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Blinky the Tree Frog's LiveJournal:
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| Saturday, May 5th, 2012 | | 12:45 pm |
| | Sunday, April 29th, 2012 | | 10:25 pm |
| | 9:20 pm |
The Avengers
Went to see it, and it was a cool flick and very entertaining. Not sure whether I'd go for the "it was the bestest superhero film ever!!!!" rhetoric that I'm seeing in some places, but it was solid and had some nice humorous moments. All the eyes from the internet were on Iron Man and Captain America, but I totally predict that it'll be Bruce Banner that starts getting the fannish attention after this movie. Awesome acting job there, and he and Stark were a picture of nerdy glee together. They speak Science! I liked Hawkeye's scary competence but was a little surprised that he spent about half the film under mind control. Thor was cool but not really my favourite, although Stark's Shakespeare insults were hilarious. Coulson... *sigh* To be honest, I wasn't even sad, just disappointed. Seriously Joss, when the deaths are this predictable, it doesn't enhance your writing, it just makes it tired. You don't have a freaking quota to fill; just knock it off. It's not like it was even necessary; we all know how manipulative Fury can be. To be honest, he might still be, and Coulson's stashed away somewhere undergoing an exciting new superhero procedure. I'd welcome it, frankly. It'd be interesting seeing him as an Avenger.
I appreciated Natasha's cool capability, and it was nice seeing Pepper again. Hulk managed to be hilarious while totally showing people why you should be scared of him. His smackdown of Loki mid-pretentious speech had the whole cinema laughing :-).
I'm not sure whether I really care about the sequel villain reveal at the end, I've never been particularly enamored of Thanos. I have to admit though, Joss's script there was pretty genius. Paraphrased:
Evil minion: OMG, we totally can't go to Earth, Master, it would be courting death!!!
*Thanos perks up*
Evil minion: ...shit.
Hilarious because it's ominous for those that don't read the comics, but those that do, and know of Thanos's... romantic inclinations totally got the other side of it :-).  cheerful | | Monday, April 16th, 2012 | | 10:39 pm |
Oh wow!
I totally rediscovered a song from my childhood (okay, more teenagehood) that I thought I'd completely forgotten! It's really weird to have something come back to you like that. Current Mood: cheerful | | Friday, April 6th, 2012 | | 10:01 pm |
Links Post Number 62
The best images of 2011? Actually the one's that went viral on the net rather than the ones that are actually the best, but there's some interesting and fairly touching stuff here. The X-Men Guide to Puberty :-) This guy constructs images of characters from novels using police identikit software, based on the descriptions given in the books themselves. I have to link it just for the idea itself. Historical remedies for all your ills!...Ow. Warning: references Ultimate Spidermen and racism in a pretty cutting way. Here's another, much older, comic that has some relevance to the issue. It's a real classic. Finally, on a completely different topic, most PC gamers would be familiar with GOG (formerly Good Old Games), a cool download shop that specialises in older games (and now the occasional newer one) that are drm free. If you've ever been thinking about checking it out, now's the time to do so, because they're in the middle of a 48 hour promotion in which you can download the original Fallout completely free. It's a pretty awesome old game, and the start of a pretty awesome series. Also, once you have an account on GOG there's a few other free games there too, and a whole lot of cheap older games that have been tweaked to work on modern systems. Hell, they have the Thief series, and that's my favourite series ever. Garrett rules :-). Current Mood: calm | | 9:26 pm |
Update on my life
It's holiday time! And I really want to start using this again. I'm not planning on doing anything much or going anywhere this holidays, so it's not like I won't have time. I wanna try some more fanfic writing too; it's been absolutely ages since I've written anything even though I've had a thousand plots whizzing through my head. My life's generally pretty good right now. I like my work and I think I'm at the stage where I have enough experience to have become pretty good at it. I get along well with my family, I have a bunch of geeky friends and a bunch of work friends, and I have enough money to comfortably do things like traveling (I'd really like to go back to London and live there for a month or so in the holidays; it was awesome). What I don't have is a partner, but I really don't have much in the way of experience with that. I have little idea as to how to go about looking for a guy to date in the first place, and my life's so full at the moment I'm not sure I'd even have the time or the need. I suspect this is not an unknown problem among geeks. *sigh* My health is not horrible but not brilliant. I really need to lose weight and I know my bad eating habits are not helping. I've been having a bit of back trouble and elbow trouble and sleep trouble but nothing that's really awful, so hopefully two weeks worth of rest will have me feeling better. My life at the moment is... predictable. But that means it's less stressful, so I'm all for it. | | Sunday, January 1st, 2012 | | 2:32 am |
| | Saturday, November 26th, 2011 | | 10:19 pm |
| | Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 | | 8:07 pm |
Every computer game I have ever played!
