Embryo of Philosophy

( Bleach )

( Count Cain/Godchild )

( Getbackers )


( Loveless )

( Merlin )

( Revolutionary Girl Utena )

( Saiyuki )

( Trigun )

( White Collar )

( Yami no Matsuei )

( Miscellaneous )

( Drabbles )

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/263834.html. Please consider commenting there.

Doctor Who is a show I love, but I almost never blog about. So, here's a post.

While I had been enjoying the second half of season, there was nothing that blew me away. "The Name of the Doctor" fixed that.

( Spoilers )

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/328259.html. Please consider commenting there.

So, for ages I've had the idea of writing a post on what I think each White Collar character's D&D alignment is. If you don't know what the heck an alignment is in this context then look at your life, look at your choices this may help. I'm actually going quote a bit, because I feel it's especially relevant.

The third edition D&D rules define law and chaos as follows:[8]

Law implies honor, trustworthiness, obedience to authority, and reliability. On the downside, lawfulness can include closed-mindedness, reactionary adherence to tradition, judgmentalness, and a lack of adaptability. Those who consciously promote lawfulness say that only lawful behavior creates a society in which people can depend on each other and make the right decisions in full confidence that others will act as they should.

Chaos implies freedom, adaptability, and flexibility. On the downside, chaos can include recklessness, resentment toward legitimate authority, arbitrary actions, and irresponsibility. Those who promote chaotic behavior say that only unfettered personal freedom allows people to express themselves fully and lets society benefit from the potential that its individuals have within them.

Someone who is neutral with respect to law and chaos has a normal respect for authority and feels neither a compulsion to follow rules nor a compulsion to rebel. They are honest but can be tempted into lying or deceiving others if it suits him/her.

There will be spoilers for all four seasons of White Collar.

Now let's go.

( Read more... )

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/328046.html. Please consider commenting there.

Outside-the-cut-reaction 1: OMG that was awesome!

Outside-the-cut-reaction 2: Oh thank you, I can finally go back on tumblr without fear of being spoiled.

( Spoilers )

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/327755.html. Please consider commenting there.

Read in the past week:

Making Money by Terry Pratchett. It's Discworld. It's Moist von Lipwig and Adora Belle Dearheart. What's not to love? And I thought that Vetinari was an especially magnificent magnificent bastard this time, but I think I always think that.

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. Not as good as Silence of the Lambs, but it's been literally like a decade since I read Silence of the Lambs, so what do I know? I had a post brewing that compared the book versions of Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs to the movie verions, but since it's been a while since I saw the Red Dragon movie, and, like I said, roughly ten years since I read Silence of the Lambs, I'm not sure it would work.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins. Really interesting, though certainly depressing. I was shocked but not the least bit surprised by what I learned in this book. Indeed, I feel like Perkins could have hit even harder than he did, but I understand that he had to struggle with a lot of both external and internal forces to write the book in the first place.

Currently reading: The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine. Stories within stories within stories. A novel both about family and the very act of telling a tale. I'm not very far along, but I'm really liking it.

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/327265.html. Please consider commenting there.

It's been a few days, I didn't take notes, and my memory is a sad, tragic sieve of forgetting things, so, uh, I will do my best to write a proper reaction. Because this episode deserves one.

( Spoilers )

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/326858.html. Please consider commenting there.

I appear to have pulled myself back from a complete emotional collapse. I didn't post about it at the time, but it was... ugly. I'm pretty worn down from it. So, if I don't answer a lot of comments, or respond to a lot of posts, that's why.

I'm nowhere near 100%, so I'm trying to be careful with myself. This means no gender meta for month_of_meta, unfortunately. If I weren't working, sure, but I can't put that much on my plate. Self care, it's all about self care. I might write the little D&D alignments meta. That would be much less difficult. But we'll see. Self care! My emotional health is more important than internet deadlines. (And I'm going to keep repeating that until I, hopefully, believe it.)

I'm also not signing up as pich hitter for wcpairings. I know I said I would in an attempt to alleviate the guilt, but like I said, self care. Heh, besides, right now they only have one opening, and that's the space I left, I deduce.

Speaking of internet deadlines, I really need to get started on my big bang. I have other fics I wanted to finish--one very belatedly for the Neal/Sara fest and one or two for whitecollarhc's ComFest, but I don't know how long that could take me. I am such a slow writer. At least I got kink_bingo out of the way. I tell myself that people always like getting fic, even if it's months after the fact. THEY DO, RIGHT? I'M NOT WRONG THERE? Besides, the one was I was working on for ComFest may or may not be crap. (I couldn't tell if I thought it was crap because I was depressed, or if I thought it was crap because it actually was crap. Of course, it might have been crap because I was depressed.)

