A.) Your current OTP.
Xavier/Magneto

B.) A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind.
Pretty much any Harry Potter pairings fit in there, since I didn't really consider them until I read fanfics that pulled me in. Snape/Lupin being the first fanfic that dragged me into the fandom, let's make it my answer.

C.) A pairing you have never liked and probably never will.
Snape/Lily

D.) A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.
I vaguely feel this way about Magneto/Rogue.

E.) Have you added anything stupid/cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what stupid crack.
"Mpreg Clow Card"

F.) What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?
ASOIAF, 12 years. Although I'm starting to feel like the TV show will be the death toll of that.

G.) Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it.
... hard to say. You know how you can look back to old stuff you like as a kid and realise "oh, actually I kind of slashed them but I didn't know what slash was at the time so I wasn't aware of it but i ttly was intrigued and into their relationship?' I get that a lot. But, at the same time, I can't remember a romantic relationship I was all that obsessed from when I was a kid. So, no, I guess I can't say I remember.

H.) Do you prefer characters from real action series or anime series?
I love text first, then sequential art & animation; and then liveaction.

I.) Has the internet caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why.
Never completely, but sometimes it does make it harder to like it. Bashers of ships and characters especially do get to me; much as I'd rather ignore them. Also collectively, I think the general emptiness and badness of anime/manga series fanfics is one of the thing that drove me away from this fandom. Especially for series like Pandora Hearts.

J.) Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr the internet.
Avatar the Last Airbender would be the main one I'd never have checked if not for some hyping and which I loved the most.

K.) How do you feel about the other people in your current fandom.
My current fandom being comics & Marvel movies fandom; errrr, it is a very heterogenous fandom at present. There are some people who are young and enthusiastic, sometimes in a rather hyperbolic way although many of them are very cute; there are some people who are blaséed and a little bit condescending, sometimes in a very witty way; and there are some excellent writers and some terrible ones; and some people who aren't as interested into comics as I wished they were, but that's totally their prerogative not to. Look, I hadn't meant to get myself into the lattest big, hyped fandom - it just happened this way because of my reading comics. I feel a bit weird about it. There are some cool very people though, both old and new to me; and that's the most I can ask for any fandom (also: being active).

L.) Your favorite fanartist/author gives you one request, what do you ask for.
Huh. busaikko, can you write me an epic Ivan/By fanfic of doom; with plotty goodness as well as the sort of breathtaking characterisation work you do?

M.) Your favorite fanart or fanartist.
shit, i don't know.

N.) Your favorite fanfiction or fanauthor.
I just named busaikko, I guess?

O.) Choose a song at random, which OTP does it remind you of.
How do you even choose a song at random?

P.) Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).
This just crossed my mind so: Mad Men as cookie cutter AU.

Q.) A ship you’ve abandoned and why.
I think Buffy/Spike is the only ship I ever really fell out of love with.
I'm not sure which was really to blame for it, Seeing Red, or Spike's characterisation after that.

R.) A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships.
anyone else? Those are hard to come through. OKay, maybe Haggard/Unicorn.

*waits to be proven wrong*

S.) Show us an example of your personal headcanon.
I don't do headcanon a whole lot. (In fact I'm starting the hate the phrase as memes keep asking for it and it keeps making me feel stupid and lacking in imagination).

Saionji's mother was domestically abused by his father.

T.) If you mostly have same sex ships, do you have any het ships.
Yes. Zuko/Azula for example.

U.) If you mostly have het ships, do you have any same sex ships.
I don't think I apply.

V.) Are you one of those fans who can’t watch anything without shipping.
Nope. No shipping required. I don't ship anyone on The Wire. Or Mad Men.

W.) 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms.
Deadpool
Helena Bertinelli
Anthy
Damien Vryce
Kalinda

X.) 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms.
Balder/Loki, Fakir/Ahiru, Seishirou/Subaru

Y.) A fandom you’re in but have no ships from.
... Legend of Korra, I guess? Does it count as being in the fandom if you're not reading fics, only reading discussions though?

