and dreams were all they gave for free | to ugly duckling girls like me
Oh, Yamada Yugi. I bow down before your supreme cracktasticness :'D (scan from Saigo no Door wo Shimero! 02)
As you might guess from the above illustration, I welcomed the new year by reading an assload of both scanlations and raw scans of boys love manga. I'm a total whore when it comes to BL manga with big casts that absolutely need to be paired off down to the last member, so I've been particularly enjoying Shimizu Yuki's ZE (the scanlation ended in a horrible cliffhanger, so I got the rest as raw scans and ended up crying my eyes out at three o'clock in the morning D: one of the main pairings is also just my favorite kind with a hetarewanko seme with his own tsundere uke to cuddle ♥), Fuwa Shinri's Yebisu Celebrities (features all of my favorites: age differences, interracial couples and, uh, lots of clichés among other things) and Takazawa Taeko's Renai series (which wasn't that awesome, but it was readable and her art's just yummy).
Moreover, I cracked and got the second volume of Yamada Yugi's Saigo no Door wo Shimero. It's been ages since the first volume was published in English by Juné, so I was jonesing pretty badly for the conclusion. Saigo no Door is definitely now one of my top five favorite BL manga ♥ The funny thing is that even more than the sweet/funny/sad plot and the hawt buttsecks, I loved this one scene where Honda and Nagai (the main couple) are washing the dishes while obliquely discussing moving in together: Honda reaches out and rolls Nagai's sleeves up for him. For some weird reason, it's so cute that I seriously can't even ;__;
[/tl;dr babble about buttsex]
Lol @ my studies. While my friends all get to loll about without that many courses, I have a bazillion things to do as always. What's worse, most of 'em are French courses, which is just gah. I don't wanna D:
English
Approaches to Language and Discourse II [3 points]
French
Johdatus kieliteknologiaan [2-6 points] (An Introduction to Language Technology)
Tekstianalyysi [3 points] (Textual Analysis)
Ranskalainen kielentutkimus [2 points] (French Philology)
Ranskan yhteiskunta II [7 points] (French Society [and Institutions] II)
Klassinen kirjallisuus [4 points] (Classic Literature)
Translation Studies
Tulkkauksen perusteet [2 points] (Interpreting 101)
Kääntäjän ATK-taidot [1 point] (Computer Skills for Translators)
Other
Puheviestintä [2 points] (Oral Communication)
Ruotsin tentti [3 points] (Swedish exam [which everyone needs to pass to get their BAs])
Aktuell Svenska [2? points] (Spoken Swedish [if I get in])
Japanese IV & Independent Kanji Course [4 points]
Chinese II [4 points]
Total: 37+ points, of which 34 count towards my first BA. Mufufufu.
And finally, some fic recs for youuuuu. Included are a heck of a lot of fandoms, but only slash and femslash, no het (except for one fic, which is kind of het, but not really).
After School Nightmare: Black Moon in the Afternoon Sky by untrue_accounts
After School Nightmare is one of my current favorites when it comes to, um, "normal" manga. It plays with sexual and gender identities and the pitfalls of adolescence, while also presenting a fascinating take on what happens during that one specific moment when you grow up. That said, this fic is perfect. There's nothing else to say about it, except that this, oh this is how the canon should play out. Just oh.
Snip: "You're mine now?" he asks. A warning voice in his head tells him not to speak, not to give her time. Not to give her a choice. "You're my girl?"
She tosses her head back impatiently and his throat seizes up: he's lost her. He knows he's lost her. But she just lies down on her side and pulls him down next to her. "I'm not a girl," she says. She's so close to him her breath warms his mouth, tickles his nose. "I'm not a boy. I'm just me."
Gossip Girl: The Kind of Christmas That Doesn't End in 'Party' by pirateygoodness
I've never seen any episodes of this TV series, but lysachan showed me a music vid that made me squee and giggle like a little girl :'D Serena and Blair have such an interesting chemistry and it's something that this fic manages to capture nicely. It's also very fluffy and girly without being overly sugary. Loved it ♥
Snip: (Not in a way that Blair actually finds sexy or anything. But looking at Serena, with her mouth stained red-dye pink and her lips slick and freshly-licked as she bites down on the very last half of the very last candy cane, it's hard not to understand why everyone wants to sleep with her. Objectively speaking, of course.)
Harry Potter: Just Another Lifetime by furiosity
Features the first 27 birthdays of Draco's life. I don't quite know what it is about this fic. It's fairly usual stuff, but I still liked it, if only because of the author's style of trying to convey as much as possible with a minimum of words. Nicely done, if fairly cliché stuff.
Snip: It's ironic, but the best birthday Draco has ever had is today. He lets his bottled-up emotions run free as he capers around the mended Vanishing Cabinet, no longer caring who might hear him from the corridor outside. His birthday present is his family's guaranteed safety. He has never received anything better.
Harry Potter: Lustre by julad & Calico
Mmm, I really loved this for its beautiful, beautiful prose. The story itself is nice as well, with a brilliantly done magical gift Draco receives from his father, and how Harry fits into everything so smoothly is beautifully done as well, but more than that it's the language I love.
