aralias

Fan
Name:	Katy
Alias(es):	Polkat (exclusively on FFN)
Type:	fan writer, podficcer
Fandoms:	primarily Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Carry On
Communities:	Very active on Best_enemies; founded More Politics, Podtor Who, Unconventional Courtship, and BlakeFest; helped moderate B_E, Trope Bingo, Henrietta Street (Eighth Doctor Adventures comm) and Who Daily
Other:
URL:	aralias at AO3 aralias at DW polkat at FFN aralias at LJ aralias at Pinterest aralias at Teaspoon captain-aralias at Tumblr
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

aralias is a fanfiction writer and podficcer, currently (as of 2021) primarily in Carry On and (now to a lesser extent) Blake's 7 and Doctor Who fandom. Before Who, she was in Harry Potter fandom where she largely wrote Remus/Sirius fic. She has traditionally been based on Dreamwidth/Livejournal, but migrated to Tumblr entirely after joining Carry On fandom. Her fic is all posted to Archive of our Own.

She began writing Doctor Who fic in 2007, Blake's 7 fic in 2013, Carry On fic in 2018, and began podficcing in 2010. While in Blake's 7 fandom, she built up a personal zine library and writing reviews, which are mostly posted to Fanlore. Several examples can be found at Fire & Ice.

Her screen name has been taken from the name of a "psychopathic elf, harbouring an unhealthy obsession with his own sister" OC created for a Lord of the Rings roleplay.

In 2015 she published the Blake's 7 fanzine Pride and Prejudice (Blake's 7 zine).

Fanfiction

She was relatively influential in Classic Doctor/Master fandom and helped mod Best_enemies, one of the main Livejournal communities for the pairing. She also wrote gen for Doctor Who, although roughly half of her output was D/M fic. In Blake's 7 fandom, her fic is mostly Blake/Avon, although again there is some gen and other pairings, particularly prompted by her Non-B/A Christmas events. Her fic in Carry On is mostly SnowBaz and frequently focuses on Baz's vampirism, the politics of the World of Mages, and one or both of the lead characters dealing with depression.

Her fic is mostly hopeful and frequently features happy endings. In 2013 Neveralarch created an "idfic" bingo card for Aralias, which aimed to include as many of Aralias's favourite tropes as possible. Aralias described the card (which featured tropes such as power dynamics/power struggles, displays of expertise/talent, consent play, pretending to be married, actually being married and rubbish facial hair) as "pretty brilliant, actually".

She has previously collaborated with, betaed and been betaed by her IRL girlfriend x_los, although they are now in different fandoms.

Fandom Involvement

Aralias has stated that her unofficial motto is 'be the fandom that i wish to be in'. For this reason, she has founded numerous fests. These include More Politics, Podtor Who, Unconventional Courtship and BlakeFest. She has also helped moderate various other fests and communities, including Trope Bingo, Henrietta Street and Who Daily. She also organised the import of The Blake's 7 Library to Archive of Our Own (assisted by Judith Proctor, burntcandlemas, Elviaprose and x_los).

In 2015 she published the Blake's 7 zine Pride and Prejudice.

She ran the Carry On Remix in 2020. Her work was included in Golden Days fanzine in 2020.

Fiction Reviews

In 2013, Aralias and another fan created Katy and Molly's 77+ Favourite A/B and A-B Stories.

Aralias has also written many Blake's 7 fiction reviews, many of which are posted and linked on Fanlore.

In 2013, when a fan who'd read a review of her own story asked "Isn't it embarrassing doing reviews when you know the authors are around?," Aralias replied:

i am a bit [embarrassed], obviously - well, a lot, but i've started down this dark road of reviewing now and there's not much i can do except stop, and i'm quite enjoying the reviewing process - plus, i think it's useful to me as a person who wants to write their own fic. writing vengefully about how i disagree with something is often a good way of finding out what i do think... and then hopefully that will help me write something that i wouldn't want to verbally savage if i'd paid £20 to read it. i'd be terribly embarrassed to find out that the authors of the novel-length fics i ripped apart for thousands of pages were reading what i'd said... but since i linked to them from fanlore i am trying to adapt to that possibility (because the only reviews of 'long way back' etc i could find pre-reading it said it was the most wonderful thing ever, and i strongly felt it wasn't and the people of the future needed to know).

