OK so I could speculate on Korra but face it, there is not enough canon to really get all that far. What better time to distract yourself with crazy Avatar AUs instead? NONE BETTER.

( the one where zuko gets sold to the northern water tribe as a teenage bride uh I mean husband )

So basically fandom has been shipping the wrong fire/water pairing all along. ALL ALONG.

Crosspost: http://lacewood.dreamwidth.org/7413.html

Urrrgghh I want nothing more than to go to bed but no, I am stuck waiting for this blasted work video to up/download. I MAY NEVER SLEEP AGAIN -> melodramatic exaggerations. I'm sure I had some kind of plan to post something, anything, prior to this but then work rose up with the enthusiasm of a rampaging bear. So much for that then orz Man I haven't been so happy to see an incoming public holiday in a long, long time.

Okay, enough of that, let's talk about awesome things in the name of positivity and also me not chucking things at people out of sheer aggravation. What's awesome? Girls with swords! So here, have a manga starring Ladies with Swords that is pretty Surprise Great.

Hana no Kishi: This is a completed shoujo manga that runs to just 27 chapters, giving you all the more reason to read it because it can only eat up so much of your life before it's over. XD It's the story of Kurono Ran, who after the death of her brother, makes the decision to take his place and become First Knight for her best friend, Ohtori Sei, the heir to the enormously powerful Ohtori family. Complication the first: She has to disguise herself as a boy to do it. Complication the second: And then she has to duel all the rival knights trying to muscle in on the spot.

Things that might be relevant to your interests: Crossdressing, transparent Utena homages, badass ladies with swords, badass ladies with spines of steel and ambition, stories that revolve around the friendship and loyalty between two girls, a slacker non-alpha hero who decides, after a rocky start, that he's pretty happy to be the sidekick if that's what works! ... And there's also a dude who explicitly declares himself as bi, though he is a bit of a morally ambiguous weirdo so your verdict on whether this is a good thing may vary. XD;

( very vague series spoilers )

If none of these are relevant to your interests, then my friend, I got nothing. You are dead to me. Dead. FOREVER

Crosspost: http://lacewood.dreamwidth.org/6988.html

http://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/rurouni-kenshin/index.html

So the RK movie website has put up a longer trailer that comes subtitled in English, French, Spanish and Chinese (hot damn the studio is going big on this) My feelings, guys. THEY ARE MANY.

( Spoilers for people who don't count RK in their formative fandom experience? Damn now I feel old )

Crosspost: http://lacewood.dreamwidth.org/6911.html

"The story follows Arcana Famiglia, a self-appointed organization with mysterious powers that has protected a small Mediterranean island from pirates, foreign countries, and other threats. The only daughter of the family's "Papa," Felicitá, will be married to the next head of the family in two months — and the successor will be decided in a competition that Felicitá herself will take part in."

Arcana Famiglia, summary from Mangafox

SO. ARE YOU THINK WHAT I'M THINKING. Apparently this is based on an otome PSP game, and it even has... an anime coming out this year? All I can say is, I know what ending I'M looking for, though whether or not the series delivers is another matter. XD On the bright side... it can't actually be any weirder than KHR, right? Totally right.

(Is this my secret superpower? Finding all the KHR genderswap AUs? Or have I just been hanging around in fandom too long? ... It's probably the second one orz)

And since I am nominally on the subject of anime: I made the mistake of watching Mouretsu Space Pirates while it airs. Unfortunate because I'm now stuck waiting for eps as they come out instead of marathoning. Since Google will tell you this anyway, I might as well admit up front that Mouretsu Space Pirates literally translates to "Bodacious Space Pirates" - NO WAIT, COME BACK, IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE.

10 EPISODES AND NOT ONE PANTYSHOT, OK.

COME BACK.

Despite the name, Mouretsu Space Pirates is the story of Kato Marika, a high school student who discovers that the father she never knew was a SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN, a relevation only made after he suddenly expires from food poisoning. Also formerly a space pirate captain: her MOM, now apparently retired. Fortunately, her father had a Letter of Marque, making him that special breed known as the Legal Pirate. Unfortunately, Letters of Marque can only be passed down to blood relatives! Of which Marika... is the sole surviving one!

Is it possible to have slice-of-life space pirates? The first 6 or 7 episodes come pretty close - the pacing is pretty leisurely, and even though the explosions and battoru do occur, it's not the main point so much as Marika is. XD The series gives her space to make a decision and build up her character - she's cheerful and easy going and a little bit airheaded on first appearance, but she's also determined, decisive and resourceful. The series has no romance, the cast is strongly female-centric, and the ladies who appear are varied and intelligent characters with their own agency.

