You guys. You guys. I am finally getting around to reading the half of the Infinity Inc./Teen Titans team-up that ran in New Teen Titans v2. The art is much better than the hideousness that was in the half that appeared in Infinity Inc. Also, it is kind of hilarious. By which I mean,

1. Gar hits on Jade, as you do, to which Jade replies: "Don't make too much out of the fact that we're both green, Changeling. In your case it could just mean you're not ripe yet, y'know." DEAR JEN HAYDEN, MARRY ME.

2. I. I. Look, you know how I have this poster of Robert Smith and Siouxsie Sioux on my wall and it is the best thing ever? The part of me that that poster appeals to is basically never going to get over ( Obsidian and Raven meeting up with non-crap art )


Up to 12.5% completion in Lego Star Wars. So. Yeah! \o/ And I've played through all of Episode I in story mode because I am awesome!

Last Day of Work is tremendously cool with people writing fanfic about their games. Virtual Villagers 3 is about the members of an overburdened tribe who strike out to find a new home, and they do, in a ruined city.

( Fic about a small tribe of villagers )

( Top Gear in Bolivia )

Oh, Top Gear.

people have commented at http://derryderrydown.dreamwidth.org/1414416.html.

As my family puts it, that passed off civil. We were 12 at Christmas; we were going to be six, and then my uncle and his girlfriend and his girlfriend's two sons and her parents were added to the guest list, so we had to scrap all plans of having duck or beef or something else with an actual flavour and roast a turkey instead. (I have eaten more turkey in the past three days than in the previous three years, which is more a sign of how little turkey I normally eat than anything else.) I had suggested we play board games after dinner to break the ice (well, the only board game we have, which is Kill Dr Lucky, and a very fine game it is too), but it turned out not to be necessary; the guests all chatted away for hours, and there was no ice to break.

I got a pretty good haul of presents, most of them from my Amazon wishlist, which led to a peculiar and not very satisfactory situation where I was very happy to receive the presents, but the people who'd got them for me had no idea why I wanted them and wouldn't have understood if I'd explained myself -- like, my brother got me a Hyouta Fujiyama manga, which I could squee about for hours (she's my favourite BL mangaka, and this particular manga is a fantasy story, which she doesn't normally do, and I'm excited to see what she does with it), but he doesn't really care. (I did try explaining Yotsuba&! to my mother, but I'm beginning to think that Yotsuba&! needs to be experienced to be understood.) So, there was no real surprise and also no real sharing of enthusiasm, which bothered me a bit. Still, it didn't cast a shadow over the day.

Yesterday I slobbed around in pyjamas, ate leftover turkey, and played Civilisation III a lot, which worked fine for me. Today I did 20 minutes on the stationary bike, then returned The Muppet Christmas Carol to the DVD place and went for a walk to the local park. The pond was frozen -- not completely solid; the edges were still liquid, and there was a biggish section near the ducks' island that was mostly liquid, but the main body of the pond had a layer of ice several inches thick on top of it. The park's two resident swans were sitting on it, apparently content to stay completely still until it thawed; meanwhile, a flock of pigeons had descended on the ice, and were pecking at bits of bread that had been thrown for the swans. They looked so comical as they meandered to and fro, mostly just walking along but occasionally skidding and sliding and needing to use their wings to get their balance back.

I also went to see Sherlock Holmes, which I liked very much despite being able to hear the rumblings from Arthur Conan Doyle turning in his grave. As I was walking home from the cinema (for lo! a new cinema has opened which is only 15 minutes' walk from my house! and lo! they're participating in the Met Live opera broadcasts programme!), I thought up some more accurate titles for it, like:

Kung Fu Sherlock Holmes vs Satanists Who Are Technically Not Freemasons, But Come On, Who Do We Think We're Kidding
Sherlock Holmes: Making Batman Look Like A Wuss Since 1887
Do Not Fuck With Sherlock Holmes. No, Seriously, Don't, It Will Not End Well For You
Why, Yes, We Are Aware Of The Existence Of Holmes/Watson Slash. Get Typing, Ladies!
Sort Of Like A Dan Brown Movie If Dan Brown Had A Sense Of Humour And Was Less Easily Fooled

I have a busy few days ahead, and then comes the New Year, and I have some resolutions in mind, though I'm still working them out. All in all, 2009 was a difficult year, but not a bad one; I'm hoping that 2010 will be less difficult, and positively good.

God, I love AO3. There is Til Schweiger slash in there. *beams*

people have commented at http://derryderrydown.dreamwidth.org/1414167.html.

* Facet (Push, Cassie/Nick)
It's future-fic! Cassie is awesome!

