inkstained

On my quest to find Lymond-like characters, I’ve recently read three books by authors that I believe have all influenced one another and that all kind of hit the same pleasure centers for me:

• Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones,


• The Sunbird by Elizabeth Wein (part of the Lion Hunter’s series),


• and The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (part of the Queen’s Thief series).

All three are Children’s or Young Adult titles with excellent world-building and angsty, misunderstood heroes who meet badass heroines who become love interests. The hurt/comfort potential on all is very high, but the thing I love about them all is how very adorable all the heroes are, even as they all gain national (or international) reputations that are crazily out-of-character for who they really are (cute softies). Really, really enjoyed all three of these.

Speaking of YA titles, I haven’t read the books, but I saw the Divergent movie yesterday and wasn’t terribly impressed with the world-building or plot. But I adored the hero love interest, Four, played by Theo James. Wanted a movie just about his backstory. Lots of fun.

And finally, I read that White Collar will be coming to an end with a short season 6. I feel that the fan-fiction has been better than the actual series since after season 1, but not going to lie, I still cried. It just hit me all at once. I adore Neal Caffrey.

Went to see Magic Mike LIKE A BOSS with some of my female friends from work. Not going to lie, I went entirely because Matt Bomer was in it. Totally fun, especially seeing it with a very indulgent and easily pleased audience, but to me the stripping bits were not sexy at all. However, I find myself unexpectedly turned on by Channing Tatum dancing (not stripping).

( Mild spoilers, musings on marketing and actors. )

It’s been a pretty good year for all the various fandoms I follow, so I figure I’d hand out some year-in-review awards. I haven’t seen as many films as I would have liked—and I’ve certainly not read nearly enough books, goodness—but that’s what grad school will do to you.

Best Novel: Keeping in mind I haven’t read very many, and I know this is old, but I read it this year when my bf bought it for me: Wicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale a.k.a. ginnhale. Delicious steampunk demon love story. Who wouldn’t fall for Belimai Sykes?

Best Live-Action Movie: I’m a bit torn between The King’s Speech and Inception here. They can’t really be compared, as they’re in totally different genres. The King’s Speech is such a beautiful character piece (and Colin Firth is definitely getting a Best Actor Oscar), but Inception gets credit for launching an entire fandom and for repeat-viewing fun. (See bookshop for details.)

Best Animated Movie: Surprisingly not the overly sentimental Toy Story 3 but Megamind. Who knew Will Farrell could produce a voice-acting talent this extraordinary? Seriously, his blue, bald, pronunciation-challenged villain-turned-hero is one of the best characters I’ve seen. I also loved How to Train Your Dragon, so congrats, Dreamworks, for finally making something worthwhile. EDIT: And you know what? Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole was actually pretty good, and certainly very beautiful. Ridiculously horrific title, but superb cast and voice acting. Jim Sturgess was awesome as Soren, the little lead owl.

Best TV Show: Hands down USA’s White Collar. Neal Caffery is the hottest, most charming and intelligent character on TV. Peter Burke’s relationship with his wife Elizabeth is drama-free, loving, and supportive. The women are phenomenal, even if they never get to talk to each other. Fox’s House gets lots of credit for going with the House/Cuddy relationship and making it fun but realistic (for them), and is still one of my favorite shows. South Park is also incredible, as always.

Best Anime: Oh, dear, this is hard. I’ll have to give it to Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge a.k.a. The Wallflower, though. Absolutely hilarious, for one. Best female protagonist since Ouran High School Host Club. But Kuroshitsuji a.k.a. Black Butler was phenomenal, gothic and creepy and lots of fun. Also lovely animation.

Favorite OTP: Still Harry/Draco, but this year introduced me to the joy of two OT3s: Harry/Draco/Snape, and, from White Collar, Peter/Elizabeth/Neal (which might as well be canon).

Best Harry/Draco fic: Man, this was incredibly hard. There were so many incredible fics in this pairing this year! Still, I’ll have to go with Railway Lands by maelipstick. This fic broke all my rules, yet still managed to blow me away.

Best Snape/Draco fic: Give My Heart by gypsyflame. I’m cheating a little because this had a Harry/Draco subplot, but really, the Snaco is the main focus. Deliciously in-character, wonderful use of magic and panic attacks.

Best RPG: still HP Dungeons, run by the magnificent femmequixotic. I’m amazed this is still going strong after this long. Made me love the Harry/Draco/Snape OT3. And I could read Snape's hilarious cauldron_brew on InsaneJournal forever.

Best Work-in-Progress: The Captive Prince by freece. Online original fic! Intelligence! Slavery as a trope that actually works! Plotty plot plot! The hottest UST ever. I know! And it's frequently updated, thank God. Definitely give it a shot.

Wish me luck on the out-of-country job search!