If you are a dreamer, come in.

While I'm currently watching fun live action stuff like Legend of the Seeker and Chuck, I feel a desire to pick up some anime. I'll be catching new eps of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya when they air (which seems to be somewhat far apart), but I've heard of the show Claymore and I wanted to know my flist's opinion.

I've heard it has really interesting gender stuff, cool female characters, but I've also heard that it's not very good in terms of total quality, story, writing, etc. What say you?

Every time a character says something like "One of the most feared creatures in the Midlands!" I start giggling because my ears hear "Middle Earth" and I can't un-hear it.

ETA: Slow motion, much?

Just finished Season 1 and 2x01 tonight!

I wanted to say: I love Ellie & Captain Awesome. I feel like they're characters on Scrubs who have been transplanted into the wrong sitcom, but are making due with what they've got. Scrubs is in So Cal too; so I'm absolutely convinced they work in the same hospital. I want to see Awesome vs. Janitor.

*has only watched the first 5 seasons of Scrubs and is nearly completely unspoiled past that*

Other comments: Chuck is light, cheesy, popcorn fun. It's not as delectable or anywhere near as inventive as Pushing Daisies, and it's not quite as whackily addicting as Doctor Who. But it's charming enough and I plan to sail right through season 2 this week. If anything, it reminds me of Psych and Monk, but with a bigger budget and not quite as irreverent. What does that mean? It means it's a feel-good, candyfloss show that I can watch and come out of the experience with at least a few smiles, and the guarantee that all's well that ends well. That's not the worst to ask for in a tv show.

As far as characters go: Chuck is alright, but he annoys me sometimes. Not with his ineptitude, which makes sense and is only human, but with the way he seems to revel in his own weakness. He clings to his lack of training and his clumsiness and his "I'm only a civilian!" attitude as a way to cling to his normal life, but after a little while it starts to get unbelievable. Chuck isn't like Farscape'sJohn Crichton--he doesn't seem to have the mindset to start carrying guns around and actually LEARN how to fight, or even the will to try, until the very end of season 1. He clings to normalcy to the point where he's not trying to learn anything from Casey or Sarah, like John has over time been learning from Aeryn and D'Argo. If it were me, I'd be screaming "OH MY GOD, TEACH ME HOW TO DEFEND MYSELF IF THESE SITUATIONS KEEP HAPPENING! PLEASE!" after the first two near-death experiences.

Sarah: I like Sarah and Chuck both a lot more when they're working and not mooning over each other, especially Sarah. They really overwrite the romance to the point where it detracts from the adventure, and it detracts from both characters. But generally I like Sarah a lot, and the actress does a good job even if the material gets cheek-biting sappy. She certainly carries herself like a femme fatale, which is what the part needs.

Casey: Honestly, Casey is the reason I'm watching this show from the start instead of just picking it up when the new season begins. Adam Baldwin is hilariously fun to watch no matter what, but I really like him here. I like that he's an unrepentent killer who's almost made into a moral person by pure, unfiltered exposure to Chuck's innocence. Saving Chuck and working at the Buy More seems to have introduced mundanity back into Casey's world view, and the result is that he finds his world view expanding to new and uncomfortable levels. I like how much he's gotten into selling, and I loved how he was in the season 2 premier. His whole half of the "catch me when I fall" converation, and its callback in the fight scene later, were hilariously played. In many ways I think Casey's almost a better handler than Sarah; her strength is infiltration but he seems the more reliable man-on-the-ground.

Casey and Sarah working together, especially when Chuck's somewhere else, is AWESOME FUN TIMES. I loved when she called him her partner and he was all surprised and touched by it.

The episode about Casey's girlfriend was by FAR the most enjoyable for me of season 1. Not only was it funny, fun to watch, and let the actor have lots of meaty material the writers usually force on Sarah and Chuck, but we got to see Chuck and Sarah doing their jobs without too much uncomfortable forced romance written into the plot! Sarah did her thing and Chuck got to be a good friend to Casey and Casey had all the big character revelations and it was a hoot all around.

I also enjoyed the helicopter flying sequence, the subplot of Awesome and Ellie's relationship problems and its resolution (with Awesome coming to Chuck for help, LOL), and the way they made Morgan drop a solid 40% in irritation factor by having Anna make him her boyfriend.

Things I could do with less of:

• The two annoying/disgusting guys at the BuyMore.


• Irrelevent BuyMore subplots that are clearly filler and often have no connection to main adventure plot. When the two are intertwined, like the theft of the marlin & merchandise beside Chuck's indentity risk, it works well. When they're separate, I just as often skip to the end of the scene. Especially if its got Lester and Jeff, who both repulse me.