Theoretically this is something like shounen with girls and... less GAR? Though once Marika starts pirating, she gets pretty into it. XD After the first few setting up episodes, the series seems to be getting into gear, so it'll be interesting to see where it goes. There is a tsundere female rival and a wide-eyed princess who is BASICALLY A SAILOR MOON RIPOFF? HOMAGE LOL. Also, although Marika is taking over her father's ship, the series appears to be far more interested in her connection/history with her mother instead. 10 episodes in, we still haven't even seen a flashback of what her dad actually looked like. Poor guy is coming off as a bit of an afterthought (though this could possibly be a red herring.) As a bonus, the universe appears to be riffing off the idea of "Napoleonic naval battles... IN SPACE!", complete with sailing terminology and politics. Possibly this entertains no one... but me. And people who read Patrick O'Brian? But thought I'd put that out there anyway. XD

Crosspost: http://lacewood.dreamwidth.org/6516.html

SO TODAY, I CLIMBED UP TWENTY STORIES (to my house) (no the lift was not broken)

Basically this was accomplished by playing Reversi on my phone while I climbed, because apparently so long as I am sufficiently distracted/engrossed in something else, I can climb mountains.

In other news, uh, wassup, crosspost test?

[ETA: Awesome, they crosspost edits too]

Crosspost: http://lacewood.dreamwidth.org/6230.html

So, I think my weekend was more exhausting than my week. -_- I But I guess you get what you deserve when you decide to BRAVE THE HORDES at a travel fair. Anyway, here's the continuation of tarigwaemir's topics. XD;;

( More topics )

tarigwaemir gave me 7 topics to post on, but since my answers for the SPEC topic are going to be pretty spoilery, I figured it would be a better idea to post this one separately. XD

( Pet theory explaining what happened at the end of SPEC )

My face: *____________________________________*

( ALL THE SPOILERS )

Bonus:



2012: The year I fly to Japan JUST TO WATCH movies in a language I can't understand in the theatres? ... Maybe

I'm sure it says something profound about me that I have not yet watched the Sherlock (BBC) series and yet I have already read a) an AU where Sherlock is a parrot and b) an AU where Sherlock and John are ladies thank you fandom for doing this so I don't have to

WHAT. STOP JUDGING ME.

(Tip: I suggest reading b) and then reading a) to soothe your soul. Or uh, maybe it'll crush it further in special ways, never mind, read in whatever order you like)

Also, since there already seems to be a theme going on with this, here, have the Pride and Prejudice fic where basically the entire conceivable cast has been genderswapped to fairly interesting effect: A Long Engagement

Consider them my Lunar New Year gift! If you're going to eat well and none too wisely, you might as well have epicly crazy fic to go with it, amirite? :Db

I don't make new year resolutions because basically, well, I am lazy and if I really wanted to do something, I would either already be doing it or... I'd eventually... do it. Probably. Maybe. One far away day... But I do think it would be nice to post more regularly. Maybe even post... ACTUAL CONTENT?

Let's go self, you can do this thing. At the very least you could talk about books. Or manga, because it's not like you don't read enough of the stuff, cough hack.

Guardian of the Dead, Karen Healey: The distinct flaw to posting about books MONTHS after I read them is that my memory... it's not the greatest... But I think I should remember enough to at least not make things up. A brief summary - Ellie Spencer is a boarding school student who feels awkward about her weight, the fact that she's fairly new in school, and her crush on her classmate Mark. All this is well and good until her friend, Kevin, ropes her into the school's theatre production as a fight choreographer, and she notices that a mysterious woman in taking a suspicious interest in her best friend. And that somehow or other, Mark's involved whether he likes it or not.

Guardian of the Dead was a fun read - it's certainly a very good first novel. I really liked a lot of what Healey did with Ellie, who feels awkward and flawed and real. She has body image issues without wallowing in self-loathing, and as the story goes, when she works to push past her own negativity, this feels natural, without being particularly preachy. Also, Ellie has a black belt in karate (or it could be tae kwon do), and it feels realistic - she's confident and proud of her skills, but learning something as a sport isn't the same as actual fighting, and Ellie isn't comfortable when one becomes the other. The other characters are also fun and varied and likable, and well, while the love interest does make some Questionable Moral Decisions, Ellie herself screws up too, and the narrative largely seems to give equal weight to the mistakes of both.

