Want to rec a fic on our podcast?

Phone it in!

The Twific Pimps are trying something new. We're launching Phone it in!, our Pimp-a-Fic telephone hotline, where you'll be able to call in and leave us a 60 second rec for a story that you're dying to pimp.

If there's something you think everyone should be reading, call (347) 746-7758 and leave a message at the beep with your pen name, the fic title, and the author's name. Give a couple sentences about why we should read it. Make sure to keep it 60 seconds or less.

We're going to try this out and see if we can inorporate some of your Phone It In recs into future podcast episodes.

Number to call: (347) 746-7758

Please include:

• your pen name
• title of the story you're pimping
• the author

Remember, keep it 60 seconds or less, and Happy Pimping!

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Happy Birthday, TwiCharmed!

Yesterday was the birthday of my bestie, TwiCharmed/Kari.

My present to her was this blog:

http://happybirthdaytwicharmed.blogspot.com/

I made her little segments for each of her favorite TV shows, and people from all over the fandom contributed fabulous messages of birthday love and oneshots and outtakes of her favorite fics. Each friend's contribution became one of the episodes listed under the TV shows Kari loves.

That gorgeous banner was made by Kassiah, by the way. Unbelievable!

My favorite part of the whole thing was listening to Kari on skype as she was FLIPPING OUT over it. She is the cutest and sweetest and most awesome human. She is truly my partner in crime and I love her to death.

Happy Birthday, boo! I'm so glad you exist :)

Dead on My Feet by Cesca Marie

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6007656/1/Dead_On_My_Feet

Official Description: Recovering from a serious illness, Edward knows what it is to be invisible but obvious to everyone around him. Bella, who has watched a loved one die of protracted illness, understands the tightrope-act of life in an unpredictable body. Alienated by his disease, Edward finds a friend in Forks' newest resident. The only problem is that she sees far more than anyone else does – including the things he doesn't want seen.

I saw this fic rec'd all over the place and always passed on it. I had NO interest in reading about cancer and sickness. Too much reality for my happy world of fic.

The other night I saw @sunshine_00 tweeting quotes as she read DoMF. It sounded so sweet and charming and I was intrigued. Needless to say, I gave it a try and ended up pounding all of the available chapters.

I can't tell you how happy I am that I finally got to reading this story! It's not depressing and heavy like I thought it would be, given its subject matter. If anything, it has a sense of lightness in Bella's quirkiness, especially when we are inside her head. And there's humor and hope and sweetness in her interactions with Edward.

There's angst in what Edward's been through and being in his head reminds me of the reality of his experience as a boy in remission, who is still in the process of recovering from his ordeal. But this ain't no pity party. Bella would never let it be that. She cares for him without letting him play the role of the victim.

Cesca Marie brings a great deal of realness to the experience of these characters. I love the pace set by her unique format of day to day snapshots. I'm pretty sure it's her voice in this that keeps the story from being sad-sack. She keeps me from pitying her characters and brings me in as an observer of their experience, not as a witness to their depressing struggle.

And flirtation via sharing music is my absolute favorite way to fall in love :)

This Week's Follow Friday - 90s Hip Hop!

This playlist frickin rules. If I don't say so myself. Enjoy!
And thank you for following my geeky ass on the twittah.



Music Playlist at MixPod.com



"Pack it up. Pack it in. Let me begin."


"Word to yo moms. I came to drop bombs.
I got more rhymes than the bible's got psalms.
And just like the prodigal son, I've returned.
Anyone steppin on me will get burned.
Cause I got lyrics and you ain't got none.
If you come to battle bring a shotgun.
But if you do, you're a fool cuz I do to the death.
Tryin to step to me you'll take your last breath."


"Stop whatcha doin. Cuz I'm about to ruin. The image and the style that you're used to."


"It's drivin me outta my mind. That's why it's hard for me to find. Can't get her outta my head. Miss her, kiss her, love her. [wrong move you're dead] That girl is..."


"OH BAYBE YOU, you got what I need. And you say he's just a friend. You say he's just a friend."


"Phone is ringin, oh mah gawd."


"escargot
my car go"


"Hit them with the force like Obie.
...Lucky they don't owe me.
Where's the safe? Show me. Homey."


Hook me up with your favorites in the comments!

I've Always Wanted to BE a Superhero

I fell in love with Jeffrey Lewis today. 


One of the songs "I Saw a Hippy Girl on 8th Ave" is a perfect commentary on how we grow up and no longer rely on our clothes and "look" to assert our identities. Which I totally relate to. 


Which is why I use my twitter avis to convey my inner hippy warrior:

And my inner badass stoner hippy superhero:

I was trading songs back and forth on twitter today with @stephk0525. In response to a couple Jeffrey Lewis songs I sent her, she said: "DUDE he sooo needs to write the theme song for ur stoner hippy superhero chick!!! He is awesome - flove it!!!"


Which gave me an idea. "omg BRILL! I might need 2 write an episode of that show, for which he would sing the theme song & in which my avi would star!!!!"


So, @stephk0525 inspired me to come up with a story for my badass stoner hippy superhero avi. Here's what I got so far:

She'd be a normal looking super laid back social worker during the day, but at night, she'd don her hippy garb.... and go fight crime. Her superpowers allow her to be the first nonviolent vigilante. Inhaling the city's pervading negativity like a J, and exhaling the calming winds of change. Consuming the world's ills like munchies. Wielding an innate sense of justice and superpowered to emit powerful beams of peace and love.

Be afraid, evil-doers.

. . . Looking back on October

Hello, this is my monthly reflection. And this sucker is gonna be short. Why? Because for the month of October I spent all of my Twific time working on the Fandom People Awards.

It was tedious and it was a bit on the ridiculous side, but we did it. And it was worth it.

