my moral standing is lying down

Have I ever mentioned how much I love serial-killer romance? Like, a "normal" person (of clearly questionable morality) romantically involved with a socio/psychopath? Well, I do.

Have I also mentioned how much I love Inception fandom? Because it gives me things like Arthur, the gentleman killer and Eames, the profiler. <333

cobweb_diamond's serial-killer WIP: the origin thread.

Or if you want to go direct to the fic:

1. commentfic: why Arthur will never again go by another name
   
2. the part where Arthur "protects" Eames by sabotaging his subway train (in 7 parts)
   
3. sequel to the subway fic, involving a tattoo gun (in 3 parts)
   
4. sequel fic: wherein Eames is kidnapped by someone not-Arthur (in 5 parts)
   
5. future fic: wherein Eames snoops through Arthur's stuff (in 2 parts)

Can I also mention how much it pleases me that this takes place in NYC? I may need to go re-read the Detective Kathy Mallory novels, by Carol O'Connell. I highly recommend this series!!!! O'Connell hasn't come out with a new one in a year or two, but I still have hope because she's done this before (to write stand-alone mystery novels) and then gone back to the Mallory series. BADASS SOCIOPATHIC FEMALE NYPD DETECTIVE: what more could you ask for? Well, I suppose a romance, but considering the level of her sociopathy, I don't know how much it would really work. So basically, she's as awesome as it gets. <3

*

So hey, I've been reading fanfic (off and on) for about 14 years now. And I've got all these new friends, which is lovely! (Hi guys! *waves*) And I've been reccing so much from Inception fandom because the writing is inordinately high-quality and prolific. So I find myself wondering... WHAT DO *YOU GUYS* LIKE TO READ? (Mostly I mean fic-wise, but include any kind of reading you wish!) I'd do a poll but why should I make you put your answers into a little ticky box?

Tell me why I started watching Merlin again? This show is completely ridiculous, though I suppose that does slightly alleviate the depression I always tend to feel whenever thinking about the Arthurian Legends. (I've never been one to insist on happy endings, yet the Arthurian Legends have always had that Epic Misunderstandings quality that I can't stand, where everything that can possibly go wrong does, and everyone betrays or (mistakenly) feels betrayed, and all because people can't just pull the sticks out of their own asses.)

ASLFSASLFJASLJKLFSLJDFLJ I get upset just thinking about it. I remember reading one of David Gemmel's books in his Arthurian series... unfortunately it was one about Uther, I think -- I was so enraged for days afterward, I just couldn't continue reading the series. I must have been around 13 or 14? This is perhaps why I've never actually *read* Mists of Avalon...?

In any case, Bradley James's adorable, pouty, prideful face (see icon?!) may have been a factor in the decision to give Merlin a second chance. Along with the fact that episode 2x04 is full of angsty!Arthur and 2x03 had Merlin actually being useful for once. <3333 Good timing, self!



I really like thinking of Arthur the way he's presented in the show. Now if only there was less Morgana...


ETA: ( SPOILERS for 2x05-06 )

This show is so fucking ridic, I have no idea why I'm watching, WTF.

from koyappi: ( Ahh, it feels like high school all over again... )

From ravenwings_7's post on c6d_universe, she links to Diana Gabaldon's blog post about "Fan fiction and moral conundrums". In which Gabaldon states that she does not enjoy/appreciate/support fanfiction in any form and finds it to be not only illegal, but immoral.

As one might expect, there are already over 350 comments arguing for or against her statements. So far (up to comment 200), everything has been very civil, which I quite appreciate. Because I do think that presenting dissenting (civil, not ranting) views on the topic is beneficial to anyone who's straddling the line and is able to use the thoughts presented as a starting point to further inquiry. And yeah, I know that, for the most part, the back-and-forth arguments aren't likely to change anyone's opinion who has already made up their mind one way or another. Of course, this argument isn't new by any means, and I suppose I'm reading the comments in almost a watching-a-train-wreck sort of way, since I know what to expect.