Now my real problem is actually starting the big bang. This is always the worst part. Actually beginning. I don't exactly have an outline, but I have a list of events that are supposed to happen and some issues I want to deal with. But writing that first sentence... I seem to be having trouble with that part. Starting is always difficult, but it's less intimidating for short fics. I don't have so much to tackle, and there's no pressure on them to hit that word length. (Why did I think this was a good idea?)

In the interest of motivating myself, would the people in my circle who participating in big bang (and those who want to cheer us on) be interested in setting up a time and place to chat? It might be a stupid idea, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

For the moment, however, I'm just going to listen to a lot of sixties music and take some (prescribed, psychiatric) drugs. Maybe I'll try to write a little later. And this evening, I do believe there will be Doctor Who.

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/326596.html. Please consider commenting there.

Just finished:

Rather than describe only the last book I read, I thought I'd post a little bit on everything I read since last Wednesday

( Read more... )

It was a productive week! Well, I needed to make up for those dry months. I don't expect I'll be able to keep this up, but one can always hope.


Currently Reading: Making Money, by Terry Pratchett. It's been too long since I read a Discworld novel! And this one has Moist, who is one of my favorites. Of course, I tend to to think that whichever character I'm reading about is my favorite. If I'm reading Lords and Ladies, the witches are my favorites, if I'm reading Hogfather then Death and Susan are my favorites, and then if I'm reading Men at Arms, Vimes becomes my favorite. But Moist has a place near the top, no matter what, I'm pretty sure.

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/326290.html. Please consider commenting there.

Just finished:

Grim Tuesday by Garth Nix, the second in his Keys to the Kingdom series. These books are solidly entertaining, though I like Nix's Abhorsen series even better. In my head, I call this series dark fantasy, but it's not Lovecraft dark, nor "darker and edgier" dark. And it is a YA series. But there's a very particular allure to the world building.


Currently reading:

I'm just about to start Women Heroes of World War II, which looks very interesting and appears to cover a variety of women.

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/325664.html. Please consider commenting there.

Why is there a snowstorm on May 1st? Why, I ask you? YOU FAIL, SPRING. YOU ARE FIRED.

Because having to trek in the snow all over town today was totally what I wanted to do.

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/325468.html. Please consider commenting there.

It might be lonelier
by Emily Dickinson


It might be lonelier
Without the Loneliness --
I'm so accustomed to my Fate --
Perhaps the Other -- Peace --

Would interrupt the Dark --
And crowd the little Room --
Too scant -- by Cubits -- to contain
The Sacrament -- of Him --

I am not used to Hope --
It might intrude upon --
Its sweet parade -- blaspheme the place --
Ordained to Suffering --

It might be easier
To fail -- with Land in Sight --
Than gain -- My Blue Peninsula --
To perish -- of Delight --

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/324906.html. Please consider commenting there.

This weekend has been officially fired. Yeah, with twenty minutes left to go. After my messy Saturday, I wake up at 4:30 AM on Sunday after having an extremely vivid dream about my mother dying, so I cry until about 5:00 which is when I get up. So, I've spent the day sleep deprived, and I failed to accomplish any of my reading or fic writing goals. Now I'm having a bout of insomnia despite taking a sleeping pill.

Also, in terms of more minor annoyances, I have a dozen story ideas, without the time or energy to write them. Here's snippet from the Fowler ficlit inspired by discussion with sholio and florafic. Keep in mind that I am sleep deprived and under the influence of prescription drugs (Hey! Just like every other day of my life!), so expect roughness.





One evening, he watched her play solitaire. Ostensibly, he was guarding her. Closer to the truth was the fact that she was the one person in this whole operation he didn't completely loathe.

"Have you ever heard of Canada Bill Jones?" she asked, out of no where.

He looked at her. Idle chatter wasn't how they worked. "19th century gambler," he answered.

She smiled, like he was a child getting an easy question right. "According to hearsay and rumor, a friend of Bill's once came up to him and told him that card game Bill was playing was rigged. Bill replied, 'I know it's crooked, but it's the only game in town.'"

"Hearsay and rumor, huh?"

If the noise she made had been a little less weary or a shade less dark, it would have been called a laugh. "An acquaintance of mine would say that's the only real truth."

He didn't bother responding further. She had made her point. They both knew exactly what kind of game they were playing.

She was still for several minutes, still holding the same card. He looked at her game. "You've run out of moves," he remarked.

Her grip on the card tightened, and it twisted until he could see that it was the six of of hearts. "There's always another move," she whispered. He wasn't sure which of them she was trying to convince.



(According to Wikipedia, another name for the six of hearts is Loyalty at the Risk of Death. I may have found the symbolism to be relevant.)

