Hi! You may know me as woodburner. Or hey, you may not. Anyway, this is a mostly open journal - subscribe/unsubscribe at will, no need to ask permission. :)

Have an interview with Martin Freeman where he calls the relationship between Sherlock and John a "love story".



(That sound? THAT IS THE SOUND OF MY SHRIVELED GRINCH HEART GROWING THREE SIZES.)

Also, have a Louise Brealey (Molly) tweeting what Molly's 'heartfelt present' to Sherlock was. (NSFW) She is hysterical, omg, I love her.

That is all. (link)

ALSO OMG WE'RE GETTING AN ASTRID-CENTRIC EP THIS SEASON.

SO EXCITE.

JASIKA NICOLE = PERFECT HUMAN BEING

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(right

just watched the sherlock finale

i'm just gonna

maybe

sit here and stare into space for a little while)

So I just finished watching True Blood S4 and I'm actually KIND OF MAD, lol. Idek you guys, I was pretty fucking pissed about ( spoiler )

, but at least I saw that coming from a mile away, and I could have gotten past it. (And the results of that may be... uh, interesting, to boot.) But ( spoiler )

. WHAT THE FUCK. THAT WAS SO FUCKING RANDOM. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN FUCKING DO THAT. IT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE. GODDAMN.

Fuck you, True Blood writers. No srsly, fuck you. I've mostly been merely hilaritized by all your shock-factor camp writing, which is the reason I've watched the show to this point, but you've taken this shit too far. This was just completely random and pointless. Fuck.

(And I notice the characters you just ( spoiler )

Don't think I don't see what you did there.)

Idek if I want to watch the next season. I'm curious as to what happens to Lafayette, but lord knows they're just going to make him as miserable as possible, so I'm not sure there's any point.

JOHN WATSON'S BLOG. IT EXISTS.

AS DOES SHERLOCK'S WEBSITE. Omgggg he's whining petulantly that no one is reading his posts and deleting things and FLOUNCING.

crying forever this is the best thing THE BEST THING

(There's also a terribly embarrassing blog for Molly and... a website for Connie Prince?!)

JOHN IS SUCH AN AWFUL WRITER. IT IS HILARIABLE. Adorarious?

- "Which is why Sherlock and I ended up, dressed as ninjas, fighting a comic book geek in Soho."

- John watches LOLCAT VIDEOS

- John's sister makes Insinuations about John/Sherlock

- John complains about SELF-CHECKOUT MACHINES.

- John and Sherlock marathon James Bond

al;ksdjf;lakj L:DKJF:L♥♥♥

- So like, Sherlock. I don't even know you guys. I enjoyed the first season a lot, although I remembered very little of it. I snapped up the first ep of the 2nd season anyway, watched it... and then watched it again an hour after I'd finished. Then, a day later! I watched it AGAIN with Dave. XD;

Idk, I had a lot of problems with the episode, which I won't get into because I JUST WANT TO SMOOSH THEIR ADORABLE FACES uh, well, BORING b/c everyone else has already enumerated every problem I had with it, so I'm just wasting my breath, butttt... Watching a show 3 times in 2 days is not normal behavior for me, is all I'm sayin'! WTF, did they lace this new season with pure crack?



(Yes. Yes they did.)

(Actually, I feel compelled to note that something approximating romantic interest between Sherlock and Irene is not actually one of my problems with it. I get why so many of you hate this! I really do! But... Look, okay, that type of thing is one of my most hardcore fictional kinks, ngl. XD;)

eta: Oh! I nearly forgot. A conversation:

Me: Benedict Cumberbatch. Why is his face?

Dave: Benedict Cumberbash?

Me: Cumberbatch.

Dave: Benedict Cumberbatch. I bet his real name's George.

Me: No, that's his name. The best name for that face, really...

Dave: Wait, who is Benedict Cumberbatch?

Me: Sherlock! He plays Sherlock!

Dave: ...Oh. I thought he must be some improbably-named character in the show...

