Author Archive

Top Ten: HP Ships I Can’t Believe I Wrote

Yes, I write a lot of fanfiction. I thought a list of some terrible pairings would make a good post-Valentine’s Day post topic.

I have my OTPs and I respect most canon pairings, especially in the Harry Potter books. Usually whatever pairing I see first, I fall for and I can’t be moved from it. But sometimes through challenges or really messed up muses, I end up writing pairings I’d never expected to write. And now, for your amusement at my shame, I must confess to having written these. My apologies if you ship any of these.

 

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Recent Marathons (50-Word Reviews)

Every time I finish binge-watching/marathoning another show, I think I should leave my thoughts here when I change the sidebar. And then I just don’t. I’m bad about reviews lately (see my review of the latest Hobbit movie… oh, wait, you can’t ’cause it’s been months and it’s still only in my head).

So I’m giving myself a break and not expecting a long, thoughtful review of any sort. Instead, here’s my review of shows in exactly 50 words each:


Iron Man-Armored Adventures: reimagining of teenage Tony and friends was actually rather adorable. Was neat seeing Tony trying to keep his cover. Was neat learning more about the Iron Man portion of Marvel’s Universe this way. Was neat seeing the complications and drama. Animation style took some getting used to.



Supernatural (through S8): worth rewatching the whole series just to catch up. Remembered why I fell in love with it in the first place. Season 8 was incredibly awesome. I would like to marry it. But it left me so overwhelmed I couldn’t jump into Season 9 without a break.



Queer as Folk US (rewatch): Charmed me all over again, though there’s still no magic in S5. I don’t like it when all of my favorite characters are constantly mad at each other. Otherwise, my full rewatch was a wonderful experience. So many great moments. Excellent acting. Sympathetic, special characters.



Dexter (S5 onward): Loved S5 almost as much as S4. Was broken-hearted regarding Lumen. Show went swiftly, disappointingly downhill. Disliked Hannah. Loved Sean Patrick Flannery in the last season. Am glad I watched all the way to the end; I just wish it had been as good as previous seasons.



Arrow (S1): finally got around to finishing the first season. Oliver has so much wonderful angst. It’s tough to be a vigilante with a secret identity these days. Looking forward to DVRed S2. Could have done with fewer island flashbacks and more John Barrowman. Can always use more John Barrowman.



Touch: the first season was full of impossibly beautiful coincidences that made me feel there was hope in this world and made me cry with happiness. Character development was wonderful, inviting. Great stories. Second season was disappointingly full of corporate conspiracy and trying to hold onto something that slipped away.



Ringer: after twenty-two episodes, I still had trouble thinking of Sarah Michelle Geller as two different characters. Pleasant surprises: Ioan as the male lead and Misha as a guest star. Lots of fun twists and layers of deception. Sad for the cancellation creating an unresolved ending. I’ve already written fanfic.

Valentines from my Fandoms

Some Valentines from a few of my favorite fandoms! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Lord of the Rings:
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Book Review—Supernatural: The Roads Not Taken by Tim Waggoner

The Roads Not TakenReview reposted from KateKintail’s Book Journal

Title: The Roads Not Taken
Author: Tim Waggoner
Fandom: Supernatural
My rating: 5/5

SPOILERS BELOW!

 

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Craft: Doctor Who Valentine

Last year, the swap-bot Doctor Who group had a swap to send a Doctor Who-themed card and a package of sweet treats. This is what I came up with…

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Adipose card envelope for the card. And a box shaped like a book that I painted to look like River’s diary, only with blue hearts instead of blue squares on the front.

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The card, however, was completely “Partners in Crime” episode-themed. The little baby adipose is another stamp I bought from dragonflycurls.

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Top Ten: Kisses

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d come up with a list of some (big & small) screen kisses. This time, I thought I’d characterize them to emphasize that these are in no order and not necessarily my top ten favorites.

 

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License Plate: MUGGL

I couldn’t help but notice this car during my quick drive home yesterday during the day, and it reminded me that I wanted to start posting the fandom-related license plates I come across in my travels.

Muggles

Gotta hand it to these people; they’re brave to admit it!

Top Ten: Favorite Harry Potter Characters

melydia suggested I write this list, and I thought it a good theme for a list. However, it was harder to write than I’d expected. I seem to like characters in Harry Potter most when they’re with other characters. I love the Marauders, for example, but I wouldn’t put Peter Pettigrew on my list of favorite characters. I love the trio, but I just don’t think I love Ron enough to put him in the top ten. Sorry, Ron. So creating this list forced me to look at each character alone… which is not something one typically gets in a book that’s from one character’s point of view.