Other bonuses: the damsel in distress of the story is Ellie's best friend, for whom she has no romantic intentions and who has no romantic intentions towards her, a refreshing lack of love triangles, characters of alternate sexualities/who aren't only white, a mother of dubious morality who is definitely not dead, in fact, no one's parents are dead! Boarding school conveniently minimises their presence without having to kill them off. Also, the heroine can basically beat up her love interest. PRETTY GREAT. (Even if the story's take on this is rather more serious and complex than just that XD) I was a little iffy on a couple of details towards the end, but on the whole, the book is definitely worth the read/re-read.

The Shattering, also by Karen Healey: Since I already talked about one Healey book, I might as well round off the package. 2 for the price of 1, step right up, etc. The Shattering is the story of Summerton, a town that is legendary for being perfect - perfect weather, perfect summer, a booming tourism industry - everything. But when three very different teenagers who have all lost their older brothers start looking into their deaths, they find out things aren't quite as rosy as they looked. I guess like Guardian of the Dead, it probably counts as urban fantasy in a way? But with more of a horror/suspense edge. It's a story about siblings, and grief, and friendship, and a little bit of identity and growing up too.

This is excellent. It's a different book from Guardian so you can't make a direct comparison, but I think the Shattering does kind of highlight how, hm, Guardian's good but Shattering is just very clearly better? A vague analogy would be something like - in Guardian you could still feel the joins of the pieces being fit together, but with Shattering the story feels almost seamless, like the pieces have been smoothed together, or melded organically. Which is not to say that Guardian isn't worth reading, because it is. I think they both very definitely are. XD

With Janna/Sione/Keri, you can see the ~diversity~ and ~gender~ themes that Healey is going for, but even so, in execution they feel genuine. And hey, it's nice to have characters who do break out of the mold in small yet different ways - a girl who likes boys and sex without being judged for it, girls having friendships with history, who grow up together and drift apart and maybe find a way to reconnect that friendship, the boy struggling with confidence and not being a guy's guy.

In other book-keeping notes, I don't have any plans to move to DW, though I have vaguely thought of cross-posting (and the thought only occurred because LJ messed with their comments page and offended my inner cranky old person) Not really sure if I'll be bothering though. But I'm adding LJ people's DWs where I can find then, so if you do have a DW, in use or not, let me know. My DW is lacewood/the same username as my LJ, so I'm easy to find in any case. XD

So... the first day of the year seems to be as good a time as any to finally get around to posting. XD; So long, 2011! All in all, you weren't such a bad year and here's to 2012 being a even better one. I'm sure it says something about me that the only thing I bother to sum up every year is my READING. I would like to fondly believe it means something AWESOME, don't bust my illusions.

( Things read: 2012 )

It's abundantly clear my short story reading nosedived once I had a ready supply to print novels to read. Also, uh, I solemnly swear I have not forgotten about the AU meme, I just need to do some... research. A lot of thinking! (Still can't decide if Attolia is a rock star or if she just owns the record label. I CAN'T IMAGINE IRENE SINGING ANYTHING OTHER THAN OPERA)

I already posted this on tumblr but I'm sorry, I still find this too hilarious to not inflict on as much of KHR fandom as I can get my hands on.

Sara Jane Rispoli is just a normal sixteen-year-old girl coping with school and a developing crush— until her parents and younger brother are kidnapped, and she discovers her family has been a key figure of Chicago’s Outfit (aka the mob) for decades. Her father, grandfather and great grandfather all used their special ability, cold fury, to settle disputes between the two mob factions—the muscle and the money. And unless Sara wants the mob to think her now missing family has turned state’s evidence, she will have to fill her father’s shoes as the mob’s peacemaker, using her own cold fury.

Cold Fury, T. M. Goeglein

THE MOB. A SPECIAL ABILITY CALLED COLD FURY. Are you thinking what I'm thinkin' because my first thought was LOLOL KHR AU and the cackling hasn't stopped since then. (My second thought was "I have to wait SIX MONTHS for this to come out???" And then my third was "wait, is the angry Italian greyhound... Gokudera?" It all goes downhill from there, no thanks to certain unnamed parties)

And since we're on the topic, what the hey, AUs are awesome! Memes are awesome! It's been 3 years since I last did the AU meme, meaning just long enough for me to forget what a TERRIBLE IDEA the last round was.