Me: ...No, that's his... actual name...


- In unrelated non-news, I have had this laptop for nearly a month now and I still can't figure out a name for it. D: All I know is it's metallic, purple-tinted, and female. (My old laptop is male. Look, don't ask me, they just are, okay.)


- Speaking of completely irrational animistic thinking, the other day I was taking a walk through my neighborhood, looked at a building I was walking by and thought to myself, "I wonder if all the residents in that building are friends, their cars look so friendly with each other!" It took a good 20 or 30 seconds for me to even note it as a strange thought.

We are making sausage balls! And sitting around the house being boring. No New Year's orgy parties for us. :(

Incidentally, Leverage has a new ep broadcasting tomorrow? And they did on Xmas too? WHO DOES THAT?

IT'S CHRISTMAS YOU GUYS

IT'S CHR........ist........masssssssssss...........




HA............ha...........ha

I

I QUIT CHRISTMAS okay not really but DON'T MAKE ME TURN THIS CAR AROUND



I also may have... possibly... been sucked into the watching the pony thing. DAMN IT YOU GUYS. I WAS DOING SO WELL AT RESISTING IT. But they seem to have laced it with crack. :<



Anyway, TREE.




Don't lie, my presents look awesome.


Eta: Uh, can someone tell me why my pictures aren't showing up

Eta #2: N/m imageshack is just being a twit

Uh... BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, I guess? Also I'm just reposting my review, idk guys, I am dying of TOO MUCH TO DO. (Not that I have all that much to do. I just tend to discombobulate into a scattered mess at the least hint of frustration.)

Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3 1/2 stars. Really fun YA paranormal with a touch of romance. Follows fairly standard patterns (except for, y'know, the whole pairing being two dudes thing, which is unfortunately scarce in YA).

Although the structure and story-beats are pretty straightforward for the genre, there are some pretty distinctive and original flares, I think. I, at least, haven't seen this sort of almost abstract and impressionistic approach to magic in a paranormal before. Pacing's a bit uneven, and I think Braden suffers from excessive bouts of too-stupid-to-live seemingly just for the sake of conflict, but this is fresh and fun enough that I'd recommend it for anyone who enjoys paranormal YA.

Oh, and btw - this is clearly the start of a series, and while there is a solid conclusion to this book, it leaves a lot hanging, too. I don't see that as either a good or a bad thing, but y'know, seems like a good thing to note.

View all my reviews


Basically I agree with most of what Rachel said - it's nothing extrodinary except in that the central couple are gay dudes. It was, otoh, a fun read, and I look forward to the next book.

So like... is it actually normal to see a faint grid pattern all over the screen with an LED backlit laptop monitor? Idk, maybe it's all I can expect out of this price range but it's... kind of annoying?

WHY IS POSTING SO MUCH EFFORT, AUGH, THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS. I am still here! Just not posting much! I am posting on twitter, if, you know, you like that sort of thing. branewurms. (Don't look at me like that! Twitter is lower pressure. D:) Let me know who you are or I might end up ignoring you in fear that you're a spammer.

Also, Goodreads. In case you missed it before when I noted it, I'm also branewurms on Goodreads. (Randoms are welcome to friend me there, but if I know you, let me know who you are so I can match username to username, etc.)

I am using NaNoWriMo to try and write this short story idea that's been banging around in my head for a little while! So far I've got about 1000 words. That might be kind of piddly, but as I've barely been able to write anything for months, I feel pretty good about it! It's about a pregnant teenage girl and also about the sky falling (literally). I'm not actually signing up on the NaNo site b/c I don't have a specific word count goal. BUT! I WILL GET THIS DONE. :|d

OKAY WTF IT HAS BEEN LIKE A MONTH SINCE I LAST POSTED.

And this post is going to be... a pimp post, but FRINGE COMING LATER, SWEARS.

pseudonymeter has a for-sale post up to raise direly needed funds - pretty hand made books! Custom book jewelry! Pretty bookmarks! Good for X-mas present ideas! etc. Go check it out!