I am a geek of many faces. A geek about many tv shows, a comic book geek, a board game geek, and a computer game geek as well. I've been playing computer games since I was a child and we got a Commodore 128 that could be used to play Commodore 64 games as well. Then came a series of pcs and while the type of games I like have evolved, I've always loved playing them! So a sudden sense of curiosity made me wonder if I could actually remember all of them because why not? Notes: 1) This list will probably be added to as I remember more. 2) I don't do consoles (I just like having the keyboard), so these are purely computer games. 3) "Played" is defined as going back to it more than once. I've tried out a few games that I didn't like much so I'm not really counting them. 4) Flash games online have not really been added, because I rarely spend much time on them and really barely remember most of them. Maybe a separate list later. ( Cut for a lot of length. )Well. That's quite a lot then! And add a hell of a lot of maps people made for Duke Nukem 3D and the Thief series. And I own but haven't yet played Mass Effect 2, Age of Empires 3, The Witcher 2 and Half Life 2 Episodes 1 and 2. Feel free to ask if you're interested in more info on any of these games. And if anyone has any recommendations for PC games that I might enjoy based on what I've played, I'd love them too. Current Mood: interested | | 5:21 pm |
| | 3:46 pm |
Man, it's been freaking ages since I've updated this...
You know, there was a time when I used it weekly. *sigh* I have to admit that I've been crap at writing anything online of late though. Computer games, aimless web browsing and reading old lj posts are more relaxing activities, but this is probably because they don't actually achieve a lot. There's also the fact that I've been feeling very run down lately, and energy and motivation have been in short supply. I have a bucketload of links accumulated from my aimless wanderings through cyberspace though, so I think some links posts are well overdue. Oh, and an odd and slightly worrying comment in relation to some searching I was doing earlier: Yes, the Beatles are indeed awesome and they have some awesome kid's songs too, so putting together a children's Beatles compilation is a good idea! I just did a double take when I saw this song on it. Umm... I hope you like having awkward conversations with the kindergarten about what little Johnny's been singing? Current Mood:  angry | | Monday, April 18th, 2011 | | 12:02 am |
Blinky the Tree Frog's Themed Death Note Fanfic Recs Part 7
A little later than normal, but here it is! This is part 7 in a series of what looks like will be 9 posts of themed Death Note fic recs. The previous posts are on this lj; I'll also do a compilation post linking them all at the end. They've covered themes such as L's childhood, lesser known and written about characters, the many faces of Matt, L versus Light, being a genius, and non fiction. When you've been involved in something as intense as the Kira case, going back to your 'real life' must be like stepping into another world. Fan fiction has had an interesting time speculating on how the characters have managed to recover when it was all over. Therefore, the topic is: The AftermathAnd here are the stories of a whole bunch of characters, and what happened after. Something Near the Truth by darkhelmetjThe aftermath for: Near and the SPK The SPK have dinner together before they separate and go back to their lives. The mood wavers from melancholy to uplifting, but in the end, they leave with a sense of hope. I love the characterisation in this. It's subtle and yet evocative. Fright by Underwater OwlThe aftermath for: Near and the SPK. And... something else... Near settles into an old house with his staff, ready to start his new life as L. Unfortunately, there's something very wrong in this house. Near doesn't believe in ghosts. But, as he finds himself battling illness, injury, and the echoes of the past, it's becoming increasingly clear that one of them believes in him... This is an awesome fic. Tense, well written, and with a Near who becomes more and more believably vulnerable, as he is systematically stripped of his defense mechanisms. Antonymy by phollieThe aftermath for: Matsuda Matsuda attends Light's funeral and finds himself filled with conflict. Short little ficlet with some nice insight into his feelings. Dead Soldiers with Unmarked Graves by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) flamikaThe aftermath for: Near and the SPK The SPK members visit the graves of the fallen, and Lidner finds herself seeing things in Near that she never had before. A good little bookend to the series and an acknowledgment of what it took to finally defeat Kira. Passages by BialyThe aftermath for: Ummm... Misa, Matsuda, Mogi, Aizawa, Ide, Near, Gevanni, Lidner, Rester, Sachiko, Sayu, Matt.... pretty much everyone, actually :-). This is a WIP which has stalled just two chapters before the end; I do hope it eventually gets finished. What's there is cool, however. There's no great tension or anything, it's just the story of the emotional journey of the survivors of the Kira case throughout the following year. Relationships are made, emotions are examined, and in the end, nothing will ever quite be the same, for any of them. The Train is Not a Metaphor by BialyThe aftermath for: L, Mello, and Matt Something slightly different here. This isn't the story of the survivors, it's the story of the dead, and the story of Mello's journey to save his best friend's