holli

Amazon is getting into the fanfic business. Like all previous attempts to monetize fandom, this is probably going to be a glorious trainwreck.

What do I title a fic about Steve's SHIELD-assigned personal assistant, who is terrifyingly competent, has a media strategy and is not afraid to use it, and towards that end is not above ghost-tweeting to Steve's account?

(Steve's Twitter handle is definitely @starspangledman, because Tony set it up for him.)

So they were filming Winter Soldier in Dupont Circle last night, and while that turned out to be a disappointment (just the stunt double), it was SO WORTH IT because a guy there had somehow acquired 10 pages of shooting script and let me read them. I will not be sharing any of the actual spoilers contained therein, but I WILL reveal that the following is now canon:

Steve Rogers keeps a notepad in his pocket with a list of pop culture things he needs to catch up on, and it currently reads:

Star Wars

Nirvana???

Marvin Gaye

Also, he is pretty excited about the polio vaccine.

So I’ve had people asking some questions about the fanzine project, and I figured I should answer them. If you have any other questions, please send them my way! Signal boosting this post would be particularly welcome, as it rounds up the whole project in one place. More conversation is happening at diyfanzines, where I am about to crosspost this post.

( 1. What’s a zine? What’s a fanzine? )

We FINALLY have dates for Captain America II filming in DC!

I just got off the phone with the DC Film Office, and learned that the Theodore Roosevelt bridge is going to be closed for filming this coming Sunday, May 5. There will be additional filming May 12-16, but locations aren't known yet-- should be posted to the Film Office website a week in advance.

Who's in for set-stalking?

As I said in my last post, I am having Thoughts about fanzines. Specifically, about what fanzines I am willing to dedicate time and energy to making exist. And what fanzines other people are willing to dedicate time and energy to making exist. I'm crossposting the following to diyfanzines.

So, here are some zine ideas I have been contemplating. If anyone has anything or is willing to make anything to contribute to any of these potential zines, please let me know!

1. A Doctor Who zine containing meta, short fic and fanart. This could feature anything from your list of 'reasons Ace is the biggest badass to ever badass' to the story of how you became a Doctor Who fan to a picture of Eleven if he was a giraffe. (I know, how could you tell the difference?) Fic for this zine would probably be capped at 500 words. I would aim for 10 pages of content, total, but if I get surprised by a lot of cool submissions I would cheerfully make it longer.

2. A zine about being a feminist in a fandom that isn't friendly to feminism. I'm thinking mostly of comics fandom for this because that's where my experience lies, but people who've got stories to tell about gaming fandoms or other fandoms would be more than welcome.

3. A Discworld zine in the same mode as the Doctor Who zine above-- meta, fic, fanart and other short bits and pieces. I would especially love to get good fanart for this, because I see depressingly little of it.

4. A zine of stories about how people became fans. Comics about how people became fans would also be VERY welcome.

If there are single-fandom zines anyone is interested in making (Avengers is on my wishlist, for instance), or meta topics that could sustain a zine, I would love to hear about them.

I also want to be up-front about my plans for these zines: everyone who contributes would get a copy, plus digital files; I would cover my costs by selling copies at DC Zinefest and any extra money would be donated to the Zinefest or another agreed-upon charity.

If you're interested in participating in anything I've listed, or in adding to the list, I'd love to hear from you.

Signal boosts would be much appreciated.

Anyone interested in being my flea market buddy on 5/4 or 6/1? I'm doing the Fenton Street Market in Silver Spring. I mostly need help with loading the car, setup, takedown, and unloading-- you could go do your own thing for a good chunk of the actual market. I can pay in vintage clothes or in actual dollars.

Well, moving has definitely caught up to me, budget-wise. I am SO BROKE right now, not helped by the fact that I am in one of those periods where the world upends its closet on my head. I have made a handful of house calls lately, all great stuff that I kind of had to buy, and had a few people bring yet more great stuff into the shop.

On Monday I bought about 75 pieces from a lady who was cleaning out her mother's house-- the mother was a hoarder, but the good, non-biohazard kind, who kept everything in pristine condition. I have never seen so much unworn 1960s lingerie in my LIFE, not to mention the 30 or so gorgeous 50s dresses in wearable sizes. I was good, and am only keeping one, and in my defense the one is full-skirted navy silk with polka dots and fits like a dream.

I'm also due to visit another hoarder house on Monday. I've been to this one before, in November, and bought a dozen coats and a dozen fabulous hats and a bunch of other stuff. The personal organizer who's working on the house said she found a cache of spring and summer clothes in the basement, plus there's a ton of gorgeous summer hats I didn't get a chance to buy the last time.

I'm getting stuff priced and put out as fast as I can, in the hope that it will sell at a reasonable clip. But I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and a lot broke, and it's worrying me. At least I'm getting into gear to sell more smalls in my Etsy shop.

Thank goodness I stopped by the shop today, because while I was there we got a phone call. We have a customer who stops by whenever he's in town-- usually every 3 months or so. He's got a private showroom in New York and works mostly with designers, from what I gather. He generally drops about a thousand dollars every time he comes in, usually on our rarer, older, higher-end stuff. And he's coming tomorrow.

I have gotten shamefully backlogged on getting new stuff out, these last few weeks. I have at least 30 and maybe more like 50 items that need to be tagged, logged, and put out. And I need to get them ready before this guy arrives.

Anyone want to come over tonight for a pricing party? Bring your laptop; I'll provide the snacks.

1. If you're interested in joining me for a monthlyish crafting afternoon, I made a Facebook group to coordinate it.

2. I have SO MUCH STUFF that needs pricing for the shop. I've already done over 20 things and there's still a giant pile. The goal for the week is to get 50 items out, at least, because I have been neglecting my shop space shamefully and that needs to be remedied.

3. Doctor Who was very, very delightful, and I figured out the title of the episode about five seconds before the show made the joke clear. I laughed SO HARD. Looking forward to the rest of this season quite a bit, now.

4. I have finally started selling the doll dresses I posted to Etsy last month-- three have gone in the last week and a half. Of course, that means getting them to the post office, which is a pain, but I can do that.

5. Just realized I have to drive to Dulles during rush hour on Tuesday. Boo. Must think of a way to make that less onerous-- possibly drive to parent's house in Potomac in the early afternoon, do stuff of that side of DC, then head to Dulles?

6. I am pretty sure I am not going to get the dining chairs recovered in time for the housewarming party. Alas.

7. In addition to crafternoons at my house, I have been thinking it would be fun to hang out a shingle as someone who'll organize and run custom craft workshops at people's events-- birthday parties and the like. I have no idea how to get started doing this. I mean, I would have no trouble pulling together materials and actually teaching crafty activities, but I don't know how to find people who would want this service. Anyone have any suggestions?