Give me a series, your AU premise of choice (canon what-ifs, batshit cliche AUs, etc), and I'll tell you all about what happens in it. You may specify preferred characters or pairings, but I can't promise I'll stick to them. Anything I've ever mentioned in passing or have listed in my interests is fair game, so LET'S ROCK N' ROLL.

Over the weekend I watched The Three Musketeers and Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. In a nutshell: HAHAHA AWESOME.

Tintin: Tintin is a deep-rooted, indelible part of my 12-year-old soul, so there was pretty much no way they could have screwed up the movie short of having the entire cast talk backwards and stand on their heads. Objectivity is something that happens to other people. The 3D animation style actually kind of throws me off, not because of any actual flaws, but because a tiny voice in my head insists "IT'S NOT HERGE'S ART. ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!!!" But that aside, IT'S ADORABLE. RIDICULOUS ACTION EVERYWHERE. HIJINKS. ALL THE HIJINKS!

rei_kurasaki, who has possibly memorised the entire series lolol, says they combined the parts of the plots of at least 3 books together - I did spot bits and pieces (I distinctly remembered that Tintin should have met Haddock before, for example XD) but clearly it's time to reread the series. Reread EVERYTHING (while waiting for them to make sequels for the rest of the books)

The Three Musketeers: THIS MOVIE IS RIDICULOUS. AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT MAKES IT AMAZING. RANDOM AIRSHIPS. WEIRDASS DIVING SUITS. ( All ridiculous ALL THE TIME. Also, mild spoilers )

I distinctly recall reading a Milla Jovovich quote about how they wanted to put Milady in trousers, the better to kung fu everyone in sight - and she was all, EXCUSE ME, I see no reason why I can't kick ass AND wear the Cinderalla dress, thank you. And by gum, they Cinderella-dressed her with a vengeance. NO COMPLAINTS. I would watch a dozen sequels of this ridiculousness, no lie.

/OUT OF THE ABYSS...

Yeah, ok, so I don't have any reasons for not posting for 2 months beyond the fact that I apparently just felt like lurking around. Things I have done: read books, watched Puella Magi Madoka Magica, tried to AU PMMM with KHR under half_sleeping's dubious instigation with terrible results, procrastinated everything, listened to Michael Chabon gleefully tell a theatre full of people all about how when he was 12 years old, he believed he was the reincarnation of Edgar Allan Poe.

(The Chabon talk was pretty great. XD Even if all I managed during the autograph session later was a "Nice to meet you" and a sheepish look before I shuffled right off again. Smooth, self.)

Anyway, while I try to work myself back up to the state of mind required to "post halfway intelligent content on the Internets", here, books I have read. I still owe book comments from the last time, ahaha, but I WILL GET AROUND TO THAT. ... Eventually.

( Books read )

Is it terrible to admit that KHR is the manga whose weekly updates I actually look forward to the most? XD I think Amano has somehow hit the magic combination of maximum ridiculous and minimum need to take anything seriously in my mind (seriously, BATTLE ROYALE OF EVERY FIGHTING CHARACTER EVER, haha plot, what is that, LET'S DO THIS THING) Well, ok, Fairy Tail is generally good to follow on a weekly basis too. One Piece has always been best consumed in large chunks, on the other hand. XD Maybe I should get back to poking at Bleach again...

1. So the other day, I got stuck in a lift breakdown with eleven people. ... This was not a large lift. Fortunately, this state of affairs only lasted for half an hour before a serviceman came and we were released from captivity.

Lesson of the day: Next time, think twice before cramming into a packed lift. orz

Though it was pretty funny when the girls in the lift decided that since they were stuck they should TAKE A PICTURE OF THEMSELVES BEING STUCK IN SAID LIFT (they were all fronm the same family and were actually in the middle of their Hari Raya visiting, I think) I lol'ed. XD

2. Also last week, in a fit of random boredom I borrowed my brother's Percy Jackson books and then I finished the entire series + the first book of the sequel series in one go. Sadly my brother didn't get the Egyptian series so I guess I'll have to acquire them by less convenient means myself. XD

General description: Greek gods are still around as Symbols of Western Civilisation, specifically in America. Every now and then they have half-god, half-human kids because if Greek mythology teaches you one thing it is that gods are terrible at keeping it in their pants. Said demigod kids tend to have a rough deal because their superpowers attract monsters that try to eat them. Percy is one such kid who finds himself at Camp Half-Blood, the only safe haven for said kids. Quests, prophecies and near-apocalypses ensue, etc.