• Chuck & Sarah reinacting season 1 of Fushigi Yuugi: "Tamahome!" "Miaka!" "Tamahome!" "Miaka!" "TAMAHOME!!!!!!!!" "MIAKA!!!!!!!"


• Chuck's terrible excuses for things. His inability to make up shit and lie well enough to pass for truth (and NOT destroy his relationships at the same time) sometimes reaches sitcom levels of silliness.


• Bryce as Chuck's rival for Sarah's love. Bryce was an okay character, but I'd hate to see him overused just for romantic tension.

Dreamwidth username timepiececlock This is the new account for my rashaka fandom stuff on LJ. If you previously friended me on my other DWth account starboard, know that I plan to be using timepiececlock for fandom stuff instead. I'm friending people I'd already friended on LJ again as timepiececlock, so that's me if you're wondering!

Starting this week, starboard will be used for RL blogging about my sailboat racing this summer. Also I have to figure out how to un-import my LJ from it...


ETA: Also, I have I believe 3 invite codes if anyone needs one.

Just watched Holes. I'd seen the first half hour once before on a botched couch date (my memory of the evening is more "I should finish that movie someday" than "I should call that guy", funny enough), and so when I had the opportunity and the whim hit me, I bumped it to the top of my Netflix list. I'd heard good things about the cast and the story.

Overall, I give it an A! An excellent YA film, one that fits in with classics like The Sandlot, The Mighty Ducks, The Goonies, and Adventures In Babysitting. It's a touch dark, like Stand By Me, but has the same whimsical, almost fantasy storytelling of The Sandlot. I liked the variety of characters presented in the boys and in the adults, and I really appreciated how all the storylines tied together in the end. It was only as the final scenes were happening did I realize the scope of the various relationships within this community--from the past to the present, from neighbor to nemesis to descendant. Absolutely delicious use of storytelling devices and anecdotes to advance plot and link people together.

The way that various adult members of the cast chewed the scenery was a hoot too--perfect performances from the main three camp-keepers, just the right level of caricature for this kind of film. Sigourney Weaver's character could have been the seventh member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad , except without the ninja skills. Just with supreme nastiness. The cast of kids was great; they all did splendid jobs and I'm curious if I'll recognize any of them in current movies beyond the obvious protagonist. And Dule Hill can feed me onions any day.

Title: Tesseract

Characters: Penny & Sheldon, friendship/gen
Genre: Drama/Angst
Spoilers: very vaguely for Stewart
Challenge: "doomsday scenario"
Rating: PG
Length: 3,700 words, 20 minutes

Summary: The show is canceled. Two friends are caught up in the end of the world as we know it.

Audio Format: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Text Format: read @ the pit of voles

Comments: I poured my heart into this one, folks. I actually recommend the audio version first, because I’m terribly curious to hear someone’s reaction to listening to a fanfic they haven’t previously ‘read’ before. There's sound effects, even! But whichever you elect, I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks to Wikipedia for clear definitions of both the title and origin theory. Also, this would have turned out wildly different if I hadn't had the Donnie Darko soundtrack in the background, so thanks also to composer Michael Andrews.

Cross-posted to sheldon_penny comm and thebbtheory comm.

I'm writing a short apocalypse fanfic for a BBT challenge--unfortunately, not my actual apocalyptothon fic, which I have no idea when I'll be writing--and I'm actually plotting the character's itinerary on GoogleMaps. Because that's how I roll.

On a separate note, I owe irrel a Spock/Uhura fanfic for her birthday today...

Title: Breathe That Fire Again . . . (mirror)
Spoilers: Season 2 finale
Rating: G, friendship
Time: 4:10 min
Text: read it @ FF.Net

Summary: [Theme: Homecoming] The hour is late and Dr. Sheldon Cooper cannot sleep.


Comments: This one is up on youtube for easy consumption! This is the first time I'm putting out a podfic that I've recorded and wrote. Not surprisingly, it's easier to record your own stuff! I think it's because I know exactly how a sentence should sound in my head, and I'm not trying to guess like I am with fic by other authors. I'm particularly pleased with this ficlet anyway; I'd say its my favorite one-shot I've done for S/P.

