Recs in Non-Traditional Media

[laceblade]

--Friends With Boys, a comic by Faith Erin Hicks. Semi-autobiographical, the plot focuses on Maggie, a girl who was homeschooled with her three brothers and is now starting high school.
Eventually it'll be released as a graphic novel, but for now it's being published online. There are 35 pages up right now, with a new page M-F. I love Faith's stories. Read it! Read all of her stuff!
I think her publisher is pretty awesome for trying to do it online first to build an audience.

--ANNCast (Anime News Network) is the only anime podcast I listen to on a regular basis. I mostly listen to podcasts in the car (I can't concentrate if I try at work). I just listened to one from January titled, "Moe Money, Moe Problems," a group discussion about the trope of "moe" and how different people define it, and how watching it makes you feel, and what it means for the anime industry. Whether you've ever heard the term "moe" or not, I found it a really interesting discussion, and something people like littlebutfierce and I have tried to define in comment discussions. You can listen to ANNcasts here.

--Lullabye for a New World Order: parts 0 and i by synedochic These are the first 100,000 words in what will be an obviously long series. It takes place 3 years before the start of Final Fantasy VII, with Tseng having met Tifa in Seventh Heaven and wanting her to meet Rufus so they can tell each other what really happened in Nibelheim. I'd never read anything by synecdochic before. Her writing tells rather than shows in a way that might usually annoy me, but I love her interpretations of the characters so much that it's kind of like I slip in headfirst. I wasn't able to stop reading this fic; it's been a long time since I've read such a long fic, probably years.
It's giving me some anxiety about my own fic, but the main point is: read it! Do it! I can't wait for more to get posted.

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

Oooh, I'll have to check out that podcast at some point. I found some more links about moe (& including theorizing about male moe characters) a while ago when we were talking about moe in the Natsume comm -- at some point I can dig them up if you want (just not right now when I'm leaving for work I mean).

[laceblade]

Oooh, interesting!

I really liked the start of this podcast b/c it talks about different interpretations of the word and how it's normal for people to not agree. Some people talked about the feeling of wanting to protect a character (and I was like, OMG! that's what littlebutfierce thinks!), but Zac was like OMG, moe can sometimes be used to excuse terrible writing, WTF, etc. And I was like, I AGREE WITH HIM, but then they were using shows like Gunslinger Girl and K-ON! as examples and I was like BUT I LIKE THOSE SHOWS?! and I started Taisho Baseball Girls today and is that moe, too?!

In some shows it seems like "moe" means "girls hanging out." And it strikes me as kind of sexist because if it were "dudes hanging out" everyone would be like, OMG SO ARTISTIC, I AM SO MOVED.

[littlebutfierce]

SUPER LATE REPLY. Also I think I may have ended up posting this link on my own DW at some point -- it talks about male moe near the bottom -- so you may have seen it already. There's also iyashi-kei, which maybe K-On! could also be considered?

I think moe can definitely be used to disguise an otherwise badly-written show! But yeah, I wouldn't put K-On! in that category. :P

& yes re: the gender thing! I feel like a lot of slice of life shows (whether also moe or not) get slammed b/c oh noes, it's just girls sitting around talking about pointless shit. :P

[eggcrack]

OMG, synedochic is writing FF7 fic again? This is kinda like getting a trip in the past, thanks for linking that!

That comic looks interesting too, and I too like that they're publishing it online first. It's a great way to build audience and I'm sure it will leave a good impression of the publisher.

[laceblade]

Yeah! It was fun to read, and I've never actually read Conscience of the King, so now I kind of want to, while I wait for more Lullabye, :D

[eggcrack]

I really enjoyed Conscience of the King back in the day - it sold Rufus/Reeve pairing to me and I remember loving the Tifa bits - though I enjoyed her Hojo-fic most of all. I guess you could say it's her fault that I find Hojo interesting instead of just reviling him, ha.

[laceblade]

OMF HOJO. I liked him b/c of Poetry in Blood, but I will totes read this fic, too.
PLUS COTK FOR MORE TIFA.

CotK is unfinished, right?

[eggcrack]

Ooh, Poetry in Blood was great too! And yeah, CotK is unfinished, sigh.