Petronia

The Runaways: sub_divided has a proper review of it here, which I'm linking because I agree and am lazy XD (also my comments are in the thread). Will add that I thought Sandy West was played winningly in the movie - she had a presence, if not a backstory, and a couple of sexy/hilarious scenes with Joan. Lita Ford basically existed in the script to throw strops. XD;; ( Cut for mild spoilers, hilarity, analysis. )


Naomi Novik, Victory of Eagles: damn, Laurence angsts. XD; I mean he was always one for noble suffering but this book was like the full Basch fon Ronsenburg. I read it quickly and my memories of the last half are iffy (falling asleep - due to tiredness, not because the book was boring). Brought it to Philly intending a re-read but obviously that didn't happen.


The Viewfinder x Koi Suru crossover short: as kindly provided by two_if_by_sea. I've always liked the Koi Suru series best - it's touchingly well-adjusted, if that makes sense. The crossover divides the consciousness as in this worldview Takaba is a sort of cheerful, competent, worldly, ever-so-slightly mysterious sempai/oniisan. Who is too pretty for his own good, even still.


Doctor Who S5E02: ( my comment to naanima, expanded upon. )


The Five Doctors: I can't let this one go by without commenting on ( this outfit, which would have given Chloe Sevigny pause )

Aka That One Viewfinder Fic. First bit in a twelve days' thing or whatever XD; (the actual Twelve Days of Christmas are after Christmas, but that never seems right to me psychologically). I've been posting this to yamane_ayano, backdated in order not to bother the flist overly (some ppl have seen the first chapters several times over the years), but this is the compilation post. Thanks again to sub_divided and marej, who did the most to make this happen.

Traffic
Chapters: Parts I-II | Parts III-IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII

( Author's Notes )

Title: Traffic

Series:Viewfinder

Characters/Pairings: implied Asami x Takaba, Kou, OCs (Feilong in previous chapters)

Rating: R for drug use, language, violence, and possibly triggery talk about non-con (though given that this is VF...). Additional warning for, erm, het.

Disclaimer: Feilong, Tao, Takaba, Kou, Asami's goons and Asami himself were created by and belong to Yamane Ayano. All the rest are OCs.

Spoilers: Set some months before the Naked Truth arc, immediately before the New Year's Eve one-shot.

Notes: The structure is loosely inspired by the Soderbergh film Traffic, hence the title. It's basically a straight-up attempt to fill in the seinen gangland thriller lurking in the background of the manga, where the foreground is the Asami-Takaba-Feilong triangle. This story is now complete in 7 parts; I'll be posting the rest at the rate of 1-2 chapters per day. Thanks to my betas, sub_divided and marej. ^_^

Previous Chapters: Parts I-II | Parts III-IV | Part V


( Takaba Akihito, age 23 - Freelance photographer, Tokyo )

Title: Traffic

Series:Viewfinder

Characters/Pairings: eventual Asami x Takaba, this part is mostly OCs

Rating: PG13 for drug references, language, and violence (eventual R)

Disclaimer: Feilong, Tao, Takaba, Kou, Asami's goons and Asami himself were created by and belong to Yamane Ayano. All the rest are OCs.

Spoilers: Set some months before the Naked Truth arc, immediately before the New Year's Eve one-shot.

Notes: The structure is loosely inspired by the Soderbergh film Traffic, hence the title. It's basically a straight-up attempt to fill in the seinen gangland thriller lurking in the background of the manga, where the foreground is the Asami-Takaba-Feilong triangle. This story is now complete in 7 parts; I'll be posting the rest at the rate of 1-2 chapters per day. Thanks to my betas, sub_divided and marej. ^_^

Previous Chapters: Parts I-II


( Yip Hong-Yueh, age 19 - Dock worker, Asia Container Terminals Ltd., Hong Kong S.A.R. )

( Shiozawa Yukihiro, age 35 - Secretary, Shunsan Construction Y.K., Yokohama )


Part V

LAUGHING. Candidate for biggest nerd-out by members of the "respectable" scientific community since Planet Xena. But think, it could have been worse - the researchers could have insisted that their discovery be illustrated in moe-chara style. LIGASE-TAN WILL BIND YOUR SYNAPSES WITH LOVE.

Those of you who're Ph.D.-tracked, I'm looking at you.

