laceblade: fanart of Ohana turning to look beyond viewer. Coloring blue/moody. (Hanasaku Iroha: Ohana)
Buffy #3 - I read this! Written by Nicholas Brendan, which is sort of notable. It was amusing enough, although I'm probably not as excited as other fans are.

Plume 1-4 - I picked these up in the $0.25 bin at the comics shop. It's apparently based on a webcomic. It gave me a lot of feelings reminiscent of Min-Woo Hyung's Priest manhwa, but I think I like this heroine a bit more. The art style is really great. I asked my comics guy to order the fifth issue for me, which wraps up this introductory arc. I believe this printing was funded by a Kickstarter; to read the rest, I'll need to read it here.

One Piece, vols. 10-12 (omnibus) - A decent continuation of the plot from the previous volume. I liked Luffy's superpower actually being used (as opposed to a glaring continuity error). I also liked Usopp finding the will to fight after thinking about facing his courageous friends afterward if he hadn't.
I enjoyed the closure to Nami's arc - she's my favorite character. It's fun to see the gang finally hanging out in the Grand Line, even if it's not going as they expected. I hope that Tashigi sticks around. She seems like an interesting character.
For 12, I felt pretty meh of the denoument of this arc?! But the next volume starts a new one!!

Homecoming - This series used to be a childhood favorite of mine, & I was in need of a comfort read.
I still really love this, & it came at a good time for me. I like how the kids respond positively to being treated like adults, how much they trust one another, the way the entire book is about class privilege, and how awesome Dicey is.
I'm glad this comfort reread held up for me.

Dicey's Song - This is another reread; it's probably been at least fifteen years since I'd last read it. Dicey defying her teacher over something she wrote made me remember why I identified with her so strongly.
Even though I knew what would happen, the ending still made me cry.
I love this family and the community they create. The truths everyone teaches one another are comforting.
I'm really glad to have returned to this series, & hope to keep progressing.

A Dangerous Inheritance - This was a good follow-up to "Innocent Traitor," which I'd read back in April, & focused on Lady Jane Grey.
This book picks up where that one left off, focusing on the life of Jane Grey's sister, Katherine. I found Katherine Grey to be pretty stupid, but luckily this book has two heroines. Interlaced with Katherine Grey's life is the story of Katherine Plantagenet, the bastard daughter of Richard III. Both Katherines live mostly unhappy lives, manipulated by the people around them due to their bloodlines. They fall in love with people they shouldn't. And they both have an unhealthy obsession with what happened to Richard III's nephews, famously known as the princes in the Tower.
I like Weir's historical fiction in part because I know she's an historian and a lot of her plots are based on facts. Her afterward reveals what she made up, and from where she found her facts.
I loved the small glimpses we got of Elizabeth I in this book, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book, which focuses on her: Captive Queen.

A True Novel, Book I - This is only the first "half," but the library only sends me one at a time, & at 450 pages I'm counting this as its own "book," even though I haven't read the second volume yet.

This is technically a retelling of Wuthering Heights. The characters are Japanese. It's a book about wealth, racism, westernization, the effects of World War II on Japanese society, and human nature.
I've consumed a lot of Japanese-created media, but this book is unlike anything I've ever read. Mastserful. I kept having to remind myself that it's fiction.

There's a family tree in the back - wish I'd known that all the way through.
I really hope they translate more of Mizumura's novels into English. In the meantime, I am very much looking forward to book II.
laceblade: (Arya of House Stark)
Game of Thrones - This series is becoming a weird comfort reread for me. Still, they're definitely not the greatest books I've ever read, and some of the prose makes me cringe. The first is in some ways better than later volumes, but does also include the "rose petals across a sky streaked with blood" imagery where it's just like...FFS.
The constantly ignored threat of the Others pinged a lot more as a comparison to global warming this time around.
I find myself much more interested in Bran Stark than in previous reads.
I think that with every reread, I find Ned Stark more & more stupid.
I'm still really into the direwolves & want one approximately as much as I'd like my own lightsaber.

