Wake the Sun

[yawns hugely] I am going to go home and nap hard, y'all, it's been a week.

* My sister took the (very vast) majority of photos on our DC trip - I plan on aquiring them and putting together a post this weekend. The short version - yay DC! yay bookshop! yay monuments! omfg my feet!

* I need to put together a post on the Castle season finale. Enough time's passed that I can probably be reasonable about it.

Onto the linkspam:

* More fanfic meta - this piece by copperbadge and Fan the Flames yuki_onna (author Catherynne M. Valente).

* Actually, yuki_onna's on a bit of a roll - you should also check out The Lost World, which is about Lost in specific (spoiler warning!) and genre shows in general. Good stuff.

* The Third Virtual Season of Torchwood, tw_itallchanges, has wrapped up and, folks. It was brilliant.

* Also brilliant is Janelle Monáe's new album, The ArchAndroid. [has it on repeat]

* Arizona Fights Back Against Boycott Threats Due to Immigration Law. Warning - if you're anything like me, you won't be able to do anything but mutter dicks under your breath for a good five minutes after reading. DICKS.

* Current-ish status on the Gulf oil spill, courtesy of BoingBoing.

* The Facts In The Case Of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, a comic about the MMR vaccination 'controversy'. Relatedly, an older article from Wired: An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All.

* Last night, group of people banded together on MetaFilter to help keep two Russian woman from being sold into sexual slavery. Really (as far as I can tell, anyway. Hell of a hoax if it's not true).

* Follow Friday! I've named both these people before but it bears repeating - if you like my linkspams you should absolutely be following cofax7 and rm (although the latter is only posting on LJ, which may be cheating). Both have regular link posts and a bunch (fanfic! recs! meta! stuff!) of other interesting things besides.

* I was going to do a quick Favorite Fictional Heroines post today but then saw cofax7's mention of the upcoming halfamoon. Perfect, right? I think I'll participate, spend the extra time putting together a really epic picspam.

* Via the OTW (y'all should go read that post, btw):

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

* Also via the OTW, Francesca Coppa gives a talk on Things We Don't Have in the Future ...and how fanartists can help! I'm still watching - it's a 50min video - but she's doing well so far.

* Everyone's seen cleolinda's post on fannish crazy and celebrities sometimes needing to set boundaries , right?

* Apparently there are shenanigans going with Torchwood, RTD, and Fox. Normally I'm the wait and see type, even with ideas as ridiculous as this, but I'm still royally pissed at RTD and will instead be ignoring the whole business. If only for my own peace of mind.

* Although I will encourage copperbadge's shameless self-promotion by pointing out that an excellent Torchwood USA already exists.

* I finally had to take Fall Out Boy's 'This aint a scene, it's an arms race' off my favorites playlist (don't look at me like that) because I can't unhear the misheard lyrics. I'm a little man, I'm also evil, also into cats, also into cats is distracting, yo.

* The Strange Maps blog looks really interesting, as do some of the blogs and resources it links to [goes to investigate].

* Finalement! Enfin! by tsubaki_ny: It’s crazy how people can hate each other. It’s crazy how nobody can hate like people who are closely related. It’s not sane. Today I am reading about hope and human kindness, but today I am also reading lies. I am reading lies from people who are pampered, protected, and oblivious, but I am also reading lies from people who should know better. I am reading lies from people who have suffered much the same, but who build themselves up by having one convenient, perpetual, scapegoat nation to look down upon..

* I won two doujinshi translations on help_haiti - super exciting! Now I just have to pick the books and (carefully, carefully) scan them.

Oh man, I am nowhere near finish trawling the Yuletide archive - apperently I rellay do have too many fandoms. Or they keep sneaking new stories in when I'm not looking (which wouldn't give them much time but it could theoretically be done), one of the two.

But I do have a couple to highlight - three four short stories and three lovely long ones, a convenient and varied selection to fit your New Years schedule! /dork

* all your heart-melodies - Lilo & Stich: At seven, Lilo wants to grow up to be an intergalactic space hero. This is my so-far favorite Yuletide story - it's quick and simple and very powerful. On growing up and childhood dreams.

* Four Times Hardison Told His Nana He Was Sorry, And One Time He Said He Was (But Totally Wasn't) - Leverage: Sometimes, a geeky fanboy has to do what a geeky fanboy has to do. Oh, Alec. You are my favorite <3 <3 <3.

* Synthesis Song Soul and Thousand Voices, One Fight - Metropolis the Chase Suite (Janelle Monae): Music is the lens through which we view the soul; music is how we make ourselves whole. | The revolution started with Cindi Mayweather, but it will not end there. Two really, really nice ficlets for Janelle Monae's amazing Metropolis album (and if you don't own it, you need to get on that stat. I'll wait). I'm 90% sure they were written by the same person but, even if not, they really should be read together. The first is a closer look at Cindi, how she was made and where she's going, the second a wider look at the revolution. Top notch stuff, very lyrical, a must read even if you haven't heard the music.

