Fannishly MIA
So, I sort of disappeared off the face of the planet there for a while. School has been, it turns out, really time consuming -- who knew!
I've been spending a lot of time searching for My Next True Fandom after Stargate: Atlantis, and to be honest, I haven't had much success.
1. Leverage -- I came for Parker (Best Parker Moments - youtube) and stayed for Parker, Hardison (character intro -- youtube), and most importantly: Eliot (Eliot on knives and people - youtube). Parker is honestly weird in way that's not supposed to make her sexy, and is given a lot of the comedy in the show -- 2 big pros for me in a female character. Hardison is gorgeous, ridiculous, sweet, super nerdy -- the writers know their stuff too (unlike SGA's attempts to make a WoW reference) -- and very good at what he does. He has unresolved Romantic Tension with Parker that will make your heart melt.
I recommend Season 1 and Season 2, and the parts of season 3 with Parker/Hardison. Unfortunately, in this Season, Eliot has gone from atypical, endearing badass to a walking testosterone cliche. He only interacts with Parker and Hardison to tell them they're nerdy, they creep him out, and there's something wrong with them -- especially Parker. Personally, I have always been the trying-but-still-awkward girl, and I am very familiar with football-chicks-and-beer-loving men who tell me there's something wrong with me because I'm not mainstream attractive. Season 3 just makes me want to punch Eliot in the face.
2. Inception - I loved this movie, and I loved this fic -- for about a week, until Arthur/Eames bored me beyond reason. In canon, Eames objects to Arthur on a fundamental philosophical level. In short: Arthur is a technician; Eames is an artist. From what we see of Arthur, this is not a wrongful accusation. Hardly an obstacle to a slash pairing, but inception fic never addresses it -- fic!Eames finds Arthur irresistible. Also, good luck finding anything about Ariadne, Saito, Dom, or Yusuf. Sigh. ETA: I don't really think Eames hates Arthur's guts, but I did feel like Arthur was this guy he'd worked with before who rubbed him the wrong way.
That said, do go read the two inception fics by rageprufrock. Presque Vu is temporarily down from Ao3, but it's the fandom's best piece of world-building, backstory, and portrayal of Mal, Dom, Arthur, and a really endearing, ridiculous Eames. The second is just funny.
So long, Inception, it was a deeply enjoyable, whirlwind affair.
3. Naruto - The bad: too long, weak girls, bad animation. BUT --
1) It's about ninja!
2) It successfully creates a huge, interconnected, varied cast of characters that reaches across generations. And while the girls don't win the big battles, I do like them a lot. But my favorite character is, of course --
3)Kakashi!
Kakashi shows up late for his first day as Team 7's teacher -- and gets hit by the eraser Naruto's wedged above the door, even though as a 'jounin' (elite ninja), Kakashi should spot it a mile away. His face is almost entirely covered, his visible eye is always half-lidded, he slouches, he lies implausibly, he's tardy, and he's a huge fan of an erotic novel series that he reads in public. He gets called "pervert" a lot for this -- but has noticeably never harassed a real, live female character (be still my heart!). (He would totally ask for Icha Icha for yuletide, and offer to write very accurate Historical Ninja RPF.)
Try to contain your surprise -- it turns out he's one of the most dangerous ninja in Konoha. It also turns out he's the consummate professional. Now you can be surprised. He's like that taciturn character who turns out to be cuddly on the inside -- except Kakashi is a lazy, eccentric layabout... and on the inside, he's actually Spock. He's got a mysterious, painful past -- but oddly, he's a well-adjusted, mature individual who gives the resident angst bucket advice like 'Maybe you should reach out to your friends' and 'Devoting your life to revenge is probably not going to make you happy, fulfilled, or alive.'
(As a kid, he was entirely Spock-like, but after losing everyone he cared about over a ten year period, followed by a stint as a top secret assassin, he decided to give mellowing out a try. I like to think that rather than developing his eccentricities, mellowing out revealed what already existed. I mean, he began serving Konoha as a ninja at 6, thereby skipping a lot of normal social development. Also see Better Late by Ariana Deralte, a short, slightly sad story about Kakashi's tardiness.)
