astridv

I'd like to post another rec but I don't have my trusty bookmarks folder... hm.

Oh! First thing off the top of my head is this six-part series I found on Youtube, created by the makers of The Wire and starring many of the same actors as well: The Corner. It's based on real events, about the life of an inner city family in the drug scene of Baltimore, and it's even more raw and gritty than The Wire. The actors are all amazing, but Khandi Alexander as Fran in particular is just, so good. I highly recommend this for all Wire fans.

Posting from rainy Mülheim, where I'm visiting my dad. Earlier this year I made the decision to try at least one new thing whenever I'm in the area - since the Ruhr area has a lot to offer, culturally and also in terms of, heh, climbing. Today I checked out the Citymonkey bouldering hall, which turned out to be a great idea. It's easy to reach, cozy and has a lot more variety than our boulder at home... dozens of routes in my range, I couldn't even try all of them. Definitely something to keep in mind for my next visit.

fanart rec: Perfectly safe for droids by ~ornicar (Star Wars)
R2-DT, slowly sinking through the water. Beautiful coloring.

I compiled all my Leverage recs to date in this post for convenience's sake. Over 100 recs at the moment... lots of genfic, a good number of Sophie/Nate, and a handful of other pairing combinations. Also a couple of vid recs. Enjoy. :o)

[last updated February 13 2012, more recent recs here]

( to the recs )

fanart rec: spiritcoda made a Teyla Calendar that I can't stop staring at. Every month has a different feel, all really capture her attitude and spirit.

vid rec: Following a dozen recs I recently started watching Princess Tutu. It's an interesting show (though it doesn't come close to the only other anime I know, Fullmetal Alchemist. I have a feeling few manga/anime will come close to FMA for me).

Theres an AMV that's apparently become a major recruitment tool for this anime, and in fact it's what got me so curious that I started watching the show. It's really compelling.
Hold Me Now by Marissa Panaccio

This anime has a few things that I just don't get, like her strange ballet teacher Neko-sensei and his obsession with marriage, also her emotionally abusive girlfriends... both of which elements I suspect I'm supposed to find funny but to me they're just, argh, inappropriate. But the show also has moments of astonishing poetry; it explores themes of fate vs free will, mixing German fairy tales with ballet themes, set to a beautiful soundtrack of classical music that fits really well. The ending of episode three brought actual tears to my eyes. (I'm halfway through S2 so no spoilers for the end please...)

rahirah wrote down a history of the Buffy wank fandom. And behold, it was hilarious: And y'know, that's just Spike fandom.

Which reminds me of a hankering I've been having ever since I read that Angel: After the Fall issue that has Kate and Connor meeting over fighting demons in post-apocalyptic L.A. Such a cool premise, and man, that comic did so little with it. Isn't there anybody out there in fandomland who has the burning desire to write this scenario? Possibly throwing Angel into the mix and have a bit of Angel&Connor bonding and Angel/Kate grudgy-friendship-with-UST, too? *puppy look*

^ I'll just throw that prompt out there and call it My Holiday Wish List. ;)
[eta: I'm still mostly unfamiliar with comic canon so I wouldn't mind if it went AU after S5.]

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pimpage: fanart_recs is a new(ish) comm for, well, fanart recs. You can sign up for one month to rec four fanart works in one fandom. Check it out, there have been some great pieces linked already. Like this one (AtLA (which I still haven't watched)). When I'm not familiar with a source I find myself a lot more willing to check out fanart than fic... takes just a click and a look, after all. I'm gonna rec Fullmetal Alchemist in December.

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xposted from genrec: End of the World by penknife (SGA)
gen; PG-13?; an episode tag ficlet for "Enemy at the Gate" (288 words)
Ronon's thoughts about Earth, about his friends and the end of the world. It's sparse and efficient, one of those ficlets that say a lot in just a few hundred words. Really beautiful.

