Fiddle-Dee-Dee, Said Scarlett

Is it really bad that I want to write an essay comparing and contrasting Mercedes Lackey's writing and Stephanie Meyers'?

I've long joked that everything Stephanie Meyer has done (plot and character type wise), Mercedes Lackey did it first in the fantasy genre. This was mainly just a humorous reference to Mercedes Lackey's heavy handed, often stiff and forced romance plots and her penchant for sparkly elves. But! If you go deeper, there are a hell of a lot of similarities. From women's issues to racial appropriation issues to victimization issues. Oh, and of course, sexual identity/relationship issues.

Now, Mercedes Lackey is nowhere near as well known, obviously. But she was quite the leading lady in the fantasy genre for a very long time, especially among teenage girls. Hell, maybe she still is, I'm not quite the follower of the genre that I once was.

There's only one flaw here. I'd have to do a lot of reading. And I don't own the Twilight books, nor do I know where my Herald Mage books are - that would be the Lackey series I'd like to draw most of my comparisons from. That and The Halfblood Chronicles, mainly the second book where Lackey's particular brand of plot and romance development hold center stage - plus, you know, The Iron People.

And before anyone gets on my case, I am not saying anything bad about either of these authors. It's no secret that I enjoy Mercedes Lackey books. Yes, they're crunchy, silly, terribly plotted escapism. But that's okay. As a friend was just talking about on my Flist, it's okay to enjoy things you know have issues. Mercedes Lackey's racial and women's issues? Piss me the hell off. Same with the issues regarding the treatment of women in the Silent Hill series. But I still enjoy the stories and the characters and the world. And I acknowledge the issues and don't shy away from pointing them out or discussing them.

The simple fact of the matter is that both of these authors (one of which I'm terribly fond of myself) have some serious, serious issues in their works. And I'm very curious to see just how deep these similarities run.

In other news! hbc_fic! The tiniest fandom on the internet has a community! And there's already a piece of absolutely gorgeous fic posted. See, when I get really into something that has no fandom, I just force and pester that fandom into existence.

I completely forgot I had to go grocery shopping this morning, and stayed up too late watching Venture Bros with nijawial. And I need to talk to summoneddestiny and enigmablade about a photoshoot this week.

The weather is beautiful, my plants are doing well, and I've got some fic to work on. Man, I could stare at my new default user-pic for hours. Guh, Bert is hot.

So, between hearing all of 'their' songs yesterday and just ending up reading various discussions on the internet, I have fallen back in love with one of my pairings. No, I'm not going to say which one, since I'm hoping to get some fic written for it. ;) Maybe this was the charge I needed, I don't know. Maybe that spark is back. It's weak and dull but by damn we're going to nurture that thing!

I poked at my FSTs again. I've added some to my HBC FST. There's...a lot of Coldplay on there. I didn't intend for this to happen, but there are a few songs that just fit. I can't deny them if they fit. There's also some Enya, because 'Return to Innocence' has become my Rena song.

Still very little movement on the VB FST.

I've started laying down my costume plans for the upcoming con season. The one I'm currently working on is going to be more ambitious than my other cosplays. Not only am I making the dress, I'm dyeing and styling the wig, making armor and jewelry, and possibly making an epic cloak if I can find a pattern anywhere near Lamika's insane cloak of doom. And her armor will be good practice for when I make my Monarch armor.

Or I'll just say 'screw that' and do Prison!Monarch with his cardboard and duct-tape wings. It could be hilarious. And would also negate the need for a skintight bodysuit. I do not have his amazing abs. I will probably never have his amazing abs in my life. But a gal can dream. ;)

I want to get some cleaning done this morning, but it's raining and I'm feeling achey, so I think today may just be a 'sit on the couch and play video games' kind of day. I'm playing... a lot of games. The most recent being Obscure, Left 4 Dead and Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility. I still have No More Heroes to play, too. I've made progress on Harvest Moon - I think I've done three or four rainbows.

I just need to catch a damn wood fish to do the red rainbow right now.

Why I keep helping those chicken bothering Harvest Sprites is beyond me...;)

I woke up this morning thinking about fandoms. Specifically, that meme that did 'your fandoms as lovers/exes'. I couldn't remember what the different lists were, but I sort of did it myself. Now that I'm pretty settled as far as fandoms go, anyway. Because it's just so true! And it's nearing the end of the year, so it's about time for a review of this sort.

Obviously, at the moment, my Main Squeeze is Venture Bros. I'm wrapped in a steamy, torrid affair that doesn't seem likely to end anytime soon. We're in it for a while, me and the Ventures. ;) It wasn't exactly love at first sight - I was intrigued, but needed to be won over. We flirted for a season, a season and a half. And then, somewhere in the middle of season two, we just clicked. Maybe it was the strung out, drug addicted middle aged Johnny Quest. Maybe it was re-casting the Scooby Doo gang as a group of sociopathic wandering serial killers. Maybe it was Dr. Girlfriend flawlessly recreating some of Aeon Flux's most famous moves, I don't know. But it was Love.

Of course, I am still carrying on an affair with Silent Hill. Silent Hill is kind of like that SO you're hesitant to show off to new friends or family, because it can be a little weird and scary. A little dangerous, pushes your limits a little, but underneath it's a lot of fun and love and laughs. Maybe you seem like a weird couple to outsiders, but those on the In understand completely. It's not all tentacle rape porn and guro! Really!