Example Fanworks

Fanfiction

Doctor Who

• Familiarity - Ten/Simm!Master fic set on the Valiant. Aralias's first Doctor Who fic.
• Waterloo - Five/Ainley!Master snifflefic, also includes aliens who look like otters and love Abba. Aralias's first Classic Who fic.
• Wonderwall and The Masterplan - Five/Ainley!Master, Eight/Jacobi!Master fics that spin off from 'Planet of Fire', mostly set during the Time War (one of Aralias's primary concerns). x_los wrote on Best_Enemies: aralias is a writer whose strength increases with length... This story is a bit of a classic at this point (perhaps it's a waste of time to rec something so foundational, but then again, perhaps newer people haven't read it), and beautiful.
• A List of the Lost - gen five things fic about the fifth Doctor and his companions. Dbskyler wrote on Calufrax: Taken individually, the vignettes are a wonderful series of character studies; added together, they are a study on the Doctor himself, and an insightful look into the Doctor/companion relationship.
• When We Were Six - gen fic about the sixth Doctor meeting Donna Noble. Lost Spook wrote on Calufrax: The interactions between the two (and Peri) are lovely, with the voices spot on, as are Wilfred’s proud grandfatherly reactions at the end.

Blake's 7

• Something Borrowed - gen in which Avon and Vila have to pretend to be married. Aralias's first B7 fic.
• Make War, Not Love - Blake/Avon, PGP fic based on the plot mcguffin from 'Death Watch'. Elviaprose wrote in a rec list... she shares with Aralias: far from feeling like a retreading of old ground, this story is one of the most fresh and original you'll find in the fandom. Katy is stunningly good at taking a scenario and figuring out how to spin it out to its full comic or dramatic potential.
• An Apple Cleft In Two - Blake/Avon, PGP curtain fic in which Tarrant has to pretend to be Blake to prevent a diplomatic incident. Elviaprose wrote: You couldn't ask for a lovelier, more finely drawn portrait of Blake and his relationship with Avon. A comedy plot that packs an emotional punch. Exquisitely detailed, with great prose.

Carry On

All Snowbaz.

• The Mage's Heir, 2018 - Aralias's first Carry On fic, set after the events of the first book (jossed by Wayward Son), focusing on some of the major themes of her later work
• Keep Calm, 2019 - a role reversal of 'Carry On' where Baz isn't missing at the start of eighth year; Simon is
• Sex and Blood, 2019 - vampire pon farr fuck or die
• Hang the Moon, 2019 - arranged marriage

Fanart based on Aralias's Carry On fic:

• 

  Illustration of 'Up Above the World So High', art by hufflepunky, 2021

• 

  Illustration of 'Hang the Moon', art by komodokai, commissioned by super-duper-twelve, 2021

• 

  Illustration of 'The Mage's Heir', art by parijpg, commissioned by super-duper-twelve, 2021

• 

  Illustration of Tyrannus (Regency AU), art by super-duper-twelve, 2021

Harry Potter

• Is, 2005 - a James Potter/Lily Evans Potter fic re-uploaded for April Showers 2015
• A Quiet Christmas, 2005, a Christmas fic re-uploaded for April Showers 2015
• Tom Riddle and the Fall of Power, 2003, an abandoned fic re-uploaded for April Showers 2015

Podfic

Doctor Who

• When We Were Six - gen, see above. One of Aralias's first podfics.
• The Crane Wife written by x_los - Five/Ainley, AU!Slave fic. Originally posted on Dreamwidth
• Failure Rate by x_los, polyvocal podfic recorded with x_los - Seven/Ainley!Master, crackfic based on 'Survival'

Blake's 7

• Wanted Men (Blake and Deva, gen), Something Borrowed (see above) and 'Albatross' by Mithen - all gen
• A Mile Away With Their Shoes (Gan and Orac, ensemble, gen), recorded for Trope Bingo
• Symbiosis (Blake/Avon) written by Corngold

Carry On

• k2tog (Snowbaz, AU where Baz works in a yarn shop written by somber_malachite
• California English (Agatha/Minty) written by Basic Banshee

Meta, Reviews & Other

Blake's 7

• Reviews of Powerplay (Blake's 7 zine) 1-3, unprofessional early zine review written before Aralias decided to post them to Fanlore...
• Review of Fire and Ice (Blake's 7 zine) 7, later review written with the intention of being shared
• Review of Big Finish's Liberator Chronicles 5, written with the intention of posting on the Big Finish forum
• you complete me // you had me at 'is it true? have you betrayed us?' - a Blake/Avon ship manifesto that focuses on Blake's feelings for Avon
• "She is more human than I am": a discussion of the Auronar and alienness), written for BlakeFest
• Katy and Molly's 77+ Favourite A/B and A-B Stories

Carry On

• "Fuck the Mage” – a look at the politics of Carry On’s most and least popular characters
• Simon Snow is not a himbo

General

• Two essays published in zines by Holli: How I Found Fandom and Encyclopedia Gallifrey
• Galaxy Quest, and a Better Kind of Fandom
• Contributed Fandoms I Have Loved, and How I Met and Left Them to Fandom: it was love at first sight