Kakashi appears early on in Naruto's DBZ-like rise to power. In another manga, this would mean he was quickly outclassed. However, because everyone and the author agree that Kakashi is the coolest thing since snow cones, Kakashi continues to hold his own even against very powerful enemies. He never gets any super-powered attacks, so he just comes out looking really competent. Just flat out good at his job. Competence kink, anyone?
Here is a clip of one of the better fights in the anime, for some reason set to Daft Punk. (Note that ninja are able to make clones of themselves out of air or water, thereby escaping attacks. Also, there are several other people fighting that have been edited out, which is why Kakashi abruptly runs off to fight someone else and why suddenly they're in a puddle. Later, Naruto shows up and it gets boring. That's because super-powered ninja attacks require little movement and less animation! On anime, sometimes I hate you on a fundamental level.)
4) As a side note, I sort of feel like every Naruto fan has to have their personal vote for next Hokage (aka the Ninja Mayor). My vote is Nara Shikamaru. Laziest grumpy genius ever. The most annoying moment of his life was when he got promoted. And then it turned out he was good at it. So troublesome. :)
How to Read Naruto Fic:
1. Use Delicious tags, a recs list/comm, or a good favorites page on ff.net. Read fic until you realize you have been on ff.net for two hours looking for someone who knows the difference between "lose" and "loose" or who at least doesn't refer to Naruto as "Sasuke's little whore".
2. Read one of these stories to regain faith:
rageprufrock: Telephone, White Wedding
thehoyden, Opening the Roads, Spies Like Us, How to File Form 39-B
Megyal is also a good author and Paxnirvana.
They're all Kakashi/Iruka, which seems to rise to the top when reading Kakashi fic. (I don't think you need much Naruto to read these. All you need to know is that Naruto is the host to a demon that almost destroyed the village and killed many people the year he was born. Iruka lost both his parents to the demon fox. He was Naruto's teacher, and while initially cold towards him, eventually caved and is now Naruto's main source of parental affection. Say Aww.)
3. Return to Step 1. Repeat as needed. I think I'm a few weeks away from memorizing Telephone and Spies Like Us in their entirety.
And that's where I've been. What are you guys watching/reading these days?
I've been spending a lot of time searching for My Next True Fandom after Stargate: Atlantis, and to be honest, I haven't had much success.
1. Leverage -- I came for Parker (Best Parker Moments - youtube) and stayed for Parker, Hardison (character intro -- youtube), and most importantly: Eliot (Eliot on knives and people - youtube). Parker is honestly weird in way that's not supposed to make her sexy, and is given a lot of the comedy in the show -- 2 big pros for me in a female character. Hardison is gorgeous, ridiculous, sweet, super nerdy -- the writers know their stuff too (unlike SGA's attempts to make a WoW reference) -- and very good at what he does. He has unresolved Romantic Tension with Parker that will make your heart melt.
I recommend Season 1 and Season 2, and the parts of season 3 with Parker/Hardison. Unfortunately, in this Season, Eliot has gone from atypical, endearing badass to a walking testosterone cliche. He only interacts with Parker and Hardison to tell them they're nerdy, they creep him out, and there's something wrong with them -- especially Parker. Personally, I have always been the trying-but-still-awkward girl, and I am very familiar with football-chicks-and-beer-loving men who tell me there's something wrong with me because I'm not mainstream attractive. Season 3 just makes me want to punch Eliot in the face.
2. Inception - I loved this movie, and I loved this fic -- for about a week, until Arthur/Eames bored me beyond reason. In canon, Eames objects to Arthur on a fundamental philosophical level. In short: Arthur is a technician; Eames is an artist. From what we see of Arthur, this is not a wrongful accusation. Hardly an obstacle to a slash pairing, but inception fic never addresses it -- fic!Eames finds Arthur irresistible. Also, good luck finding anything about Ariadne, Saito, Dom, or Yusuf. Sigh. ETA: I don't really think Eames hates Arthur's guts, but I did feel like Arthur was this guy he'd worked with before who rubbed him the wrong way.
That said, do go read the two inception fics by rageprufrock. Presque Vu is temporarily down from Ao3, but it's the fandom's best piece of world-building, backstory, and portrayal of Mal, Dom, Arthur, and a really endearing, ridiculous Eames. The second is just funny.
