Sunday, February 5, 2006

Fanfiction Recc's: Death Note - Luc Court
A Killing Light - by Luc Court

L eats three sweet-berry cakes in the time that it takes for Raito to finish brooding. The teenager�s thoughts are a back-room abortion: dirty, prone to infection, and best discarded before they can be exposed to day.

A Light-centric introspective fic set during him and L's college campus days. It starts with a conversation of Light's (Raito in this fic) name, featuring amusing and impressively written dialogue:

"This is interesting because if Kira wanted to kill Raito," L goes on to explain, maddeningly innocent around a mouthful of cookie, "he would be killing light."
�I don�t plan to be the next target,� Raito retorts, his chin set in warm scorn. Pie-bakes and butter are the cream of his indignation. He can taste his own annoyance.

Which leads into an exploration of Light's thoughts, specifically centered on his God-complex. The most interesting part of this second-half is the comparison of Light to an atomic bomb, and as bizarre as it sounds, the metaphor is worked in rather nicely. I especially enjoyed reading this paragraph:

Misa could be Fat Man, dropped afterwards but no less lethal. She would be an afterthought - an insult, disguised as a rationale for total domination, and she would drive home the last joint on Raito�s throne. Lined notebook paper in lieu of red velvet carpets, frantic news reporters on every television screen to be his trumpeters. Glorious.

And if I go on any longer, I'll end up quoting the entire fic. Ho hum. Moving on...

Opposable Thumbs - by Luc Court

L is so good at what he does that Raito finds himself second-guessing everything in a whirlpool of calculations. It�s difficult to plan out his next Kira-targets when so much of his life is taken up by this pasty-limbed boy, studying him relentlessly, driven for proof.

Another Light-centric introspective fic set during the campus days, with more of a focus on L. This one does an excellent job of portraying Light's paranoia at that time, and his constant second-guessing, especially in these lines:

L is a mere beneficiary of fortune. That�s even what his name must mean--L for the English word of �lucky.�
But if that�s the case, then that�s a clear sign that the detective is baiting Kira, which means that he is doing everything on purpose, and by the time midnight rolls around, Raito�s frowning in his sleep.

It also perfectly depicts Light's arrogance, what with his comparing L and his mannerisms to that of a primate, and his baseless comparisons of intelligence:

Except that Raito�s got everything L has. In fact, he has it better. He knows how to put his clothes on properly in the morning; he knows how to tie his shoes, textbook loops and the rabbit around the tree. He knows how to wear shoes in the first place.

In the category of humor fics, this one is a gem.

Well, enough of my babbling. Just go read them!

On a random note, it's Superbowl Sunday, and I'm sitting in front of my computer reading fanfiction. Haha, what a loser.
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Friday, February 3, 2006

my heart is broke | but I have some glue
So, this one time...

N and I were waiting for our friend, S, to get to class. N flipped through a volume of the yaoi manga Only the Ring Finger Knows, stopped on a full-page panel of the two male protagonists kissing, and suggested:

N: Let's leave it open on this page, and put it on S's desk.

-1 minute later-

S: *glances* What manga is th- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
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Wednesday, February 1, 2006

there's an airline plane - flies to heaven everyday - past the pearly gates
Let's count the many ways Bell can procrastinate from reading her painfully boring history book!

1) Watch the ending of Monster. (Which is ominous and somewhat confusing.)

2) Wander aimlessly around theO, IMDb, and ANN for an hour.

3) Begin watching Loveless, and count how many times Ritsuka blushes within one episode.

4) Preen over her beautiful new t-shirt. (Made by a Japanese clothing brand, no less! *preens*)

5) Spam you all with icons:



Now, to continue watching Loveless...
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Monday, January 30, 2006

sky high - magic eye sugar rushing don't [stop]
I stay off AIM for a few weeks, and half my Buddy List assumes I've died. Figures.