soul. Again, it's still a WIP, but it has been recently updated and it's an intriguing idea. I'm not sure what I feel about the character revelations in the latest chapter though... Death and All His Friends by parkingLOTinTHEidiotThe aftermath for: Near, primarily, but it touches on what happens to Roger, the SPK, the Yagamis, Misa, Matsuda, and Ryuk. Near settles into his new life and prepares for the inevitable future, while around him, the world changes in some ways, and stays much the same in others. A solemn, wistful look at the way that time moves on, and history repeats. Frozen by ArgellaThe aftermath for: Near and Gevanni Gevanni leaves the SPK and muses on his own life, and on the life that Near will lead. A well written, if somewhat depressing, little piece. It's nice to see that people have been leaving comments on the post and on the fics themselves. Interaction is neat, and I'm sure the authors agree too! Also good to see that two of the WIPs I recced have been updated recently, Motivation and Genius is a Curse. A profound warning for Genius, however. The new chapter is relentlessly depressing and probably needs all types of trigger warnings. Remember too, that if you have recs of your own, I’m sure readers of these posts will enjoy more stuff. Feel free to post them to the comments! Current Mood:  aggravated | | Sunday, April 17th, 2011 | | 1:03 pm |
| | Saturday, April 9th, 2011 | | 8:48 pm |
Blinky the Tree Frog's Themed Death Note (Non) Fanfic Recs Part 6
And now for something completely different... I'm back! Sorry for dropping out of sight; this was a busy week. This is my sixth post in an increasing series of themed fanfic recs, all of them available at this very livejournal. However, for this post I've decided to swerve off topic for a while and give you something different to read. The theme for this post is: Non-Fiction. I love reading fanfic, but when I first get into a new fandom, another thing I like reading is other people's reactions to the story. In this case, I jumped in way after most people had seen the original manga and anime, and it was kind of fascinating going back and reading even the reactions and speculations of people on this very community (man, the reactions to chapter 58 were interesting, as well as the speculation on Near and Mello). As well as immediate reactions, some people write some fascinating pieces of analysis, or interesting reviews, or absorbing conversations, or on-target rants. So, just for something different, here are some links to pieces of non-fiction that I found interesting to read. Have fun, and remember, conversation is welcomed! When Pretty Boys Go MachiavellianThis is the 'television without pity' Death Note thread, in which people (several who came into the show not having read the manga) posted their comments as the show progressed. It's an interesting all-in-one thread with progressive reviews and speculation as it goes along. JesuOtaku's anime review of Death NoteThese are some of my favourite YouTube reviews of anime ever. A witty and spot-on look at Death Note's merits, flaws, and insanity (mostly on the part of the animators). Also, Death Note makes an appearance in her TOP 20 Most Deliciously Evil Anime Villains. Starring guess who? :-) The Death Note TV Tropes pageI apologise profoundly for linking to TV Tropes, but this is a pretty cool analysis of the show :-). And, there are several cool side pages linked at the top as well. Also, there's a caption that describes the show as "the touching story of a boy and his god complex", a phrase that sums up the show with remarkable accuracy :-). DeathnotesHere's an interesting idea; a site of discussions and essays about Death Note. It's not massive, but there are a few cool pieces if you browse through it. I particularly like the analysis of the artwork that introduced Near and Mello, although some of the image links don't appear to be working at the moment. The IGN Death Note pageA nice set of reviews for most of the anime episodes, as well as some quotes and reader comments. Some interesting reading. Comics Should be Good on Death NoteThis is a fairly interesting regular column on comics. He's not usually big on manga and anime, but he's pleasantly surprised in this column! It's also fairly amusing to see his predictions for the story after volume 6. There's a follow up here. “The human whose name is written in this note shall die…”I like the comments in this one on why the characters, and the ideas, of Death Note are so fascinating to fandom. Good review, too. I love Death Note fanfic, but I have to admit that there are some ongoing problems I see that kind of irritate me. The ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif?v=92.1) fanficrants community can be awfully hard to search properly, so here are a couple of rants that I thought were particularly interesting: Wammy's House setting storiesA whole list of rants. I agree with some more than others, but the comments on them are really interesting :-). Death Note on scans_dailyAnd finally, I've added a couple of posts about Death Note to the scans_daily community which might be of interest to people as well :-). Next time, we're back to fanfic, and the theme is the aftermath of the canon Death Note story, and what happened to the survivors! Current Mood:  accomplished | | Sunday, April 3rd, 2011 | | 4:20 pm |
Blinky the Tree Frog's Themed Death Note Fanfic Recs Part 5
