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So, I'm following the Buffy Season 8 comic series at a leisurely pace and so far I'd been enjoying it quite a lot. Volumes 1-5 were really fun - not as brilliant and tightly written as Angel Season 6 but, solid entertainment with very nice artwork. Vol.6 had questionable moments and seemed to take a strange direction overall but, still mostly fun and I was optimistic it was leading somewhere.

Then I read book 7 and WHAT THE F*CK DID I JUST READ, WTH?
(No spoilers, just general ranting...)

What is going on? I was spoiled for the dramatic Twilight reveal and I heard that it's not done, uh, well, but nothing could've prepared me for the sheer badness that happens within the pages of this volume.

My theory is that Joss or whoever wrote this (Brad Meltzer, I guess) was on crack. And not in the good way, more like "This is why drugs are bad, m'kay?"

I'm giving away book 1 of Journey Into Mystery: Fear Itself (aka the kid Loki story) by Gillen and Braithwaite, hardcover edition. I couldn't get into it for some reason but about everybody else seems to like it a lot. If you're in Germany shipping is on me (for international delivery I'd have to check the rates first, the book is pretty heavy.)

Yesterday's xkcd is downright epic: Click and Drag

Enable javascript, start clicking, dragging and exploring.
I explored only a tiny part of the world and then I resorted to this cheat map. The world is huge, man. :)

(note: These links, especially the second one, need some healthy RAM and a decent web connection.)

Looking at the art of Ivan Bilibin I feeling inspired. I was experimenting with a more decorative style of illustration in art school and I felt it was really up my alley, just it never fits with the projects I work on so I lost sight of it over the years.

But I really want to try to experiment with my style more. I don't want my art to grow stale.
I scanned a few pages from the days of yore... ( Read more... )

Preview:

I downloaded Portal 2 because it was on special offer (~10 Euro! 66% off!)... how could I resist, and now it's crammed into every available space of my C: drive. Eek. I moved all my images to a different partition and emptied the recycling bin for good measure but I think it'll be worth it. I looks gooood!

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finished big book project a few minutes ago. Turned out really well, I'm happy with it. It's a bit of a fringe topic, not one of the big ones, but I hope it'll sell well anyway. Now I only have to draw a few text backgrounds, make scans, and mail the whole package. Good feeling. It's the first thing I've finished since August, hard to believe. Boy, I needed that feeling of accomplishment.

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I recently learned that the Angel: Season 6 comics feature a storyline in which Kate Lockley joins in the re-opening of Angel Investigations, along with Angel and Connor and a couple other characters. I did now know that! I mean. If I could've made a wish for S6, that would've been it, pretty much. (Also, Cordy would be back but I won't get greedy for now).

So, curiosity piqued, I started reading the first book of After The Fall, which I had lying around for a year and... I'm loving it so far. The dialog is totally Joss. The setup is interesting. The art is actually good. Well, honestly I dislike the coloring, I think the art would be much better with a great colorist, but the linart, I like it. It's dynamic, not as stiff as you often see in media tie-ins, and the characters are for the most part very recognizable. (And having done those kind of comics myself, that is hard to get right.) So, I'll keep reading. Curious where it takes me.

Actually I'd already read the chapter where Kate runs into Connor and I didn't comment favorably about it at the time because it seemed little more than setup, but I read it again and knowing that it is just setup and there's more to come... mmmhh. Liking it a whole lot more!

ps. don't diss my girl Kate in the comments, 'kay? She's one of my faves and I'm touchy when it comes to that sort of thing. (Connor too.)

The Walking Dead - unofficial opening titles by Daniel Kanemoto (alt.: streaming on Youtube)
I don't even watch the show but this is just cool: a fan-made opening sequence (intended as a spec project) that beats the final official version by miles. This vid is based on the comic artwork and is worth watching for the 3D effects alone. You get a real impression of depth and movement. I've never seen that done so effectively before.

Heeeyyy LJ! I finished most of the coloring of double-spread page 4 today. ( Read more... )

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Last night I finally watched the last two Chuck eps of season three and can I just say, wowza! That little lighthearted cracky spy show can rock a story arc. Wow. (No mentions of season 4 please.) I was spoiled for several scenes but there were still enough surprise twists to keep me on the edge of my seat. At one point I totally yelled 'Awesome!' at my tv (while the camera cut to Devon, but that was coincidence.)

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vid rec: Creator by talitha78 (Chuck; streaming & dl)
Summary: Thrill is to make it up. My homage to Sarah Walker, ass-kicker extraordinaire.
Spoiler warnings: Uses clips only from Season 1.

Best Sarah vid I've found! The intro of the song took me some getting used to but the song turns out to be a perfect match. It's pretty fast so I googled the lyrics, which match the scenes - and the character - really well.
I like the idea that Sarah Walker creates her own reality. This ability is what makes her one of the best.

On the flipside she's someone who's gotten used to fake identities and lies since she was a girl, to the point where she's lost the sense of who she really is. Two sides of the coin... it's what makes her such a compelling character.