* Interview 256 (World War Z; OC)
An interview with someone who was in prison during the zombie apocalypse.

* Pelican State Bay Prison, California, USA (World War Z; OC)
So, several years later, they go in to find out what happened to North Korea.

* Searching for Something that Makes Hearts Move (Whip It; Pash/Maggie Mayhem, Bliss)
This was not a pairing I thought would work for me, but this story is pretty great.

* Settling In (JSA; Obsidian & Sand)
Nobody talks to Todd, and that's not right. :(

* Sparring (JSA; Stargirl & Wildcat I)
So Courtney is adorable and Ted is adorable and together they are most adorable.

* What's Your Objective (JSA; Cyclone/Stargirl)
In which Maxine is a giant dork and Courtney indulges her.

Aldiss' The Saliva Tree: I think it's partly due to the way the narrative almost honors the protagonist's worldview &mdahs; it's pretty much an almost-Lovecraftian tale told from a glancing point of view.

Whatever the reason, I think it'll be a long time before I ever think about farms without shuddering. Even the normal ones, when you think about them from a certain point of view, are unnatural obscenities (and not in the fun way).

Maybe it's because I've watched more formulaic romantic comedies this weekend than any sane human being should have to endure, but somehow or other my thoughts have lately been preoccupied with how race usually is dealt with in said romantic comedy formula, and how - although I didn't realize this at the time that I first saw the movie - The Princess and the Frog rather delightfully subverts the usual romantic comedy racial paradigm.

We have to start with, of course, the typical romantic comedy heroine. She is always intelligent, hard-working, good at her job, perhaps too good at her job, slavishly devoted to her career, professing little to no interest in sex/men/dating/having fun, and of course destined - through a series of contrived and utterly ridiculous, unbelievable circumstances - to end up falling into the arms of the movie's leading man-child hero, eventually falling in love with him.

In almost every romantic comedy film that I can name, this character is a) white and b) of middling to high socioeconomic status. Also, she is approximately 90% likely to be played by Sandra Bullock and/or Jennifer Aniston.

In The Princess and the Frog, however, that exact role is filled by a poor, black woman.

And next, of course, we have the heroine's Black Best Friend. Sassy, brassy, loud-mouthed and sexy, the Black Best Friend is usually materialistic and man-hungry, although of course she has a heart of gold lurking beneath all of that crass, raunchy exterior. Her role is to cheerlead for the *real* heroine, whether throughout the movie or possibly just at the eleventh hour, not really to get a happy ending herself. Also, at some point in the movie, she must either a) take the heroine shopping or b) give the heroine a sexy change of clothes.

In The Princess and the Frog, of course, the role of the Black Best Friend is fulfilled by a wealthy white woman: Charlotte.

I don't know if Disney did any of that on purpose, but still, how cool is that?!

This edition is for Yuletide Madness ficlets below 1000 words. The edition for longer fics is here.

Marvel
- Anonymous wrote "Awake". (Rated T, Captain America, Steve Rogers/Sharon Carter)
- Anonymous wrote "Things Left Unsaid". (Rated T, Captain America, Bucky Barnes/Natalia Romanova) (Note – this fic is only visible to logged in users of the archive.)
- Anonymous wrote "In Need of Hope". (Rated G, Captain America, Bucky Barnes/Natalia Romanova, Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers)
- Anonymous wrote "The Little Things". (Rated M, Captain America, Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes)
- Anonymous wrote "Presence". (Rated M, Captain America, Bucky Barnes/Natalia Romanova)
- Anonymous wrote "Surfing the Fourth Wall". (Rated T, Cable and Deadpool, Cable/Deadpool)
- Anonymous wrote "Catching Up". (Rated T, Avengers/Supernatural crossover, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark)
- Anonymous wrote "Awake". (Rated T, Captain America, Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers)

DC
- Anonymous wrote "One-Two". (Not Rated, Green Lantern, Hal Jordan/Guy Gardner)
- Anonymous wrote "Christmas Shopping". (Rated G, Blue Beetle, Alberto, Bianca, Jaime, Milagro, Brenda)
- Anonymous wrote "Life Less Ordinary". (Rated G, Blue Beetle, Jaime/Traci, Bianca, Milagro)
- Anonymous wrote "Las Posadas". (Rated G, Blue Beetle, Jaime/Traci, Alberto, Paco, Milagro)
- Anonymous wrote "Sparring". (Rated G, JSA, Courtney Whitmore, Ted Grant)
- Anonymous wrote "Settling In". (Rated G, JSA, Damon Matthews/Todd Rice, Sanderson Hawkins)
- Anonymous wrote "What's Your Objective?" (Rated G, JSA, Maxine Hunkel/Courtney Whitmore)
- Anonymous wrote "The Best Good Mornings". (Rated M, Secret Six, Knockout/Scandal Savage)
- Anonymous wrote "A Peacemaking Visit of Sorts". (Rated T, Secret Six, Knockout/Scandal Savage, Kon-El)
- Anonymous wrote "Beezlebub Has a Devil Put Aside for Me". (Rated T, Secret Six, Deadshot, Scandal Savage)
- Anonymous wrote "Peeking in the Closet". (Rated T, Static Shock, Virgil/Ritchie, Sharon Hawkins)