But there are quite a few commenters who have made really intelligent, logical, clear arguments as to why fanfiction is not only NOT ILLEGAL NOR IMMORAL; how it can be, in fact, beneficial to a published author's fanbase and bottom line; and who also comment on the disrespectful way Gabaldon likens fanfic writers to perverts, criminals, pedophiles, and the like (in an "off-handed" way couched in analogy, but the implication is there nonetheless).

It's sad that a person can't understand the reasons one would write fanfic, and even more sad that a clearly creative person would be so narrow-minded and possessive in a way that excludes others from sharing in (but without attempting to possess or claim credit for) that creation. It gladdens me to know that other authors are able to understand or be sympathetic to their fans in this way -- authors like Jim Butcher and Mercedes Lackey -- who have given permission for "fanfiction to be licensed as derivative fiction under the Creative Commons umbrella."

Clearly we all know on which side of the argument I fall, and maybe my interest in this particular "train wreck" is high right now because I recently spoke with someone who stated, with no room for argument, that fanfiction is illegal after I referred to it as a "grey area". Really, I don't propose to know it as well as a copyright lawyer, but as far as I can tell, it is a grey area. (See: OTW, "I'm done explaining why fanfic is okay.")

While I have no argument with Gabaldon disapproving of fanfic for her own works, and supporting her right to publicly and officially request no fanfic of her works be produced/posted/shared, etc., I find her arguments against it to be inconsistent, illogical, and demeaning.

I whole-heartedly approve of those commenters who said they would now never read her fiction. I'm all for boycotting the products of people/groups/companies that I am in strong, fundamental disagreement with. It's quite ironic, actually -- I never before had much interest in her works as I'm a little wary of epic historical fiction (especially those that simultaneously cohabit the romance and the mainstream fiction categories), but some of the comments have revealed that I actually would have been interested in many of the situations Gabaldon writes about -- including situations that would be considered "perverted", "deviant" and "immoral" by prudes around the world.

Went up to fskip=120 then decided to stop. Hi people.

Just finished reading Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold Story of English by John McWhorter. Barnes & Noble's online synopsis puts it succinctly:

A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar.

Why do we say "I am reading a catalog" instead of "I read a catalog"? Why do we say "do" at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Language distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history.

Covering such turning points as the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman Conquest, and the Germanic invasions that started it all during the fifth century ad, John McWhorter narrates this colorful evolution with vigor. Drawing on revolutionary genetic and linguistic research as well as a cache of remarkable trivia about the origins of English words and syntax patterns, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue ultimately demonstrates the arbitrary, maddening nature of English- and its ironic simplicity due to its role as a streamlined lingua franca during the early formation of Britain. This is the book that language aficionados worldwide have been waiting for (and no, it's not a sin to end a sentence with a preposition).

For anyone who has an interest in grammar, linguistics, or languages in general, this was a great read. Always engaging; never boring; very enlightening. Nothing in it has "changed" the way I use grammar, but it certainly has revealed the depths and quirks of English grammar and how it has come to have the shape it does. I HIGHLY recommend it!

It does help to have a passing knowledge of a romance language, a germanic language other than English, and a celtic language; the little I know of German, combined with the several years I took of Spanish, helped make some of his examples understandable in practice rather than theory. Unfortunately, I was mostly lost on the Celtic even though I've had an interest in learning Scottish Gaelic since high school. Still, if you're familiar with any of those languages on an introductory/beginner basis, you're good.

If anyone wants to borrow it, I will be happy to lend it out as it was really a pleasure to read!

There's more that I wanted to talk about, but actually have a lot of work to do. =( More later.

"But with the invention of the computer and the Internet, access to pornography has reached a crescendo."

Come on, Dr. Schaumburg, you know you wanted to say "...has reached a climax"!!!

Exerpted from False Intimacy: Understanding the Struggle of Sexual Addiction, which I recommend you NOT read, if psychology books that talk about god as if he were real, scare you as much as they do me.

Thompson says, "From where I sit, traditional "literary fiction" has dropped the ball. I studied literature in college, and throughout my twenties I voraciously read contemporary fiction. Then, eight or nine years ago, I found myself getting — well — bored."

