Scales and Tales

How is it that it seems like forever since my last post, and yet somehow when I look at my DW I have an immediate, "It can't have been that long!" reaction to the last post date. Oy.

My fannish life seems to be something of a muddle right now, as I'm flitting through fics in various small/old fandoms (Weiss Kreuz, Silmarillion, Nirvana in Fire, Witcher. I've picked up the first manga volumes of FAKE, and they've been making for good lunch-break reading: fluffy and about as realistic as a Disney movie, but entertaining and easy to consume in 30-minute bursts without losing plot threads.

The last few days have given me a temptation to poke my nose into Mo Dao Zu Shi (Modao Zushi?); I've seen some things that make me think I'd like it after all, though my initial impression - back when it first became a thing - wasn't favourable. Given that it seems to exist in two dozen different forms, though, it may take me a while to figure out how to approach it if I do decide to take the plunge; right now, the webnovel and the animated version are what I'm leaning toward. If you're a fan, suggestions and pointers would be welcome! Be sure to check out these beautiful icons by yeonmo, too. /driveby rec

Outside of fandom, I've been rereading some Georgette Heyer romances (The Convenient Marriage, The Grand Sophy, & Devil's Cub so far). Yesterday I finally got around to the long-overdue vacuuming, but did not accomplish any of the other major household tasks I need to do. (Sigh.) For a while I had some genuine Real-Life excuses, but those are wearing rather thin, and I'm once again faced with the fact that, in fact, I actually just really hate doing laundry. *guilty* It may be time to look at my accrued PTO and take a day off for Dumb Domestic Stuff That Needs Doing. First I should probably make a list of said tasks, though, or I'll forget half of them when I do have time! :D

On Wednesday I cleared out the 461 emails in my fannish email account. I don't check it as often as I ought! Among the million comment notifications in the heap I found a reply to a post I made elsewhere about '90s anime recs, which seemed worth digging up and filling out a bit to post here!

Here you go; have a bunch of nostalgia. :D


( Six Utena fic recs, Anthy/Utena and gen with various characters: )


( Three Yami no Matsuei fics, all shades of Hisoka/Tsuzuki: )


( One Vampire Hunter D fic rec: )

gramarye1971 suggested the "Badass Normal" trope, where an unenhanced character holds their own against superpowered or supernatural competition.

This is another trope that I really don't think about as a thing in itself, but I definitely have a number of canons where it features!

( Discussion and canon recs below the cut )

Since I'm not accustomed to thinking about this trope as a distinct thing, I'm very interested in hearing your thoughts and recs. What characters do you consider prime examples? Where do you draw the line for "normal," especially for characters who have long-running arcs that lead to significant increases in power/skill?

As Though in Deliberate Mistranslation by verdenal. FMA '03 fic (though featuring minor mentions of FMA:B characters); Ed/Roy. After eight years, Ed and Al find their way back across the gate. As it turns out, you can go home again.


Ed first gets the idea in Prague, where they’re lying low and trying to figure out the best way to escape Central Europe. The Germans are constantly on their trail, probably because two foreigners with gold eyes and six flesh limbs between them stand out in people’s memories.


Watching FMA:B has me reading fic again, not that I need an excuse to revisit FMA fic. :D It's one of those fandoms I always return to, and I love every incarnation of it... but I sometimes suspect that FMA03's ending lends itself to great fic setups.

The other night I was in Ed/Roy FMA Chat with anotherfmafan and the usual suspects (plus a few new faces! Hi!) and we had a blast! There was much exciting discussion, and fun trivia questions (anotherfmafan was the victor! I was sadly nowhere in the running for the crown), and prompts for 5-sentence ficlets.

Mine are below, lightly edited.

( Lick )


( Candlelight; post-anime (2003), Roy-centric )


( Heat )


( Goodbye; established relationship, smut )


( Condom; established relationship, smut )


( Tickle; futurefic, fluffy WAFF )


( Push; postcanon, sort of h/c? )


( Shudder; implied Ed/Roy, Al-centric )


( Lotion; postcanon, humour )

This one's a change in pace - several short stories, instead of one long narrative.

