Reads Randomly

Title: Somewhere Close By
         Part 1: Lost and Found
         Part 2: Early Morning Wake-Up Call
         Part 3: Not for the Faint of Heart
For: summer_of_giles (posted here)
Rating: G
Category: Post-Chosen; no comics and no references to Angel Season 5
Pairings: Giles/Buffy
Notes: This fic take place roughly sometime around 2004 or 2005. The first iPhone wasn't released unitl 2007. While there were BlackBerrys and other sorts of PDAs on the market, I'm assuming that both Giles and Buffy would opt, at least initially, for simple flip-phones. (Yeah, yeah. You guys know what I do in real life. Did you really expect me not to care about these things?)


( Lost and Found )
 

So I kind of had an anniversary that I totally forgot about on the day thanks to interesting real life stuff. But 10 years ago this past Monday, I officially posted my first fanfic. Quags was born a little but before that, but the fic thing was kind of a big deal. I never thought that 10 years later that I would still be writing. That people would still like my stuff. That I would still be branching out into new fandoms. That LJ would turn into such a ghost town. :-(

On my 5th anniversary, I offered to write 100 word drabbles for anyone who would give me a promp and a fandom. I would love to do that again, but I'm not sure if anyone is still around enough to be interested. (The offer stands, though.) So if anyone can thing of a good way for me to commemorate what has been a interesting part of my life, please let me know.

So these two Buffy drabbles (written for giles_shorts) might be the most angsty things I've every written! Totally not my ususal style. You've been warned! The drabbles are linked, so you'll have to read the first to understand the second. All you really know is that I dislike Season 6 intensely and yet somehow responded by writing a scenario that was arguably just as dark and depressing.

( Oh, To Be Wrong )

( Just To See You Once Again )


I promise, I'll go back to writing my usual fluff now.
  

Title: Time Goes By
Show: West Wing
Category: Post Series, Post-ep for The Cold
Rating: PG
Notes: It hasn't just been 10 years since The Cold. It was spoilers for The Cold that finally encouraged me to delurk from TWoP and start posting. I wouldn't be involved with fandom today, if Josh and Donna didn't "totally make out." :-) Even more importantly I wouldn't have met all the wonderful people. So this one is for the Keytus Kids! (ETA: This was originally called "Ten Years", but I changed the name for a variety of reasons, including to avoid duplication with an upcoming fic.)

( Happy Anniversary Everyone!! )

Title: Toby's Book Club
Show: West Wing
Category: Post-Season 6 AU
Rating: PG
Notes: Do you guys remember Less Traveled By? I hope you do, because I think it's the best fanfic I've ever written. As many of you know, I've been working on a sort-of sequel for a while now. It's been pretty close to done for months and I didn't want the year to end with it still incomplete. Happy New Year, everyone!

( Good guests come with gifts... )

I've had these three finished for a while, but am only getting around to posting them now. Two of these were prompts given to me ages ago. The third was one that popped into my head a few months ago without any warning whatsoever. I've got more floating around, in various levels of almost finished, but it's nice to actually be able to post something.



( Father's Son (Gilmore Girls) )

( Mozzie's Guide to Life (White Collar) )

( Martha, Thou Art Anxious And Troubled By Many Things (Doctor Who) )

We're well into a new year and new year of movies... so let's finish of the old year first, shall we? Six films this time, so I'm going to be speaking about them less in general.


Iron Man
So as I mentioned during my Avengers write-up, I've missed most Marvel films. So a dear friend has taken it upon herself to fix that, starting with Iron Man and I'm very glad she did! Fun film and RDJ is just as brilliant as usual. I even loved Gwyneth Paltrow, who can really be hit or miss for me. Mostly, I enjoyed seeing the "backstory" to the Avengers film that I loved so much. Not sure I'll be watching all of the other origin movies, but I'm glad I saw this one.


Brave
Oh, Pixar! How I love you!! You decide that your first film with a female protagonist was going to be a princess and we all worried that you had finally started drinking the Disney kool-aid. What you gave us was a kickass princess with no romantic storyline at all (not even a hint or the slightest bit of forshadowing) and let her have a true coming of age story by examining her relationship with her mother instead. In other words, you shook up the concept of princess in ways that haven't been seen since Mulan (who, despite what the Disney marketing would have you believe, was not ever nor ever would be a princess.) Please do it again soon. (And a romance-free sequel were Merida goes on a quest would be awesome too.)


Anna Karena
I've actually since this movie multiple times already, but I'm having a hard time putting it into words. It's theatrical in the best sense and plays with what you expect a movie to do. Well acted and staged and the costumes are absolutely amazing. It's an utter shame it didn't do better at the Oscars.