Clive Thompson on Why Sci-Fi Is the Last Bastion of Philosophical Writing

Welcome to the club.

Finished Chainfire by Terry Goodkind. This was like the 8th or 9th book in the Sword of Truth series. The conflict of this book was good. It was a slightly more straightforward, as well as frustrating, problem for the main character, Richard. The thing with Goodkind, is that you know that it will be resolved by the end of the book, and that the two main characters, Richard and Kahlan, aren't going to die. This is sometimes reassuring and sometimes really irritating in its predictability.

I still have the same problems as I've always had with Goodkind. He takes a moral/ethical/political stand on something in particular and bashes you over the head with the principle of it. As if you didn't get it the first several times he said it. None of the books have been as bad as the 6th book, Faith of the Fallen, in this respect, but now that I've realized it, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Otherwise, it was overall a good enough book that I finished it in a few days. I have to say this for Goodkind -- at least he writes well, and has a few interesting characters, even if he has to lighten up on the moral (not religious, at least) preaching.

I borrowed Eric Flint's The Rivers of War and am somewhere around page 80-something, possibly. It's his new book that is an alternate history, like in the tradition of Harry Turtledove. His other alternate history, 1632 (as well as sequels 1633 and 1634) have been sci-fi-based alternate histories, whereas this one is pure historical alternate history (no sci-fi to be found). It takes place around 1812 -- not the most interesting time period for me. I don't really prefer US history, but it's Eric Flint; I've got to give it a chance 'cause he's a great writer.

It's going to be on hold, probably for the next week, however, because I just (finally!) picked up Sanctuary by Mercedes Lackey. The last book in the Jousters Trilogy, this is the concluding book about Vetch/Kiron, his dragon, and the trials and tribulations of the two countries (Alta and Tia) caught in the middle of a war. I don't really remember what happened at the end of the last book, so I'm hoping the story will give me a good idea of it. I'm somewhere shortly past 30-something.

But I am happy to be finishing up the trilogy (if it is a trilogy, that is, but knowing Mercedes Lackey, it probably is).

More to come on other readings as they are read. (Makes sense, right?) ^^

Last night I read (in one sitting, no less!) Dead Beat by Jim Butcher, the latest installment of the Harry Dresden series. Oooh, it was good. One thing that is always consistent with Butcher is his sense of humor; his dry wit is irrisistible and delightful. And I love that he makes grammar jokes within the story. OMG, yes I do; yes, I am a nerd. Sometimes he'll have a story that is less than captivating; his humor -- shot straight into your veins via the main character -- always pulls me through those trouble patches. Luckily, Dead Beat was not one of those less than captivating. The plot held up, as did the humor. And I think that this one was just a bit darker than usual, Dresden was a bit darker, and I loved it. I hope Butcher continues in this vein (no pun intended, I assure you).

Yesterday, I saw ponderosa121's post of commissioned original fanart for maderr's original fiction story, Treasure. For background information, you must understand that there haven't been many works of (fan)art that will make me go out and read a fic or start a series because of it. One exception is Pond's pic of Duo and Hilde that I love so much (and I'm not a 2xH fan) -- it really, really makes me want to write a fic for it! The other exception being the fanart linked above. I loved that it is two parts, not just one pic; I feel like you get to know the characters a bit better just because you can see them in two different ways -- the night/kiss scene is that much more powerful because you see them not kissing (but obviously sharing some kind of communication) in the day scene. And the dynamics and emotion in her art really leaps out of these pics!

I don't think Maderr could get any better advertising for her fiction than Pond's pics; I just don't think I can gush enough about them. It's really odd, but even without knowing the characters, I was really effected by their personalities -- that's how you know it's good art. =D

Well, I went to go read the original fiction, and by god, it's some of the best fiction I've read in a long time! Her characters and interesting and well-developed, and sensible! (Oh, the rarity of sensible characters ~ it pains me!) Her plot is also interesting and well-developed! I am highly impressed and feel the need to make everyone who hasn't read her stuff, go read it!