For those who don't know, Trick or Treat is a fun, low-pressure fic and art fest - the minimum is only 300 words! Treating is encouraged. Signups are open now. You can see the tagset of available fandoms here.Treats (and tricks) in unrequested but known-to-be-favorite fandoms/characters of mine are always welcome ( Read more... )

I'm back!

There will be a few more catch-up trip posts, as there's tons of stuff I never got a chance to write up. Such as the obsession of many people we met with Cameron's movie Avatar. I swear, every other conversation, someone would mention it. I was beginning to think it would be impossible to escape back to the US without getting dragged to ( Read more... )

I was on several panels, including a rather intellectually elevated one on writing academic papers on anime, during which the panel of professors frequently name-dropped Foucault and Derrida, and one on writing manga, which thank God I dragged telophase to because otherwise I would have been the only person on the panel ( Read more... )

In honor of International Saiyuki Week, I will begin this brief round-up of my most recent manga reading with...

( Saiyuki Reload 3; contains spoilers )

I might do an actual post later, but for now, here's some links that warrant further discussion:

Bits of "Saiyuubito" translated with particular reference to Journey Into the West and a tricky bit of Gaiden translation that is apparently every bit as slashy as early scanlations indicated

Nataku vs. Goku, robots vs. earth spirits, and nature vs. ( Read more... )

Reading Saiyuki makes me wish I knew more about Buddhism. loligo has a terrific post exploring some of the issues involving Sanzo and non-attachment-- and I'm not sure that she had at that point read volume nine, which adds a new wrinkle to the concept, so I'd be interested to hear if she has since ( Read more... )

In the comments to this lovely Saiyuki picture of Koumyou, Kid!Sanzo, and a butterfly, I suggested that the butterfly be a Monarch, because Monarchs are orange and the character in the picture is associated with orange paper airplanes, and so it would be thematically appropriate.

telophase asked if Monarchs exist in China. I replied, "Do they have Jeeps ( Read more... )

In honor of International Saiyuki Week, I have switched my default icon and am posting about Saiyuki. Please do the same if you wish to participate.

I have also uploaded more jaw-droppingly gorgeous and sexy Saiyuki pictures to the gallery labeled "Salty Dog IV," from Kazuya Minekura's art book of the same name. Feast your eyes ( Read more... )

I have been practicing my reading on a copy of the manga Saiyuki number five, which is not yet available in English. Most of it is an extended flashback to the first meeting of Hakkai and Gojyo, and how the two of them met Sanzo and Goku ( Read more... )

Yesterday my refrigerator defrosted, which I of course didn't notice until after eating something from it, after which I felt vaguely nauseated all day and had to replace everything in the fridge, which luckily was not much. (Do pickles go bad after a defrosting incident? What about mustard ( Read more... )