I completely forgot to say what the theme was going to be last time, but I’m sure you all like being surprised :-). Anyway! As previously established, this is five of a series of what looks to be about eight or nine themed rec posts for Death Note. Previous installments on this very journal have covered L's childhood, lesser known and written about characters, the many faces of Matt, and L versus Light in all their mind-twisting glory. The theme for this post is a bit more nebulous, in that it probably slides a little into some of the other categories as well. Indeed, some of these fics probably could fit into other categories, but some couldn’t and I think the idea is interesting enough to focus on. Today’s theme is: Being a Genius. Since at times it seems that half the cast fits the definition of ‘genius’, you can see what I mean when I say that this is a bit of an imprecise category. Still, I think these particular fics concentrate more than others on what having that much brainpower actually means (with the responsibilities and the eccentricities) by focusing on both the characters themselves, and those who interact with them. Genius by mellishThe geniuses: several of them, from the obvious to the not so obvious. To start things off, here’s a quick series of drabbles focusing on genius in all its permutations. The characterisation is on point, and the writing is witty and thoughtful. Neat! Battleship by Brain Eater Jr.The genius: Near Gevanni buys Near a game on a whim, and then finds that he’s accidentally manipulated himself into a fairly awkward interaction with his boss. He doesn’t really go away with any more understanding of how Near’s brain works, but he can’t say the whole thing was a total loss, either. Nice little piece from the viewpoint of a character that doesn’t get a huge amount of love in fanfic. Wreckage by elwing_alcyoneThe genius: Near A relatively angst-ridden but by no means implausible look at Near’s childhood before Wammy’s, and how he used his intelligence and imagination to cope with his situation. A neat look inside his brain, and it’s sort of heartbreaking watching him use the only things he has around him as building materials. Introduction by xglimpsexThe genius: Mello In contrast, here’s a little bit of back story about Mello, and how he first met Quillsh Wammy. It’s an intriguing idea, and Mello’s personality, even at such a young age, comes right through. Batteries for Bedlam by phollieThe geniuses: Matt and L Matt’s a child in Wammy’s and he’s bored with the order that permeates the whole place. Bored enough to go looking at things he shouldn’t, and listening to conversations he certainly shouldn’t, and finding out that fear is not an emotion that anyone is immune to. Even a genius. Even a legend. I love the atmosphere of this one. It works so well. Echo by Le'lethaThe geniuses: L and Near An AU but fascinating story of how Near came to Wammy’s. Wammy has been called over to meet a brilliant, but ‘difficult’ child. L accompanies him, and finds himself learning a whole different language in order to connect . Concinnitas by lily22The geniuses: L and Dexter Two smart guys play games with each other. One’s a detective; the other is a serial killer. They can’t help but have a grudging admiration for each other. It’s not as familiar a scenario as you’d think :-). This is a crossover between Death Note and Dexter, set in an AU universe after the Kira investigation, in which L gets called in to investigate strange goings on in Miami. While it would help, it’s not really necessary to have watched (or read) Dexter to pick up on what’s going on. The characterisation in this is awesome, and the writing is full of wit and intelligence. The scenario works really well; I only wish it were longer! Genius is a Curse by Bloodshot EyesThe geniuses: Light and L This is a fairly well known piece, so many of you may already have seen it. It’s a WIP and was stalled for a bit, but it’s still slowly being updated, and the next chapter has gone to beta, so it’s not been abandoned. This is set in an AU without the Death Note, but that’s okay, because it’s not about mind games so much as emotions and minds, and what happens when a brilliant mind is hampered by chronic mental illness, in this case major depression. The author’s depiction of depression is achingly real and absolutely valid, which means that this is not a story to read when you’re feeling down. Light Yagami is brilliant, and perceptive, and slowly losing himself. When he comes to the attention of the world’s best detective, he grasps the chance to enact some change in his life, but whether it will be enough, neither he nor his frustrating sponsor can tell… And, while I already mentioned this in a previous post, the fic Alphabet by Underwater Owl also fits so well in this category, I feel I have to mention it again. To reiterate: crossover with V for Vendetta. Stars V, Evey, L, Matt, Mello, and Near. Has large sections devoted to philosophical discussions between genius fanatics. Is awesome for that part alone! Again, if you found any of these fics cool, then please do leave comments for the authors! If nothing else, you might convince them to write more :-). Also feel free to comment here; getting some interaction going is what makes writing up these posts worth it :-). Finally, if you have recs of your own, I’m sure readers of these posts will enjoy more stuff, so feel free to post them to the comments! Current Mood:  sore | | Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 | | 5:23 pm |
Blinky the Tree Frog's Themed Death Note Fanfic Recs Part 4