DC – Vertigo and Wildstorm
- Anonymous wrote "Crossing". (Not Rated, Fables, Bigby Wolf)
- Anonymous wrote "Rebellious Bonds". (Rated T, Lucifer, Elaine Belloc, Lucifer, Michael, Sandalphon, Yahweh)
- Anonymous wrote "Deserted". (Rated G, Sandman, Death, Nada)

Other
- Anonymous wrote "Dream". (Rated M, Archie Comics, Archie/Jughead, Betty, Veronica)
- Anonymous wrote "Wisdom". (Rated G, Hellboy (movie), Nuada/John Myers, Abe Sapien)
- Anonymous wrote "Stars Are Born". (Rated G, Hellboy (movie), Hellboy/Liz Sherman, Abe Sapien, John Myers)
- Anonymous wrote "Second Son". (Rated T, Hellboy (movie), Abe Sapien, Trevor Broom)
- Anonymous wrote "The Hazarian Interference Protocol (Or how the Middleman Was Bookblocked)". (Rated G, The Middleman/Murder She Wrote crossover, Jessica Fletcher, the Middleman, Wendy Watson)
- Anonymous wrote "The Good Poet". (Rated T, V for Vendetta, Valerie/Ruth)
- Anonymous wrote "Journal 2.414". (Rated T, XKCD, Black Hat Girl, Black Hat Guy)

If we've missed anything, please leave a comment on this post. Anonymous commenting is enabled, so please feel free to link your own fic. Webcomics and media based on comics (e.g. Middleman TV series) are very welcome; manga, manwha and anime are not linked in this newsletter.

It took some meditation, some real thought and introspection on the matter, but I feel at ease with things at the moment. Calm, even.

The real question is, what to focus on now that my worries have subsided?

This edition contains full-length Yuletide stories (over 1000 words). A Yuletide Madness short fics edition will follow once that collection is open.

( Other comics )

( Marvel Comics )

( DC Comics )

( DC Comics - Vertigo and Wildstorm )

If we've missed anything, please leave a comment on this post. Anonymous commenting is enabled, so please feel free to link your own fic. Webcomics and media based on comics (e.g. Middleman TV series) are very welcome; manga, manwha and anime are not linked in this newsletter.

Mmmmm, giftmas. I have had a new and unexpected pleasure this year, which is reading the fan fiction of certain friends' works in the annual Yuletide awesomeganza, and cackling, "JOSSED! JOSSED! SUPER SUPER JOSSED!" because I know how things turn out.

It's like being a showrunner, without any of the anxiety or insane working hours!

Anyhow, speaking of holiday-related writing, this year I wrote a short story for people who signed up for my Christmas Card list instead of sending them Christmas cards, and duly sent it out. At midnight New Zealand time, because that patience thing has never been one of my strong suits.

However, since December 25th is now well and truly over, everyone may now read my story. For lo, I am as generous as a post-nightmare Scrooge! It is a pleasant wee thing about fairies and food and there is a recipe at the end.

Queen of the Kitchen.

Enjoy!

The new Minuit album, by the by, is called Find Me Before I Die A Lonely Death.Com. I think this is almost certainly the best album title in the history of ever.

I am slowly compiling some recs for Yuletide-- you can find them over at my Archive of Our Own account. Someone wrote American Psycho, whee!

I was so excited by my Yuletide fic I forgot to bookmark it at first! Speaking for Himself, an Asterix the Gaul fic. Asterix! And it's good! Thank you, Yuletide writer, I'm tremendously pleased by it. Asterix is so sweet in this, and he's kind of a grumpy butt at times (the beginning of my love for tiny violent blonds, I suspect), so it was nice to see something that reflected how much he cares for his best friend.

And in case you missed it as it was thrown on as an edit last time, here's my Yuletart again. Gwendal and Greta! If you haven't been following yuletart, do check it out ASAP. ♥

So, um. You know how I was going to have you vote for who I should lend money to through Kiva? All of the lucky candidates have had their loans fully funded since I posted that! Darn. Well, good for them! Bad for my scheme.

