katekat1010

It's 12 midnight my time, and I'm supposed to be in bed, sleeping, so I'm doing a drive by post with links instead of full thoughts.  Will come back, soon!

Monday afternoon I saw two kabuki performances at KABUKI-ZA!!  Kabuki rocks when there are demons in it!

Tuesday I ran down to Akihabara for more kaiten-zushi (see previous post for link to that) and some present buying, then went to an Izukaiya with my rommie B and ate bite size chicken skin and livers and stuff and had my first sake in Japan on this trip

Wednesday was my last tutoring session, and after I took myself off to Yasukuni Jinja and found the best thing about the place, for me, was the little koi garden in the back.  (pictures forthcoming, promise).  After that I went to Ikebukuro for my first American fast food in Japan - KFC and did some shopping and met a school friend H for coffee and cigarettes.

THEN, I spent the rest of the night reading our homework assignment for class and:

EVERYONE INTERESTED IN ALTERNATIVE FICTION (i'm talking new forms of writing), please check this out - it was a sensation in Japan.  It's a supposedly true story from a single-men's BBS (online forum) in Japan - this guy was worried about asking a girl out on a date.  The BBS of single men (they call themselves poison men because they're the kind of guys who, here, are expecting to be geeky confirmed bachelors their entire lives) gave advice to the guy and basically coached / followed his story.  So, this happened on a forum right?  Well, the owner / mod of the forum compiled the threads into one single narrative, and then it was consumed by millions in Japan.  AND THEN.  they printed a book that is the *exact* same thing you can get on line... and know what?  It sold in the MILLIONS.  I sound like add copy, but it blows me away that the thing that most of us take for granted is our daily life online ... and it was published as a  new form of media and not only sold, but was one of the most popular books of the year here.  Also?  A TV series AND a Movie and I think also a manga and WHOAH.  That's a lot of readers.

I want to write more about alternative writing forms, but have to stop gushing.  Check it out here:  TRAIN MAN  電車男

Today!  Today G & I got together after my class and went to Ueno Park: the National Museum, and also the old black market of Japan that used to be right next door (it's now not a black market, but a market, still!).  And I had falafel that was FANTASTIC and should be on a show about Tokyo - a $5 falafel.  MMMM.  Then we finally, after two previous abortive attempts, saw the new Batman movie and ... well, it just about blew the top of my head off with the goodness.  Even though I was supposed to go home right after we stopped and got some food so that we could discuss because AH! there was so much to talk about!

tomorrow (friday) i'll try and put up the pictures - studying for my finals on saturday, yay, and then on Sunday I depart for LA!

(and this is what I call a short post)

• saw Indiana Jones tonight and quite liked it!  It did not spawn a deep seated need to break it into itty frustrated parts (like SitC).
• managed to get some work done this week, which was great!  And working from home definitely has fantastic bonuses.  Oh, and the temp job earlier in the week was fantabulous even if it was only for three days - lots of geeky engineers to say hello to, lots of time on my hands to read my own books, and some sorting of mail.
• I took a nose-dive into the sidewalk last night while walking the dog.  Nothing seems to be permanently broken, and I'm not really having any trouble walking.  I think I've bruised the bone though.  I'm the worst person for this type of thing because I bang my legs and knees all the time.  I've totally hit it three times since last night just by accident.
  
• took myself out to the coffee shop last night to take a break and just ... be.  It was fantastic.  I didn't get much done, but I did get to hang out, listen to Miles Davis, drink coffee and rose-lemonade, and play on the internet until about 11:30.  Refreshing, really, since most of my semester was spent needing to do *work* at the coffee shop.  Getting play time in made it even nicer.
• I don't know if you guys looked at my spring_with_xan redux post, but laazikaat, who runs the mega-Spike/Xander archive The Spander Files has awesomely added my fic graphics to the three fics I was so in love with:  Letters (by tabaqui ), Subleties (by anna_s), and Incident on the Bay of the Descending Dragon (by reremouse )
• finally, behind the cut I give you the first Friday Feedback List from summer_of_giles !!  It's been a seriously good first week, with a huge portion of talent being displayed (and not a little bit of smut, which always makes me terribly happy).  I think this bodes incredibly well for the entire summer.  So if you're not already on the SOG comm, or aren't tired of hearing me talk about it yet, check out what was posted this week...

( Summer of Giles - Week 1 )

So I had this crazy "idea" for my spring_with_xan day - I thought I'd make wallpapers (and virtual book covers) of my favorite Xander stories.  Of course, I have a list of a dozen stories I intended to include and I only managed to make six, but hey, I think I'm doing well.  So these wallpapers all come with links to the fic they're inspired by.  