Secret of Kells
A friend on my f-list sung this movie's praises years ago, but I only got around to seeing it now. It's tells the origins of the Book of Kells in a way that is interesting and understandable for kids, though the viking bits might be a little too scary for little kids. (Also, as might be expected in a monastery  there's no romance.) This is a movie to watch for the animation and I don't mean the characters' Craig McCracken design style. (Though it needs to be said that I love the look and style of the PowerPuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and therefore loved it here.) No, at the end of the film, they bring the Book of Kells to life. So pretty!


Miss Potter
When we went to the Lake District last September there was Beatrix Potter merchandise everywhere, but it was a text panel is a small local museum that really intrigued me about her life. Wanted to see this movie since. Not only was it a good film, it made me even more interested in the woman who created Peter Rabbit and prompted me to read a huge biography about her. Like most biopics, the film glosses over somethings and leaves out others, but I throughly enjoyed the film from start to finish and would recommend it to anyone.


Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
No, this isn't Heath Ledger's last film... though ironically, it is about death and mourning. It's a family film about a magic toy store that stars Dustin Hoffman Natalie Portman and Jason Bateman. Unfortunately, I felt like Natalie Portman was only serviceable in this. I sort of wish that Amy Adams had been cast instead, even though she was only just breaking out when the movie was released. However, Jason Bateman was adorable. There was a sock monkey who kept wanting to hug him... and I knew exactly how he felt!!

The combination of movies this time around is eclectic, to say the least.


Beauty and the Beast
It's been so long since I saw this film. It will always have the special honor of being my favorite Disney film. The movie itself still hold up, but one thing that surprised me what how... traditional Belle still was? She was still the gateway heroine, paving the way for Mulan and the like. But there was still something very Old School Disney. Maybe in the way that she was drawn or how the story shifted away from her and onto the Beast. That said, she's still a character who main dream was to learn more and not to fall in love with a handsome prince, but to have someone who understands her and that was quite revolutionary. I really appreciated the character of the Beast (and why doesn't the poor guy get a real name?) far more than I did as a little kid. I also sort of liked that out of all Disney heroes, he wasn't the usual movie star handsome, post-transformation. Sort of keeps to the message of the film.


The Avengers
I'm so glad I saw this film in the theater. I nearly missed it. I normally don't bother with the Marvel films. (Or even the DC films, sometimes. Dark Knight Rises, with all of its depressing themes, kangaroo courts and Anne Hathaway, will not among the movies I see this year.) And having not seen Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, you get the picture, I didn't think I would really understand the movie that threw all of these characters together. But I should have known better. Joss was in charge, for crying out loud!! The was funny and engaging and just plain fun! And I kind of love Bruce Banner, but hey, when he's played by Mark Ruffalo and has the single greatest Crowning Moment of Awesome and line in a whole film filled with awesome, can you blame me?


Serenity
Sometimes, procrastination pays off. I'm embarrassed to admit that I had never quite finished Firefly. (I think it has something to do with the fact that when I do, that's it. No new Firefly ever.) So that means I've never seen Serenity. Which means that when the independent cinema by me did a one-off screening, I got to see Serenity for the first time on the big screen!! Yes, it was dark and at time disturbing, but I love this crew with all my heart. (Even if Joss does insist on using that to make your heart break twice!) Well, written, well-acted and just about everything you want in a sci-fi or action movie. Sigh. Why aren't we allowed to have more?


The Lorax
I don't have much to say about this one really, to the point that I thought about not including it at all. But it wasn't a bad film. It's just that if you read the original book you already know the important parts and the rest is just filler. That said, Danny DeVito was fun to listen to and the last scene was very nice.


Coming soon... Quaggy's Year of Movies Part 4!!

( Ponya, MirrorMask and the Artist )


Now there's one movie I have yet to give an opinion on, but I didn't see it this year. I actually saw it last summer, so normally I'd say that I've past the statute of limitation to post about it. But since I've talked about each and every movie in the series since I've created this LJ, I think I need to say something. I'm, of course, taking about....
( Harry Potter )

In the past month, I've gone to Japan, been shaken by an earthquake while NOT in Japan, tried to ignore some significant anniversaries of major tragedies, applied to a graduate program and before any of that happened saw the final Harry Potter with my brother, completing the set. While each of those are worthy of their own post, I'm not feeling very good with words right now. Instead, I bring you YouTube videos from various shows I've enjoyed over the years. See them before they get reported! :-)

( We've got Sorkin, Asian dramas and Charlie Crews, if you're interested... )

Next time I post, I promise it will be Quaggy generated content. :-)