So... NEW PLAN! Pick a lucky continent: South America, Central America, the Middle East or Asia before 9 am tomorrow.

If you don't vote now but did vote before, I will convert your vote to a vote for the person's continent.

"Muti. That's the African word for medicine, isn't it?"

The fail, it burns.

(Sea of Souls. Which, up until the fifth episode hadn't been doing too badly.)

people have commented at http://derryderrydown.dreamwidth.org/1413766.html.

First of all, I got a lovely little Kamen Rider Kiva fic for Yuletide. It's Taiga/Wataru, just as I requested! (Writer, if you are reading this, thank you.)

Family Relations: Taiga, Wataru, Nago, and Megumi have Christmas dinner. Megumi points out something obvious.

I'll get to reccing when I get a chance.

And because I stumbled across this and couldn't resist:

lololol Happy Boxing Day.

I should sleep.

Title: Family
Fandom: Juuken Sentai Gekiranger/Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger
Characters: Kandou Jan, Fukami Retsu, Uzaki Ran, Taiga Sae, Fukami Gou, Hisatsu Ken, others
Word Count: 1,097
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Gekiranger and Gaoranger belong to Toei, so don't look at me.
Spoilers: End of Geki; Sae's family
Summary: Jan's family gets bigger.
Author's Notes: Give me a little time, and I'll get on an omake picture for the ending. For megthelegend, who requested "Sae is secretly Jan's older cousin."

( Family )


Title: Jerks
Fandom: GouGou Sentai Boukenger
Characters: Inou Masumi, Takaoka Eiji, everyone else
Word Count: 634
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Boukenger belongs to Toei, so don't look at me.
Summary: When Eiji one ups him in the battle for Akashi's affections, Masumi knows that means he just needs to one up him back.
Author's Notes: Do you know what influenced me greatly? Those stories where you have to be really careful what you ask for, else the Genie/Giant Fish/etc. follows the letter of your wish, not the spirit of it. Oh, also, shoujo manga :Db For moonbyrd, who requested "Masumi and Eiji fight over Akashi."

( Jerks )

Title: Love is a Giant Battlefield 2: The In-Law Menace
Fandom: Minesweeper
Characters: 1, 7, 1's parents
Word Count: 455
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Minesweeper belongs to... Microsoft?
Summary: The two numbers brave the minefield once again only to encounter yet another minefield... in-laws. 1/7 Sequel to Love is a Giant Explosion.
Author's Notes: This is like, just for an example, the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies; not only does it not resemble the original in anyway, it also kind of ruins it. For itsbuttery, who requested "The two numbers brave the minefield once again only to encounter yet another minefield... in-laws.." I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY *weeps*

( Love is a Giant Battlefield 2: The In-Law Menace )

Title: Yay Panda!
Fandom: GouGou Sentai Boukenger
Characters: Nishiori Sakura, Mogami Souta
Word Count: 297
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Boukenger belongs to Toei, so don't look at me.
Summary: SGS finally rescues an endangered animal like was promised in the first episode. Souta/Sakura
Author's Notes: I am sorry this is so bad. For icysnowdrop, who requested "Souta/Sakura and a panda."

( Yay Panda! )

Stuck in O'Hare for a six-hour layover. Time for linkspam! Whoo-hoo!

First, it wouldn't be Yuletide without Mahabharata fics, and this year's offerings are both about Karna. Suck it, Arjuna. And they are both absolutely amazing works. Go, read! Edited to add: One more heartbreaking and beautiful fic rec, this time about Rama's brothers Bharat and Lakshman.

Next, another succinct response to Avatar that says it all a lot more eloquently then I ever could. Also, a new Internet Law. And finally, this post is several months old, but it's been re-linked around recently and definitely deserves another round of signal boosting. Money quote:

"The conversations about resistance to societal pressures which make me the most uncomfortable and disturbed are often the ones I should note the most because there's a reason they make me feel so uncomfortable. This discomfort and subsequent confrontation of my own privilege is *not* disenfranchisement and I think it's wrong to say that it is. The reproach that troubles me is very rarely, if ever, from the people who are oppressed and suffering and speaking. The reproach comes from within me because I know I should care and in trying to find balance and ease with that reproach and my joy. I like things that are problematic. The problems do not go away if I pretend they are not there; my conscience does not rest easy when I work to silence the voices that trouble me. I am not a bad person for enjoying things that have problems; I am not the good guy who only likes good things and thus, the things that I like must be good. It’s more complicated that that, I am more complicated than that. We are all more complicated than that."

Quoted for Great Truth.