astridv

Fanart: more dioramas

2013-05-23T16:40:17Z

I made these a while ago and never got around to posting the pics. I'm still not really happy with the quality of the photos but I hope the layers and three-dimensionality come through somewhat...
( pics behind the cut: 3xSGA, 1xFMA, 1xAvengers )
Preview:

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Rec of the day

2013-05-22T13:31:56Z

Here's a great little fic that explores Natasha's and Pepper's friendship post-Iron Man III. (Spoilers, obviously)
Probably Not On Purpose by Frea_O

(main Avengers fic recs post)

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Rec of the day

2013-05-11T19:46:05Z

I was feeling under the weather yesterday and did practically nothing but read this Les Mis time loop fic. Full of drama and tension and at times pretty bleak... the time loop as purgatory. The story is really long (90k) and I thought the middle 5-10k dragged maybe a leetle bit, but then again not being in the fandom I'm not that invested in the characters themselves... though in the end I really cared for them all, especially her Javert (superb character development) and I couldn't put it down.
(It's book canon but I never read the brick myself, only saw the musical and I could follow along fine.)
Toil Until the Old Colours Fade by drcalvin
Javert/Valjean and ensemble; genre: time loop/AU; rated M; ~95,000 words
Summary: After his leap into the Seine, Javert finds himself back in Montreuil-sur-Mer on the morning of his first appointment with M. Madeleine. He soon discovers that while his choices can change the outcome of things, nothing can stop death from delivering him back to that same morning.
Now he has to defeat the game of fate or keep returning to 1820, eternally dying without finding peace.

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Rec of the day

2013-05-10T10:34:11Z

Two Lies and A Bit of Truth by igrockspock
Maria/Steve, Coulson; rated teen; 3097 words
Summary: Maria Hill has a lot of back stories. One of them is even true.

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Rec of the day

2013-05-09T20:27:10Z

An NCIS story set after season three, with absolutely spot on voices:
Ten Nonlinear Moves (ffn link) by Sequitur
Tony & team; Gen; drama/humor; PG; 3336 words
Tony doesn't become team leader overnight. First, they have all have to watch movies, develop new neuroses, and make flowcharts.
author's note: Written to fill the gap between Season Three and Season Four, as sort of a coming-of-age story for Tony, who's picking up all the pieces in Gibbs's absence.

“It’s like that movie,” Ziva says proudly.
“Which movie?”
She deflates. “We didn’t actually - - we were just sure you’d know one.”
“No,” Tony says. “Nothing that is happening right now reminds me of anything that has ever happened in a movie. Movies make sense. Well, not David Lynch movies, but most movies.”

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Rec of the day

2013-05-08T19:50:14Z

Couldn't Get That Boy To Kill Me by redbrunja
Natasha/Clint; rated E; 3158 words
Summary: Sometimes she thinks she should have forced Barton to put her down. After all, death clears all debts.

I went through the last five months of posts and my Avengers recs master list is now up to date again. 200 recs, give or take.

The latest Hawkguy got here today :). For the first time I like the artist that fills in for David Aja; I hope they'll stick with this one from now on. I mean, if they can't get Aja, that is.
Really liked the story, too.

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Trading post

2013-05-07T09:40:12Z

I have a few DVDs I want to get rid of. Normally I put them in a box by the sidewalk and write "free stuff" on it*, but I figured maybe someone else has DVDs they want to get rid off so we could trade?
I'm throwing out:
~~Cloud Atlas~~
Bones Season 1
Fame
The Karate Kid II
Bend It Like Beckham
--
Das Wunder von Bern
Silas (ja, die 80er Serie mit Patrick Bach :)

All region 2, all English except the last two.

(*sorry allamistako, it's not gonna happen again... from now on I'll make sure I only put my own stuff on the sidewalk. /o\)

Hm, maybe I should put together a list for old books and comics.

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fanart prompts?

2013-05-06T16:58:25Z

I'm in the mood to draw some Avengers fanart... Nat & Clint, something with a spy/action flavor maybe. Prompt me?
(Ideally I'm looking for an idea I could translate into 1-2 pages of comic. But my mind has been drawing a blank all day...)

