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the alternate universe where *everyone* survives to the 31st century [05 Aug 2009|01:36am] [ mood | annoyed ] Recently, I was rereading the first trade of the Waid and Kitson version of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and I was distracted (as I am wont) by how few CoC are in their vision. I wished I could have a book where the Legion was recast from a more inclusive future. And then it occurred to me that, well, maybe I could. If I wanted it enough.   Link to LJ post.   post comment

[17 Jun 2009|05:27am] [ mood | tired ] Women are not passionate enough about sex and concentrate too much on feelings to be able to write raunchy stories, the new owner of Britain's Erotic Review said on Monday. Be offended later. Laughing too much right now. (Also. *How* much do I not believe Kate Copstick is her real name? THIS much.) 3 comments|post comment

they're probably dirty gain by now [05 Jun 2009|08:26pm] [ mood | tired ] I am stuck without the things I'm ever working on, so I'm ressurecting a meme that for a few brilliant moments was the greatest ever. I refer to (can there be any doubt) mostly gen shower ficlets! Give me two characters, and I will write them having a shower together! I shall ask that they be characters I know fairly well*, and both from the same canon source if you can stand it. *Safe bets: a lot of the DCU, Good Omens, that new Star Trek film what happened, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Sandman. Or you know what I like! post comment

that monsters can be defeated [01 Jun 2009|02:25am] [ mood | dorky ] I'm working on a couple totally disjoint bits of fannish output (which I'll undoubtedly blather more about when I'm convinced they'll actually end up being outputted) and tonight they combined! In my brain! Which means, obv., that I must do all in my power to have them combine in *everybody*'s brains. (My power in this case being pictures!) ( Spoilers for, I dunno, what characters are in season 2 of The Sarah Connor Chronicles and the cover summary of Coraline by Neil Gaiman ) post comment

Discuss. [28 May 2009|01:51pm] [ mood | contemplative ] odditycollector: Reading this book that has suddenly turned into one of those romance novels where the brave ship captain has rescued a slave who is exceedingly grateful and hangs around temptingly. vagabondsal: Buh? Karen: I was feeling like I needed some time travel story in my life today! Karen: The dinosaur comics guy's poster was in my head. Jeff: So you went for patriarchy in the age of sail? Karen: Well, in this case the brave ship's captain is a black woman, which is not patriarchy so much, but I do not think it overcomes my annoyance at the trope. Jeff: Oh ho! Karen: The Native Americans do exist though! Jeff: This is a plus! Not disappearing whole nations of people is generally a good thing. Karen: It is an interesting book! Just every so often the captain is like, woe! I cannot has love! And this young slave girl I have rescued is so becoming! But I cannot hit that because I am too noble or something! Jeff: *snort* Karen: I will teach her sword fighting instead! Karen: I am not sure sword fighting has the same overtones if it is gay *women* however. Jeff: ...point. Karen: Need to give them some of those guns from portal. Karen: OR HEY. I think it just clicked in my head why WW's people duel with lassos. Jeff: ...because Diana's creator was into kinky bondage stuff? Karen: Well, sure, but *also* it is, like, tots metaphorical for May The Best Vagina Win. Karen: ...disappointingly less deadly than swords, though. Jeff: Is this like Wanda's magic vagina of doom? Karen: Sure! And nuclear rockets are flying penises! Jeff: \o/ Karen: They deliver a massive payload, Jeffs. Karen: And the VoD will shake your world. post comment

Thinking Quick...ish [28 May 2009|12:58am] The context: it is a couple days ago, a great time for appropriating other cultures. Someone Else: You are wearing red today! Me: Yes! I was feeling festive! [ed. note: this was a lie; As with most things I do, I was wearing red for absolutely no reason at all. But that is *boring*.] Someone Else: *looks confused* Someone Else: About, uh, what? Me: *vaguely remembers the note in the comics shop explaining the comics would be late this week* Me: Memorial Day! :D Yes, thank you. I am amazing. (Unless that is actually how Memorial Day is done? It could be! In which case, thank you, I *am* amazing!) post comment

