The sad thing is? Technically, all of these COULD be useful, as I have sucky social skills, I lack a penis, and my breasts--well, less said about the measurements there, the better.
Hmm.
I just want to meet the person who gets all three of those and thinks, wow, someone knows me VERY well. Just so we can chat.
I see the bi-minute RPF debates are going strong on my friends list. As I got to see them played out last night in chat (and let me tell you, there's nothing more generally strange than watching otherwise friendly, normal people who get along fabulously suddenly turn into public school-class debaters, though now I'm sympathizing with those who have to watch me and Liv debate Jonathan and Clark over and over *g*), I'm skipping the LJ versions and cuddling all sides equally, because frankly? Could so care less. I'm sure this shows some lack of ethical fiber on my part, but glass houses, stones, oh look, is that lightning? According to recent survey, fifteen year old Clark getting nailed by Lex is vaguely running the line in pedophilia and I was getting Clark seriously, seriously laid this time last year without benefit of birth certificate. So. Heh.
Me? I got Switch to read. RivkaT has me all atizzy and glowy. And I am currently reading a story that is so--mindboggling that I'm riveted. Thank you, Erica.
Anyway. My fannish place is happy. And I have coffee. Away, badvibes!
Recs:
Switch: A Comedy of Terrors by Rivka T. Oh, I recced this? Go figure. Let's do so again, because really, this sucker rocks beyond my ability to articulate. I am so in love it's scary. So. Damn. Good.
And lines like this.
Lex stood in order to circle him, looking at his pearl without price. Clark shifted on his feet. He wasn't used to people looking at him so carefully. Even Lex had tried to keep the obsessive stares to a minimum when Clark was looking back. Now he was fulfilling a well-tended fantasy, albeit under unanticipated circumstances: to have Clark pacing around him, watching him like a hawk watches a rabbit. That it was him in Clark's body, rather than Clark himself, was a disappointment, but he'd always known that it would take a serious disruption in the space-time continuum for Clark to return his interest.
Or a body that was wired to do boys and girls. And, what do you know, Clark was now in possession of one of those.
So that was what was going on in Clark's head. The flush extended to the back of his neck. Lex wanted to bite it.
Plus? Lex's blank horror at being turned on by Lana. People, this is classic stuff. Seriously so.
Also by
rivkat, War Games (or some name similar), which is--mindbending in a seriously good, creepy way. Or that eternal question, personal sacrifice against personal integrity, how far is too far, and well, you'll see.Frozen by Pun. Mm. Happy post-Skinwalker. Revelation, of a sort, explanation, and some solid characterization going on. I liked how Lex came out here, and I love how Clark was characterized. So definitely read.
Edges of White by Nitelite. This was--so sweet. Christmasy snugglefic, Lex-returns-fic, and I encourage the non-abuse of Lex very highly. It will leave you squishy and looking for hot chocolate.
Playing House by
dammitcarl. Wow, that was--melancholy. And very real. AND very lovely.pearl_o accosted me with this one, too.Untitled by
rageprufrock. Funny and surreal and so cool. And--still very funny. The ultimate triangle of Lex/Clark/Superman. VERY good stuff.Other Generalized Rambling:
Almost done with
bonibaru's birthdayfic. One section to go. It's light sillyfic from the Happy Place, so please God, don't let her be expecting the next War and Peace out of me anytime soon. Also? An amazing thing happened.
I'm almost caught up on answering feedback (LJ stuff is still pending free time). I'm one third done in sending it. Am I shocked? Yes. I think I scared someone by replying to their feedback like, five seconds after sending it, considering my usual thing recently is to folder it and hope for free time. This does not count everything that's still mixed up in random folders from my program problems a couple of months ago, but I'm actively sorting through and pulling stuff, so--shocky people have been going, huh, she's NOT a total bitch ignoring me.
What, me, sensitive about the recent feedback debates? Whatever makes you think that? *grins*
Further musing from the Happy Place:
No, I am not on drugs, it's just--you know, inexplicable good moods? Yes, I know, they never last, and by nightfall, I'll be dark and depressing and more than a little on the edge of bitter, so don't worry. Just--it could be the fact that I have COFFEE finally, and my blood's getting resaturated after a dark, endless sixteen hours without it. Withdrawal's a bitch.
I just--FINALLY got to read some posts on my friendslist, and
thamiris and latxcvi just rocked in their analyses of Insurgence going on, which you know, ouchouchouch, but also, denialfic? I'm on it. rivkat and I had a little chat about dark Lex--you know, the Lex that's going to bathe in blood, lead toads to fall from the sky, bring on teh apocalyse AND wear bad seventies era white suits, which really, in the scheme of things, that last thing is far, far the worst....So, Dark!Lex.
