Okay, it really hasn't been that long at all. BUT STILL.

(  Pick teams!  )

You know what someone should do? Start a fannish newsletter for movies and/or miniseries that are of-fannish-interest but not big enough to be ongoing fandoms. I know, I know-- it would be impossible to define what exactly is "of fannish interest" and also isn't going to spawn its own fandom-- basically, it would be impossible to tell what's going to be a flash in the pan before the flash *happens*-- and there would be no way to collect links from all over fandom (instead of just your *personal* corner of fandom) without making it your full time job-- but basically, I would like it if I could go to, whatever, flashinthepan_newsletter and see a ton of links to other people's *fannish* meta about The Incredible Hulk or Dr. Horrible or whatever movie Callum Keith Rennie is gonna be in next-- the flash-in-the-pan fandoms, that are super busy for like two weeks and then die.

What I'm imagining is, like, a journal with one post for each "flash in the pan" fandom, and people could leave comments there linking their (or other peoples') meta or fic, and then whoever's responsible for that entry could come back and collate and organize the links within the body of the post. (And anyone interested in the fandom could thumbtack the post and get an email whenever someone left a comment.) Or something. *I'm* not gonna do it, but it seems like something that might be useful.

Which is to say... link me your Dr. Horrible meta and/or fic? (I'm ok with all reactions, positive and negative.)

Also--

-- you know who would totally get along? Peter Wimsey and Inara Serra. BFFs for life, man.

This got long; every time I thought I was finished editing, there was one more link or quote I had to add. Laura digs her own hole here, folks. All I did was collect a bunch of links.

Some background: here and here (read the comments) among other places. And especially svmadelyn here.

The thing you have to remember about Laura Hale, guys? It's all about the Benjamins.

She's on record-- years ago on mailing lists, in emails to her wiki volunteers (key quote: In the meantime, she was telling me about how she wants to sell it and whatnot) on Twitter-- everything she does is about driving more visitors to her wiki, in order to be able to make money off it.

She's listed herself and her wiki on several marketing and startup sites. (What is she after? Venture capital.) And again, here: Fan History right now really needs some funding to hire a few people, improve our back end, get some programming work done and improve our marketing.

Here's some information from that "startup sites" link-- this is Laura Hale describing her own project here, folks:

Revenue Model (s): Fan History plans to generate revenue in three ways. The first method is through advertisements on the site. The second is through content adding on Fan History in order to quickly promote content and fandom activities at the behest of sponsors. The third method is through consulting services, where Fan History will explain various trends in fandom and provide data to help companies better operate inside fandom.

....

Main Venture Need: Capital

Venture Offers: Fan History offers a unique marketing opportunity for companies and individuals looking for a dedicated audiences interested in entertainment. It also offers information that would be helpful in launching market campaigns at certain audiences based around certain properties.

Here's another quote, from Laura's own journal:

If you are making more than you need to operate, figure out some way to kick some back to the users in give aways or contests. And then, if you're asked, tell your users that all the extra money is going into a savings account for the site to help cover costs in the long run. Say this even if it isn't true.

(  Cut because this got long  )

Laura Hale doesn't care who she hurts or what the RL implications are. In fact it benefits her when she does things like out dead fans by putting their rl names in their wiki entries, thus causing a big fuss. Because the more people that link to her site, the easier it is for her to make her wiki look big and busy. The more people visit and edit and link to her, the better she looks when she makes that Powerpoint presentation to the venture capitalists with money to shower on a bright young thing with insider access to a shiny new demographic.

Follow the money. (Thanks to jacquez for this link.)

If you don't like the project as Laura describes it, in her own words? Don't play. Don't go to Laura's site. Don't mention it by name unless you must. Don't edit it. Don't link to it. Tell your friends not to link to it, not to visit it, not to edit it.

Don't pay Laura Hale to fuck people up and hurt them. Because that's what she's in it for. She doesn't care who she hurts as long as she gets paid.

(And if you must link to Laura or any page on her wiki, I advise following commodorified's advice and using a nofollow tag in order to keep the link from improving her site's Google rating.)

ETA: You don't have to ask permission to link this post anywhere. Please do.

ETA2: Again, here it is in Laura's own words. How to plug her wiki? "Generate wank." (The third way she lists to help promote her wiki, "Ask people to contribute for the good of fandom history," is almost as sickening.)