Title: Wobble
Author: lilyayl
Spoilers: Is set more or less now, just after Valentine's Day.
Reader: Rashaka
Rating: E for Everyone
Time: 25 min
Text: read it
Summary: Penny and Sheldon go stargazing. Fun times! Sheldon decides to thank Penny with Doctor Who, but ends up showing her the stars. (Pre-Ship)


Podfic Links:
MU - Part 1 | 5:16 | . . . (MF mirror)
MU - Part 2 | 4:39 | . . . (MF mirror)
MU - Part 3 | 5:48 | . . . (MF mirror)
MU - Part 4 | 6:50 | . . . (MF mirror)
MU - Part 5 | 2:56 | . . . (MF mirror)

Comments: Here's my first try at a longer fic...this is about 4300 words, and clocks at nearly half an hour. The length of a full episode! I separated them into five tracks for your listening ease. This was a big project for me to edit; it took me several hours. But I'm pleased with the result. I can't quite believe it's done! Comments are always appreciated.

I listened to Richard Dawkin's audiobook of The God Delusion the last few days. It's only 5 discs, so I breezed through it. I found that while I generally agreed with most of his opinions and refutations, he has a sanctimonious voice that turned me off. I also get that this was part of his point, but it still sometimes distanced me from his POV.

I don't have any hard hitting comments to make, and except for a few bits of trivia, nothing in it was particularly new. Since I've always been an atheist, I wasn't the target audience and didn't need to be converted. I took it more as a set of examples for how to counter pro-theistic arguments.

One thing that did hit me with a surprise left hook was the chapter about religion and the fear of Hell being imposed on children. In my personal case, I come from a non-church-going mildly Christian father and an agnostic mother. Together, they produced one non-church-going mildly Christian child, and me. I was listening to the book in the car, and when I got home I went into the garden and deliberately thanked my mother for never--in all of my remembered childhood--telling me that I was in danger of going to Hell. I never had the fear of Hell put into me by family, not even a little, and I've come out of that a morally grounded and conscientious person who regularly does community service. So that worked out just fine. Thanks Mom, Dad!

Brief interview with the screenwriter for the upcoming live action Cowboy Bebop film.

Reading the comments from the novelist-turned-screenwriter who's assigned the job of adapting the series to movie status, I'm feeling hopeful. He certainly sounds like he appreciates the spirit of the work, though I haven't read Peter Craig's books so I don't know if his actual writing is something to get crazy over. But enthusiasm is a good start. It also sounds like Watanabe and Studio Sunrise are involved with the development of the film--so far, at least--and that's also a positive sign.

Side note: I'm still ragingly skeptical about Reeves as a casting choice, because even though I actually like the guy he's not how I picture a live action Spike at all. He's ten years too old (movie Spike should be mid-30s, while anime Spike was jaded at 27), and he doesn't project the irreverent charm. Spike's a huge asshole for much of the series, but the reason we love him is that he's got this sarcastic slacker charm to balance it. Something to brighten the shadows and soften the edges of a mob-employed street thug turned self-employed space thug. Reeves is so deadpan serious in most of his movies that it's hard for me to imagine him bitching about bell-peppers-and-beef-without-the-beef one minute and getting into a name-calling exchange with Cowboy Andy the next. That being said, I do appreciate that KR is apparently driving the project with an eye that includes the original production studio, even if its only in consulting. Casting will matter a lot for this movie, because the only way it will ever 'succeed' as a part of CB media canon rather than as any generic spaceship action movie is if the characters have the right chemistry. Bebop was just as much about the pathetic daily lives of its crew as it was about catching bounties and shooting stuff (hence my unshakeable secret belief that CB and Firefly are literally part of the same verse.)

Casting poential blunders aside, I've always thought that Bebop was one of the most--if not still THE most--easily translateable anime series for Western audiences. And deliberately so, thematically and visually. More to the point, the bounty-of-the-week format makes it easily translatable to film, or a franchise of films. The could not have found a better source anime with which to make an Americanized/Westernized live action adaptation. However, Bebop was not without its problems. Pacing is the biggest flaw of the series, and underdeveloped supporting characters is another. A live action film could smooth these problems out, or exacerbate them. In that sense, I think it's better if the original studio is brought on for style choices more than for the actual storywriting.

My brain is sometimes filled with very peculiar things. For instance, my recent fun times debating boys-only fanboy purists at startrek mixed with my cautious delight of the Last Airbender teaser led my brain toward imagining one of those large, ensemble fanarts where you see all the characters at their various corners of the picture doing crazy things.

In the form of a Star Trek / Avatar fusion!


Kirk = Sokka (actiony spaceslut)

Spock = Katara (prone to extremes)

Uhura = Suki (the professional)

McCoy = Zuko (McGrumpyFace)

Sulu = Aang (flyboy forever)

Chekov = Teo (prodigy)

Scotty = Toph (cause if Toph were European, she'd be a Scot stereotype)

((Maybe with Azula in a bubble in the corner of the image as a Romulan, and Mai & Ty Lee as time-travelling Data and Wesley, respectively.))