In other hilarious news, apparently there are Viewfinder side-stories out? ( Love Prize 3, Naked Truth Zero )

Other updates: ( TRC 159-165, Holic 139-144. Contains spoilers. )

I've also read up to FMA vol.11, halfway through. Am however missing vol.15 which stands to become a problem in the near future. ^^;

Actually I write more essay-type verbiage than fic-type verbiage for Viewfinder (I keep harping on the topic, sorry - I think discussing it has made me self-conscious, not in a bad way, but now I can't help paying attention to what I'm doing XD), because much of it is straight-up canon interpretation - not "given what happens in this chapter, I think X", but "I think X is what's really taking place on page 12." I mean, it's weird because one wouldn't think the storytelling was that deep, and it's not that deep, but I have to read each new chapter myself and in the original Japanese or I just don't feel like I've understood. There are unstated visual cues, possibly.

( Anyway, a few points. )

Basically the thing with this series is, I constantly expect it to jump the shark and it never does. :D

Or, that Viewfinder fic I keep mentioning. Against marej's best advice I'm posting these chapters before writing the rest, mostly because I'm not certain when I'm going to be writing the rest. *ducks* IS IT MY FAULT I HAVE LIKE FOUR FANDOM WRITING PROJECTS DUE IN THE MONTH AND A HALF BEFORE I GO ON VACATION.

(Okay it is my fault. But.)

I recopied the first two parts from the naljwrimo2006 post so, uh, you won't have to load that monster again. XD;

( Part I: Fei Long )

( Part II: Winston )

( Part III: Ah Yueh )

( Part IV: Shiozawa )

I haven't made the final wordcount yet, but I'm sure I've broken the limit. What I've learnt from this experience is that I blog a lot, since all I did was can the majority of my entries for two weeks. XD

First, a recounting of my birthday weekend! It was totally worth the exhaustion, even though I am errrm basically down with a cold now (low fever, called in sick so I don't have to face the -30C outside temperatures, sitting bundled up at home guzzling chrysanthemum tea and writing Very Big Post). ^^;

( Birthday parties (contains photos) )

( Wighnomy Brothers / Dan Bell / Akufen @ Nuit Electronik 2006, Saturday 25/02/06 )

( Belle & Sebastian @ Metropolis, Sunday 26/02/06 (contains photos) )

On that note: ( Requested songs, unrequested songs, wanktastic and grossly sentimental musicblogging )

Please note mp3s will only be up for a week, as the entry is public.

And now the fic for the Mile Long Pole challenge. It's sort of awful, I'll probably be spending the rest of the night editing it. XD; ( Have some Orbital to go along with first. )

( Yukikaze fic, 1,500 words, roughest of drafts to be honest )

Friday evening (that is the 17th, since I'm writing this on the 22nd XD) I read The Lives of Christopher Chant.

( Desultory notes on the book and DWJ's common tropes (cut for spoilers). )

Much as I think Lush's forte is in the bath ballistic and bubble bar lines, I don't take baths often enough (the only time I can really take a bubble bath without bothering anyone by running the water upstairs is on weekends, and I often go out on weekend nights). So this is yet another shampoo bar review, as well as short notes on regular soaps. :P

( Seanick )
( Angel's Delight )
( Milky Bar )
( Gratuitous Violets )

When serendip was in town she brought her BPAL imps, most of which she said she was meh about, and gave a number of them to me. ^^; Erin also took a few. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to write more reviews, Jae. XD

( Cathode )
( Undertow )
( The Lady of Shalott )
( Kuang Shi )
( Silk Road )
( Moon Rose )
( Lilith )
( Skuld )

And finally, the first two chapters of Traffic. In which absolutely nothing much happens, I'm warning you, so don't get your hopes up. :/

( Part I: Fei Long )
( Part II: Winston )

The most evil and manipulative character in the series is, in fact, Tao.

*dies laughing*

***

On an issue that has nothing to do with the above: I think seme/uke versus not (and "not" is not the same thing as "reversible") is comparable to metred verse versus free verse. On the one hand they say, "No offense, but if it doesn't have structure it just doesn't seem like poetry to me," on the other hand they say, "What's the point of following those rules - what are you, some sort of blinkered reactionary?" A more moderate view would be that both are poetry, they're just different kinds of poetry. Sometimes you are writing a sonnet and sometimes you are writing free verse. One of the points of writing a sonnet is that you have to negotiate the rules; with free verse you have to take into account other, often more subtle aspects. Neither is necessarily harder nor better than the other. Both have their pitfalls; both can be managed badly. And sometimes a sonnet is the form best suited to the inspiration at hand, whereas sometimes it isn't.

Now I'm breaking my own rule. Sorry Bing darling! But I want to get this chapter of my life over with as it were. XD P.S. Thanks to everyone who commented on the IniD ficlet, I am glad you enjoyed. XD

For yasminm. You know you're curious. *g* Actually I'm quite fond of this one, it makes me laugh even though I wrote it (possibly because I am a mean person).

( Feilong x Takaba, 1401 words )