At RPG.net there are frequently Where I Watch [fill in blank name of series/movies/stories] threads about someone recaping a series as they go at it, which is often very fun. There's a guy named Shadowjack doing this with Sailor Moon and it's been a thread of EPIC AWESOMENESS so far (he's just finished S1). Okay I'm not sure of his characterisation of Rei as Latina because she fits the hot headed stereotype, but that aside, it's awesome. Now this is noticeable to me because I never even watched Sailormoon (much, I mean, I caught an episode or 2 on TV when I was 13, of course, but I pretty much hated it) yet it actually sort made me want to watch it O_O. A fact that beyond surprises me. Anyway even more awesome than the WIW thread itself is the recap cartoon of his recap Shadowjack has been doing. Judge for yourself:
(a_white_rain, you want to look at this especially. You'll know why when you reach it ^^)



( cut for length, width and lots of pics )

You can find the WIW thread here and its sequel there.

Oh, and bonus pic, for something completely different:

This fanfilm is made of win:

femmefanvid is a new community for feminist and women-focussed fanvids and amvs. Ain't that cool? ^^

There's a gorgeous post :Whose story are they by nextian, about being Jewish and listening to Christian readings of our holy books. (I would also add, listening to Atheist from a Christian background read to our holy books, although the writer doesn't, because that's one of the thing that often makes me flinch when I read discussions on religion and atheism).

It was the second time I'd read a naked Bible, a text without extensive annotation and commentary, without doing straight-up line searches online. It looked rude, or like I was missing half the story. I'm Reform, and I don't believe that the Talmud came down to us from sacred inspiration (Rebecca was three years old? Please, even the Talmudic scholars disagreed on that one), but -- without years of argument and debate surrounding every line, how were you supposed to work past your first assumption about the text? How were you supposed to understand what it meant to your fathers, to those of your mothers who snuck looks at the stories, to Maimonides in Al-Andalus and to Akiva who didn't think much of Jesus when he met him and to the thousands of years of commentators thinking under the yoke of the Christian world?

How was I supposed to sit in class and listen to people say, Maybe we're just not supposed to understand the contradictions in the text?

Or to the new grad student teacher, a Jew himself, telling me, We try to read the text in isolation here?

What does that even mean?

I bring links:

rexluscus has (spoilery) Watchmen fanart

morgif_kun has some Kendappa/Souma fanart

And Randy cheered me up with this rather gory and slapsticky issue of Something Positive. Warning for disturbing images behind this link. I'm not sure what it says about me that it cheered me up.

Go watch! (at least the first two).

from ngblog a very funny comics, if you like fighting video games : Shotokans fellows.

Like Nodame Catabile?

bop_radar made a fanvid for the show! - that's the same person who did this ridiculously good Lex Luthor fanvid to Paranoid Android.

---

So looks like keelieinblack and I are really going to scanlate Onmyouji. I'm terribly excited about this. Currently trying to think of names for the community to release it, I take suggestions!

rebbe offered me a wonderful Azula fanfic as a birthday gift : Caramilized

artaxastra has a great post about identity politics.

hunters_forest is organising a Coldfire Trilogy re-read and discussion. I love that series and reread it every year anyway so of course I'm participating :) If you haven't read it yet, I hearitly reccomend it to you (it's a mix of sf-fantasy-horror with great world building and magic system building, awesome characterisation, a good spin on vampire tropes, a lot of slashy tension and a wonderful magnificent bastard anti hero) although probably not to participate to that reread because they'll be spoilers. If you have and feel like rereading it, come and join us! :D

So mithrigil had this meme about reccing new fandoms by pointing to one's fanworks. However I don't really like reading fanfics for fandom I don't know yet, so I don't really want to do it this way, however I do love reccing stuff so here's how we do it :

Give me three things you like : could be a medium, could be character types, kinds of settings, themes or any other kind of tropes you can think of; and I'll rec you a work.

I'm mostly knowledgeable in SFF books, manga, tabletop RPG, some anime and TV series and a few comics & BD so don't ask me for video game recs!! Existence of active fandom not garanteed (unless, I guess, you want to name it as one of the criteria!)

Go!

Best Buffy fanvid ever, Y/Y?

RPG.net has some of the best comments on Sozin's Commet

( cut for spoilers )

I should make my packs but I'm on the internet instead.

Have some links.

cryptoxin on Fandom and Lorde's use of the Erotic, on the difference between porn and erotica in a 70's feminist essay and it's relevence to today's dynamics of sex in fanfictions and other fandom works.

haremstress on the expression "strong women", asking what it means and doesn't mean

Is there Gender imbalance in Genre Fiction Publishing an article with that question posed to a number of professionnals of the SFF field, with some interesting answers and some infuriating ones. curtana is discussing some of the infuriating ones. ETA: Or you could read coffeeandink latest roundup of links on that subject. (and then search through her tags, she's one of my favourite blogger for a reason and one of it is an awesome tagging system ^^).