Things which are awesome (twenty) - you wouldn't stop me if you'd heard this before [13 Apr 2009|03:08am] [ mood | amused ]   You know what song is made of awesome? Laura Barrett's cover of Weird Al Yankovic's parody of Nirvana's most famous song. Wooo. Yes, that is correct. A heartfelt, single instrument rendition of Smells like Nirvana. Do not misunderstand; it's a lovely, haunting tune... and you combine it with the lyrics and suddenly everything is Made Of Hilarious. Now I'm mumbling and I'm screaming, Barrett enunciates clearly for our benefit, and I don't know what I'm singing. Crank the volume, ears are bleeding, she adds gently, illustrating for us the magnitude of her desperation. I still don't know what I'm singing, she tells us, and it is a plaintive cry. But though our souls bleed for her, there is no help we can offer. We did not read the lyric sheets either. post comment

Not Spoilers Honest! [12 Apr 2009|12:37am] [ mood | tired ] I am working on mid-season two of The Sarah Connor Chronicles and... okay. I refuse to believe no one else was watching this storyline going, OMG, I know* the significance, it is BRAINIAC! Never mind the time travel, guys, GET SUPERMAN. *For a given definition of "know" - I assume if the season finale had been a Smallville crossover I'd have been informed. post comment

Easter Egg Hunt [11 Apr 2009|08:17pm] [ mood | blah ]   Comment with one of your icons, and I'll write you a story between 6 and 9 words. What, you thought I'd have *chocolate*? post comment

Things Which are Awesome (nineteen) - all news is old news [09 Apr 2009|02:32am] [ mood | sad ] A few months ago, Michael Crichton died of throat cancer. As I discovered *yesterday*, when sitting in the local mall's food court and staring vaguely in the direction of a small TV bolted to the ceiling. Every fifth phrase or so was filtering into my brain: sale and sale and i'm thirsty and jennifer aniston and sale and this drink is kinda too sweet maybe and music video and posthumous publication and michael crichton and sale and what and what? and What? And no, no, that is in no way awesome. His books though.... Okay, from Timeline on he has lost me, but for a couple years in early high school he was my favourite of all authors. I kept a scarred, second-hand copy of Sphere on my bedtable like a dreamcatcher or a promise. And there's a metaphor from The Lost World I still believe in to my bones: More loudly, [Harding] said, 'What didn't Darwin know, Ian?' 'That life is a complex system,' he said, 'and everything that goes along with that. Fitness landscapes. Adaptive walks. Boolean nets. Self-organizing behavior. Poor man. Ouch! What are you doing there?' 'Just tell us,' Harding said, bent over the wound. 'Darwin had no idea...' ( ...'if you didn't know any physical chemistry, you could look at a crystal and ask all the same questions.' ) (emphasis mine) post comment

Things Which are Awesome (eighteen) - I never knew there were so many words for 'rock' [08 Apr 2009|03:01am] [ mood | sleepy ]   If one was rating webcomics for awesome, one'd be duty bound to tack Ursula Vernon's Digger somewhere off the end labelled "Too Much Awesome, Is This Even Legal?" And you don't even have to take my word for it; it was nominated for a Eisner Award, and that is almost *official* or something! The story's main character is a wombat - yes, that is correct, WOMBAT - so I assume now about 37% of those reading have made a high pitched "Eeeee!"ing sound and immediately injured the mouse-button in their excitement to get to the comic. For those who are slightly less enthusiastic about moderate sized marsupials (*raises hand* sorry guys, but I must be honest) never mind the talking animals. The main character is a *structural engineer*. A structural engineer who stumbles into a fantasy-land adventure, complete with gods and prophesies and vampire squash. She has... about as much patience for the circumstances as you'd expect. Lord Ganesh: Do you know how old the Earth is, burrower? Digger: 4.5 billion years, give or take. Why? Lord Ganesh: Ah. Yes. Quite. I forget that it is difficult to be mystical and cryptic to a species with a highly developed science of geology.   Plus the art is really nice (and on top of nice - *interesting*), and the world-crafting is compelling, and the humour is intelligent *and* LoL-worthy. *And* the archives have recently been freed from subscription, so now is your chance! Check it out. post comment