Part four of my increasingly long series of themed recs for Death Note fanfic! Previous installments have covered L's childhood, lesser known and written about characters, and the many faces of Matt. Check out earlier entries on this journal to see them. I’ll do a round up post when I’m finished as well. At the moment it looks like I’ve got enough for nine parts, although I’m always looking for more good stories! If you really do like these fics then don't forget to let the authors know with a comment; I’m sure they’d appreciate it! If you want to chat or comment on anything over here, feel free to do that to. It’s nice to see a few conversations happening, and a few new (and older) people coming out of the woodwork. Anyway, the topic for this post is enough to give anyone a spinning headache. It’s: L versus Light…with all the mind games and backstabbing that implies :-). The first fics are all about mind games between the two, and how they are able to turn absolutely freaking everything into a mind game. This is what happens when you think too much, people. Questions for Kira by helltownL asks a lot of questions of him. Only some of them are meant entirely for Light Yagami. Cool little fic about their tendency to have conversations with layers and layers of meanings, as well as have motivations and feelings that are seemingly in complete contradiction to each other. Ribbons for You by KorikaliIt’s Light’s birthday, and L buys him a present. That bastard. A short little piece that is kind of gently hilarious in how it shows that these two can make a competition out of the most seemingly inoffensive gestures. While completely denying that there is any competition at all :-). A Matter of Opinion by lefcadioL and Light talk about the philosophy of Kira, and the tenets of justice. In purely academic terms, of course. A nice peek inside their heads, and a peek at how they try to get into each other’s head. Light decides he wants a burger by ? I have no earthly idea who did this, and no earthly idea of what it’s even called, but it’s pretty freaking hilarious. It’s like the entire series of Death Note, summed up in one chat conversation about buying fast food :-). Practicality by versipellisA tiny ficlet with a short conversation between L and Light that has all kinds of hidden meanings. Just like the best conversations between L and Light! Best Laid Plans by liam_senseiThis one is a WIP but will be completed, according to the author. I encourage you all to go leave comments over there for reasons that have nothing to do with the fact that I desperately wish to see what’s coming next motivation :-). It’s pretty damn awesome so far, and the characterisation is fascinatingly human. This is an AU from volume 7 in which L manages to just barely sidestep (or at least delay) Light’s ultimate plan. He’s skating on thin ice trying to figure out what to do, and he knows it. So, he tries a different tactic, and a key player suddenly finds themself pulled into exploring events that happened years ago, and are surely irrelevant now. Right? This also kind of ties in to one of my previous categories, but I’ll let you guys find out which one :-). And now for something completely, or at least slightly, different. .. In canon, Light loves the mind games to the point that he refuses to cross over the line into harming anyone with his own hands. He has the Death Note to do his dirty work; he doesn’t need to resort to that. But what if he broke that unspoken rule? What would happen if his sanity snapped to the point where violence and torture seemed like a viable option to get what he wants? Or just a viable option to show how much more damn powerful he is than his puny opponent? It’s a hard thing to do plausibly in a story, and it’s always going to make Light a bit out of character. But here are three fics that I think have done an interesting, and chilling, job of it. Do be warned though, these are all rather grisly and unpleasant. If you are at all worried about that sort of thing, don’t read! Captive by SeshennuLight is going to kill L with the Death Note. Which means he needs a name. He’s lost patience with trying to get it the clean way. He is, of course, very disappointed in himself for resorting to this, but it becomes a matter of pride that L will not die in any other way, and it’s not like he’s the one prolonging things. L knows what he needs to do to make it all go away. This is disturbing, and creepy, and well written. The ugliness Light keeps inside is on show, and the tension keeps rising... Unspoken Rules by IhasabukkitLight crosses the invisible line that he and L have set up, and suddenly the rules of the game are way up in the air. Now L’s fighting for his life, and the investigation team has been thrown into confusion. There’s no way that this can end well… Nice set up, and a grim but plausible tale that speeds along and ups the tension at every turn. Cleverly done. Kingdom Come by Nyx-ZephyrusAnd saving the best and worst till last… This is a gruesome, grim, piece of fiction. It’s also unfinished, and it’s unlikely to be continued, and the last chapter is a cliffhanger. The fact that I’m listing it here anyway reflects just how much I wish that wasn’t so. The Japanese taskforce is dead. The triumph of Kira is total. The world is under his rule and the only people attempting to fight back are fragmented and keeping deep to the shadows. And what of L, his greatest opponent? Well, he has to be dead, right? Even if Light hadn’t decided to kill him straight away, it’s been eight years… There’s a hell of a lot of ways to suffer in eight years. Again, this is a gruesome piece of fiction containing some scenes of wince-inducing torture. But man, it’s compulsive reading if you can stomach it. And it stops just when things are getting interesting too. Dammit. And, as I said before, if anyone has any other recs that fit the particular theme, feel free to post them to the comments so people can read them :-). Current Mood: sore | | Sunday, March 27th, 2011 | | 4:27 pm |