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megatexas has done 24-hour comics day and posted the result - an autobiographic comic about his travels in France, as an American who doesn't really speak the language. It's a good read... and makes for a fascinating change in perspective, to be the foreigner for once. (link)

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xkcd recs: Password Reuse, and Leaving (that one I found rather touching, in a funny way)

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There's a very hungry mosquito in my room. What's it even doing here, in October?

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Now I'm faced with the choice: read fanfic or do my Japanese homework? I guess it would be a nice change not to do it right before class... but I have at least a dozen unread stories here, and that's just the stuff that got posted during the last week.

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The mosquito tried to go for my jugular. o.O And that's where I got it.

fancomic rec:
Mafdet, slayer of serpents by sqbr (SG-1)
summary: The Goa'uld are cruel and powerful beings, and they ruled Ancient Egypt as gods. They are, of course, no match for a cat.
Great story idea, very funny, and good execution too - the loose, cartoony lineart looks effortless and works really well for the story. And I love the coloring. (The pages took a while for me to load, but it's worth the wait.)

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Jason Momoa is the New Conan the Barbarian
Whoot! \o/ This is good news. He deserves a high-profile role to showcase his talent and I think he can be really great in it... somehow I'm convinced he'll bring more nuance to it than Schwarzenegger. I just hope, hope, hope the script will be good. Please, writers, give him a good script. Because I so want to watch that.
Now if we could just get that show starring Luttrell and Hewlett I'd be a happy fangirl. But I don't think that has gotten past the rumor stage.

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something completely different - if you participated in the fandom auction and want to donate to Doctors Without Borders and you're in Germany: ( Read more... )

I finished another job, so I got time for fanart again. Also started to do what I've been meaning to do for ages and dig through my unwatched-vids folder.

vid recs:
Sober by LaPrincesseNini (YouTube link)
A Ronon tribute; characters: Ronon and ensemble

A fascinating in-depth character study that explores Ronon and his past. I want to watch it a couple more times to catch all the nuances but I wanted to come here and rec it right away. lunabee34 wrote a very interesting analysis of the vid. (link)

Rodney's Despair by chayiana
gen; Rodney and ensemble; angst/drama; song: Gravity of Love by Enigma
Summary: Rodney struggles with all the losses in the past, with all the dead he feels responsible for.

Great character study; my eyes were glued to the screen! I like how she shows Rodney confronted with loss and tragic mistakes without turning him into a total woobie.

Made by the evil genius who created Muppets In Atlantis, Be A Rockstar, and The Lost Button, which are completely different in tone of course. Check out Chayiana's vid archive.

One-Night Fandoms: A Tribute to Yuletide by eruthros and thingswithwings
I got so inspired by this vid, I was *this* close to signing up for yuletart. (Deadline happens to be tonight.) But the thing is, when I'm trading art I really like to get fic in return... Well, I still have a few hours to make up my mind.

But speaking of Yuletide, here's another Drop the Dead Donkey fic from the Yuletide archives, which I loved for its sharp, three-dimensional portrayal of the characters:
Sensible Silk Shirts by Kanna-Ophelia (Drop the Dead Donkey)
Joy/Helen (plus ensemble); PG-13; humor/romance (well, as romantic as it can get... we are talking about Joy here.); 4,700 words
Sunday 31st August, 1997. Globelink rises to the broadcasting crisis with their usual ruthless efficiency, and in any case, other news is far more distracting.

Reading all the DtDD fic (well, three, but I thought there was none!) reminded me how much I loved this show, so I went to Amazon UK just now and bought all six seasons. This is a good time to buy DVDs... in many cases it's actually cheaper for me to buy them there than to rent them here.

more fic recs, SGA:
The Unfinished Project by wildcat88
gen; PG; team; ~3600 words
Summary: A missing village and an unexpected find leaves the team trapped and injured. Rodney must risk everything to save them.

Plotty genfic with lovely team interaction, written for the prompt: When technology gets angry.

Icky Girl Germs! ZOMG!!1ELEVENTY!1!! by rigel_7 (cartoon)
John/Rodney, Rodney/Sam, with a dash of OT5; Crack!Meta, south-park style (image heavy)

Rofl! That is all. ('cuz if laughter is better than tears it also beats banging your head against the keyboard.)

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leesa_perrie is putting together a Lists of Episode-Related Fanworks (gen only; fic, art, and vids). She writes: This is WIP and I am still working my way through various archives, however, if you know of fics, artwork or song vids that are not on these lists, I am more than happy for you to contact me (preferably with the url).
She's already got a pretty comprehensive list of episode-related genfic. I thought for some eps I'd read all the tags that are out there, but I was proved wrong. :)

Oh brother... Buffyfolks, you gotta read this: a three-page Buffy online comic, written by Joss, illustrated by Jo Chen. (Love the art! Not the layout, but the lines and likenesses and coloring are all really very beautiful.) Oh, yeah, the story... it's a dream of Buffy's. I don't really want to spoil it. It's... interesting. It cracked me up.

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missmurchison is looking for people who'd like to submit hard copies of their fic for the writercon library.