And while we're on the topic of AIM, a few weeks back, a fellow Juuni Kokki fan AIM'd me to say that he had read my Juuni Kokki article on theO, and was so impressed that he linked it on a couple messageboards (including the 12K Translation Project board, where I found one of the sources for that article).

Interestingly, this person wasn't a user on theO, so I'm assuming that Google gave me the free publicity. (Oh, Google. You serve me well.)

So, just wanted to say thanks to the person who sent that message. It really made my day.
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Saturday, January 28, 2006

kimi ni ageru, yume no hakowo, kienai yume wo
Found this while surfing through posts on the infamous Fandom Wank: How to create a wank out of... nothing. To summarize, a mod of a King Kong fanfiction community decided to ban all OC fics for various reasons, most of them seemingly based on personal preference. In response to members who protested this, the mod stated:

"I'm doing the community a favour by implementing this rule... you're going to have to deal with it, the majority have the influence... great writers will have no problem with a rule like this, great writers don't have OCs in every fic they write."

Can you say "fascism"? (Though since this is the internet, I guess the correct term would be e-fascism.)

It's pitiful when moderators throw their weight around, claim it's for the betterment of the community, then justify their actions by pointing at those who agree with their views, all while insisting that the whole ordeal has nothing to do with personal opinion.

Sadly, this seems to happen a lot, especially within livejournal communities. Makes me wonder if most community mods clamor for the position just to feel important.

Now, here's an icon of Saucekay and Itachi:



Yay! :D
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Friday, January 27, 2006

...so hold me tightly, darling
First off, I'm really glad that my Rahxephon review has recieved good feedback so far. I'm not interested in having fans of the series mindlessly praise me, so I'm happy to see that most of the people who have commented so far were either truly impressed with the review, or are now convinced to buy the DVDs. So, thanks to all who commented.

Second, here's a trippy video I happened upon on Youtube. It's the Gipps/Gibbs PV, featuring the beautiful, talented, and incredibly psychotic Shiina Ringo. (She's like my IDOL omg.)



Gotta love those crazy eyes.
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Thursday, January 26, 2006

Blaaaaaaah Part 2
C: I caved and read the fifth volume of Death Note.
Me: I've heard Light and L get chained together?
C: Handcuffed, actually.
Me: WAS IT L'S IDEA? IT WAS L'S IDEA, WASN'T IT?
C: Yeah. Though, two guys handcuffed to each other does nothing for me, you know.

*terribly amused*

On a totally different note, Finals are officially over. (That's the only good thing about Finals week; the school week gets cut in half.) So, I'll probably spend the next few days sitting in front of my computer watching fansubbed anime, while eating brownies and ice cream. Now that's what I call the good life.
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Monday, January 23, 2006

Blaaaaaaah
C: Cramming for your Japanese final?
Me: SHADDUPSHADDUPSHADDUP. I have to memorize 75 kanji in 20 minutes!

You gotta love Finals week.
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Saturday, January 14, 2006

In 525,600 minutes - how do you measure a year in the life?
Uggh. I'm going to be so damn busy in the next couple weeks.

First, my Finals are in just over a week.

Second, I have a review to write and a video game to finish before the end of January.

So, don't be surprised if I don't post here in a long while. :/

To make up for it, I've uploaded the Twelve Kingdoms theme song here for you all to download. (Mind you, this song was VERY difficult to find.)
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Sunday, January 8, 2006

SOAP: To Eat or Not To Eat?
Today is the launching of SOAP, the Society of Otaku Article Producers.

SOAP is a gathering place for dedicated article writers. On the SOAP account, there are weekly updates on what articles our members are writing and other projects members may be planning.

In the future, we hope to collaborate on articles, and accept topic requests from readers.

You can PM Shinkiro, Ada Pallas, or me for details on how to join.

Or if you don't want to join, but wish to spread word about the club, then you can put one of our banners on your webpage. You can use either the banner in my profile above, or you can use the larger banner shown below:



If you take a banner, please link back to the SOAP account at: http://www.myotaku.com/users/SOAP/
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