Unsounded - I read about 4 chapters while level-grinding in Persona 4, and I've finally caught up to the present. I've said many times that I've loved Ashley Cope since her days as a FF7 fanartist/writer GlassShard. Still love everything about this - the art, the pacing (it's read better in gulps), the writing, the world-building (which I usually don't give any fucks about) are all sublime.
ALSO people ride giant dogs like horses! I think I want one of those more than a direwolf, actually.
Great fantasy.

Alias, volume one - Borrowed from a comics club friend. This series is about Jessica Jones, a former Marvel superhero who didn't really like it & is now a private detective. This didn't WOW me quite as much as Spider-Woman, but I still liked it quite a bit & have put the second volume on hold at the library. This has apparently been optioned as a series by Netflix, and I'll be watching with interest.

The Less Than Epic Adventures of T.J. and Amal - Printed form of the webcomic, this is volume one. Basically does what it says - less than epic ;) Two guys end up on a road trip, & I'm pretty sure they're going to start a relationship. Cute, fluffy, & I think they'd be good together!

Pax Romana - I found this premise more interesting than The Nightly News, but I still find the heaps of praise surrounding this author kind of baffling.
At times, the narrative breaks from illustrations and is told in script format. While the overarching idea is interesting, the arc was unfulfilling, the characters more like caricatures.
laceblade: fanart of high-school age Chibi Usa in sweater & red scarf (Sailor Moon: Rini scarf)
• What are you currently reading?
Unsounded - still love it. I really like the things Cope does with the frames and her websites in dramatic &/or magical moments. Ugh, it's so good. I'm in chapter 6.


• What did you recently finish reading?
Killjoys #1 - IT'S OKAY?! I liked this more than the free comic book day one-shot, although now I'd like to go back & reread both of them.

Avengers Assemble #16 - Meh. Not much to say about this.

Buffy #22, The Core, part 2 - Not much to say about this, either. Annoyed with the final line of the issue recycling a line from the TV show.

Wild Ones 6-10 - I decided to just push forward & finish this series, as it was only 10 volumes & I already had 6-8 in my apartment.
It's still terrible. About one panel of Sachie looking like a yakuza bamf-boss for every 50 pages of her completely lacking agency. I rated volume 6 three stars on Goodreads because a plot point progressed due to Sachie's choices & talents. After that, back to the same-old, same-old.
I finished this to be a completist. Rakuto's love for Sachie was something I didn't find romantic. He would say things like, "I wish I could lock you up," etc. to prove how ~protective he is toward her, which I found gross.
The final volume shows Sachie about to embrace the other female daughter of a DIFFERENT local yakuza boss - WHY COULDN'T THIS HAVE BEEN THE ACTUAL ENDING?
Instead, the ending is predictable except by focusing on a previously unmentioned dramatic problem.
Anyway, with this, I'M FREE. I'M FREE.

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott - I didn't think I was going to get through this in time for book club, but I miraculously did.
As I mentioned last week, I read this in September but had forgotten all the details. This is why rereading books is super rewarding for me! My memory's weird. Certain things = steep trap. Books/etc., though, main plot points totally escape me & I'm usually only left with vague impressions.
Anyway, I like how important lies are in this book, both as part of the society in which Cat lives & also major plot point progressions.
I also still love how strong Cat is, even when so many things about her life are revealed to be lies. It's very much like the finale of Buffy season 2 - "Take away your friends, blah-blah, and what's left?" "Me." /kicks ass/
I'M SO READY TO READ THE ADVENTURES OF CAT AND BEE, BOOK 2 :) :) :)


• What do you think you’ll read next?
Well, I have a pile of manga I've been amassing from the library, so more of that. I'll be picking up Captain Marvel #13 and possibly other stuff at the comic book store tomorrow or soon.
laceblade: fanart of Sailor Venus, smiling at the viewer, looking like a BAMF (Sailor Venus)
• What are you currently reading?
Cold Magic by Kate Elliott. I read this back in September or so & loved it. We're reading it for [community profile] beer_marmalade, & I wanted to reread to better remember & to be a better participant ^_^
The beginning part, with Cat & Bee just living life & going to school? I'd read that forever.