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Rec of the day

2013-05-05T21:43:22Z

WIP update: One of my favorite Darcy fics is now complete and that final chapter was worth the long wait:
she blinded me with political science by thingswithteeth
Summary: Darcy watched the Avengers defend New York from over two thousand miles away. She could look out her window if she wanted to watch the aftermath. She watches the news instead, and realizes one very important thing: the Avengers have a bit of a PR problem.
Darcy/Bruce and ensemble; friendship/romance/science bros; rated M; 61,743 words

and, Rarewomen is now open!

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Rec of the day

2013-05-04T14:36:09Z

Insta!rec:
Soiree by ruby_caspar
Summary: Georgette Heyer Regency AU. The Dowager Duchess known as the Black Widow is the talk of the ton - rich and mysterious, the only way to meet this elusive lady is through the equally mysterious Mr Barton…
Characters: Natasha, Clint, team, Pepper, and a delightfully clueless OC; canon pairings; Regency AU/spies/con; rated PG; 8700 words

I've never read a Regency novel, but I'm filled with the sudden desire to pick up a Georgette Heyer book. :)
Love the plot, the style, the characterizations and the whole atmosphere. Especially seeing Natasha play the mark, through the eyes of the mark... pretty awesome.

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Rec of the day

2013-05-03T21:38:10Z

The Children's Hour by OracleGlass
Summary: "The Avengers Homeschooling Initiative. Fury will shit bricks."
When a simple mission somehow goes awry, the Avengers are left to tend to a pair of tiny former SHIELD agents while they try to find a solution.
Gen; Clint, Natasha, team and others; kid fic/(tiny)spies and secret agents/friendship; teen; 7371 words

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rec(s) of the day

2013-05-02T20:36:57Z

Everybody who's familiar with a certain facet of fantasy art should get a kick out of this motivational poster: Pointless Armor (The breastplate is a particularly nice detail. :D)

Avengers movieverse fic rec:
Arrow by Zarannya
Gen (iirc); Hawkeye & team & a dog; friendship; rated T; 17,725 words
Summary: Clint has been having a rough time recovering from the Loki Incident. Tony Stark means well... he really does. He just doesn't always know how to show it in conventional ways.
(This is a companion fic to Hawkeye's Merry Men, which I haven't read myself yet because it's still WIP. You don't need to have read the other story to get into this one.)

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The Americans finale

2013-05-02T20:15:34Z

( no spoilers, just )

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looking for NCIS spoilers

2013-05-01T08:20:47Z

[eta: taken care of]
Anybody watched yesterday's ep? I'm usually a spoilerphobe but ( Read more... )

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rec(s) of the day

2013-04-30T18:51:42Z

NCIS fic rec:
Gravity Can't Forget by anr
Ziva/Tony; stakeout fic; rated M; 2151 words
Summary: Adrenaline and exhaustion.

more NCIS:
cybermathwitch wrote a post-Berlin story I liked a lot: Ani L'Dodi, V'Dodi Li
(major spoilers for last week's ep, don't read if you haven't watched it.)
Tony, Ziva; post-ep; rated teen; 3662 words

And for something different, here's a fanart Dr Who fans should get a kick out of. second Doctor in Prague by Malcolmorr (diorama)
I especially like the lighting in the photo. (I had to learn that photographing dioramas is harder than making the damn things in the first place.)

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astridv @ 2013-04-30T18:31:00

2013-04-30T16:32:00Z

Oh hey, ScarJo might be playing another character with superpowers, in a Luc Besson movie. That sounds promising. (It's not a Black Widow movie but hey, superpowers. That's cool. And Luc Besson is not known for cheap and shallow movies.) link @ themarysue
Speaking of themarysue, I remember when they introduced the website concept I was extreeemely skeptical because of the name... I thought it signalled an entirely different purpose, like it was to ridicule female characters instead of celebrating them. I'd have figured that the word "Mary Sue" is so fraught with negative connotations that it couldn't be reclaimed. Well, maybe it's really worth trying. I like the website, in any case.

