whynot: etc: oh deer (green pink)
Las ([personal profile] whynot) wrote2008-07-06 11:03 am
Entry tags:

A query, a ramble, some recs, and a rediscovery.

Question! What is the deal with Insanejournal and Greatestjournal, and all those other LJ lookalikes? Is there more/better fic there? A different 'community' or 'persona' or whatever, or mostly mirror accounts? I am sort of maybe considering opening an account there... what is it like?

And in other news. I had been hoping to branch out from Narnia with my TV Trope fic, but it kind of didn't happen. The 'I Wish It Were Real' trope would easily facilitate a crossover, thought I, and partway into the writing I realized that 'Dead To Begin With' would serve my purposes just fine. So it is now a crossover of Narnia, Neverwhere, Harry Potter (sort of, so far), and possibly other fandoms, as long as those fandoms have a supply of characters who have kicked the bucket. Mr. Pevensie, whom I have named Robert, who was supposed to show up for only a paragraph or two, is now one of the main characters. Yes, the father. I know.

Anyone a fan of bossa nova? I'm uploading one song every few days for a friend who has become interested in the genre, so if you are interested here is my favorite bossa nova standard: Aguas de Marco as sung by Elena whoever she is. (That's the nice thing about zshare, allows you to listen to the song on the download page before downloading.) I rather prefer a version that I've now lost that had a man singing it, though I can't remember for the life his name... Could've been Jobim, could've been Joao, maybe some newer bossa nova upstart, I forget.

I am enjoying this beautifully drawn webcomic called FreakAngels, which is set in a post-apocalyptic semi-submerged flooded London. Hot psychics? CHECK. Decadent love den? CHECK. Fishnets, leather, and miniskirts? CHECK. Guy that looks like Trent Reznor? CHECK. It's like goth meets the Matrix meets steampunk.

Uh, what else. OH YA RECS.

"The Invisible City; or, Dick Mayhew and his Marvellous Cat" by calliope85. Neverwhere, Richard and de Carabas. Richard returns from his travels to London Below and finds that things have changed, not necessarily for the better. Such marvelous craft and detailed world-building! calliope85 adds even more twists and turns and layers to London Below, supported by an impressive knowledge and love of London itself. The sense of shifting history and unpredictable geography is maintained and expanded, and as with Gaiman you get the sense that there are more stories happening than the one that is being told. Her de Carabas is impeccable (like the plot?), and the real star of the show. The end made me go, "Oh. ...OH! omg." A fic both subtle and grand!

"Utterly Professional" by Kumquat Weekend. Neverwhere, Croup and Vandemar! I love Croup and Vandemar! This fic is about them killing people throughout history and all over the world. I especially love that they weren't always called Croup and Vandemar. Uh, not recommended for the squeamish?

"The Three Gifts of Death" by Gehayi. Harry Potter/Sandman. A retelling of 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' from Deathly Hallows, with the Endless involved. It reads like a fairy tale, albeit a dark one, replete with whimsical metaphors and the subtle moralizing of Those Who Know Better. Absolutely charming and a joy to read.

"A Year in Their Courts" by animus_wyrmis. Narnia/Harry Potter, Susan/Hermione, Peter/Hermione. Hermione repeats her seventh year at Hogwarts and finds a wardrobe in the Room of Requirement. A beautiful and insightful fic. I love the observations about Narnia, its people, and its customs as filtered through Hermione's Hogwartsian eyes. How the writer uses Hermione's mental Sorting of the Pevensies as a characterization device is especially wonderful. And the Pevensies actually speak in thees and thous (at times)! Also, Susan/Hermione 4eva.

"The Ivory Horn" by kaydee falls. His Dark Materials/Narnia. Will focuses on physics. WARNING: THIS FIC WILL CAUSE MASSIVE HEMORRHAGING OF THE SOUL. Oh god. This fic hurts. Narnia filtered through the merciless HDM-verse is very interesting indeed (especially observations on the nature of time in Narnia), though occasionally gratuitous, but mostly this fic breaks my heart into a million little pieces. Wah.

Also one more thing, because this post isn't long enough already: The first time I watched this movie, I was too young to understand it. When I watched it last night, I felt a little too old for it. Robin Williams is a smug bastard (argh, I hated HATED 'Good Morning Vietnam'), and the constant haranguing for us to think freely rings hollow when everyone just follows whatever Keating and Neil say. But, I really enjoyed it all the same. My heart went out to the boys not for their ideas, but their brave naivete and adolescent psyches. It was their fervor that touched me. Also, Neil and Todd were clearly sleeping together. (OMG TODD STUMBLING INTO THE WINTER IN A STUPOR OF GRIEF AND LOSS iloveit.) So were Meeks and Pitts. And that Indian cave was occasionally used for orgies.

[identity profile] ladyjanelly.livejournal.com 2008-07-06 04:35 pm (UTC)(link)
You missed some big lj drama where lj was trying to get rid of kiddie porn and lots of fandom got paranoid or angry or whatever and made a mini-exodus to the clone-sites. I'm not sure what's over there now.

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2008-07-07 11:08 am (UTC)(link)
Completely turned their backs on LJ, then? I saw bits and bobs of that debacle here and there. It does look rather messy, with dodgy things everywhere.