Blinky the Tree Frog's Themed Death Note Fanfic Recs Part 3
This is part three of my list of themed fanfic recs! Previous instalments have covered L's childhood and lesser known and written about characters; if you want to give them a look just consult this very livejournal! As previously pointed out, if you really do like these fics then don't forget to let the authors know with a friendly comment! And if you want to discuss/dissect anything here, I'm happy to converse :-). I think this post's theme might be a particularly interesting one to discuss, because it's all about interpretation and extrapolation. Despite being the subject of tons of fanfics, Matt turned up for all of about a dozen panels in the manga (and at a couple of points in the 'How to Read' volume) and all of about two minutes in the anime. We can define maybe half a dozen character traits from this. Cutting and pasting from a post I made on a different group: We know he smokes, he likes playing games, his observation skills aren't bad but he does get distracted, he is willing to help out Mello, but is not so scared of him that he won't whinge about the job, and he's pretty apathetic compared to Mello (though really, most presidents of the USA were apathetic compared to Mello). Oh, and he used to go to Wammy's school and is therefore probably terrifyingly smart.Another person pointed out that we could probably add 'interested in girls' to that list, considering his comments on Misa's cuteness, and that seems fair enough. Still though, that's not a lot to go on, and it leaves lots of room for interpretation and lots of questions unanswered. When exactly did he start working for Mello? Why exactly did he start working for Mello? How aware is he of Mello's criminal activities? Does he care? Does he consider Mello a friend? More? Or merely an employer? How can you grow up in an environment of competition like Wammy's and stay even the least bit apathetic? Could some of his behaviour be a mask to hide his true motivations? And if he's third in the rankings while generally not giving a damn, where would he be if someone gave him something to give a damn about? This, of course, is where fanfic comes in :-). So, here's today's theme: The many faces of MattAnd here's how some people answered those questions, in many different ways. How would you guys answer them? Pixellated Cookie Justice by Saulie This is a rather sweet little story of Matt's childhood in which he accidentally runs into L at in the middle of the night at Wammy's. He's just a wee bit gobsmacked. They have a conversation, of sorts. There are cookies. It's nicely characterised and just a little bit thoughtful. Matt's personality: Sneaky, loyal and fairly innocent. He is still just a kid. Relationships: Mello's his bestest friend. L's this huge figure of awe that he's a little startled to find is human. If you did something that hurt him personally, he'd probably: kick you in the shins and run away. Alphabet by Underwater OwlI wavered over putting this fic in this category, and I may reference it in a couple of others. It's not a fic about Matt, but it does have him as a major character in it, and it's a fascinating character at that. The fic itself is long and very good. It's an AU crossover between Death Note and V for Vendetta, with the premise that L did defeat Light, and now the three heirs are working under him on what might be his most dangerous case yet. A couple of points, including the ending of the story, bother me a little, but the ride to it is so well written I can't bring myself to care too much. A warning for those who don't like politics and philosophy; much of the fic is devoted to what amounts to two fanatics philosophising at each other. It's awesome. Matt's personality: Calm, rational and empathetic, although competent and dangerous when cornered. The peacemaker of the Wammy heirs. Relationships: He's in a relatively loving and stable relationship with Mello. He may be the only one who'd be capable of it. If you did something that hurt him personally, he'd probably: shrug dangerously and then sic Mello on you. Explosions would ensue. doesn't by feverdownA series of snapshots of Matt's life as he all but sleepwalks through it. He's learnt to be anonymous, and he's learnt not to care. He's relentlessly isolated and can't see how things will ever change, until they do. The emotions are really well articulated in this fic. It'll almost make you depressed to read it. Matt's personality: Depressed, aimless and yet somewhat conflicted and calculating at times. Relationships: He can't bring himself to really care about anyone. Mello forces him to feel something like motivation, and he is grateful for that. If you did something that hurt him personally, he'd probably: maybe hack into your bank account if he could be bothered. Or maybe just walk away. Motivation by blackashWarning: this isn't finished and may change in tone before it does; I can't say. Still, it has been updated relatively recently and I really like the concept and the tone so far. It's an interesting AU in which L begins to suspect that Matt's ranking is the result of deliberate calculation rather than a true reflection