Yesterday jae was visiting my beautiful (if still a litte chilly) city, and we geeked about The Americans* and had some delicious asparagus. (Asparagus is kind of A Thing here... it's like a two-months feast of deliciousness.)
Also, I found out that jae could totally have a career as an undercover spy in Germany because her German is so flawless that I kept forgetting she's not from here. Really fascinating. I'm reasonably fluent in English but I never got to the point where I lost my German accent.

*If you haven't watched The Americans but are in the market for something different: The Americans is something different. It's set in the 80s, about two undercover Soviet spies in the US who're posing as a married couple with kids. If you liked The Wire, for example, you should really check this one out... it has a similar flavor. It's realistic, nuanced and gripping, and what I really love is that when it comes to East vs West ideologies and politics, the show doesn't take sides. It shows individual people's actions and motivations, similar to The Wire. That's rather bold (I think, for a US show) and it's refreshing.

I love having visitors. Especially from abroad. Earlier this month pentapus and a friend had stopped by (and were hardy enough to brace the freezing wind and go on a bike tour which is also A Thing here, and I got to show them our sights, among which is the world's largest ammonite. (Seriously, the thing is huge.)

Today the weather was actually great and with my illos finished I went to our hidden meadow to shoot a few arrows AND went climbing at the owl tower AND I think I finally found the perfect route along the back wall, so I'm almost ready to try to traverse the entire building in one go. *rubs hands* It's gonna be a ~15 minute climb (which is funny because it feels so much shorter when you're on the wall; time passes very differently when you're climbing.)

One potential job for May fell through, and another one got postponed for a year. I'm okay with the former, not so happy with the latter. But I still have a lot of half-finished projects of my own, some of them fanart. I had been about to post some new fanart when that last job landed on my desk. Gonna get back to that.

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Rec of the day

2013-04-28T08:21:17Z

Nobody Puts Dummy in the Corner by Frea_O
Gen w/bg canon pairings; team & bots; humor; 4785 words
Summary: Natasha is the last Avenger to move into the Tower. For Tony's sanity, that's probably a good thing.

“Oh, Natasha’s moved in?” Steve asked, sounding pleased. “Excellent, I didn’t realize that was today.”
“Can we focus on the more important fact that she’s currently breaking into my lab?” Tony asked, pointing an accusing finger at the screen. When a second figure appeared on the screen, he let out an annoyed squawk. “With backup?”

Adorable fic. :o)

Work is done! I finished late last night after all. Now I gotta find a bouldering partner for today and have some fun outdoors. (Probably would be even more fun if it was more than ten degrees out but at least it's not wet.)

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astridv @ 2013-04-27T21:11:00

2013-04-27T19:11:14Z

Uuh. The scene I'm coloring today stars 19 people. Either half-naked and muscular, or clothed in drapery. Fun motives, actually, both anatomy and drapery, but the shading is going to take ages. I'm never gonna finish tonight.

Fortunately it's the last pic of my project so I can take my sweet time to get it just right. After that I'll have plenty of time to goof off, climb a lot (hopefully) and work on my own projects again.

Well, enough procrastinating. Those drapes ain't gonna color themselves...

(Icon particularly fitting today as we just rewatched Smile Time. I ♥ that show)

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The Americans 1x12 reactions

2013-04-26T22:53:55Z

( brief, but still spoilery )

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Rec of the day

2013-04-26T14:27:17Z

Between Here and There by andacus
Summary: Or The One Where Clint May Have Possibly Already Known Natasha. You Know, Technically.
Clint's whole life is really just one circus act after another.
Clint/Natasha and Coulson; backstory/snapshots/mission fic; rated M; 8845 words

He wasn’t petulant... he wasn’t, but he was more than reasonably annoyed at being left behind. And maybe he was a little worried. Nat was a really good agent, maybe the best, but he was her partner, they were a double act, you didn’t get one without the other. Except apparently you did.

She stood up, ruffled his hair. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m going to babysit-slash-probably-seduce Tony Stark, which might be the most annoying job ever.”