Oh, and I almost forgot: rachelmanija has a great idea for "permanent floating YA diversity book clubs" - and is running one here for October/November. The book for Oct/Nov is Witch Eyes! I already read it a few weeks ago, and will be reposting my review from goodreads here on my blog. (Hopefully I can find more to talk about too?! I'm not that great at finding in-depth things to say about books...)

HOLY CRAP, YOU GUYS, THE AUTHOR OF THE BUNNICULA SERIES JUST GOT GAY MARRIED. \:D/

Apparently the person who wrote the #YesGayYA rebuttal was not the agent in question, just another agent from the agency. Yeah, that clarifies things so much. :|d

Cleolinda wrote an excellent roundup of the whole mess over here.

K Tempest Bradford also has an interesting post here.

Rachel Manija Brown (rachelmanija) and Sherwood Smith (sartorias) come forward to reveal that they were offered representation for their co-written post-apocalyptic YA novel by an agent at a major agency - on the condition that they make their gay character straight. Here is the article on Genreville at Publisher's Weekly, and here is the article on rachelmanija's blog.

They are asking any authors who have had a similar experience to come forward over on the Genreville post (pseudonymously if neccesary) and tell their stories. (Chillingly, the very first comment to that post is an author revealing that they were not asked to erase the icky gay cooties - their editor just did it for them, without mentioning it to the author at all.)

They're also asking editors and agents who are open to gay characters and other minority characters to explicitly advertise as such. They're asking readers to fight with their wallets - to buy YA books featuring queer characters, to request their libraries carry YA books featuring queer characters, and so on. Here is a list of known YA SFF books with major queer characters as a handy reference, complete with annotations and links to Amazon.

(And, because intersectionality is important: Known YA SFF with POC main characters, author surnames A-L, and author surnames M-Z.)

Please reblog and retweet. (Twitter hashtag: #YesGayYA)

This shit isn't going to stop until the writers and the consumers stand up and say that this is unacceptable. It won't stop until we send the clear message that we, the readers, do want to read these books, that we will buy them and request them at our libraries - that they are by no means "unmarketable," and that we know that flimsy excuse for what it is: a flimsy excuse.

FUCKING HURRICANES. AUGH. I am so done with this thing and it hasn't even started yet.

EARTHQUAKE, WTF?! I didn't feel it, but my mom did. I'm feeling kinda left out!

(...Note to Earth: that is NOT a request.)

No. 6 ep7. WELL THAT WAS CERTAINLY A VERY HETEROSEXUAL EPISODE.

( spoilers are very heterosexual )

Okay guys, I have like a bajilionity book quote reviews unquote since the last time I did a book post, but I'm going to post this one separately because it deserves special attention! And by that I mean I want you all to go read it and then COME BACK AND TALK TO MEEEE omg I want to babble senselessly about this book with people so bad. :(

(It's not out in the US yet. I was so excited to get the new Oyeyemi that I ordered it from Europe on Abebooks, errrr. But if you're in the US and want to wait until late September, here it is on Amazon!)

Mr. Fox's frame story takes place in the 1930s. It's about this jerk, St John Fox, who's a writer with a propensity for killing off all his heroines in ridiculously gruesome ways. His long-absent muse, Mary Foxe, shows up to berate him for being such an asshole - he's a killer, she says, and she doesn't want him like this. He protests! He's not an asshole! It's not like he's actually killing these fine ladies! It's all just games, don't you understand, it's not like it means anything! So Mary challenges him to another game: they each take turns ensnaring each other in stories - stories that ignore the constraints of time and location and reality - where they play the main characters. Through this game Mary hopes to teach him a lesson. Eventually, Mr. Fox's wife, Daphne, gets involved, thinking he's having some kind of affair.