of his skill. In order to motivate him into being all he can be, he decides that Matt needs a change of scenery. Said change of scenery involves a forced exchange program to a Japanese school, where's he's dropped into a high school class that already has it's own genius. His name's Light, and he's just a little bit curious about the new exchange student... Matt's personality: Fiercely intelligent, and fiercely stubborn. Also fiercely curious, and with a deeply hidden competitive streak that he tries to hide. Relationships: Mello is his best friend and he's pissed at being separated from him. He's not the least bit intrigued by this Light guy. He's not. If you did something that hurt him personally, he'd probably: do something highly irritating to you that couldn't be traced back to him in any way, shape or form. In Necessity Of by control_paradoxThis is an interesting fic in that it's about Matt from the point of view of someone who knew very little about him. And yet, Hal can't help but be intrigued by the questions left in the wake of his death, and fascinated by the personality she creates within her mind, using only the few clues she can gather. Matt's personality: That's the question, really. Relationships: She can only speculate. If you did something that hurt him personally, he'd probably: who knows? Mercenary by SarapsysMatt's manufactured a decent, if boring, life for himself, but he's aware that there are a couple of people out there that might need his skills very soon. And it might just be a matter of who rings first, and just how good they are at arguing. Nice fic speculating on how Mello first contacted Matt, and what his reaction was. Matt's personality: Bored, disengaged, but aware of his own talents and more intrigued by the Kira investigation than he wants to admit. Relationships: Mello was his friend, but they both admit he was never a very good one. If you did something that hurt him personally, he'd probably: hack into the government's servers and erase your existence, just to piss you off. Nicotine Patches and Picture Books by Underwater OwlMatt wasn't supposed to survive; it's almost ludicrous that he did. But months later he claws himself out of a coma to find Mello dead, a changed world, and Near sitting next to his bed. Working for him only makes sense. Falling for him makes far less sense, and actually makes him doubt his own sanity. But hey, at least he's not as bad at relationships as the guy he's trying to have one with, right? I kind of love Matt in this fic. He's really just trying to make sense of a crazy world, and it looks like he might even be able to do it eventually. Matt's personality: Loyal, amiable, and rather worried. Relationships: With Near, to the surprise of both of them. If you did something that hurt him personally, he'd probably:fill your work computer with animal porn and make sure it pops up when your boss walks by. Scattering Ashes by Gloria BThis is another unfinished fic, and at this point it's looking like it might stay that way. Still, there's 136,895 words of it written, and I think that's certainly enough to be a good read even if it doesn't get finished. A warning; this has sexual situations, violence, and adult themes. It also uses real life political situations and conflicts as a backdrop, and, while I think she's been pretty good with her research and in no way tries to imply that the main characters are the good guys or are solving anything, you might not want to read it if the idea offends. The premise is that Matt turns up and kidnaps Near years after his supposed 'death', and they find themselves journeying around the world to complete Mello's last will and testament. They keep huge secrets, and make appalling mistakes, and try desperately to pull themselves together while being haunted (apparently quite literally) by those that have died before them. Matt's personality: Freaking terrifying. Near thought he knew him. He really didn't. He's the world's best hacker and capable of being one of the world's most scary men. Scarily obsessive, scarily trained, and scarily powerful. You do not want to get in his way. Relationships: Had one with Mello, and begins one with Near. If you did something that hurt him personally, he'd probably:kill you if it was bad enough. If not, he'd delete you from existence on every computer system in the world, and then raze your house and everything you owned to the ground. He would feel guilty about it afterwards. Briefly. Whew! That was a long one! Next time: L versus Light, and all the head games that implies! Current Mood: accomplished | | Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 | | 3:19 pm |
Blinky the Tree Frog's Themed Death Note Fanfic Recs Part 2
Part two in my recs list of doom theme! Please remember, peoples, if you like any of the fics then I'm sure the authors would love it if you'd drop them some feedback! And hey, if you just want to talk about any of the recs, I wouldn't mind having a conversation either! Anyhow, as promised, the theme for this part is: Lesser seen (or/and written about) characters.Quite Contrary by mellishFeatured character: Wedy, in all her kleptomaniacal glory! Wedy has it all: skills, beauty and riches. She also has secrets, and obligations. But life's exciting, and life's good, so she really can't complain... Cool little character study here, as well as some background on how she met L. Death Row by Leesy MetalliumFeatured character: Lind L Tailor Lind L Tailor was given a choice in what he did, even if it wasn't much of one. Nice little piece