And the longer (15K+) fic:

* No Man's Land - Crossover: Torchwood, Doctor Who, Lord Peter Wimsey: "We're all dead to you, aren't we?". This hits all my long!scifi!plot! buttons with a vengeance (there are not nearly enough fics that do). Takes place during Jack's second time through World War I.

* Clean Linen - Heyer novel crossover: April Lady and The Unknown Ajax: Claud Darracott isn't looking forward to going home for Christmas: for a Dandy like Claud, there's nothing to do in the country, and on top of that, the Darracotts will be a sorry bunch, because his cousin Richmond, in Paris with Wellington's Army of Occupation, has still not returned. Being trapped by a blizzard at a country inn on the way turns out to be a blessing in disguise, when he meets Felix Hethersett. But inviting Hethersett to the family home seems to have been a mistake: something's afoot there, and whatever it is, with the Darracotts, it's bound to be a mess.... The author has a really fantastic period voice - the idioms, fashions, and attitudes of the time roll off the page effortlessly. If you're a fan of period romance (and I know I am) but wish it was queerer (and I know I do), this is the story for you. Also, there are hijinks.

* Not Gonna Write You a Love Song - American Idol RPS: "Adam can never write a song about this." Speaking of queer romances, this is a fun'n'sweet one starring his Glambertness and Dustin Lance Black (screenwriter for Milk) [pets them both].


I'm tagging Yuletide favorites as I read them on delicious, if you want recs in real time.

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And while I'm here - Happy New Years, folks! I'mma go out tonight with a bunch of friends (if they aren't all housebound due to flu), will let you know if adventure and/or hijinks ensue.

An ol'fashioned roundup of stuff. Some of it's cool! Some is interesting! Some is really random!

Firstly, some music videos - I've been watching Sara Bareilles' 'Fairytale' and Sarah Blasko's 'No Turning Back' vids over and over and over. 'Fairytale' is one of those songs I've memorized (and may or may not randomly sing at the bus stop) and the music video's this really cool theatre-set up, all shifting sets and costume changes. 'No Turning Back' is fully animated and quirky and *gorgeous.* Also hella catchy.

Also, zanzando's been educating me on the work of Wolfgang Petry - you can see the two music videos she linked me to here - 'Verlieben, verloren, vergessen, verzeih'n' and 'Wahnsinn.' Both are in German.

Dave McKean's posted twitpics of his latest paintings - 'La Roue' and 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'.

An optical illusion - usually I'm pretty good at convincing my brain to override my eyes, once I know what the trick is, but *damn* if I don't still see that as two distinct colors. And this one! She spins both ways, it's crazy.

thehoyden's posted new fic! DS9 Fic! Exile is New Trek inspired AU, Garak/Bashir, and a delicious read.

There's an excellent post on Steampunk and Race over on Racialicious: The Intersection of Race and Steampunk: Colonialism’s After-Effects & Other Stories, from a Steampunk of Colour’s Perspective

And lastly, halcyonjazz has posted on the AvatarFail here: On the Avatar racefail. Nothing that hasn't been said before but, as she points out, "it's really not about saying what's been said, it's about spreading it".

It's Wednesday! Week's only half over, but I've been busy. I've -

* Watched 29 episodes of American Idol S8

* Done a lot of chores that don't bear repeating but, damn, there were a lot

* Fallen in love with Adam Lambert

* Fallen in love with Kris Allen

* Read so much Star Trek fic, both new school and the original series

* Listened to Adam's rendition of 'Mad World' over and over and over

* There might also have been a lot of RPF/Bandom fic

* Walked 6.5 miles (Monday through today, not counting the additional mile I'll walk tonight)

* Went to the Dallas Day of Decision rally

* Watched the Xena/Gabrielle vid 'Boom Boom Ba' over and over and over


( Also, I've read some books )

Nameless is fantastic. I mean, I love Sam's (copperbadge) work and I loved the draft he posted online, but his 2500 beta experiment really paid off <3 <3 <3.

Guess who's driving the Marvel Crack Van (crack_van) for March! YES, it is I! I'm really pumped about this, reccing is my favorite fannish activity (after reading) and now I get to do it in an organized, public manner. And the three drivers before me (it's a new permanent fandom at the Crack Van, uh, garage. I'm so proud of it) didn't rec any of the stories I was planning on, the field is wide open. Hurray!

Speaking of recs, the Crack Van driver before me ended hir run with Five Times Faiza Hussain Meets a Superhero, which I missed on Yuletide. Y'all, Faiza Hussain is British, Muslim, a doctor, has healing powers, is a major fangirl, and is the current wielder of Excalibur in the Marvel-verse. She is amazing, this fic is perfect, and I totally need to pick up the current issue of 'Captain Britain and MI: 13' when I'm at the comic shop.