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Sonnet 44
by William Shakespeare


If the dull substance of my flesh were thought,
Injurious distance should not stop my way;
For then despite of space I would be brought,
From limits far remote, where thou dost stay.
No matter then although my foot did stand
Upon the farthest earth removed from thee;
For nimble thought can jump both sea and land
As soon as think the place where he would be.
But ah! thought kills me that I am not thought,
To leap large lengths of miles when thou art gone,
But that, so much of earth and water wrought,
I must attend time's leisure with my moan,
Receiving nought by elements so slow
But heavy tears, badges of either's woe.

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/324481.html. Please consider commenting there.

I have a Tumblr now. I don't even like Tumblr. But now I have one, so I should probably stop whining about it. I was telling sholio what gigantic hypocrite I am about the whole thing. "I hate Tumblr, and why hasn't fuckyeahnealsara been updating? I need my fix!"

But, uh, I have one now. I don't really know how it works, which is making me feel technologically clueless. (And if I think this is bad, wait until I finally get a cell phone.) I think I've figured out how to track tags, but I'm not sure.

I'll feel really awkward about not creating anything. I'm not a graphics person by any stretch of the imagination. But oh well. This is an experiment. For all I know, I'll become bored in a week and forget about it.

Anyway I'm veleda-k. Feel free to validate by existence by following me. Or, you know, don't.

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/324100.html. Please consider commenting there.

Today is not shaping up so well. I thought it would be a super relaxing day of lots and lots of reading. But instead, my uncle's coming over to work on my computer, then we're going out to dinner and the symphony. Computer stuff is intensely stressful, and while I like the symphony, I'd rather have a quiet evening at home. Also, while I care about my uncle, he's a lot to take in large doses. AND I had to spend several hours cleaning in order to make the place presentable. I hate cleaning.

And on top of that, I spent the last 45 minutes or so searching out Sara hate. I know it sounds stupid, but it was necessary. If I'm going to write the posts about WC fandom and sexism, I should know what I'm refuting. As you can imagine, the experience has left me profoundly demoralized. (The main thing I learned: White Collar apparently has too much nuance and subtlety for the Sara bashers to understand. White Collar, for heaven's sake! It's not Dostoevsky.)

So, I'm going to ask for what I hate to ask for. Does anyone have anything that might cheer me up? Picspams, vids, fic? Or something unrelated to fandom! I could just use a little perking up.

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/323877.html. Please consider commenting there.

Conclusion
by Audre Lourde

( Conclusion )

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/323718.html. Please consider commenting there.

So, it's about time I started planning my month_of_meta essay on gender in White Collar. At the moment it's looking pretty overwhelming. (But all my projects look like that at first.) So, I'm open to discussion. I'm not looking for anyone to write it for me, or tell me what to write, but I like to know what people think. What Would you like to see in this kind of essay? What subjects have you wondered about? What fills you with glee? What fills you with rage? I'm not promising to use anyone's ideas, and I imagine that many people on my flist and I have very similar thoughts and would use the same jumping off points. But if you've always wanted to read somebody's take on ____, feel free to suggest it.

Also, since I don't have time to do a complete four season rewatch, I plan to select especially relevant episodes. Feel free to add others.

( The list )

That's... a lot of episodes. And looking over them, I realize I've only focused on the women, when this essay is supposed to be about masculinity as well as femininity. Which means more episodes to watch.

I'm lucky I want to do this so much. I mean that degree in Woman and Gender Studies should be used somewhere.

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By Accident
by Amit Majmudar


First she gave me the wound by accident.
Then the tourniquet she tied unwound by accident.

Your friend may want to start running.
I gave his scent to the hounds by accident.

Balloons on the mailbox, ambulance in the driveway.
Bobbing for apples I drowned by accident.

Did someone tell the devil we were building Eden?
Or did he slither on the grounds by accident?

I said some crazy things, but I swear, officer,
I burned her place down by accident.

Only surfaces interest me.
What depths I sound I sound by accident.

"What should we look for in a ghazal, Amit?"
Inevitabilities found by accident.

This entry was originally posted at http://veleda-k.dreamwidth.org/323319.html. Please consider commenting there.

Rain
by Kim Chôngnan


From which heaven did you return
my bird of loneliness
the sound of building house
between flesh and flesh
without pain

A woman weeping or not weeping, leaning her head
against the window of that house

She is like me or like my elder sister

A bird--lingering bird
with wet wings
like my elder sister
like myself until dawn



Translated from Korean by Peter H. Lee

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Work is managing some incredible combination of making me insane with stress, and boring me. So, meme.


Name a character in any of my fandoms, and I'll answer these questions:

1. Do you love/hate/don’t feel strongly about this character?
2. What’s your favorite trait of this character?
3. What’s your favorite moment/event involving this character?
4. If you could have one power/attribute/etc. of this character, what would it be?
5. Have you ever pictured this character naked?
6. When did you fall in love/hate with this character? I you don’t have any strong feelings toward them, why not?
7. Who’s your OTP for this character, if any?

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