FREE SPACE! Or, things which are at least moderately entertaining. [06 Apr 2009|02:43am] [ mood | tired ] 5 songs I've been listening to in... the past hour or so! My planning skillz, be amazed at them. Imitosis, by Andrew Bird youtube I always think of this as a Doctor Who song. Yes, yes, we're all agreed that Handlebars is The Doctor Who song, but this can be Yet Anther Doctor Who song, fair? It even has "Doctor" in its lyrics! (And if you are not a DW fan, do not worry, I am sure you have someone sciencey in your fandoms to whom it applies.) He's keeping busy Yeah, he's bleeding stones With his machinations and his palindromes It was anything but hear the voice Anything but hear the voice It was anything but hear the voice That says that we're all basically alone And despite what all his studies had shown That what's mistaken for closeness Is just a case for mitosis And why do some show no mercy While others are painfully shy? Tell me doctor, can you quantify? He just wants to know the reason why The reason why... The Ides, by frYars youtube So much fun this song (and slightly violent lyrics, but just go with it)! And bounciness! I challenge you to sit through it without bobbing your head or tapping a foot or similar! Seriously, you manage it, I'll give a drabble or whatever, I am THAT confident! Honour system, everyone! I always knew her as a baker, But something I knew not, is That when I tried to take her, There was something Ides forgot, For I knew I couldn't keep her, And running out of time, I tried so hard, I tried to cheat her, She was a running in her prime, So I thought about my choices, And chose to drop the gun, And amongst the screaming voices, Something told me I should run. I never thought I was a runner, and I thought I knew her well. I never thought I was a runner, and I thought I knew her well. Walking Into Battle with the Lord, by Chumbawamba sendspace Personal confession: occasionally I track down gospel music. Most of it does little for me - it is smug or, worse, *boring* - but then you will trip over something honest, someone awestruck at the unknowable and yet striving, yearning. There is a nakedness to worship; an emotional rawness un-veiled by self-consciousness that you rarely see in popular culture. But with gospel, I theorize, the ideal audience is in love just the same way you are. Or the ideal audience is nothing human at all. (Snow Patrol's Set the Fire to the Third Bar gets me the same way. Man, that is ever an excellent song. Not a happy song, no, but it scours away your emotions and replaces them with its own.) ANYWAY! This song is *not* gospel, although I acquired it thinking it must be. Then I listened to it about two times *still thinking so*. I am quick. But it is pretty and, if you actually deign to listen to such things, the lyrics are subversive as religion is concerned. Take my aim with a higher will Trust my Lord to hold me still Say 'amen' and shoot to kill Walking into battle with the Lord With open arms on Judgement Day Teach the children how to pray Faithful, blind, we all believe I was taught by Adam but I blame it on Eve Walking into battle with the Lord Robot Ponies, by Laura Barrett youtube Because apparently there is a Canadian Content requirement for these recs? (A: No, actually there is not.) This song seems like it might be a metaphor for something, but I am always changing my mind about what that could be. I am probably over thinking it. But, never mind me, the lyrics are actually about ROBOT PONIES, no fooling! Robots AND ponies; two great tastes that should never, ever be made into ice cream! The instrument Barrett uses - a kalimba - rings metallic but unmistakably physical, and much different than music by guitars or keyboards or synthesizers. The whole song feels like it belongs to the future we imagined in the 1970s. Christmas Eve, 2053 underneath every little girl's tree A Robot Pony comb their soft and luscious nylon fur Listen Close hear their clockwork hearts whir Robot Ponies they feed on plastic bags cut up like lettuce right out of your hand things get out of hand unless you use one of seven preset functions to make them understand make them understand You Know Best You Know Best Swimming Pools, by Thao Nguyen and The Get Down Stay Down youtube My current favourite feminist rock song. (Currently beating out Metric's Soft Rock Star.) There is something amazingly *vivid* in its bright eyed, summer vacation imagery. Like you can take a breath and taste the sunlight on your tongue. We are sore the length of our bodies We restore water we cry We are nothing if not your granddaughters We have been nothing but dignified We, we brave bee stings and all And we don't dive, we cannonball And we splash our eyes full of chemicals Just so there's none left for little girls Just so there's none left for little girls Roll, roll, roll up your denim We've got to pedal 10 hours south They pour it down from their balconies You've got to push all the doubt to the side of your mouth post comment