Snip: Potter, who isn't a Slytherin, and if the Sorting Hat wanted to put him there and he's in Gryffindor, well, there are only so many conclusions that can be drawn from that. His own moment under the hat had been reassuringly efficient, he'd felt at the time. Slytherin? the hat had said, and Draco had thought, of course.
Harry Potter: No Shortage of Adjectives by ruffians
Hee! This one was just pure fun with Draco's over-the-top denial and Harry's jovial pursuit of the nummy Slytherin :'D I loved the style to death and Draco's just so spot on, it hurts. Hee again!
Snip: In typical Potter fashion, he acted like a complete ape and took this mistake as an attempt by Draco to snog him. The nerve! Potter kissed him - this time, lips to lips. Draco gave a barely audible whimper- of dissatisfaction, and was suddenly flipped onto his back on the floor. He meant to protest this complete and utter act of debauchery, but his mouth was inconveniently occupied by Potter's scarhead. He could have attempted to get up and put an end to this nonsense, but he had remembered he was tired.
Smallville: Eggplant by astolat
Now this one was just a porny, fun romp where Lex's new car awakens the horny teenager in Clark :'D
Snip: Lex jerked up off the hood, or tried to; Clark had his shoulders pinned and Lex's mouth was open and wet and sweet, faint undertaste of mocha latte, and Lex's thigh felt so good under his hand, straining against the thin, fine wool. Clark pushed him further up onto the car, spreading Lex out and settling into him, making small encouraging noises as Lex's hands, pushing back against his shoulders, started to yield.
Smallville: Looking Glass Country by astolat
There's something about this fic that doesn't quite work, but it's a very enjoyable read nonetheless with a nicely twisted plot. What I particularly enjoyed was that no matter what had happened in the past, Superman and Lex were still right for each other in the end. Because that's what their relationship is ultimately always about: one can't truly exist without the other. Loved the banter, too.
Snip: Luthor took one step towards him, then another. He slowly reached out and put his hand on Clark's shoulder. It was warm and living under his fingers. Clark looked up at him and said, quietly, "Thank you." His eyes were green, Luthor noted, clinically. The newspapers always said they were blue. He'd never looked close enough to notice.
Smallville: Reconcilable Differences and its sequel Vacation by astolat
I'm a sucker for kid!fics (gasp! one of my embarrassing fic kinks is now exposed!) so this long, hilarious and touching fic about how Clark, Lex and their canonical(!) son, Kon, eventually form a ragtag family made me all bubbly and happy and giggly ♥ There are some problems, especially with the plot (I didn't care for the many twists and turns that made it feel a little artificially extended) and the way Lex decides to teach Kon languages (mainly because it sure as heck doesn't work that way), but those things didn't really matter. More than anything, I loved the banter, Lex's characterization and Kon's (not so) ambiguously gay relationship with Tim :'D
Snip: Clark washed the dishes, handing them off to Lex for drying. He worked slowly, each plate like another slice of time slipping through his fingers, hot and soapy, while Lex spoke beauty in three languages, helping Kon with his homework translating Japanese poetry into Kryptonian, and abruptly Clark turned and put his wet dripping hand around the back of Lex's neck and kissed him in the middle of a haiku, cherry blossoms becoming k'sitka trees, Lex's mouth warm and full of drawn breath.
Supernatural: Kings and Queens and Jokers, Too by astolat
Bahaha, I loved this one! Poor Sam and Dean thought that they'd dealt with the trickster god once and for all, but little did they know... :'D
Snip: Sam called him from the library to let him know about the progress. His voice made inappropriate parts of Dean go liquidly happy, and somewhere about fifteen minutes into the conversation, Dean realized he was jerking himself off, and Sam was telling him in a low hungry voice how soon as he got back he was going to turn Dean over and lick his-
"Sam!" Dean managed to gasp out, and Sam stopped and said in a stifled, horrified voice, "Oh my God. I've got my pants open in the microfiche section."
Supernatural & Harry Potter: Old Country by astolat
Hee! Who'da thunk that a SPN/HP crossover would work? Not me, but this one does and it does so beautifully :'D There's snark, angst, ICness and a very nicely and believably constructed connection between these two series. Weirdly enough, this time I didn't actually care for the sex scenes at all; they felt a little tacked on and didn't bring much into the story itself. That said, though, I love Sam's characterization and Dean's antics more than pretty much anything :'D
Snip: "These people never heard of pavement," Dean said. "This road is banging the hell out of the car, and shit!" He slammed on the brakes as a herd of twenty white horses raced across the road, and disappeared into the trees on the other side. Sam was staring open-mouthed.
"Dean, were those," Sam said.
"Horses," Dean said flatly. "Those were totally horses."
The Devil Wears Prada: Still Life with Lipstick by musesfool
Mmm, I loved the (sexual >D) tension between Miranda and Andrea in the movie, so this fic scratched that itch very, very nicely. Features the hottest knee rubbing ever, and a flustered, yet independent and strong Andy. Loved it!
Snip: Andy straightens up, shockingly aware of the way her thigh is pressed up against Miranda's, with only the thin layers of their stockings separating them. She swallows hard, leans her weight on her right foot to shift away, and Miranda's hand lands on her knee, perfectly manicured nails red as fire alarms. Gravity exerting its pull.
*fails at English lololol*
[lyrics in subject from At Seventeen by Janis Ian.]