Comic strips tellings some China earthquake stories

Completely broke my heart.

Resolution : I'm never participating to a fic exchange ever again. That way lies failure and self-loathing.

---

That said, remixredux08 is pretty. I'm terribly in love with the fic remixed out of my fic :

Mirror Cipher (the All Other Angle call-response)
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: Sybill, Dean, Dennis, Blaise, Draco, Molly, Lucius, Voldemort, Bellatrix
My original fic: Mirror

My own fic was about Narcissa, written very shortly after HBP's release, and a little bit of a rant about the (mis)characterization of Narcissa one could see in fandom as well as my own spin onto the myth of Narcissus and my fascination for mirror metaphores.
The remixer took the theme of identity, of identities built in the eyes of others and how we see others' idententities, and the motif of reflections, and ran away with it, spinning a beautiful mosaic of different characters echoing each others (and Narcissa) in a complex, multilayered and rather dark contemplation. The way the images, the voices and the theme are interwoven is nothing short of brillant. Worth reading, and re-reading. I also loved how she-or-he used artistic metaphores like negative space and photography

My own ending was a question. The remix is even more nihilistic, denying the core over and again. The camera only goes skin deep and there is no life here, only its static representation

Can't wait for the reveal to see who's writer this is and what else they've written.

---

Other Remix rec out of what I've seen so far :

By Any Other Name (The Fool's Paradise Remix)
Fandom: X-Men Movie
Characters: Mystique, Pyro, Magneto
Summary: If ye should lead her in a fool's paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind of behaviour.
This fic takes Mystique after XM3 and... blows us with her. The writing is gorgeous and Mystique is awesome.

Goldfish Bowl (Glasshouse remix)
Fandom: X-Men Movie
Characters/Pairings: Bobby/Rogue, John, Logan
Summary: It's hard being normal in the goldfish bowl.
Not the kind of fic I often read, even when I read XMM (which is pretty rare in the first place ^^) but the characterisation and good writing really made this fic stood out.

How Long, Baby (Extended Dance Remix)
Fandom: Highlander
Character: Methos
Summary: In the beginning was the word. Then came the song.
The original was pretty cool in the first place, but I love the way the remix impart music into it. There's a love of words and rhythm both interwoven lovingly and beautifully; and through it Methos' voice stands out so clearly. Very nice.

Desert Time (Ordinary Time remix)
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters: Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Luke
Summary: In his years on Tatooine, Obi-Wan finds he has a lot to learn.
A remix of imadra_blue's work, whose fics I adore, and this fic is definitly of an equal level. Luminescent writing, with an understated sense of pain and yet growing hope.

I'm like, so not into HP right now, but there's this fic :

The World, A Book
BY busaikko
Snape/Lupin
"I don't remember being young," he says. . . "I think that I died, and I came here."

It is fucking gorgeous, and it's a lovely metafic, and you should go read it RIGHT NOW.

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read, political leanings, thoughts on yaoi, favorite type of underwear, graphic techniques, etc. Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.

Go and read cryptoxin's post here for it is hilarious.

Okay, reccing two Vorkosigan fanfics in the span of one week might be a bit much, but it's not my fault if the good Vorkosigan fics go out at the same time, damnit!

A Covert Affair by sahiya
Ivan/Byerly
Ivan's life used to be much less complicated, back when he was dating women.

Why you must read it: Okay, beyond the part where I adore this pairing, this fic is awesome. The characterizations are just right, which is not that easy to do with Ivan, the writing flows delightfully with a tone of hysterical humour very close to Bujold's. The story is one about coming to terms with one's life and identity, mainly as being in a samesex relationship on Barrayar, but in broader maturing way as well; and that's a theme really not easy to tackle right and she did it with an extremely deft and sensitive hand.
Besides, it's got Aral in it. You must read it.

1. Fic posted over at my fic journal

Title: Psyche's Contemplation
Fandom: Avatar
Characters/Pairings: mild Azula/Zuko
Lenght: 510 words
Summary: When she had been a little girl, she had used to dream of what having the perfect big brother would be.

( Fake cut to fic )


2. There's a Vorkosigan fic over at lmb_challenge by katealaurel which depicts a missing scene of A Civil Campaign. It's got limericks. Read it. (Especially you, busaikko ^^)

Wretched Matter


3. As I said I need to update my writing filter. So if you want to read posts where I blabber about fics which i may never finish, with beta requests and other whining about difficulties with challenges and ficathon, comment and ask to be added. If you were already in the filter and do not wish to be there anymore, comment and ask to be removed ^_^

Something Positive on Alan Moore.

Trufax.

(yes this is the second time in a few that I rec something for S*P. That's because this web comic is awesome and the one I've been following for the longuest time. Shut up.)

