolence
Strong female characters
Characters of color
Alternative spirituality
Humans and nonhumans

>> I wonder whether Ladies Bingo would be willing to host check-in threads. Maybe I should consider bringing that up. But then, I might be the only one interested in answering. <<

Probably not. I've asked about things, and they're mostly willing to note ideas for future reference but don't want to overload the first round; this makes sense. You could ask for it and maybe they'll do it next time.

>> Alt-sex fest? <<

Alternative sex and/or gender identity: homosexual, transgender, asexual, genderqueer, polyamorous, etc.

Re: BINGO: column

[chordatesrock]

Wow, those are very... polished. Hmm.

TPL-era: that's specific to Jak and Daxter fandom. The first game (Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, abbreviated as TPL in fandom) is set some unspecified number of centuries before all the other games, which otherwise take place within a few years of each other. The TPL era is beautiful, with varied scenery, quirky characters and a lot of things absent from later games, but it gets very little fic. I've posted one fic set in that era, and I'm working on two more (one of which is a popular deadfic).

Those are good additions.

Re: BINGO: column

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Wow, those are very... polished. Hmm.<<

I've been writing about this stuff for ages, so I've gotten good at nutshelling it. You listed several of my leading themes and motifs already, so I didn't need to include those.

But it's also possible to make an award for something more specific or whimsical:
* Character asks for help and gets it.
* Queerlove is CUTE!

>> TPL-era: that's specific to Jak and Daxter fandom. The first game (Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, abbreviated as TPL in fandom) is set some unspecified number of centuries before all the other games, which otherwise take place within a few years of each other. The TPL era is beautiful, with varied scenery, quirky characters and a lot of things absent from later games, but it gets very little fic. I've posted one fic set in that era, and I'm working on two more (one of which is a popular deadfic). <<

Ah, okay. Now it makes sense. I have two series that are set in the same world, separated by a few centuries: The Arc of Joan, and The Steamsmith.

>> Those are good additions. <<

Thank you!

Re: BINGO: column

[chordatesrock]

I meant the banners.

Help definitely needs to go on the list. So does eating and caring for people by giving them food.

Re: BINGO: column

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I meant the banners. <<

Oh, sorry. I tend to be a bit my-writing-focused, if specifics are not given.

I think these are some lovely banners. I suspect that similarly high-quality artwork could be found with a search of Creative Commons. I've done stuff like this before; it's fun, and fairly easy. There are sites that will let you put a caption on an image, although it's challenging to find a really good online version of that. Doing it with a program like Photoshop is more elegant, but also more work, and not something I'm good at.

>>Help definitely needs to go on the list.<<

Okay, cool.

>>So does eating and caring for people by giving them food.<<

Maybe nurturing in general? Feeding, bathing, snuggling, draping a blanket over someone who falls asleep on the couch, etc.

Re: BINGO: column

[chordatesrock]

Food is important in a way that other care isn't. Society gives out some very detrimental messages about food and health.

Re: BINGO: column

[ysabetwordsmith]

I agree that food is an Issue worthy of a banner.

I also feel that society has an equally messed up presentation about touch, and lack of healthy touch can kill primates just as dead as starvation.

But hey, the cool thing about a random banner project is that people can frame the awards in whatever way is personally meaningful to them.

There's a tradeoff between broad and narrow focus. It's easier to hit and to see correlations in a broader theme; but it's easier to pinpoint needs and violations in a narrower one, which also provides more challenge for expert contenders.

Re: BINGO: column

[chordatesrock]

Well, there's clearly only one answer to that: make all the banners encouraging pushback against harmful social mores! :D

Re: BINGO: column

[ysabetwordsmith]

Yes.

I love your icon. Somewhere there's one that says "Fight ALL the oppressions!"

Re: BINGO: column

[chordatesrock]

Thanks. :) I made it myself.

Re: BINGO: column

[ysabetwordsmith]

That's really awesome.