• What did you recently finish reading?
Batwoman #16-20 - Meh. They're setting up a new arc & idgaf what's happening, so I dropped Batwoman from my pull-list.
I'd be willing to read it in trade, when it comes in at the library.
It's hard to tell whether it's my own apathy or the comics themselves that's at fault. EITHER WAY, goodbye Batwoman.

Wild Ones volume 5 - I keep wanting to read manga & going with this one because I have it from the library but UGH. The once-per-volume shots of Sachie looking like a total badass aren't worth all of her agency being erased by Rakuto.
This volume's low-point was when another dude asked Rakuto why he didn't just tell Sachie he loved her, & he said, "If I did that, I wouldn't be able to stop."
Stop what, you wonder? Repeating over & over that he loves her? Or is that a creepy overtone of rape threat?
The answer's revealed a couple pages later when the words are repeated as he stumbles on Sachie lying asleep on a futon at the end of a chapter. That's the cliffhanger - WILL HE ABLE TO STOP HIMSELF?
Fuckin' gross.
AND YET. Volumes 6-8 were already in my library basket & I just want to see what happens, so. I'll likely continue.

Unsounded, volume 1 by Ashley Cope
Ashley Cope used to go by "GlassShard" on the Internet. I've been following her work basically since I started hanging out online - I loved her FF7 fanart & fic.
Unsounded is a webcomic; I bought the first physical volume from her Kickstarter. I'd been following this online, but because the chapters are sort of written to be read all at once, it was hard for me to read this when it updated (every M, W, F) & I fell off. This volume collected chapters 1-3, and I'm hoping I'll keep going with chapters 4 & on, & get all caught up :D
This is a fantasy series. The protagonists are Sette, a young thief with a tail who swears more than me, and her magic-casting friend Duane. Sette refers to him as her "attack zombie," and makes fun of him for having such a boring name.
Cope is one of the rare webcomic artists who's also a really strong writer. Her time management is professional, too. Her hiatuses last exactly as long as she says they're going to, which is much appreciated in the world of webcomics, where people sometimes disappear for years.
Unsounded is free online, for everyone. You should totally do it.


• What do you think you’ll read next?
In a fit of angst some point this week, I went through my Goodreads list from the past couple years & made a list of the manga series I'd stop reading. Even though I'd stopped reading some of them b/c I found them boring, I checked out the next volumes in various series (Bride's Story [love it], Cross Game, Soul Eater, rest of Wild Ones, Saturn Apartments, Shugo Chara!) & a couple novels (Parable of the Talents, Summer Prince). So. Expect some mass-reading of manga, I guess.
laceblade: (K-ON: Ritsu tea)
--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 [personal profile] 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 [profile] 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 [personal profile] 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.

Followings!

Jan. 8th, 2011 07:26 am
laceblade: Fanart of Revolutionary Girl Utena, holding sword and looking at viewer. (Utena fanart)
I never have time to post Follow Fridays when it's actually Friday.

Here are some communities/Internet things I've been enjoying this week.

[community profile] bitesizedcleaning - One of my New Year's Resolutions is actually to clean bit-by-bit instead of letting everything go and then having a 2-hour freak out session. I need to cut stress out of my life, and I'm usually actually happier when things are tidy. SO. Win.

[community profile] inkitout - I am also hoping to write a lot this year, and to actually do it instead of just making another resolution. Sign-ups are still going on right now; the minimum requirement is to try and write 75,000 words this year, although the comm will strive to be non-judgmental.