This is totally disregarding my ship preferences, but that's just how I can see it playing out. Katara cross-dressed as 'Spock' makes me giggle the most.

p.s. I love the updated Water Tribe logo.

[On trying to recommend my favorite musical...]


You should rent the movie Paint Your Wagon. It's wonderful!

It's about a gold-digging pioneer town
and a woman that has two husbands
and vice and sin and alcohol
and GOLD.

Great songs, too.

"Snow can burn your eyes, but only people make you cry."

In her recent post, apocalypsos wrote this:

I just like knowing what ideas I've got on hand even if I'm not going to use them, you know? I feel like I want to do like I did with Heroine Addiction, where I kinda just sat down and made a short list of stuff I either like to read about or write. So, "bisexuals" + "superheroes" + "wee little cafe" = FUNSIES. I'm just going to end up throwing, like, "disasters" and "wizards" and "gay romance" and "mpreg" and "reality TV" and "cooking" and "travel" and "surprise pregnancy stories" and anything else I can come up with at a wall and seeing what sticks.

I thought, 'Hey, that's a great idea!' For my original fiction and for fanfic. So I tried it:



( See full page under cut. The concept of a 'short list' wasn't one of those things that sticks. )

HERE HAVE SOME FUN. There's two, possibly three things that appear twice on the list. Notice them?

Also, there appear to be some interesting groupings that I'm afraid to say reveal certain things about my psyche. For example, one column goes: secrets, amoral killers, redemption, vampires, demons, politicians. Did I ever tell y'all I was a poli sci major?


After that, I typed them all up, printed them out, cut them into little fortune-cookie sized strips and have them sitting in a plastic CD stack lid that's turned upside down to be my desk's interpretation of a grab-bag.

Okay guys, I need a prompt, pronto!

Words, phrases, lines, quotes...just throw something at me and see what sticks.

1. Slow down.
2. Cough drops! Water! Tea! Cough drops!
3. Voices are hard.
4. Apparently I'm very soft-spoken in my normal voice, and volume needs to be added in the editing process.
5. Cover my computer tower with blankets and a pillow to block sound! ...but leave the fan open in the back or it will catch fire.
6. Close the window, too.
7. Better to do wacky voices and recite kissing scenes when no one else is in the house to hear you and ask embarrassing questions.
8. Cough drops!
9. Goldwave is my fav audio program ever, ever, ever.
10. Noise Reduction>pre-set>light hiss removal>adjust to Y-88.00
11. Noise Reduction>use clipboard> sample CNTL+C from hiss-only 1 second, also for whine.
12. Take gaps between paragraphs to allow for water, cough drops, and ease in the editing process later.
13. Let my normal voice narrate. Penny is slightly higher, while Sheldon talks in abrupt stops and starts with a more flat tone across the board, unless he's pulling a Barney moment.
14. Don't slip into a sing-song pattern. Stop slightly after each sentence and treat it as its own.
15. When you record something aloud, every run-on sentence makes itself known to you, and you realize no amount of 'artistic' liberality will excuse that kind of thing. Your high school teacher was right. (Unless you're Jane Austen.)
16. I average 100-120 words a minute.

17. The loose and arty story structure favored by many fanfic authors on LJ just does not work on audio, I'm finding. Straightforward narrative is a lot easier, because when listening to the audio format you don't have the visual cues from paragraph style (or lack thereof) to give you hints like you do in the text format.

Last Friday sheldon_penny had a special event for Fiction Friday, where they challenged the comm members to write 50 drabbles in 24 hours. We did it, it was a blast, and many people put out two or three offerings. I did some on page 1 and page 2, personally. The challenge themes were homecoming and future.

Out of that event, I decided to record one of irrel's very few fanfics onto audio podfic format, after she encouraged me insanely to try recording my own. After I gave it a try, I realized how fun it was, and now I'm kind of addicted. I've made several podfics over the weekend and today, mostly of other people but a couple of my own as well. I've gotten better at reading (you'll notice the differences in the links below), and just tonight I figured out how to remove hiss and have a clean background for the audio files! ...This actually makes me very excited, which shows how geeky I am. Anyway, it's kinda tiring for my voice. I have new respect for voice actors and narrators! ...I'm drinking a lot of tea and sucking on cough drops.


FANDOM: The Big Bang Theory
PAIRING: Penny/Sheldon

Title: "Just Dessert" [abridged]
Author: patronuscharms
Spoilers: mild post-season 2 finale
Notes: The final 2 parts of Patronus's 4-part fic. | Parts 1-2, text
Rating: PG-13
Time: 06:45 min
Text version: Parts 3-4
Summary: Penny and Sheldon experiment in baking. Fun times!