Z.) Just ramble about something fan-related, gggo.
I'm sometimes taken by impulse of trying to draw a comparison between Suzaku/Lelouch & Xavier/Magneto ( & perhaps Shion/Nezumi for good measure) as pairings of characters where both characters are contrasted on political issues along a cynicism/pragmatism vs idealism/peacefulness also stuff about showmanship and melodrama and ruthlessness and twists. I dunno, perhaps I'd need to add a few more pairings for it too.

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I think there's special hell for people who hand code their posts (usually fics) in fancy fonts rather than the viewer's default.

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Essays & meta:
coffeeandink on Avengers (especially liked the bits on Thor and Loki):

Loki is both Thor's brother and an alien, a friend and a traditional enemy, every strangeness and every unfitting (unfit) aspect now an answer instead of a puzzle. So long as Thor can only comprehend the Asgardian narrative, the Allfather's narrative, he cannot acknowledge that Loki the Liesmith has been lied to all his life; Loki the usurper has been kidnapped from his home, Loki the ambitious has always been treated as innately not-quite-right.

brownbetty on Loki in fandom

The thing is, I have the idea that what Loki is suffering is among other things, a crisis of morality. The Asgardian moral decision making flowchart seems to look more or less like this:

Should I do $thing?

Is it something Odin would do?
if yes: Goto 2.
if no: Goto 3.

Are you Odin?
if yes: You're Odin! Do what the hell you want!
if no: No way, man, that shit ain't right.

Will it make you sound awesome when it is immortalized in epic verse?
if yes: Do it! Definitely the ethical course.
if no: Don't do it. Unless it's punching a Jotunn. That's always hilarious right.

experimentalmadness on Magneto and the Frankenstein's Monster in XMFC:

The thing that all these stories have in common is whether it’s a Monster, a Golem, or Magneto, you are dealing with the pure unadulterated result of what happens when you ostracize a minority to the breaking point and then instead of realizing that you created this destructive force to begin with, you turn around and blame the very creature itself and call it the monster.

I think everyone's seen this one already but just in case, cluegirl On Sentiment:

When I saw The Avengers the first time, Loki's scornful "Sentiment" as he shanks Thor, (accompanied by the tear he will deny until the last breath is wrung out of him,) is the one I remembered. It was a beautiful line, and it was a beautiful, breathtaking moment, and it was meant to shine.

However upon second watching, I noticed an even more beautiful pattern to Joss's use of that word in other places. Sentiment. It's not a two dollar word, really, is it? You don't lay even odds on getting to hear it on any given day, because it's not an everyday word, or notion -- unless you own or work in a gift shop that specializes in engraving.

But that word is used in the Avengers four times. And each time it's spoken with scorn about something the speaker is trying to disprove -- and each time, the speaker fails to disprove anything at all, and in fact that point goes on to be staggeringly proven later on. It is, if I may say so, a beautiful evidence of Joss Whedon's actual skill as a writer well beyond snappy dialogue.

minnaway on the Avengers movie. I especially loved her observations about the way food/drinking was used in the movie and a few other things like:

9. If Loki/Bruce/Tony are one triangle, Bruce/Tony/Steve are another. Coulson tells Steve that Bruce isn't just the "thing" but a very smart person; Tony tells Steve that even without the suit he's a genius etc. etc. etc.; Bruce was trying to be Steve; Tony says everything special in Steve came from a bottle.

10. And Odin/Thor/Loki are mirrored by Fury/Steve/Tony. Loki notes that Odin had to summon...dark energy? dark matter? something or other? whatever, the point is, expend a shitlot of energy to get Thor to Midgard without the Bifrost; Fury has to call in cards and negotiate with the powers above him to get the Avengers Initiative in process. Odin traded his eye for ravens; Fury has a zillion electronic eyes keeping the earth under surveillance. Fury and Steve and Tony post Coulson's death, marking out the points of a triangle, and Tony with his chair half swiveled away.

(And Loki and Clint steal an eye specifically.)