Unsounded - a webcomic written and drawn by Ashley Cope. I think I've plugged this before, but it's really great. It's a good time to dive in, too; the comic is on a brief hiatus (only a couple of weeks left, I think!) so that she can build up more back log. But right now, the first two chapters are complete. I think that her writing style is very high caliber for an online comic. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great online comics, but a lot of people really suck at their pacing. Like, I like The Meek, but all of the different characters have yet to be shown to be related to one another. Thus, every time a new chapter begins, I get kind of frustrated with making myself care about the characters. I have made a feed on Dreamwidth ([syndicated profile] unsounded_feed) if you want to get your updates that way.


FF7 Coordinated Playthrough - This is happening over at the FF7 comm at LiveJournal. This week, people went from the opening to Tifa's bar. I love how many comments there are, and how smart everyone is! A number of us seem super interested in noticing Tifa, and how Aeris is portrayed (as opposed to her other Compilation counterparts). I'm excited about this because I love FF7, but also because I'm hoping to write more fanfiction, so...RESEARCH!



If anyone has any heinous Tumblr recs, I AM GAME. (I mostly look at FF fanarts and listen to Joseph Gordon-Levitt's covers.
laceblade: (Tutu & Rue)
I thought it would be cool to make a post of media I'm currently consuming. I think this is illustrative of why it takes me so long to do things.

Watching
--Avatar: The Last Airbender. This is a re-watch for me. With my Netflix account, I can watch things streaming on my Boyfriend's Wii, so we've been watching this series (his first time). I've built up a huge queue, so I think we'll find an anime series to watch once we're done with ATLA (Gurren Lagann, finishing Noein, or something).

--Warehouse 13. Or at least, I will be. I just finished Season 2 of True Blood on Netflix, so Warehouse 13 is next. I'm watching it solely because of it being co-produced by Jane Espenson and having other Buffy writers.

--Azumanga Daioh. This is a re-watch. I love how this series successfully captures the randomness and hilarity of high school and a group of friends. It doesn't capture angst, but I don't really want to relive that anyway. Once the Azu re-watch is finished, I'd like to finish my Sailor Moon go-through. I had made it through the first two seasons and then stalled out on S. But I will persevere! I'm excited to re-watch SuperS, and to see Stars for the first time.

--Shugo Chara! Sort of. It's really irritating to watch something streaming on my computer, I think. I need to delete some files. And....get a new laptop. I'm not sure when this will actually occur.

Reading
--High School Debut. Manga series. I own 3 volumes out of this series, and between that and the library, am working on reading 1-13. I don't love it quite as much as I remember? Haruna's insecurities are grating on me a bit. Still, I'll make it through 13 and if I feel the same way, I'll sell the ones I own. Making room for MOAR MANGA.

--Little Queen. Manhwa series. I own 1-7, volume 8/end was never released in the U.S. and I can't fin it anywhere online, ;_; I'm not loving this as much as I remember. I think that I like the artwork most of all, but the plot seems a bit confusing (aside from the central plot, with which I've been beaten over the head). The payoff of the end of the series will be the deciding factor for me, and if I never ever find it, I'm going to be pretty sad.

--A Theology of Liberation by Gustavo Gutierrez. I checked out a ton of books on liberation theology from the library and this seems like the first one to go with. I'd like to know more about liberation theology and learning more about Latin American recent history. Am concerned that the text of all these books will be too dense and theology-laced.

--House of Night series by P.C./Kristin Cast. Heinous.

Webcomics
--Unsounded [here is the DW feed I made for it! Be warned it's paced like a graphic novel, not a webcomic.]

--The Meek

--The Phoenix Requiem (I just started this one, so not caught up yet.)

Unsounded

Aug. 8th, 2010 11:27 pm
laceblade: (Usagi & Minako)
One of my favorite online artists has started regularly updating a webcomic called Unsounded. I made a Dreamwidth feed (unless I did it wrong!), in case anyone wants to watch for updates.

Profile

laceblade: (Default)
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