( The quotes in these wallpapers are theirs, but the love is totally sharable )

now, for icon teasers:
    

( I'm not gonna waste the perfect comeback on you now. But don't think I don't have it. Oh yes, it's time will come! )

( picspam - my fav xan moments 3.13 through 3.16 )

Ok, it's now the tooting my own horn portion of the evening, I guess. cordelianne  and reremouse are the new mods over at spring_with_xan, and they let me do a new layout for them!!  And I'm loving it!  So if you're not already a participant, or at least watching the comm, spring is coming up soon, and you should consider signing up!  (or at least take a look at the new layout)!


{info} l {join} l {affiliate} l {sign up coming soon}

Why yes, I have had time to make some recommendations!  So check out the following if you're looking for yummy fandom fun.  I didn't get to do as many lists as I thought I was going to this year, but I love what I picked!

a couple of days ago I posted that I'd make some banners if people wanted them.  And WHOAH the response!  HEEEE!  You guys rock cuz you let me make graphics for your work.

So here are the results.  Now, the reason why you should check below?  Because it is my total pleasure to create fic banners for such fantastic fics!  I get to give virtual prezzies to some of my favorite peoples - this is what the fandom fun is about.  So if you haven't read the works yet, go, forth, read!  I guarante you'll have a great time!

( this way to the pretties )

My fadom!squee today is brought to you by two fantastic writers who took a gauntlet that I threw down a while ago... because in fandom, when you give, fandom gives back.

Remember this graphic?

A while back I asked for links to Buffy/Giles stories that might intrigue people who don't normally read the pairing.**  Not the stuff we all know and love as B/G readers, but fics that are maybe unusual, intriguing, and perhaps explore the relationship in unexpected ways.

And now I give you the results of my reading and wandering through all of the lovely recs made by some truly wonderful people interested in helping me out!

( B/G fics that are completely worth the read...even for the afraid )

* this fandom squee brought to you because entrenous88 is right - we should be celebrating our fandoms!
** disclaimer: if you don't like reading b/g, it is doubtful that reading it will change your mind. but if you're open to the possibility, but feel that you haven't encountered fic that works for you... maybe that's what this list might be for. i am not on a mission to convert the unconverted, promise, just trying to hold a door open for those who might want to walk through it.

After a short discussion with entrenous88 in comments the other day about B/G fic, I have a question/favor to ask of all of you:

What fics would you suggest to someone who is resistant to Buffy/Giles as a romantic pairing to kind of get them started?  Or, what fics do you think would convince someone that the pairing worked?  This is a slightly different list than those "must read" ones, and so I'm hoping to get suggestions y'all that maybe delve into the potential of B/G in more ways than the usual.

Not that I'm opposed to links to smut fics, actually, if they somehow also provide an interesting look at the two and why they're so perfect for each other.

So, how would you convince someone?  In fic links, I mean...

We used to have these Buffy nights - every body would come over to our house, and the living room would fill with warmth and light.  And good smells, because we'd make piles of munchy food.  We'd laugh, point, rant, rave, and giggle, quite a bit.  That was Buffy.  Weird how we almost didn't end up watching the show, but our friend Miles swore up and down that we'd love it - and so we did.  I think we came in about halfway through the first season, and we were hooked after an ep. 

Then Neil went and got me Reading the Vampire Slayer, a compilation of critical essays about Buffy.  And there was an article in there about femslash, and I began to wonder about fanfic.  Well, wonder, and then search it out.

Boy did I find it.  And tons of other people utterly enchanted with the world.  Heck, tons of other people, period.  That's definitely been part of the fun.  As for the series, even though I will whine and moan and complain about who fell in love with who, or who wrote what, or that there aren't enough pictures of Giles on the internet, rewatching the show has been transformed for me by fandom.  Now I'm enchanted by all the sneaky looks Xander and Oz share.  Now I'm giggling at the look Buffy has in her eyes when she tells Tara's family off, now I'm outright laughing at the lines they give Spike and Giles when they're in the same room together.

That's due to a fandom that still tries to explore cannon that's closed with new eyes.  That's also due to the sheer fun energy the people who made Buffy actually put into it.  And it makes me happy to not only watch it unfold, but know that in some tiny way, I've been a part of it all.  My first TV fandom love, and likely my only.

So in honor of this, I give you some recs made over at buffyversetop5  for their "fic classic" posting in October, that I forgot to post to my lj.  Happy Anniversary Buffy!

( My Top 5 Kitten Fics  )

( My Top 5 Slash Threesome Fics )

( My Top 5 HET Threesome fics )

( My Top 5 Crossover Fics )

Delicious

So gray_ghost finally bullied me into updating my delicious account.... I've now uploaded ALL of my bookmarks, and am slowly going through and sharing them to the world.