Greg Rucka on writing women. (I have such an admiration crush on Greg Rucka)

Gender isn't simply a biological trait; it's a societal one. The female experience is different from that of the male, and if, as a male writer, you cannot accept that basic premise, then you will never, ever, be able to write women well. A man walking alone through Midtown Manhattan at three in the morning may have concerns for his safety, but I promise you, it's a very different experience for a woman taking the same walk, and it's different again for a man wearing a dress. Think about it. That's a societal factor, and it's a gendered one, and this is not and can not be subject to debate. If you're looking to argue that sexism is a thing of the past, that the world is gender-blind, you're not only wrong, you're lying to yourself.

rexluscus's page of Loki fanfics recs.

And some fics recs of mine own:

Móðir (2559 words) by what_alchemy
Summary:

When Odin places his Jötunn foundling in Frigga's arms, she knows what is to come.

Beautiful story about Frigga and her relationship with Loki.

When I Say Jump (12539 words) by lc2l

AVENGERS SPOILERS!!!

One minute Clint's reaching for his gun to stop Loki stealing the Tesseract, the next he's shooting Fury and taking it. Easy as switching sides.

mindcontrolled!Hawkeye/Loki. Wonderfully twisted and yet very honest.

and get him to swap our places (28734 words) by Mici
Fandom: Young Avengers
Relationships: Billy Kaplan/Teddy Altman, Billy Kaplan/Other (sort of), Teddy Altman/Other (sort of)
Characters: Billy Kaplan, William Lensherr, Tommy Shepherd, Thomas Lensherr, Teddy Altman, Kate Bishop, Cassie Lang, Eli Bradley, Jonas (Young Avengers), Julio Rictor
Summary:

Billy casts the most dubious of spells and gets into a shitload of trouble when he switches places with William Lensherr, Prince of Genosha, member of the House of M.

Great exploration of the House of M reality, and especially what it would mean for Billy and Tommy (if, you know, they had been in it as anything more than shadows). I just love characterisation here, they have a lot of subtlety. The only criticism I'd make against it is that it has no real plot and it gets resolved too easily. I especially love how, while not appearing in this story, Magneto casts a large shadow.

Zhashtar (3095 words) by epistolic
Fandom: The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Relationships: Loki/Thor
Characters: Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), Clint Barton
Summary:

Love is for children.

I just love the writing/atmosphere in here. Very evocative and sort of... sword & sorcery in a way that feels almost poetic. You know, Tanith Lee-like. Very & short insta portrait.

Family Ties (84560 words) by skiesovergideon
Fandom: Thor (2011)
Characters: Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), Iron Man, Captain America - Character, various and sundry OCs
Summary:

After his fall from the Bifrost, Loki finds himself taken in by a suburban family and lacking most of his magic. He resolves to escape them as soon as possible. This does not go the way he planned.

Pre-Avengers movie Loki redemption (mostly) epic fic. Lots of OCs, very ingenuous plottig with a kickass finale and it mostly works well in term of characterisation without cheating (too much, and what cheating there is has intra-story justification).

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I believe I've reached the point when I'm not even looking forward to Games of Thrones episodes. I feels like a duty, and then I look forward to the discussion; but I actually stopped the last episode twice while watching from boredom and cringing. The OOCness is out of the wazoo. ( spoilery )

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Inda, The Fox, King's Shield, & Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith
A very interesting series which I am at a loss as how to sumarise. It's about this guy who we follow from his childhood to adulthood, and as we do the story expend to include a whole lot of characters and the scope of the plot widens in nifty ways; but it's still mostly about this guy, Inda, who is kind of a tactical genius, born of a noble family in a country that turns out to be the barbaric, warlike and imperialistic upstarts of the region, which scares more than a bit their more civilised & peaceful neighbors and are also feeling threatened by the big byzantine Empire (- and at this point I start cracking myself because I guess that makes them the fantasy Barrayar, which is funny because asides from being a tactical genius, and, well, gathering himself his own army out of sheer happenstances and charisma while very young and away from home, Inda is nothing like Miles. Although Evred is a little bit like Gregor.)
The narration was told in omniscient 3rd person PoV, which i've realised that I've grown very unused to, and I generally doesn't like. It works for the sake of this story though, although it frequently left me feel a bit remote from the emotional action. In particular, despite having romantic & sexual relationships having a strong effect on the plot (in very various ways, this is a world where heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, demisexual, polyamourous, monoamourous, & so on people all clearly exist and are represented at some point in the text) it never feels like a romance, because we're often plainly told of shifts in relationships. It's a bit off putting at times, but definitely not bad either.
The plot is overall very good; focused on the military and political events as well as how they affect all sorts of characters. In the end quite affecting.

