mysid

While my family is at church, I'm at home "surfin' the internet" and discovering "must watch videos" like this one from The Thinking Atheist. (Fair warning: It's quite snarky in it's anti-religion commentary, but the evolution vs. creationism points are well presented.)

(And no, I don't spend the time my family is at church actively searching for atheist-themed videos; it's just coincidence--but a good one!)

Why didn't any of you tell me to watch this?

I've sung along to "Call Me Maybe" on the radio--cute, bouncy, easily forgotten by next summer--but I'd never seen the video. I was in the car with my son, talking about the Olympics, when this song came on the radio. I mentioned that I'd seen that some of the USA athletes had filmed their own video of this song while on the plane to the UK. My son said that he'd seen the official video of the song, and in telling me the plotline told me the surprise ending. Then I HAD to see the video.

You can fast forward to the end to see why I enjoyed it so much, but I strongly recommend that you do NOT fast forward through the lawn mowing portion of the video--not if you enjoy some very nice eye candy of the beefcake variety.

Do you like myths? Bawdy humor? Animation? Any two of the above? Go watch the video Mytho Logique. I was especially amused by the inital meeting of Zeus and the poor little satyr protagonist. (I don't think Zeus minded too much.)

It's in French with English subtitles, but I only had to pause and back up once because I missed something on screen while reading the subtitles.

I came across an AMAZING webcomic yesterday, Artifice. The main character, Deacon, is an "artificial person" (an adroid).

He was designed and programmed to be a super-soldier, but when the story begins, he's failed to carry out his orders and has to convince his superiors that he's salvagable. His orders were to kill all the colonists on a small mining colony, but his falling in love with one of the colonists, Jeff, created a bit of a dilemma.

The story shifts between his debriefing and flashbacks, and there's plenty of dramatic tension in each. The sex scenes are both sweet and hot--without being explicit. And the story raises more questions even as it answers some. And yes, the artwork is amazing. The artist, Winona Nelson, is a master of subtle facial expressions. (The writer is Alex Woolfson.)

The story is complete, so you don't have to fear the numerous cliffhangers.

Read Artifice. You'll be glad you did.

Most of you already know I'm a HUGE fan of copperbadge, AKA Sam Starbuck. Well, Sam's done it once again: written something that everyone should read. By the People: or How Reality Television Did Away with Campaign Ads is for everyone who's ever despaired of politics as usual or been horrified by the latest "reality" show to appear on their TVs.

eqfe had a wonderful "Warning" for people in advance of Hurricane Irene: Internet Outages.

I just stumbled across this beautifully done video of five hundred years of women's portraits in Western art. I love the computer morphing between the portraits, the selection of portraits, and the music chosen.

Women in Art by eggman913 on YouTube.

I usually don't do rec posts, as (A) my friends' list used to be pretty homogenous, so anything I'd read, you'd likely already read, and (B) it feels like I'm always reading WIP's and I hate to recommend an uncompleted story. However, my friends' list has branched out into new fandoms, and I've recently read several really good-- and complete!-- stories, so I thought it might be time to do a rec post again.

First and foremost, A Conversation Carole Never Wanted to Have by lls_mutant. You don't have to have watched a single episode of Glee to enjoy this one. All you need to know is that Carole is Kurt's new stepmother, that they bonded while Kurt played matchmaker between her and his widowed father, and that Kurt now has his first boyfriend, Blaine. It's a wonderful (step)mother and (step)son moment, and I love it precisely because it is such an awkward conversation to have, but Carole rises to the challenge admirably.

Proving that the HP fandom is still active, Match.com by bend_me_baby. It's Remus/Sirius (of course!) and an AU in which they are both muggles who haven't yet met. If you want a hint how they will meet, the title should be a clue. I love the slow but steady development of their romance, and I found the whole thing (4 chapters) an enjoyable read.

Most of the QaF fics I'm currently reading are massive WIP's, but here are a few very good one-shots. Toothbrushes by morrbran is a moment in that magical first season, and The Nude by sapphire_3 is set post-series. You don't have to be a QaF fan to appreciate these moments in time-- although it helps. Think of them as bookends of one another: Justin trying to make a place for himself in Brian's life, and Brian feeling a bit awkward with his current place in Justin's (so to speak).

Here's one from a show I don't even watch--I just like the Hawaii 5-0 fanfic! Not Trained for This by perspi is a wonderful little "Two Men and a Baby" type fic. Unlike every other Hawaii 5-0 fic I've read, there's no Steve/Danny slash in this one-- although the door isn't closed on the possibility-- but it's so sweet and funny that you won't miss the slash.

And if you aren't in the mood to read, just go ogle this drool-worthy photo of Hawaii 5-0's Alex Mclaughlin. No wonder so many people are watching the show. Thanks for the eye-candy, sheafrotherdon.

I do this all the time: I'm reading a story, and something emotionally upsetting is about to happen (I know this because I've read the book before, or it's based on a story I already know, or just because the hints have been too obvious), and I just can't keep reading. I put the story aside, go do something else, pick up the story again and read a few more lines, have to put it down again. It can take me hours to read a few pages when I get like this.

Right now I'm rereading a QaF story, A Love That Will Never Grow Old by Bedeviled, and I'm up to the part in which Justin tells Brian that he's seeing someone else. I know that they'll get back together and that it will all work out in the end--I did mention that I'm rereading, right?--but I still can't get through it in one go. I'm here typing this to procrastinate before I dive back into the heartache.

Aggh--what a wuss. (Somebody please tell me I'm not the only one. Please?)
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mindabbles has written a wonderful fic as a gift for me at rs_small_gifts. It's called Tell You Something, and it's a "Sirius loves Remus, but will he ever tell Remus?" fic.

The prompts I requested were: jealousy of James, Sirius interacts with Remus’ parent(s), and Sirius hates Muggle clothes. mindabbles used them all masterfully. A sample to whet your appetite:

“Can I change into normal clothes now or do we have more shopping to do?” Sirius asked, readjusting the constricting jeans. “I can’t believe that daft bugger’s going to make me wear an idiotic Muggle suit for his bloody wedding. We’ll be uncomfortable all day and look like sodding penguins.”

“Hmm, if they ever actually find a place to hold the thing and set a date. Anyway, James will look quite dashing as a penguin,” Remus chuckled as he emerged from his closet with yet another shirt to try on with his new jeans. “And you might carry it off as well if you stop acting like you’ve got a niffler in your pants every time you wear trousers.”

So go! Read!