Alone, Clint stared at the paused game without seeing it. “I could seduce Stark,” he told the empty room.

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Rec of the day

2013-04-25T16:42:16Z

Groundwater by legete
Darcy/Steve UST/humor; for trope bingo: "locked in"; rated teen; 6308 words

Summary: Okay, she thinks, in a zen-like state of calm: given a chump assignment, she not only managed to fall in a well, she somehow dragged Captain America--living legend, supersoldier, level 7 SHIELD consultant, and Avenger--down with her.

This means two things:

1) Captain America knows who she is now, and thinks she’s a dumbass, and
2) SHIELD is probably going to make her disappear as punishment (likely by throwing her in another, deeper well and pretending she never existed).

“Don’t mind me,” she says faintly. “I’m just gonna drown myself now.”

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rec(s) of the day

2013-04-24T20:55:29Z

I'm reading so many enjoyable WIPs at the moment that I figured I'll have another theme post.

It sounds like this fic is already written in full and just being edited peu a peu. Updated fairly regularly. I like the writing style and the characterizations, and she does interesting things with Darcy's backstory. Uses a trope I'm normally not fond of but sells it so well, I'm totally on board.
Living Someone Else's Life by andacus
Darcy/Clint & ensemble; post-Avengers; eventually long and rated M (~5000 words atm)
Summary: Wherein Darcy is just trying to live her life in the midst of all this chaos (And, boy, is there ever chaos.) but the universe... well, the universe is one twisted bitch.
Or the one where Darcy's mother chooses the very worst time to have a heart to heart about her father.

This one started posting recently... an eventually novel-length fic, estimated 80,000 words, which explores Nat's and Clint's history. The writer says the whole story is already outlined. The first three parts are out, and I like it a lot so far. If you love to read about spies in action (with crazy mad UST), check it out.
Defining Points, Prologue (ch.1, ch.2) by avenging_archer
Clint/Natasha and SHIELD; backstory/spies and secret agents; rated R; novel length WIP

This one gets updated very regularly, at least one chapter/week.
The B-Team by twistedingenue
AU plotfic with Natasha&Clint, bit of Clint/Dary, Pepper, Jane, Coulson, Rhodes, Sitwell, Bucky, Avengers team in the background; ~26000 words atm
Summary: Alternate Universes are rarely better than your own. This one is no exception. Clint and Natasha find themselves in a universe where the Avengers don't exist, SHIELD is holding on by the barest thread, and the only people able to keep things together are a very different group of unlikely heroes.

Natasha and Clint take a wrong turn and end up in a universe where others had to step in for the Avengers. I'm really enjoying seeing them all in the roles they got tossed into.

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Rec of the day

2013-04-23T21:15:57Z

Just a Flesh Wound by snack_size
Clint/Natasha and team; rated R for violence, 6250 words
Summary: When Natasha is injured and requires surgery after battle, the Avengers finally realize that Clint and Natasha are together after weeks of living together. Clint struggles to hold things together while he waits for Natasha to wake up, and the team shares some man pain.

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Rec of the day

2013-04-22T21:50:14Z

A Hero's Work by hazellazer (Marvel comics)
Gen w/ Kate Bishop/Cassie Lang and Hawkeye; teen; 1305 words
Summary: Kate Bishop has always tried to hold her own against the big kids, which is probably why it takes Clint a little too long to realize she's been acting out of sorts.

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Rec of the day

2013-04-20T23:38:01Z

WIP heads-up: AlphaFlyer's The Skies Over Manhattan is now complete with four chapters.
Summary: Two master assassins, a demi-god, a super soldier, a man with breathtaking anger management issues and a billionaire in a flying suit. They're supposed to be on the same team.
Clint/Natasha, Steve, Pepper, Thor, Bruce, and others; teamfic/friendship/character study; rated teen; 32093 words

The story explores Clint's relationship with his new teammates. It's one of the best character studies I've read... thoughtful and subtle, full of great little moments and details. Not to be missed especially if you're a Hawkeye fan (but I love what she does with the rest of the characters as well.) :)

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