Fearless by James Campbell
Sequel of Dauntless. Don't have much to add from what I said of it, it's more of the same.

Rivers of London & Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
Very good urban fantasy crime stories set in London about a freshly minted cop who ends up apprenticing as a wizard to deal with weird crimes. I especially enjoy the writing, in those, very nice quality of atmosphere and mood. Very, very British in ways both modern and old for all you guys on my flist who seem to like that sort of things. And the protagonist is a smartass which I always enjoy (also biracial, which is nice).

Dangerous Grounds, Old Poison, Blood Heat by Josh Lanyon
Two elite partner cops having arguments about their relationships and whether they should have one while fighting bad guys, etc. Mostly decent.

Storms & Stars by Jaydon Neena
Space opera stuck on a desert island planet. M/M novel. It was... err, not very good yet kept me entertained for some reason.

Smiley's People by John Le Carré
Third & last of the George Smiley series. I... don't actually have much to say about it? But it was good. Probably as good as Tinker Tailor. Great conclusion.

A Strange Place in Time by Alyx Shaw
A M/M fantasy novel with very little plot, and mildly entertaining banter & characters. I feel like I was much more entertained by it than its quality warranted, actually.

Archer's Heart by Astrid Amara
The Mahabharata as a M/M romance novel. Asides from the fact I feel it short changes Hindu philosophy quite a bit, this is a pretty solid M/M novel and an entertaining read.

Bundori by Laura Joh Rowland
Boring crap. I remember way back when I read Shinju I thought ti was boring too. Why did I try this series again?

Shadow of the Templar by M Chandler
Pretty good M/M caper series about a FBI and a catburglar. The catburglar character is very good as a cross between the mild-mannered badass & the smooth & smug badass character type ; and there's some very fun banter (if sometimes overly indulgent). I also like the solid use of the supporting cast; and there some very emotional twists here and there to keep the plot entertaining. Also a plus, Amanda Waller makes an appearance as a supporting character at some. (I mean, not really, but hardass middle-aged CIA agent who is an awesome pain in the ass of our FBI protagonist - I couldn't not picture her as Amanda Waller OKAY).

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someday i really need to learn to go the fuck to sleep. it wouild be easier for me on the morning. *siiiiighs*

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Heroic Legend of Arslan

This is an oldish anime OAV series, military historical fantasy in a setting inspired by Persia, with lots of bishounen (and a couple of bishoujo) and gorgeous backdrops and lovely direction. Very good overall except that it has no ending. See shimizu_hitomi's picspam for it (which is what made me want to watch it) and her project of translating the light novels it was adapted from.


Homeland S1

This is a spy drama about a marines coming back home after years of captivity in the middle-east, and the CIA analyst persuaded that he's been turned and is now preparing a terrorist plot. I had a very weird reaction to this one. I really loved the texture of it, the acting (it has Clare Danes and Morena Baccarin in it), the direction and cinematography, the jazz soundtrack, the overall paranoid atmosphere; and it has a few absolutely brilliant scenes along those lines (every scene of interrogation are marvelously well done for example) and it has a lot of very interesting subtleties. And it totally lost me in term of the long term storytelling and plotting, about which I found the story deeply unconvincing and kind of really annoying to the point that I don't want to watch the second season at all.