HBC is, and forever will be, my steady mistress in Europe. ;) We've gone the distance and proved it's For Real. But such a tiny and often mocked fandom? It remains only in my LJ. There's no where I could take it in public!

Death Note was a flash in the pan romance that I should have realized was bad for me right from the start. It was painful and full of fights and for all that there were one or two things that I did really love, overall, there just wasn't anything there for me. We still keep in casual contact, and every now and then I'll muster up some effort to keep the connection alive, but it soured early and it soured badly. I just hung around because everyone was so used to us together.

Ouran was the popular guy that I went on a few dates with, had a couple of drunken one night stands with, and then parted with on friendly terms. There is little interest to revisit, but I've got nothing but fond memories.

FMA. Oh, FMA. No matter where I roam, no matter what shiny new fandom I woo and court, it will always be you I come home to in the end. It's always you I think of when caught letting my mind wander. It's always you, will always be you. Everything about you makes me tremble and shiver. You're beautiful, you're intelligent, you're complex, you make me laugh and cry and keep me on the edge of my seat...even when I know your story already, it doesn't matter. I can watch again and again and again.

Just you wait, baby. I'll be back again. I always am. ;)

Title: Dark Places
Fandom: HBC
Rating: Pg-13
Word Count: 1211
Pairing: Valyn/Shana
Warning: Dark themes, the pairing
Author's Notes: This is technically Rewritten canon, somewhere in the future. Much darker than most of my HBC stuff, and is really more of a stream of conscious thought character study.
Summary: Valyn sometimes wonders which he's more afraid of: his own dark places, his father's, or Shana's.

( Dark Places )

I'm sure you all missed these. ;)

This time it's a costume for me! I probably won't wear it to cons, because it's from an obscure book series, but I don't care. I'm going to be able to do a photoshoot with talia_speaks for it at the end of the month.

Dress base is done. I know I wanted it to be red, because...well, when cosplaying a character who's main trait is 'seductress', red comes to mind. And I immediately wanted to do the trim/accents in gold, but I can't do that. Red and gold are the Hernalth colors, and the Lady of Falcion would not wear another powerful House's colors. Which led to me pouring over the damn encyclopedia and looking up the colors of every single freaking House on par with or above Triana's.

Dress is red and bronze.

Anyway!

( V'dann Triana Lord Falcion's Summer Casual Gown )

There are still a lot of little additions I need to put on, and I need to finish the sleeves, but here it is in it's 'just come together' stage.

The website I need to complete my Death Note sims is down for remodeling. Sadness.

So I played with my HBC Sims some more. And...yes. I'd forgotten about the dangers of the telescope!

( Have You Ever Wondered What The Offspring of an Elf and an Alien Would Look Like? )

Dude, that thing is scary. O.o

Title: Unexpected Consequences
Fandom: HBC
Pairing: Valyn/Shana, Valyn/Shadow
Rating: PG-13
Written for: chaneystarr
Word Count: 1,274
Author's Note: Part of my epic AU! One day I'll put all the pieces together in order...
Warnings: Um. Incest. Like...major incest. Seriously. Like... A Song of Fire and Ice level incest. Ahem.
Summary: There were some things that just couldn't be prepared for. Not really.

( Unexpected Consequences )

Title: Man and Monster
By: theladyfeylene
Fandom: The Halfblood Chronicles
Characters: The Hernalth Clan
Rated: PG-13
For: Violence
Prompt: Lake, ocean, or river creature
Word Count: 3,094
Notes: I have no idea where this idea came from. But it's book 3 canon compliant! Written for the 2007 all_hallows_fic challenge.
Summary: The young lord Hernalth thought he had seen every horror and evil known to elvenkind. He was wrong.


(Man and Monster)

Okay, so it's not morning, but thanks to multiple nightmares last night, I slept until around 12:30 once I finally got uninterrupted sleep.

I woke up gasping and shaking over fear of giant, black widow spiders that could exist both in the real world and in cyberspace. One of them was trying to tear out my throat. Further nightmares followed when I tried to get back to sleep, including a horrific one about the Jerome trip. Luckily, I doubt there are sorcerer pirates anywhere in the area, or that any of us would be attempting to smuggle ancient artifacts to a French police officer.

In a bit of good news, I'm getting a new laptop tomorrow. My dad found a great deal at Best Buy, so by tomorrow afternoon I should be back set up like normal.

I have this plotbunny for a horror themed HBC fic, but it a) accepts Book 3 as canon and b) draws heavily from book 3, so I don't know if it would be of interest to anyone. (Despite me explaining the marauding lizard men to chocomimi and ranchangrnl.)

I have ham in the oven. And as soon as I have my scanner set up, I'll be scanning and posting my recipe for orange spice pound cake.

I should probably go and do my laundry and clean my living room. But I kind of just want to be apathetic and make Death Note and FMA Halloween icons. I really should get on my All Hallows fic. Since I need to rewrite a bunch of it.

Mrr. Maybe it'll come out better this time. I'm....really not happy with it.

OKAY! I ended up sort of just taking out one section and posting it on its own because...yes. chocomimi, I hope you enjoy!

Title: Proper Ladies Don't Discuss That
Fandom: HBC
Pairing: Eventual Valyn/Shana
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,959
Author's Note: AUverse, following Pomp and Circumstance!
Summary: Shana didn't know much more she could take of boring elven ladies and trying to bite her tongue. At least she had Keman to keep her company....

( Proper Ladies Don't Discuss That )