So long, Inception, it was a deeply enjoyable, whirlwind affair.
3. Naruto - The bad: too long, weak girls, bad animation. BUT --
1) It's about ninja!
2) It successfully creates a huge, interconnected, varied cast of characters that reaches across generations. And while the girls don't win the big battles, I do like them a lot. But my favorite character is, of course --
3)Kakashi!
Kakashi shows up late for his first day as Team 7's teacher -- and gets hit by the eraser Naruto's wedged above the door, even though as a 'jounin' (elite ninja), Kakashi should spot it a mile away. His face is almost entirely covered, his visible eye is always half-lidded, he slouches, he lies implausibly, he's tardy, and he's a huge fan of an erotic novel series that he reads in public. He gets called "pervert" a lot for this -- but has noticeably never harassed a real, live female character (be still my heart!). (He would totally ask for Icha Icha for yuletide, and offer to write very accurate Historical Ninja RPF.)
Try to contain your surprise -- it turns out he's one of the most dangerous ninja in Konoha. It also turns out he's the consummate professional. Now you can be surprised. He's like that taciturn character who turns out to be cuddly on the inside -- except Kakashi is a lazy, eccentric layabout... and on the inside, he's actually Spock. He's got a mysterious, painful past -- but oddly, he's a well-adjusted, mature individual who gives the resident angst bucket advice like 'Maybe you should reach out to your friends' and 'Devoting your life to revenge is probably not going to make you happy, fulfilled, or alive.'
(As a kid, he was entirely Spock-like, but after losing everyone he cared about over a ten year period, followed by a stint as a top secret assassin, he decided to give mellowing out a try. I like to think that rather than developing his eccentricities, mellowing out revealed what already existed. I mean, he began serving Konoha as a ninja at 6, thereby skipping a lot of normal social development. Also see Better Late by Ariana Deralte, a short, slightly sad story about Kakashi's tardiness.)
Kakashi appears early on in Naruto's DBZ-like rise to power. In another manga, this would mean he was quickly outclassed. However, because everyone and the author agree that Kakashi is the coolest thing since snow cones, Kakashi continues to hold his own even against very powerful enemies. He never gets any super-powered attacks, so he just comes out looking really competent. Just flat out good at his job. Competence kink, anyone?
Here is a clip of one of the better fights in the anime, for some reason set to Daft Punk. (Note that ninja are able to make clones of themselves out of air or water, thereby escaping attacks. Also, there are several other people fighting that have been edited out, which is why Kakashi abruptly runs off to fight someone else and why suddenly they're in a puddle. Later, Naruto shows up and it gets boring. That's because super-powered ninja attacks require little movement and less animation! On anime, sometimes I hate you on a fundamental level.)
4) As a side note, I sort of feel like every Naruto fan has to have their personal vote for next Hokage (aka the Ninja Mayor). My vote is Nara Shikamaru. Laziest grumpy genius ever. The most annoying moment of his life was when he got promoted. And then it turned out he was good at it. So troublesome. :)
How to Read Naruto Fic:
1. Use Delicious tags, a recs list/comm, or a good favorites page on ff.net. Read fic until you realize you have been on ff.net for two hours looking for someone who knows the difference between "lose" and "loose" or who at least doesn't refer to Naruto as "Sasuke's little whore".
2. Read one of these stories to regain faith:
rageprufrock: Telephone, White Wedding
thehoyden, Opening the Roads, Spies Like Us, How to File Form 39-B
Megyal is also a good author and Paxnirvana.
They're all Kakashi/Iruka, which seems to rise to the top when reading Kakashi fic. (I don't think you need much Naruto to read these. All you need to know is that Naruto is the host to a demon that almost destroyed the village and killed many people the year he was born. Iruka lost both his parents to the demon fox. He was Naruto's teacher, and while initially cold towards him, eventually caved and is now Naruto's main source of parental affection. Say Aww.)
3. Return to Step 1. Repeat as needed. I think I'm a few weeks away from memorizing Telephone and Spies Like Us in their entirety.
And that's where I've been. What are you guys watching/reading these days?