Damn I bookmark a lot. 

If you're bored and you want to make an account, delicious is a way you can share your bookmarks to other people in your network (and keep 'em online for access from any computer, I suppose).

If you get on, and want my weird bookmarks (really, they go from obscure japanese anime to all my graphics resource websites to poetry to math to ... yeah, i bookmark a lot), I'm (not surprisingly) katekat1010

LJBook

I don't know if anybody else occasinally freaks out that LJ is gonna go down and you're going to lose all your entries.  Maybe it's just me.  But there's this totally free way to actually create a PDF book of your live journal.  For all of my entries it took about 3.5 minutes and now I have a pretty document that even captured thumbnail versions of most of my art! 

Check it out!

For posterity (or in case you've not friended the comm), here are my lists from buffyversetop5 ... enjoy!

( Top 5 WIPs that made me hit refresh over and over again )


( My five favorite B/G fics of the year )


( Top 5 Steamy Giles fics )


( My Top 5 Challenging Graphics Communities )


( My top 5 favorite seasonal comms )


( Top 5 Genfic I never thought I'd read )


( Top 5 Icons (and/or icon posts) )


( 5 beautiful wallpapers from 2006 (note: a little image heavy) )


( Top 5 Male Manips )


( Top 5 Female Manips )

janedavitt proposed some recs, and then asked for people's s/x recs in a post here....

( and these were the ones i suggested )

Do I have a website for you!  Bored with reading online?  Need your gay fiction in book form (hey, it's way easier to keep a book charged since it doesn't require batteries)?

Check out my friend Gabriel's brand spanking new book list...

The Gay Fiction Booklist That Doesn't Suck

He's got a brilliant and occasionally scathing voice, and you'll always know exactly what he thinks about a book from the moment you read a review.  I can speak to his reccing ability - everything he's ever given me has been dead on (from the book he once handed me and said "well, you'll probably want to throw this in the trash, but read it anyway" to the trilogy he gave me for my birthday that was absolutely scrumptuous, although, in his words, "it's great but it's not super gay")

You'll find a rage of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and more mainstream fiction, although his hunt did start in the fantasy/sci-fi genre.  Seriously, even if you don't normally pick up books, go read a review, laugh, and if you're so inclined, tell your friends (since he is trying to become the definitive gay book reviewer *grin*)!

ETA: link is fixed. I am a dork. We knew this.

In a search for the freaky cute in our fandom, I need *you*!  You're called to arms... well, really, requested to give me links to ANY pairing that has kittens in it!  Yep, that's right, the most cute of the cute fics from our fandom.  The good, the bad, the cuddly - I want 'em all.

Because the world can't have enough kittens in it.

Please, comment and give me links to any kitten fic you've ever read.  I will be forever indebted to you!  When I get a bunch of links together I'll post 'em all, and then you'll have a handy directory for squishy cutness at your fingertips!

( to give you an idea of what i'm looking for, here's the list so far... )

ETA: LOL, I'll take cats too! And, since elementalv gave me a CSI link, I'll take other fandoms too... why not?

ETA2: even if you don't have any kitten fics, if you wanted to pimp this, I'd be terribly obliged!

Here it is.  My gigantic (for me) recs list.  Since it's got a bunch of slash on it, let's just say it's in honor of the day!

I know that some people have rec lists that include those stories they think first timers should read. A kind of “Beginner’s Guide” to a specific pairing or genre. I’ve wanted to do something similar for a long time. So I sat down and put together a list of recs.

But now that I’ve compiled this list I realize that it’s not quite what I intended it to be. Instead, it’s more a compilation of fics that got *me* reading a particular pairing; a kind of “high points” tour of my journey through the Buffy fandom. But hey, it’s still got a bunch of great fics on it. So I give it to you, and hope that if you haven’t read a pairing I mention here, you take a look at the fics I’ve recommended, and let me know if they open a doorway for you the same way they did for me.

( so here they are..21 fics that made me love their pairings )

Ok, I know, I'm VERY late.  But late is better than never!


( FANFIC AUTHORS' APPRECIATION WEEK ... katekat's version )

FANFIC AUTHORS’ APPRECIATION WEEK

March 6 through March 13

Post to your LJ each day at least one of your favorite fanfic authors and why you love them, their work, and why they need more appreciation.

So, I'm going to cheat, since this week is packed full of crazy reading assignments, class presentations, and all of the stuff the teachers want me to do before spring break. All my days are here, for you:

( Monday-Saturday )

note: I know, I forgot Sunday - but I'm hoping by then I'll be back on LJ and back in the world - becuase I'll be on Spring Break!