Sanctuary S1

Some time ago I asked for recs of engrossing TV shows, and st_aurafina suggested Sanctuary and even kindly provided a list of episodes to watch to get into without seeing less good episodes. I'm not entirely sure what I think of it. The pilote was mostly crap - as expected - and i wasn't crazy about the finale either; but otherwise the episodes were overall mostly good. The direction/writing especially shines in huis clot episodes, which they are able to do with a lot of tension; but on a long term level, the show hasn't really earned my trust that they are tell an interesting story. Character wise the biggest draw (and the biggest draw of the story overall) is Helen Magnus, the boss of Sanctuary, brilliant scientist and stonecold badass (who I have a hard time not to think of as the daughter of Charles & Erik >_>;) who will be the most awesome middle aged female character to grace your screen since Roslyn. Also she's kind of creepy pretty often - and I mean that as a compliment. The rest of the cast is not quite to part. Our mandatory white male protagonist who serves a PoV character and is Helen Magnus' protégée (yup, female mentor & male protégée. How often do you see that?) isn't too bad if a little bit bland, but sympathetic enough - he's pretty low key and analytical in a way I dig. There is also action girl and daughter of Helen Ashley, whom I took a weird instant dislike to (I think it's the hair. She has really terrible hair). And then there's a couple of guys who have not a lot of personality or at least charisma so far; Errr, there was a Black guy in the pilot who was killed in the next episode I watched which, asides from the race fail is sad because he was the only male character I found attractive. There's a handful of more charismatic recurring characters, who feel very League extraordinary gentlemen in a way that, at this point, I find more tiresome than anything but in themselves are pretty interesting characters besides the fact that they kind of feel like Helen's reverse harem from her Victorian shoujo manga days or something.

The big weak point of the show however is the lack of attention paid to worldbuilding. The premise is simple enough : there are weird creatures out there, and the Sanctuary's goal is to study them - and provide a haven for them, or a prison, depending on their threat level. The execution though is really not convincing so far. The Sanctuary is this ridiculously huge, gothic, baroque, building apparently in the middle of a big city (not sure which one) and yet nobody knows about it. And the lack of forethought for me is emphasized in the way in the first episode Helen primly corrects the PoV character (who had a name, I just don't remember it :p) when he says "monsters" by saying they prefer to call them "abnormals", as if "abnormal" isn't a term as a pejorative and othering if not more as "monster" is.

So I'm still not sure if I want to watch more or not. It's definitly not bad; but I have a hard time motivating myself. Does it get better?

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( my opinion of it, no real content spoilers )

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( reaction shot for A:EMH - very lightly spoilery )

Otherwise Games of Throne is even more VIOLENT even more SEXUAL and even more GRITTY (and even more RACIST >_>) than the books and much, much, much less subtle because of it. I'm starting to get really unimpressed about it.

Also The Good Wife and Mad Men are awesome as usual.

(So is Legend of Korra but for once I watched it on sunday.)


and I still need to do the newsletter. *sighs*.

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The Cloud Road & The Serpent Sea by Martha Wells, the two first volumes of a fantasy series about Moon, a guy shapeshifting in to a flying reptile finally finding out about who the people he's of are, and trying to integrate into their society, while they face great threat.( Read more... )

A Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette & Elisabeth Bear, the first novel in a fantasy series about a group of warriors who are a mindlinked to magical wolves who war against trolls in a northern flavoured setting. ( Read more... )

The Silent Tower by Barbara Hambly, an early fantasy novel of Hambly, with a modern earth woman being thrust into a medieval-but-on-the-verge-of-industrial-revolution world in a way related to a mysterious series of death involving magic and wizards. ( Read more... )

The Irregulars by various authors, is an anthology of urban fantasy mystery M/M short stories by various authors all revolving about a secret state organisation having to deal with magical creatures related threats and crimes. It was pretty cool, most of the creatures had a faery vibe which was refreshing and well done, most of the characterizations is decent. Some of the plots were better than others, but overall it was an entertaining read.

Somebody Kill his Editor & All She Wrote by Josh Lanyon, amateur smartass sleuth M/M novels in which the protagonist is a mystery writers himself. Those were pretty cute, mostly light hearted, with decent enough plots and amusing characters.

Oucast Mine by Jamie Craig, a space opera prison M/M novel, which was crap with a barely coherent plot wise asides from having hot sex scenes.