You guys, THIS BOOK. It's really great. It was also very familiar to me on this uncanny, semi-subconscious level - like, YES, I recognize this, these things, they're in my head too! It has been many years since a book touched me on such a personal level. I think the only book that's ever been more eerily familiar to me than this was The Etched City. (...Although I hasten to add that the two books are not particularly alike at all. I do think there's a good chance that if you like one, you'd like the other, considering they're both from the weirder side of the tracks, and they're both very good.)

Helpful note: It helps to be familiar with Bluebeard/Fitcher's Bird/Mister Fox/other fairy tales following the Bluebeard motif going into this book. Also, Reynardine.

My quote review unquote from goodreads:

Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I don't know, I don't know, I don't knowwwww. The more deeply a book touches me, the less I know how to say anything about it. My reaction to this book is kind of like how I feel when I look at the moon; I'm full of all these senseless impulses, I want to eat it, I want to breathe it. It should be cool and bright in my mouth. Every word is luminous and strange and wonderful. I want everyone in the world to read it and love it like I do and talk about it so I can consume all their thoughts, too.

I know this tells you absolutely nothing about what this book was about. How am I supposed to convince people to read it? I just don't even know how to talk about it. It was a novel, and it was also a collection of short stories, and it was about a lot of things like love and creativity and muses and Bluebeard and the nastiness (and laziness) of the tradition of killing off heroines for dramatic impact. It was also wonderful, and you should all read it and talk about it so I can eat your thoughts.

Incidentally I almost wish I had waited for the US hardcover to come out and gotten that edition, because although the Picador edition is made of what looks and feels like high-quality materials, it's designed somewhat poorly so you have to almost wrestle the book open and pin it down to read it, and now there's all this wear on my copy when I'm usually really gentle on books. I don't really mind when this happens with a really cheap paperback, but this wasn't cheap. But if I had waited, I wouldn't have been able to read it for another whole two months, and that would have been TERRIBLE. What if I died tomorrow? Then I would have lived my whole life never having read this book. Horrors!

View all my reviews

Other things I am watching so far this season:

Dantalian no Shoka - This pretty much has no plot to speak of so far, but it's so atmospheric and the music is so pretty that it doesn't need one. I mean, I kind of don't know why they bothered with a plot at all - just random scenes of Dalian being cute and Hugh being charming and the occasional book-monster running around with pretty backgrounds and lovely music would have been fine. It sort of lulls me into this mellow, blissed out state. I get drowsy watching it not because it's boring, but because it's so soothing.

(...I suppose I should note here, lest you get the wrong idea from all my talk about it being soothing, that this is a horror/mystery show with some fairly gruesome scenes? Idek okay.)

Oh! And ep 4 had Dalian being a BL fangirl. Also ship wars. And another BL fangirl going all Misery on some poor author's ass. And Dalian deciding to write fix-it fic when her precious gay pairing had a cop-out straight ending. BL FANGIRLS. ENGAGING IN SHIP WARS SINCE THE 1930S.

Mawaru Pengindrum: Continues to be bizarre and entertaining and incredibly stylish, although I want more Himari! Ringo is interesting and all, but...


Aaaand I just discovered that Natsume Yuujinchou S3 has already started broadcasting! Somehow I missed that. Just watched the first 2 eps, and it continues to be the cute, whimsical and languid show the first 2 seasons were.

Along with No. 6, that makes FOUR ANIME SERIES worth watching this season?! UNPOSSIBLE. Oh, anime, how I've missed you. ;_____________;


Shows that I have watched which I don't really recommend:

Blood C: This is the latest installment in the Blood franchise (Blood the Last Vampire, Blood +, etc.) I've watched 4 episodes of this so far and it continues to be dead boring, and yet somehow I just keep watching more? Idk. The one good thing I can say for it thus far is that it has some really awesome and creative monster designs.


Mayo Chiki!: I only watched 5 minutes of this. Seriously, anime industry, you are pissing me the fuck off. You give me one of my greatest kinks - A LADY BUTLER, FOR GOD'S SAKE - and make her the heroine of a show, and you make the show a piece of disgusting moe crap. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.