on a very briefly appearing character. Zone of Intervention by Sarapsys Featured character: Hal Lidner Lidner knows what she's good at. She wishes others would get the hint. A combination of good characterisation and the answering of a question many people wondered about :-). Bedtime Stories by darklunaFeatured character: Anthony Rester Just who is Rester outside of the SPK's work? I admit it's something I hadn't really thought about; but this is a really intriguing answer. Hindsight by Elizabeth CulmerFeatured character: Sachiko Yagami Poor, loyal Sachiko. We never really see what she thinks of any of the events of the story, never mind what she thinks about Kira. Or even about Light... A thoughtful little piece here. No Ordinary Con Man by Miss Bright Featured character: Aiber Aiber's not just any old crook. He has his own morals, and his own loyalties, surprising as that may be. I like this Aiber, he's smart and unapologetic about who he is. An American Family by WallofIllusion Featured characters: an unremarkable American family Now here's a viewpoint you really don't see that often. This story is about Kira, as seen by the members of an average American family. Well written and it'll make you think, in a good way. Next time: The many faces of Matt! Current Mood:  sleepy | | Sunday, March 20th, 2011 | | 10:16 pm |
Blinky the Tree Frog's Themed Death Note Fanfic Recs Part 1
About three years after everyone else, I finally started watching and reading Death Note a few months ago, and fell in love with it. Sadly, I know I've come into a fandom which is past its heyday (unless they ever get around to doing the American movie, I suppose), but on the brighter side, it does mean that there's been a lot of fanfic out there for me to devour. Thus, I've decided to do a series of recs posts, both for those who, like me, are late to the party, or for those who'd perhaps like to dip their toes back into the water :-). There are a few other recs lists out there, but these posts are going to be a little bit different because: a) many of the others were written a few years ago, so these posts might have more recent stuff, b) after realising that many of my favourites were based on a series of themes, each post is going to be based on a certain story idea or theme, and c) because of my own tastes, the fics are generally very based on characterisation. My favourite characterisation comes from seeing how a character reacts to events, so some of these fics are very plotty, and many are reactions to events in canon or events that could be part of canon. I'm not exactly a shipper, but I'm fine with having a relationship as part of a nice, gritty, character piece. And with that defined, here's the theme for the first post. It's something that is touched on only very briefly in the canon, something that's very open to interpretation, and yet something I find myself fascinated by: L's Childhood.Lie by WallofIllusionLet's face it, there's always something vaguely disquieting about a child who's smarter than most adults. You can't predict what they are going to do, and you certainly don't really know what they're thinking. In this fic, Watari has a conversation with his prodigy about the art of telling the truth and is left... just slightly worried. A nice little slice of life fic. A Canticle for Lawliet by Underwater OwlA pretty dark history of L, with a part for every year of his life. Watari is hardly a sweet old man, and Lawliet knows how far he has been distanced from humanity, and yet also knows that L is all that he is and all that he will be. Alternatively fascinating and creepy. Say Something Else by ninhursagThis fic runs with the idea that L is autistic, and his distance from humanity follows on from that. He knows what he's good at and does it, but never really forgives those that meddled in his early childhood. Interesting alternate take. Brat Prince by Le'lethaPart of a series of unrelated mini-fics, and the others are good too. Six year old L is terrifyingly smart and really wants the people in the orphanage to leave him alone. If they decide that this isn't 'healthy'? They can rue the consequences. Oh dear :-). Phobias by sub_dividedThe definition of a phobia, as demonstrated by L's childhood. Smartly done! Childhood's End by NilahxapielPeople assume that L's eccentricities come from his uber-intelligence and basic L-ness, and this seems fair enough. But this is an interesting fic that asks the question: what if all of his quirks were established in his early childhood? What could cause it? Whether or not you believe in the idea, it is a clever fic! Conspiracy by darklunaL has discovered a conspiracy. Co-incidentally, this discovery exactly corresponds to his being on heavy flu medication. Watari is remarkably patient about the whole thing, overall :-). Uncertainty by elwing_alcyone Quillsh Wammy has a mission, and he can't hide it from the boy he's training, no matter how uncertain he is. Nice little fic with a strong ending. The Pull by Armagnac A child with L's intelligence has power before he has the understanding to use it morally. But he learns, and he doesn't forget. An interesting speculation on L's life before he was orphaned. Next time: Fics about the lesser seen characters. Current Mood: accomplished | | Monday, January 31st, 2011 | | 10:31 pm |
Oh for god's sake.
10pm and it was 33 Celisius. I doubt it's gotten much cooler since. Screw this. *drags mattress into the lounge room where the air conditioner is* Current Mood:  hot |
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