( Thoughts on the first short story. )

( Second story, which may be my favourite thus far. )

( The third story, with a completely different tone. )

In summary: THIS MANGA, YOU GUYS!

Finally got cracking on YnM again! Volumes 3 through 7 have been sitting on my coffee table for a month, silently reproaching me.

The third volume is the Cruise Ship Of Doom plotline!

( Discussion below, with spoilers. )

A happy accident: stumbling across this beautiful koto rendition of Dean Fujioka's "History Maker"!

Please enjoy. :D

In an effort to keep myself on track with various things, including posting, here's a round-up of where my current fannish efforts are focused.

Rewatching Nirvana in Fire
I've just started this, so if anyone wants to join in - either rewatching, or as a first-time viewing - I'd love to have company. :D At the moment I'm just four episodes in. If other people are interested in watching along, we can come up with a specific schedule and I'll make regular posts designated for discussion! If it ends up being just me, I'll probably be quieter about it; I feel like I've flooded everyone with NiF reactions lately, and you've all been very patient about it and deserve a break in return. :D

Reading Yami no Matsuei
I started this a while ago but got sidetracked, so I plan to start over at the beginning. I'll try to post after each volume completed, to avoid being sidetracked again. No specific schedule in mind, but I should manage at absolute minimum a volume a week.

Watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Believe it or not, I've never watched FMA:B before! I didn't want to watch it before finishing the manga, and when I'd finished the manga it wasn't readily available, so it's taken me all this time to get round to it. :D The first anime will probably always be my true love, but for completion's sake I do want to get through Brotherhood as well. There may not be much to post about, though, given that this is the third incarnation of FMA for me.

Reading new SF/F from my To-Be-Read Pile
Most of my reading thus far this year has been rereading, but this pile needs to shrink, and this year is as good as any. :D No idea what will call to me first when I start going through it, but as long as I pick something, it's progress! (Reminder to self: take a picture of the pile and post it!)

Rec Some Fics
The lack of fic recs in this journal is just sad. Gotta get back in that rec habit, even if it means stumbling through different ideas on how to approach it till I hit on one that works. (By fandom, by trope, by length?) DW friends, if you have suggestions for recs you'd like to see, now is the time to toss them out here! I had fun posting about Identity Porn, and I've made at least one other post about a beloved trope before, so maybe that's a good approach. Or maybe it should be under a separate heading like "Write Some Meta" that would include stuff like characterisation notes and thoughts on archive warnings.

Today's Journaling January prompt from extrapenguin was Identity Porn


This is a trope that I really enjoy, and also find really difficult to describe. It's an umbrella kink that encompasses several different aspects of narrative play around the concept of identity.

The most general definition I can give is this: "Identity Porn" is a narrative examination of the tension caused by a character's efforts to conceal their identity in some way, or by uncertainty about their true identity. Stricter definitions might exclude the latter clause, but I feel that an identity "concealed" by outside interference from all parties can also meet the emotional and narrative beats of the Identity Porn trope.


Setup
Superheroes are the classic example, perhaps because of the double-whammy (a superhero passing as a regular person is in essence maintaining two concealed identities) but Identity Porn comes with lots of options. Spies, undercover detectives, clones, celebrities, military operatives, dethroned royalty, crossdressers, revenge seekers, amnesiacs, and time-travellers all get a slice of the Identity Porn pie! Identity is a complicated and very personal concept, so it makes sense that any kind of long-term manipulation of identity is going to pull a lot of emotional strings.

( Discussion and Related Tropes )

( Canon Recs for Identity Porn )

( Fic Recs for Identity Porn )

So there you have it, lots of rambling about Identity Porn. :D If you have recs for other canons or fics, or thoughts on what makes this trope satisfying, please comment with them!