We expected *maybe* 200 entries, at the most. So, to make sure as many people as possible were recognized, we created a nomination form with 40 questions, covering 9 areas of the fandom. We ended up with over 600 submissions!! The part that made me want to put a gun to my head: most of the 40 questions had 3 blank slots in which people filled in data. This was a lot of data for Kari and I to deal with. So the Fandom People Awards became a full time job for a month.

We announced the results live and launched the site a day or so ago, and already, I am seeing exactly what we set out to achieve. I'm looking at the twitter feed of people who are so psyched to have been mentioned, people tweeting about how great it felt to be nominated. I'm seeing the sites where people are proudly posting the banners/buttons they've won. I'm seeing FFnet profiles that've been updated to include boasts of FPA wins.

I feel like we accomplished what we set out to do! Most of these people aren't authors - they are members of our Twific fandom who don't usually get acknowledged for the work they do.

Keeping up with my monthly reflection, here's what I read and wrote in the month of October.

WHAT I READ

I did read 3 fics that I really enjoyed!

Pressed for Time by twanza & chele681
These ladies are friends of mine on Twitter and I had no idea they were collaborating on a fic. Imagine my surprise when I check out said fic and it is AWESOME! Loving it.

Voice for Me by PachasPickMeUp
I LOVE this fic! So original. I wrote a review for AJ&B. And it's my Pimp Down for the Emmett episode that will come out later in November.

Rabbit Hole by profmom72
Kari and I read this at the same time - we haven't been reading the same fic at the same time in forever! So that was fun. I loved how Bella's voice and character came through on her blog posts, as she does her online vampire expose. COMPLETE

WHAT I WROTE

I wrote a review of Neverending Math Equation by twanza for the TwiFicPimps Friday Fic Fit.
Based in Brooklyn. Edward & Jasper are brothers dealing with ego, passion and the pursuit of art. NEME is a love story of Jasper & Bella, a lust story of Edward & Bella, and a journey for all. *2010 Indie TwiFic Winner/Best Love Triangle  COMPLETE

So, y'all know how cheesy I am, especially when it comes to my #FFs. I feel compelled to share something with my followers every week to thank them for following my sorry ass on Twitter. Every week is a different theme, and this last week of October the theme was Superheroes. And instead of sending everyone a single song, I made a post with a playlist and gallery of Superhero pretty.

Also, I did a formal little write up for Confessions of a Difficult Woman by einfach mich.

I almost forgot... Just in time for Halloween, the Twific Pimps posted
Episode 8 of the Fic Pushin' Podcast.

The Darkward Episode: Bloodlust, Tampons, and Retching

This has become one of my favorite episodes. It's just Kari, Flanny, and myself just hanging out and talkin fic. There are a BUNCH of great recs all throughout this epi. My 60 Second Pimpdown was one of the first dark fics I ever read, an excellent oneshot called Follow Me Inside by bittershade.

Voice For Me, by PachasPickMeUp

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5896974/1/Voice_For_Me

Official Description: Bella and Edward come from two different worlds; one of silence and one of sound. Fiesty Bella starts school at Forks High and turns jaded Edward's world upside down. Can they find their own voice through true love? AH, Canon pairing, and "M" for lemons!

Bella is new at Forks High and she is Deaf. This story is written by 2 women who are children of Deaf parents, and they bring that experience to the table, taking us deep inside this world.

One of the most engaging aspects of this story is the insight into a world I know nothing about. A culture that is foreign to me, and is absolutely rich and fascinating. Deaf Culture. a culture so filled with life and beauty -- we get to go with the characters to go see Deaf Poetry and a Deaf church. So cool!

At this stage they seem to be alternating BPOV and EPOV, which I love!!! It is so interesting being inside Bella's head, getting her unique perspective on the world. It's also convenient to get Edward's outsider perspective and learn the ins and outs along with him.

And this Bella is strong and sure of who she is. She's just a fascinating character! Her relationship with her parents is different from most fics I've read and very much rooted in being a Deaf child of hearing parents.

I'm learning so much from this fic. Her bluntness, we learn, is a culturally Deaf trait, as is her expressiveness --- so many things I've learned as Edward has learned about the grammar of sign language. It's all about the facial expressions.

Their miscommunications aren't like bumbling Three's Company mishaps, they are rooted in cultural differences and nuances of sign language. And they confront them and grow from them, instead of like other fics where they're lingering in a perpetual state of miscomunnication. 

Oh, and the Alice in this fic... She's older and assigned to be Bella's interpreter at school. The bond that Alice and Jasper form with Bella is awesome. This Alice stands out as an... 

//////////// Excellent Alice //////////////////////////  
Older sister Alice - NOT the doted upon little pixie girl of the family that always gets her way. This Alice is not afraid to inflict a tittytwister to get Edward to talk. And is only as meddlesome as E & B ask her to be, in a last ditch effort to help them communicate. AND an involved Jasper with a special connection to Bella. -- love.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The Emmett in this one is great as well. Edward is perpetually embarassed by Emmett and his Emmett-like buffoonery. 

"I rolled my eyes at him. There was no way we shared DNA. From the ages from about four to six, I had Em totally convinced that mom and dad found him at the zoo. He totally fell for it. So when mom and dad wanted to take us one day, I told him that they were probably fed up with him and wanted to give him back. He cried the whole time, and I'm pretty sure I ruined the whole zoo experience for him for the rest of his childhood."

Oh, Edward.

BOTTOM LINE: This fic is a must read for the jaded Twific reader who is looking for something different. It explores a whole new world and gave me a heightened awareness of what life is like in the shoes of someone who is a complete outsider. Bella is a phenomenal example of strength and individuality. The authors bring something authentic to this story and that comes across. I can't wait for the next update!!