Four Times Chuck Was a Hero By Being Nerdy by dotfic (Chuck)
Gen, PG (preseries-early season two); 2,200 words
What it says on the can. Quintessential Chuck: nerdy and heroic. <3

Chuck vs The Middle by flash-faker (Chuck)
gen-Chuck/Sarah/Casey pre-OT3; Rating: T; warning: some descriptions of gore; 24,255 words
Chuck's resilience in the field is tested, and Casey and Sarah have some decisions to make.
I saved this under INSTA-rec and then Work happened and I couldn't write my rec while the fic was still fresh in my mind. Anyway, it's one of those stories I had to read in one because I didn't want to stop, not because of non-stop action (it's character-driven though the background plot is solid) but because the character's inner life is just that gripping. I really like how the author gets into their heads and where she takes the characters.

I colored five pages today, working pretty much all day long. Coloring is weirdly exhausting. I sketched the entire book in five days, and inked it in four and still had plenty of time to goof off. But coloring, once again, takes forever. And I'd almost forgotten what it's like to work against a deadline. I must say, I haven't missed that. Must make sure to plan future projects so that I have plenty of air. Anyway, only eleven more pages to go. Maybe I'll be done in three days.

I have so many links I want to post - read a lot of great fic! - but I'm too tired. So just a quick SGA fanart rec for now:
Woolsey's Angels by KLCarle
gen; characters: team
Crossover art ftw :o)

Run, don't walk over to Deviantart: jdillon82 is a fantastic artist and has done a digital painting of Ronon that is smoking hot and badass and totally captures the character. (The rest of their gallery is original art, most definitely worth a look. Gorgeous coloring throughout.)

Part 2 of my recs master list got too long as well, so I give you: Part 3.
About 50 recs in this post. Sorted by length. A lot of gen (mostly team, also character-centric: Rodney, Jennifer, Ronon, Teyla, Aidan, John). Also McShep, Rodney/Teyla, Rodney/Jennifer, and Sam/Rodney. (As to these last three pairings, I'm always looking for recs myself!)

( recs under the cut )

fanart rec:
Teyla fanart by lim
Lim is one of the most original, versatile fanartists I know, keen to experiment. This here is a woodcut-like Photoshop manip, with a sorta art nouveau look that blends well with the ancient script that's used as background. Cool effect, and the result looks gorgeous.

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Well, I finished another comic page. But it's the one that has the epilogue. It's usually at this stage of a comic that my plan to work chronologically flies out the window.

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speaking of comic, I bought #7 of Angel - After the Fall, because I heard that my two absolute favorite characters (after Angel) are in it: Kate and Connor meet over fighting demons in post-apocalyptic L.A... I love that idea! And now I really wish someone would write that fanfic, because the comic was little more than setup and only good to whet the appetite.( Read more... )

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On Wednesday there's going to be an tour at the botanical garden to watch the Queen of the Night blossom. I'm kind of excited. :) I've never seen one before. I just hope the queen keeps to the schedule. Good timing that there's gonna be no French class this Wednesday, due to Pentecost.

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For the same reason, all the Xerox places will be closed tomorrow. That's less fortunate timing. That puts a crink in my work schedule... I'd totally forgotten about this holiday and I can't do the color work I need to do without being able to print my drawings onto the watercolor paper.

fancomic rec:
My friend jwaneeta has drawn a three-page Iron Man comic. It's a classic h/c scene with very cool artwork (she's a pro comic artist) and it made me aww even though I don't know one of the characters...

Coda by jwaneeta
fandom: Marvel; Steve/Tony; h/c, fluff; post-Red Zone; 3 pages, full color

(Can you imagine what she'd do in SGA? I mean!)

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sga_genficathon has started posting a few days ago and of course I've already hopelessly fallen behind in my reading but I plan to read all the fic. The ones I have read so far have been fantastic. They're posting three stories a day over two weeks, go check it out!

I'm taking some time away from fic reading each week to read one French comic. That's my preparation for French class: one BD per week. I figured, rather then cramming down grammar and vocab, I'd go for the painless way. :) Works pretty well too, but those weeks just fly by, man! You blink and it's Wednesday again.

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Hey, I learned how to link usernames so they don't show up as Dreamwidth user when I'm crossposting. (instead of lj user, type user name=[username] site=livejournal.com)