Things Which are Awesome (seventeen) – hit me where I live [04 Apr 2009|10:43pm] [ mood | amused ] I’ve never read the book, but the jPod formatted to fit my television screen is awesome. Our heroes are twenty-something game developers thrown together by a computer glitch, and together they combine to make, well, a double-plus geek friendly dramedy, anyway. That is not nothing! 5 other prizes contained inside: - Geeky internet jokes. - Geeky *coding* jokes. - The epic bromance between Jim Jarlewski, middle aged family man, and Kam Fong, Chinese mafia don. Two men with nothing in common save their love for dancing with each other! ...Occasionally while wearing Nazi uniforms. - Lesbians. With guns! - Mother & son bonding over hiding dead bodies! What is family *for*? It’s also a show with its mind firmly, deeply in the gutter, but, y’know, I know you guys. Vagina-shaped playgrounds and vibrating underpants and people getting accidentally stranded at an orgy aren’t going to scare you away. (Unlike, say, my mom. Although I think she was *actually* put off at how we compared her to a pot-growing gun-nut who kept accidentally killing people. I guess that is enough to cause offense for *some folks*, even if *some folks* are the only ones in the family with training in the (safe and effective) use of weapons. I mean. Come on, Mom! You mean you *haven't* ever wanted to run away from us all and join a lesbian commune? The moral: some analogies are better kept inside your head. Or maybe: do not watch tv with your mom.) In conclusion! A clip added for the sole purpose of winning hradzka over! If you can pass yourself off as Canadian, the whole series is online at the CBC site. (Neener neener, Hulu.com watchers. Neener neener, I say.) ETA: Oh, or I guess you could watch it online at theWB.com. What*ev*er. post comment

Things which are awesome (sixteen) - and youtube doesn't do it justice either [03 Apr 2009|03:29pm] [ mood | pleased ]   Fido is a pretty awesome movie, you guys. It's Lassie meets Shaun of the Dead in brilliant technocolour! And, wow, I cannot think of any recommendation more enticing than the elevator pitch, so I'm just going to jump straight to multimedia: I know what you are saying to yourself right now. You are saying, Holy fuck, that is fucking awesome, how was I not informed until this fucking moment? And I don't know what to tell you. I guess am falling down on the job, my apologies. (Or maybe the Canadian indie film industry needs to work on its marketing... but probably not, as that theory supposes a universe that does not revolve around my actions.) I was lucky enough to catch a screening before it went to release. The director did himself up in zombie makeup and gave a fascinating intro about the social trends behind then-current glut of zombie films, and the care that went into the colour palette (so much care, omg, I once needed a cam copy for reference and felt guilty watching it), and how the script was developed, and how he found a shooting location, and how he found funding... Hey, it was a Q&A session with a theatre of film students. They know their priorities! Don't forget about Zombie leash laws! post comment

cutlery or adultery! [30 Mar 2009|02:33am] [ mood | accomplished ] The last one-plus sentence meme around here was on the theme of "porn adventures or dish-washing adventures: I decide!" ...and the results are finally in!   for vagbond_sal: ( Batman and Kyle Rayner )   for ysabel: ( Agatha Heterodyne and Capt. Jack Harkness )   for droolfangrrl: ( The Washington Monument and The Lincoln Memorial )   for gdaybloke: ( Beta Ray Bill and the Harbinger of Menoth )   for count_fenring: ( Aziraphale and Hellboy )   for caia_comica: ( Amanda Waller and Vril Dox II )   post comment

[29 Mar 2009|06:00pm] [ mood | blank ] Better Off Ted: The AU where Parker runs an evil corporation instead of stealing stuff the old fashioned way. post comment

In conclusion, cousins? [21 Mar 2009|03:02am] [ mood | confused ]   ( Spoilers through the last 8 minutes of BSG ) post comment

bsg [21 Mar 2009|02:15am] [ mood | tired ] ( Spoilers through the first 8 minutes of BSG ) post comment

You wouldn't like me when I'm... filled with *love*. [16 Mar 2009|04:30pm] [ mood | worried ]   Care Bear Stare, Hulk style! (Card by Cat Staggs, who is actually quite amazing.) post comment

not-so-gratutious icon post [15 Mar 2009|04:41pm] [ mood | accomplished ] Icons! Comment if you want one so's I can preen :) Credit nice but not mandatory. Webcomics: Sinfest: DC Comics: * Other Paper Comics: Taken: *In case it is a deal breaker, I have kept one similar for myself. How could I not, though? He is made of 'dorable. post comment

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