They're very fun and likable and Percy's chapter titles are basically the BEST THING and add +100 hilarity points every time. It helps that Percy has ZERO manpain, minimum angst, and clearly really loves his mom and thinks she is the Awesomest. XD And that he is regularly surrounded by interesting and badass girls who save his ass as often as he saves anyone else's!

Also, Percy/Riordan clearly think that Greek mythology has some Epic Jerkery going on and that this behaviour is Not Really On.

( General comments, very mildly spoilery for the new series )

3. And next in Extremely Overdue Book Comments, Nation by Terry Pratchett: Nation is the story of two people in the wake of a tsunami that has wiped out the tribe of one and shipwrecked the other. From these inauspicious beginnings, they struggle to salvage something of themselves from the wreckage.

The beginning of the book is devestating, as Mau slowly realises that his entire world has been destroyed, and teeters on the edge of very real despair. Daphne's own backstory, while not as dark, is pretty unsettling too, and she has no way of knowing if she'll ever make it home alive. It's darker and more serious than the Discworld books, but Nation is ultimately a story about hope and possibility and science and truth

( Spoilery comments )

1. GOOGLE. WHY HAVE YOU DISALED MY GMAIL ACCOUNT?

/displeased

2. Anyway, in less inexplicably annoying news, apparently Michael Chabon is coming down to Singapore and giving a talk while he's here. 'Sup flist, anyone interested in checking this out? XD

Come to think I'm not sure I know anyone who reads Chabon in RL/SG. If you're interested, I can lend you The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay/Summerland XD (Which I should probably re-read myself)

3. I swear I will stop oogling pretty Japanese people on tumblr and actually write book comments... eventually. >_>

4. GOOGLE, SERIOUSLY, GIVE ME BACK MY EMAIL. >:(

As stolen from half the flist:

If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.
— Alfred Hitchcock

When I write a story, what do you immediately look for? DEMONS IN THE BATHTUBS! No wait I mean

1. SPEC IS GETTING A SP AND A MOVIE NEXT YEAR.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. *THROWS A PARTY*

(Note how I have manfully refrained from posting this in sparkle text and scrolling marque. They're there. In my heart.)

2. Also, they're making a live action movie for Rurouni Kenshin.

... Guys. I kind of can't wait just because I can't imagine how terrible Kenshin's wig will be. (Well, ok, I am also curious how they're going to execute the Hiten Mitsurugi in live action but that's less of a burning question)

On the other hand, the actor they've cast isn't really short enough to be Kenshin. Come on, Japan, you can't be lacking in suitably short actors. Or are you?

3. So somehow I have acquired a tumblr I don't actually know what to do with. I should a) forget I made one (entirely possible) b) reblog EVERY SINGLE Boss/Spec/Samurai Sentai Shinenger/relevant jdrama screencap on Tumblr. EVERY SINGLE ONE c) ???

Or you could tell me if you have a tumblr I could stalk, that would work too. XD

4. ... Well, and it figures LJ would frizz out again just when I was about to post.

So apparently all you need to get me to watch a super sentai show is to mention "SAMURAI" and "GIRLS WHO ARE SAMURAI WITH SWORDS" and I will be there. (It's not like I can fool anyone into believing I have taste at this point)

"I'll just download a few episodes and see..." "The screencaps look pretty interesting!" "I can dump the eps on my iPod and watch it on the bus to work, how hard can that be--"

And then somewhere between cracking up at the origami lego mecha and the goofiness and hijinks, THE CAST GOT A DEATHGRIP ON MY HEART. And now 49 episodes are over and they won't give it back. asdkhgfhkdlsgsfg. Guys, I love you but I kind of need my soul back. Please? ;_;

(Things I should not have done: Checked out the TVTropes page before finishing the series. It's super sentai, I thought to myself, it's not like it's going to have a super epic game-changing plot twist 10 episodes from the end-- EXCEPT THAT IT DID)

( Spoilers )

/goes off to watch the entire series... AGAIN

Given that I am clearly too lazy to actually post, I... I guess I might as well do a meme instead. XD It's been more than 6 months since I did one anyway, totally a respectable interval, right? From demoerin:

Pick a fandom and I'll tell you my...

- 3 favorite relationships
- 3 favorite characters
- 3 of my favorite moments
- 3 reasons I like/love that fandom

Pick anything! (well, insofar as I've probably read/watched it) IT'S PARTY TIME.