Harry Potter Characters by  Marta/Art Dungeon

Harry Potter Characters by Marta/Art Dungeon

 

Top Ten Favorite Harry Potter Characters

  1. Remus Lupin- No big surprise that Remus is first on this list (which is really not in any particular order, honestly). I love Remus; he’s my absolute favorite character in the series. He is kind, damaged, strong, wise, brave, friendly, supportive, fun-loving, bookish, and a whole lot more.
  2. Sirius Black- I must admit that my fanon Sirius is probably the reason he makes this list. I do really love his moments as a godfather to Harry. And though he has his faults, I do truly love his character, his desire to be useful and to help Harry, his fun-loving nature, the fact that he entered a war when he was a teenager and then never got a chance to really grow up, and his single-minded quest for revenge.
  3. Neville Longbottom- Neville is the character I most admire and wish I could be. He’s… himself, which is not always perfect but is many times just fine. And he’s brave exactly when he needs to be, brave enough to be a BAMF and get the last horcrux.
  4. Harry Potter- I’ve noticed not a lot of people would call Harry their favorite character (it’s almost like Harry is too easy an answer), but most people would put him on a list of top favorites as without Harry, there wouldn’t be much of a story. I will always love following Harry on his journey from a muggle-raised little kid to an adult who’s saved the world multiple times.
  5. Rubeus Hagrid- There’s just something about Hagrid; maybe it’s Harry’s fondness for him that rubs off on me? I love how he cares for Harry, being supportive and friendly and telling him what he needs to know even when maybe he shouldn’t (I have a thing about grown-ups in YA who don’t tell kids important things, which is why Sirius and Hagrid make this list and Dumbledore does not). I love the Hagrid knows his place and is grateful for a job and home, but still aspires to be more and help however he can; he’s got a Hufflepuff’s loyalty.
  6. Molly Weasley- My favorite mother in the series, Molly is such a strong woman and a great example of motherhood. She’s a stay-at-home mother and certainly all the cooking and cleaning chores fall to her, but you know she had to be strong-willed to raise seven children. I love how she cares for Order members and for Harry like she does her family. And then there are so many great moments like her boggart and protecting Ginny during the battle.
  7. Luna Lovegood- I love Luna. It’s impossible for me to not love her. Sometimes I think she’s way too weird. Sometimes she reminds me of kids I knew at school who were a bit eccentric. But I’ve got to admire her for just being herself, for being creative, and for doing what’s right every time.
  8. Hermione Granger- I probably resemble Hermione more than any other character in the books… though I see a lot of myself in many of the characters and I definitely don’t have Hermione’s bravery. I love her role in the trio, but I also really admire her as a standalone character–her respect for knowledge, her morality, her selflessness, her dedication, her friendship.
  9. Severus Snape- I’m maybe not as in love with Severus as some of my friends (or as Remus in some of my stories), but I respect the man a lot… even though, if he hadn’t blabbed part of the prophecy to Voldemort, the story would have been a whole lot different. He went through a lot of changes in his life, which are interesting to see. But I mostly feel sorry for the man. I also think he was, despite being brilliant, a terrible teacher.
  10. Oliver Wood- Feels a little weird to go with a tertiary character when characters like Ron and McGonagall aren’t on this list. But I just had to include Oliver, probably because I’ve spent so much time with him in fics. I love his obsessiveness and passion for what he loves–that sometimes makes him forget common sense. And I’m pretty sure my cheer and happy dance when he showed up at the battle was honestly the LOUDEST cheer I gave while reading the entire last book.

Book of the Month: February 2014

TheRoadsNotTaken I’ve got a lot of books on my plate right now I’m eager to read, but this one keeps calling to me anyway. So this month’s Book of the Month is Supernatural: The Roads Not Taken by Tim Waggoner.

It’s a choose-your-own-adventure-style television tie-in novel. It’s also one that jumped out at me unexpectedly. I learned about it in the fall and, given how much I love choose your own adventures (I even helped run a BookCrossing convention with that theme), I immediately put it on my “Future To Be Read” list (a list of books I’ve heard about that I want to track down/buy/borrow and read. A day later, I was at work, pulling old Job List (career advice) articles from our old archives and moving them onto our new website. One of the articles from over a decade ago had a URL in the author’s bio. I clicked it to make sure the URL still worked and it redirected to the author’s new website. Right there on the front page of the website was this very book I’d just put on my list of books I wanted to read!

At Christmas, I was thrilled to receive a copy of this book from a great online friend. I am looking forward to reading some new adventures with Sam and Dean. I just hope I don’t get my boys killed.

Craft: Arrietty Matchbox

Arrietty

This is one of only a few matchbox crafts I’ve done. This one is based off The Secret World of Arrietty, a Studio Ghibli movie based off The Borrowers. I obviously used an orange-red theme and a mix of sewing and nature imagery. The yellow pin is like the one Arrietty uses in the movie. As it’s a matchbox to hold Arrietty’s Treasures, I included a lot of little items she might find useful.

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