Counterpoint & Crescendo by Rachel Haimowitz - a fantasy slave M/M story about an elve warrior and the human military leader who got him as a captive, the second book has a semi decent plot, and the main characters aren't half bad, although their romance does not convince and its all very cookie cutter. Also the writing overuse cutesy medieval speech patterns in a way that gets annoying very fast.

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It has suddenly dawned on me that Dresden Files rpg may be the right system to adapt Coldfire Trilogy (and its fabulous magical system).

Wish I could try out FATE somewhere >_>

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( spoilers for the episode, unspecific comparisons to the books )

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The problem with roleplaying games is that it gives you a taste for roleplaying games, which is then frustrating because of course it is impossible to get a table to gather in a semi regular way once most of the people at the table are past highschool / college age so it's all in vain. But yeah, just do one silly Exalted one shot last week end and now I'm all about haunting RPG.net's tabletop forum (for once) in a restless state of game craving which I know I can't sate. Grrr.

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The n°6 novels are actually translated in French! Well not entirely, but the first 5 volumes at least :) And they have it at my local library, woot *puts it on reservation*

(should pay more attention to what Japanese YA novels are translated to French. Maybe they have the Seirei no Moribito series too!)

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Which I did for sequentialcrack last month:

Thor fandom overview

Thor/Loki
( Read more... )

Balder/Loki
( Read more... )

Het
( Read more... )

Rare maleslash pairings
( Read more... )

Gen
( Read more... )

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this looks fun...

Give me a character and I will tell you:

Why I like them
Favorite line
Favorite outfit [this might not work so well since I pay very little attention to this even in visual fandoms, but I'll try]
OTP(s)
A wish
An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen
5 words to best describe them
My nickname for them

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Still going fine with he reading :)

Brothers of Earth by CJ Cherryh
An early book in her career in which a lone survivor of a battle is shipwrecked on a planet with aliens and one other lone surviver of the battle (from the other side of the war) who sets herself as the boss in the local nation, and basically he has to adapt himself to the aliens' culture, and they have their own issues, and their own forthcoming war.( Read more... )

Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
Fourth volume in the Thief series, ( Read more... )

Lord of the White Hell 1&2, by Ginn Hale
Very good M/M fantasy series in which a young man from a culture that is a tolerated minority is accepted as in a big school because he's very, very good at science stuff, and finds himself rooming with the infamous noble whose family pactised with demons. ( Read more... )

Hunter of Worlds by CJ Cherryh
Another early Cherryh. This one has a member of a rather pacific alien species captured and enslaved by a powerful and very ruthless species, forced into a mind bond with another member of his own species who was slave to them since forever, and a human being. ( Read more... )

The Honourable Schoolboy by John Le Carré
Sequel to Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy. ( Read more... )

Ash by Malinda Lo
A rewriting of Cinderella with added Fair Folks and added lesbian romance. ( Read more... )

Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny
A short (post)-apocalyptic novel in which an hardened criminal is forced to drive a armored vehicle across the extremely destroyed America from LA to Boston to deliver the serum that will save Boston from a nasty plague. ( Read more... )

Doctrine of the Labyrinth (Mélusine, Virtu, Mirador,& Corambis) by Sarah Monette
A fantasy hurt/comfort bromance series about a former prostitute gay wizard and a former assassin cat burglar who end up helping one another from all trauma they have undergone (and sometimes causing more). Yeah, I think that's the best summary I can do, although it might sell the story short. ( Read more... )

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- I kind of don't know where to post my fannish thoughts anymore. Tumblr? Communities? Rpg.net? My journal? Crossposting the same thing to all of them as if they were all that good or important? >_> Perhaps I should meta about this for metamarchofmonth.

- Fucking asshole on rpg.net saying they were glad spoilers for A song of ice and fire: ( Read more... )

- I have a new haircut. I should get my hair cut more often. At least every six months instead of year. Bet I'd save money on hair care products.

- Did I ever mention my new cooking plates? I have them. Yay food that i cook! I was so sick of microwave fare.