...I've been pretty hard on myself lately, regarding fannish matters - the little voice in my head is all 'why don't you contribute more' and 'it's not *that* hard to make friends' and so on - but, in the past two months, I've done four fanart pieces, gotten two of them published in a *steller* anthology, continued to quietly mod doujin_market, recced a metric ton of fic over at my delicious page, made nine LJ posts, and occasionally talked to people. And, y'know? That's not bad.

This just in: job hunting sucks (big news, right?). In the general sense and also in the 'coming in second for a position you really wanted' sense. Especially when you lose out because the other candidate had more non-profit experience on paper and you were too big a coward to bring up the work you do for the OTW. Fuck.

Also sucking: moving. Or packing to move, as the case may be. I have way too much manga (and books, and comics, and toys), I think it's been breeding. It would explain some of the random shojo manga that's been creeping in...


So this isn't a totally negative experience for anybody reading this [waves], things that are most emphatically not sucking:

* Comic books and fanfiction about comic books. I've just blown my way through Birds of Prey (fun, mostly), 52 (Renee Montoya, i. just. you <3), and Cable & Deadpool (so, so awesome). For fanficiton, well. I point you towards my DCU and Marvelverse tags on delicious. Resurrection, Reconstruction, and Redemption by Elspethdixon and Seanchai (Avengers, Tony Stark/Steve Rogers) in particular, 'cause I've got it open in another tab and it's still amazing halfway through my fifth read-through.

* Ball jointed dolls (wait, hear me out!) - they are pretty, so, so pretty, and my boy has finally arrived. And I've meet tons of local doll-type people through the Den of Angels forum, so.

* Jeeves and Wooster. Hugh Laurie + Stephen Fry + P.G. Wodehouse = Wonderment, for srs.

Yuletide 2007 is up in all it's glorious, glorious, ficcy goodness. I'll be posting recs as I read (for, oh, the next month or so - there are over 2000 stories this year) - Yuletide is all about the small fandoms, so expect a lot of small, strange gems.

( 1602 )
( Hot Fuzz )
( Kiss Kiss Bang Bang )
( Live Free or Die Hard )
( My Boss, My Hero; Ookiku Furikabutte; Night at the Museum; Pan's Labyrinth; Psych )

ETA: So far we've got 1602, Hot Fuzz, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Live Free or Die Hard and uh. The writing this year is absolutely fantastic and, while I am a woman of my word and will bravely continue on, the list is going to be very long.

I'm in the middle of attempting to acquire acquiring health insurance and, well, the last time I was this frustrated with our health care system I ended up with all four of the Play Arts FF12 figures. So. In an attempt to keep myself off of eBay (but not the internet; I'm not that strong) I went looking for fanfic (porn fanfic = acceptable alternative to toys, REALLY, BRAIN, BELIEVE ME).

And I found it. Found it a lot, it was a veritable fanfic breakthrough, of epic proportions. Or lj-cut proportions. At least.

( Wednesday: Bleach, Deathnote, Hikaru no Go, Reborn!, and xxxHolic fic )

Also, I've remembered (I've been humming it for the past half hour, just noticed) - I started on 'Once Upon a December,' from Anastasia, with my voice teacher today. I love this song. The humming shall continue.

Which is totally conceited and also untrue, but I *did*, and now I know better. nepnthe, are you paying attention? You need to read these. Right now (NaNowhat?)

Thursday:

[Harry Potter] Juvenilia: Part One & Two by geekerypokery/mrmoonpants (Sirius/Remus, pre-slash, wip). Sirius Black, he thought, for no reason at all, and felt his stomach do another slow, leisurely flip inside him. Thanks to chirachira for pointing this out - it's a wonderfully constructed, long (always a favorite) Marauders fic set in their first year at Hogwarts (and how often does *that* happen?). And the characterization (my biggest, best-est button) races past spot-on to approach personal canon.

[Harry Potter] pair by mrmoonpants (Sirius/Remus). "But alas, I am, in fact, Remus Lupin's boyfriend!" Sirius declared, a little more loudly to be heard over them. "We are, it turns out, soul mates and life companions, and thus, we are dating! Seeing each other! Going together! A couple, a twosome, and a grand romance!" He banged a fist on the table for emphasis, declaring climactically: "Au pair!" And then, apparently inspired, "En flambé!" And then it turns out that she's written other stories. This one is my favorite - it's hysterically funny (to the point where I tear up just thinking about it) without being crack (per say, and stranger things have happened), as well as having excellent characterization, length, sex  etc. Sirius decides to play boyfriend, it's probably a joke, and Remus isn't laughing (much).