---

Now, in tales of my day to day life. You might remember my computer at home was broken. Now because I'm currently living at my parents' due to absence of showers at my home, I wasn't overly concerned with the lack of computer. However lots of stuff that could be useful are still on my computer, like the Photoshop program I could have used to make a pretty Bloody Valentine card today and old work in progress writing stuff.

So I've finally called someone to fix it. Guy asks about my Windows Licence. I kinda look hazy in answer, because all my installation, drivers and other v. serious CDs were left at my parents'. I say I'll look them up.

Back at Parental home, I soon realise something. The area I used to have those v. serious CD as well as v. v. old anime series CD (like the EVA series all in one CD with an image quality that makes You Tube videos look like HD) has undergone a serious restructuration and is now all GONE (I should have known that given that this is the place I've been living in for the last 4 monthes or so, I guess I'm not very observant). So I ask my father kindly where he put the CDs.

Father answers, kinda pissed off and haughty that I dare ask his help about something : there are no CDs. Even if there were CDs there would be at my home. He remembers giving me those CDs and the big brown boxes there were in.

Me, I have big brown boxes at home, but there's only DVDs and books in them, AFAIR, but I'm willing to check to make sure. Otherwise I'll have to buy back a windows licence for 80€, and would have lost all the ripped off programs like Photoshop I had along with my v. serious CDs. Yay.

So I go back home (1h30 to go from parents' home to my home), and of course I find nothing.

This time I'm pretty pissed off when I'm back at parent home (another 1h30) and demand to know what my father did of all the CDs. Father still doesn't remember anything and thinks maybe I never did have a Windows licence (he's the one who bought me the computer, it was a birthday gift), or something, but I do manage in covincing him to at least look up in the cellar.

Now, of course our cellar is a very big mess with lots of stuff hanging around half rotten in badly indicated boxes and dangerous piles of stuff with miraculous balance.

So we search, and search, and search (I find out my dad has hidden my RPG of Buffy!) and search and search. And we find it.

All my v. serious CDs (including some not relevant anymore to current state of computer) and v. old anime CDs and a bunch of miscelleanous kinds of CDs and my ripped off Photoshop one. (actually two of them, PS5 and PS7 both). In those same big brown boxes I also have home. Joy.

So now I've given my computer to be fixed and I hope I'll get it back today or tomorrow.

Conclusion : never ever ever trust your father. He knows not what he talks of.

---

I've almost finished with catching up with House. I'm also downloading Battlestar Galactica but it's taking time.

So what should I watch now?

---

And Happy Valentine to you all!
( boobs under cut )

rashaka wrote a post with comparisons between Princess Tutu and The Last Unicorn here.

Read it.

Hi. My username is etrangere, and I'm probably a racist.

Basically one big fucking word to what carlanime said over there.

As long as we are not willing to admit those things to ourselves and to others, no matter how embarrassing it is, and act in consequences, racism will go on. Saying "I am not a racist" (especially if you follow it with a "but..." >_>;;) is not enough.

I've posted a DVD commentary of Weaknesses at solesakuma's request.


[CENSURED]'s ASOIAF gen ficlet exchange reveals!

The delightful fic written for me was Lives unlived by redcandle17, a mindblowing exploration of might-have-been for Jaime Lannister, even better than what I hoped when I made the request.

My own offer was:
Useful
Brienne, OC
For lodessa, to the request : How she got into knighthood in the first place.

Since we're talking ASOIAF, I don't think I ever linked to another ficlet of mine :
The Lady in the Tower (also posted here under flock, you need to join the comm to read)
Cersei
"She was beautiful, they say, as beautiful as she was wicked."

Grunnerkrigg Court is my new favourite webcomic. It's even better than Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki*, and SGVY has Spleipnir calling Loki "Mum"! But Renard wins over Loki any day ** and I'm totally in love with Antimony (and with Zimmy too).

I does piss me off to see it compared to Hogwarts. Do people realise that JKR didn't single-handedly invent the genre of school with magical & weird stuff happening in it?

That's it, from now on, I'm gonna take stuff hyped at TV Tropes wiki as gospel. They haven't let me down yet.***

* So, what is it with Tricksters stuck into a plush toy? Not that I'm complaining but it's kinda peculiar as a plot device.
** I'm more of an Odin's fangirl for Norse myth anyway.
*** Grunnerkrigg Court being third after the Melancoly of Haruhi Suzumiya and Avatar.

I've wanted for a long time to create a community about discussing of books, I'm finally doing it now :

booklog_sff

The concept :
- people nominate books they want to discuss
- we vote in order to chose two of them
- we get time to read or re-read them
- then we discuss them, and make fun/silly polls about them
- and we start over

So if that sounds fun to you join, and pimp it to your friends ;)

If it sounds very fun to you, I'm looking for people to help me moderate it ^_^;.