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Watched the first episode of Miss Fisher's Murder Musteries, as recced by st_aurafina here, which was very adorable - not very subtle - but very cute and very femslashy; and now I'm feeling much better ^^ It was exactly what I needed.

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My dad just forwarded spam to me. Because I'm the intended destinary of it. SPAM.

>_>;

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Been a while, right?

So having a Kobo did work very well to help get back on the voracious book reading bandwaggon.

I started with Dominion by Celia Friedman,
( Read more... )

Then I read the Hand of Isis by Jo Graham,
( Read more... )

Dauntless by Jack Campbell, had this one from the public library actually. ( Read more... )

Call for the Dead by John Le Carré, is cross between a murder mystery and a spy novel. ( Read more... )

The Andrien English series by Josh Lanyon which is a set of 5 M/M romance/mystery about an amateur sleuth who is a mystery bookshop owner. ( Read more... )

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carré. ( Read more... )

Jack of Shadow by Roger Zelazny, a fantasy novel in the inimitable style of Zelazny. ( Read more... )

Fire by Kristin Cashore, a YA fantaszy novel that came heavily reccomended by haremstress. ( Read more... )

I also tried to read Tiger Eye, Marjorie Liu's first novel in the Dirk & Steel series which I went almost halfway before I decided it just wasn't a book for me, as my eyes were glazing over with boredom. Quite disappointing.

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WOOT my father got me an e-reader (a kobo), it seems to be working well. I am delighted, I'm gonna be able to read all sorts of things from long form fanfics from AO3 to, err, books on it, yay!

He also loaned me the Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy novels, and then some bonus spy novels that he had it confused with at first, because flo_nelja made them sound very neat and I had asked him about.

BOOK HIGH NOW

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Finished watching the second part of Dae Jang Geum, in which Jang Geum trains up as a doctor in order to get back to the palace and get revenge. The show kept up being very good story-wise without being annoying repetitive or overly stretched despite length, a bit stock character-wise, and mostly very entertaining and enjoyable. It was perhaps even more riveting story wise despite the loss of food preparation porn XD and while it did feel some of the ending was just a little bit too pat, well I guess it overall fit the mood of the story, as a pretty upbeat girl goes and is awesome thanks to hardword and willpower and also the power of friendship and the support of her perfect boyfriend. Not that it hurts that she's also very, very smart and inquisitive.

Much like with Hwang Jin Yi, one of the thing I really appreciated was being in a story centered on female characters and female relationships, from friendships to rivalry to mentorship and patronship, as well as women seeking self realisation and fulfilling their own ambition. There's just something very refreshing to that that even with how much feminism criticism one does, one does not really realise before one gets a counter example.

Not sure which drama to watch next. Emperor of the sea perhaps?

(sorry, I'm reposting this because I failed at crossposting this on both DW & LJ the first time)

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so well, should I continue watching Once Upon a Time?

I can't make up my mind :/

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1. Started posting recs for the Thor fandom on sequentialcrack, woot. Catch it if you're in the fandom (or in other comics fandom, the always awesome lilacsigil is providing x-men recs and rallamajoop will be giving Cable & Deadpool recs, and there are a few other fandoms I'm less familiar with also provided for).

2. I'm halfway through the historical kdrama Dae Jang Geum, centered around a young girl working among the palace servants as a cook. It's been very good so far, given how long it is (70 episodes of about 45 minutes) I'm surprised at how they manage not to be overly repetitive and to pace the tension well (there are a couple of reveals between characters that were drawn out for a long time, but they didn't tease us too much with it like Damo did so I didn't mind it so much). The characters are just a little bit stock, but overall manage to bring us our dose of melodrama and fun very well. The big fun is the whole courtly intrigues from the point of view of servants, which is very refreshing and interesting. Sadly there are also all those scenes of people cooking which made me very hungry very often :p Anyway the plot took a pretty sudden turn in the lattest episode and I'm curious to see how it'll develop now. Overall very enjoyable.

3. Hmmm, trying to think of a third thing to talk about. It is very very cold here. My cooking plates are shortcut (are they regularly are every couple of years or so >_>) I dunno.

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