Title: "Both Perfect and Promising"
Author: sinstralpride
Spoilers: season 2 finale
Rating: G
Time: 02:30 min
Text version: here
Summary: His homecoming was both grand and humble.

Title: "A Blanket and A Purpose"
Author: irrel
Spoilers: season 2 finale
Rating: G
Time: 02:00 min
Text version: here
Summary: Penny has something she's been holding onto for 3 whole months.

Title: "I'm Your Density"
Author: fujiidom
Spoilers: none
Rating: G
Time: 03:30 min
Text version: here
Summary: Sheldon and Penny watch Back to the Future. Fun times!

Title: "Homecoming"
Author: deludedvision
Spoilers: none
Rating: G
Time: 02:30 min
Text version: here
Summary: The first time Sheldon Cooper finds himself on a ranch in Omaha, Nebraska, it's with Penny's hand in his.


So far I've limited myself to BBT fanfic and have been practicing the voices for those characters. (The ones I'll post tomorrow are probably the best example of impressions.) But after I'm comfortable with these I'll probably experiment with other fandoms!

Settings that work for voice recording:

NOTE: Cover computer with pillow! --reduces hiss.


A. 'Noise Reduction' default settings. --may not work!

B. 'Noise Reduction' -- Hiss Removal preset --may give weird tonality!

C. 'Noise Reduction' -- Light Hiss Removal preset

D. 'Noise Reduction' -- Hiss Removal preset, and point Y -80, "use current spectrum" reduction envelope -- sounds very much like the others when one of the others works properly.

Link: Audiofics 1x02 - Homecoming Queen
Fandom: The Big Bang Theory
Length: 16 minutes!
Type: *.mp3
Warnings: gen, ensemble, mild swearing, OCs
Category: humor, spoof, character mocking, mocking of Southern California social politics.
Spoilers: none!

Summary: The dreaded High School AU. The characters are inexplicably all in the same grade and all attending the Homecoming Dance with a mind for illegal gambling. Competition! Drama! School angst! Serious crackfic where Raj is part of the secret Indian mafia, Sheldon got kicked out of the geek club, and Penny wants that crown.

How it works: I decided to try composing some on my own, in the car, with no prep work, prior writing attempts, or clear goal. This is, quite literally, how my head sounds if I'm trying to think of fanfic but have no keyboard near by to type on.

As with Episode 1, which was recorded in the same trip, you'll notice the driving because I sometimes interrupt my narrative with comments about where I'm driving, why am I lost, ooh those trees are pretty, etc. etc. etc. In fact, that happens a lot more in this episode. And there's about a minute of preamble where I try to think of what story to tell.

Side note: Although this was written with S/P in mind, it's completely gen, with no pairings at all except a slight one-sided L>P as one might see in the show. It appears I write in ships but I only speak in gen. Weird, I KNOW.

Link: Audiofics 1x01 - Magical Pony
Fandom: The Big Bang Theory
Length: 6 minutes
Warnings: gen, no pairings, ensemble, mild swearing
Category: humor, spoof
Spoilers: season 2 finale, mild

Summary: The guys arrive back earlier than planned, but there's an unpleasant surprise waiting in their apartment, and it's mostly Penny's fault.


How it works: So! It turns out my Creative Zen mp3 player has a recording feature! In a desire to come up with fanfic for the sheldon_penny comm, I decided to try composing some on my own, in the car, with no prep work, prior writing attempts, or clear goal.

Neat! It made me nervous at first but then was actually pretty fun. I just let my mouth run in a stream of consciousness, so this is not a formally edited and carefully performed fanfic reading. Far from it!

In fact, if you click on that link, you'll get a nightmarish glimpse into my creative process. This is, quite literally, how my head sounds if I'm trying to think of fanfic but have no keyboard near by to type on. For example, if you were to read my brain in the kitchen while I was thinking about fanfic and doing dishes at the same time, you might overhear this. In short: THIS IS MY CREATIVE PROCESS! RUN AWAY NOW. RUN I SAY!

Or in today's case, driving. You'll notice the driving because I sometimes interrupt my narrative with comments about where I'm driving, why am I lost, ooh those trees are pretty, etc. etc. etc. If you hear a loud and horrible crash, you'll know not to follow my example! I dictated episode 2 in the car this afternoon also, because I had time and it was kind of fun, which I will post after this one.

Side note: Although this was written with S/P in mind, it's completely gen, with no pairings at all except a slight one-sided L>P as one might see in the show. I'll type up a written, edited version to post later, without my random narrator comments and self-editing.

ETA: Here is the fanfic itself, written, without my edits mid-description: Magical Pony