I haven't been able to write that yet--even though at this point, I'm cheerleading his slip so he can get a good night's sleep and maybe lay off the brandy in such large quantities.
Part of it is, ironically, the sheer lack of canon. Yes yes yes, I treat canon pretty optionally, and yes, Livia, Dust was some serious stretching on the characterization front. *sticks out tongue and grins* But also? It's still hard to get rid of everything in Lex that needs to go for him to just drop into the other side and wallow in it like a happy, rich, capialist pig.
*thinks* A LOT of this is canon problems, but...you know, I'm wondering if the problem is, what's considered bad acts in SV are standard for some of my other fandoms.
In other words, the standards for Smallville are dizzying sometimes when I compare and contrast. When Lex blackmailed Nixon, I honestly didn't blink at all--and it took me awhile to internalize, this is SMALLVILLE. In the context of this show, this is BAD. Unlike, you know, X-Men, where I had Logan musing on his body count casually one day. So the thing with Hamilton and the bugging both don't hit me as bad acts, except in this show, they ARE. I mean, the bugging? Right, Lex got some bad apple criminals, but that seemed like a pretty good idea to me. Practically speaking, Lionel at this point scares me. I think Lex's life might be at stake if he doesn't start setting up some seriously, seriously good security and start some good intelligence work on the enemy.
More interesting to me by far is that Lex, until Lionel did it, hadn't thought of it himself. Other than having Daddy followed--and you know Lionel knew all about that--he's been relatively, well, passive aggressively taking the high road.
But then of course, I was campaigning for Jonathan to KILL NIXON ALREADY, so I can't really say I'm the moral arbitrator anywhere.
Anyway. My own inner standards of good behavior in fiction are very heavily torn. I'm a practical kind of girl. Smallville skews too hard for me to accept it. Phelan and everyone else who discovers Clark's secret conveniently dying or entering a mental institution just--rubs me very wrong, since most of the other characters, when having their moral fiber tested, usually don't get that kind of skew in their favor. Honestly to God, it's been far too easy for Clark to be moral when his enemies DIE ALL THE DAMN TIME BEFORE THEY ARE AN ACTUAL THREAT.
And this isn't Clark-bitterness, since I'm still immersed in RivkaT's Switch, because I think he'd make the right moral/ethical decision. Just as yet, I want him tested, seriously so, with the consequences afterward, and damned if I think this show will ever give me that. Hence the fact in the future, it's going to be easy for me to be blatantly unfair to Clark, even when I KNOW I'm being unfair. Gah.
Oddly, I've said this before. Huh. Go figure. Call it redux of my endless frustration that Lex's luck is so very, very, dear GOD very bad. Insurgence just hurt. And it was so good, it continues to hurt. A LOT.
So, I rambled off Dark!Lex.
So far, in fic, outside a few stories, I am having problems with a completely unethical and morally bankrupt Lex Luthor. And considering how MR is playing Lex (the woobieness is legendary here), I'm not entirely sure I'll ever be able to buy it, hence the fact I probably need to write it to find what my tolerance is exactly.
I talked
girlinthetrilby hopefully into trying a fic idea that I know I can't write, but since she gave us Bitter Strands, I'm pretty damn sure she can and with any kind of luck and some carefully applied whining, will. *smiles at Bethy* You go girl. Annnway.
Tomorrow I finally get to catch up on my het reading, thank God. I do read it. Just you know, not often, but Liv has some Chloe I missed and Hope has a couple I foldered for a rainy day (it's cold here, so sleety day, perhaps). My toes are cold and will remain so until March.
Right, anyone actively interested in that? Probably not.
I was thinking of doing one of the many surveys floating around LJ, except there's an uncomfortable part of me thinking, I've done some of these before. Multiple times. Sometimes, I even bore myself.
Oh, right. This is interesting.
musesfool discusses the BBC article on fanfic here. Here's a thought. When people want to write articles on fanfic, why don't they get someone who KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT to write it? I know, this is mostly done for sensationalism, kinda like a zoo -- SEE THE STRAIGHT WOMEN BIZARRELY WRITE ABOUT GAY SEX! (and other things but these aren't as weird) LOOK AT THE MONKEYS! *sighsighsigh* I didn't have these kind of issues when I was a het writer. Now I read these and wince, then think, hmm, do I write for some good reason or because, seriously, Lex naked covered in whipped cream really IS the highlight of my artistic sensibilities?*blinks, smiles, blinks back into reality*
Well. If The Great Masturbator was used in my art class as an example of revolutionary (retroactive? Oh damn, I SLEPT a lot during that class) art, then by God, the whipped cream Lex can, too. I just don't provide visual aids. Though God know, I'd be happy to see them.
Anyone?
Yep. I should get off now. Caffeine-sugar highs are dangerous animals.