Aris, quoting to me from someone else's lj entry about The Dark Knight: "...although I know it more from fannish osmosis than from actually reading the comics..."

Me: Fannish Moses?

Aris: OSmosis.

Me: Oh.

Just in that two seconds I had this whole scenario in my head of the new synonym for "pimping" being "fannish Moses."

"Oh! Have you seen The Middleman?"

"I have! Fannish Moses came down off the mountain, smashed my Heroes DVDs, and made me watch it."

"Is it good?"

"Well, my face is now too bright and glorious to look on directly, so I guess that's a yes."

(I have *not* actually seen The Middleman, but I have a feeling I really should.)

ETA: Fannish Moses proclaims, all y'all looking for the Bruce/Rachel/Harvey? Here it is and it's awesome. :D See also: racheldawesfic.

For the slashers in the audience...

(  no seriously I'm going to bed now  )

ETA: And Petra has some Bruce/Harvey recs for great justice.

Brief Dark Knight spoilers behind the cut.

(  no, really, brief, I need sleep...  )

Today was so nice.

Had an early shift at the part-time job, got off around noon. Got a hot dog, plum & vanilla Coke from the hot dog cart in Pioneer Courthouse Square & listened to a few songs from the band that was playing there. Went home, checked my email, took a nap. Woke up JUST in time to catch the MAX to Lloyd Center to see Hellboy II with my dad-- I thought it was kind of uneven, but I liked it.

Around 6pm, Dad dropped me off near Powell's-- I was *going* to stop in and get him Victory of Eagles for his birthday next week, but then I saw a sign for the Farmers' Market on 10th and Glisan, and I was really hungry by that point (not having eaten since noon.)

So I walked down to the Farmers' Market and got a tamale and some raspberry lemonade for lunch, and a cinnamon apple scone and some blackberries and some spinach and some garlic. Then I caught the MAX up to the zoo stop because I had read in the local free paper that there was going to be Julius Caesar presented by Shakespeare in the Park.

Of course, what I *should* have done was catch the bus up to the Burnside-and-23rd end of Washington Park, because then I would have only had to walk six blocks to get to where they were showing the play. But I mistakenly thought it was going to be at the ampitheater in the Rose Garden. It wasn't there-- although I did have a pretty awesome moment when I rounded the corner, expecting Julius Caesar, and saw a ton of little dancing kids in pink wigs-- some kids' theater production was doing Willy Wonka. *G*

So to get to the right place, I ended up literally walking about two miles, totally needlessly. Still, it's not like I couldn't use the exercise, and it's a gorgeous park. (Plus it's fun to walk past the bit of the park that edges up to the back of the zoo and hear elephants and lions and things echoing at you through the woods.) I fiiiinally got to where they were *actually* doing Julius Caesar, a bit late. I sat and snacked on my scone and blackberries (Aris, there are still a few left. I put them in the freezer, feel free to finish them off) and then left at the intermission-- it was starting to get a little chilly and only some of the cast were projecting loud enough to reach the stragglers sitting in the back... The woman playing Brutus was awesome, though.

Once home, I didn't actually think there would be any tickets for The Dark Knight still available, but on a whim I checked Fandango, and actually managed to find a theater that wasn't sold out. My feet are absolutely killing me, and I'm going to have to walk home afterwards, but I'M SO THERE Y'ALL. I'm leaving now so as to *maybe* get a good seat. LATERS!

What? No, seriously... what?

Well, he *does* get tied up a lot. That's canon.

The rest... uh.

To be honest, this trailer is kind of a relief. I mean, a bad Spirit movie would be *awful* to watch, like being spoked in the eye. But this, clearly, isn't even going to BE a Spirit movie. It's not even "Frank Miller's Spirit" at this point. It's gone out the other side and become an original work. I get the sense I'll be able to watch it strictly for the eye candy and the pretty effects while forgetting entirely that it has any connection to an original source. Like Constantine. *So* pretty.

And at least *this* movie won't have Shia le get out of my face. (He *bugs* me.)

On a less accepting note, I'm totally reminded of my reaction to 300, which was "christ, I hope fandom slashes this movie up and down," not necessarily because I would have cared to read the resulting fic, but mainly because just *doing* it would have been an affront to Miller and all he stands for. (As far as I know, nobody actually wrote slash, but Luminosity made Vogue and actually got some cool publicity, which is totally even better.)

Another perspective is-- well, hey, how long has it been since there was a superhero movie with more than *one* female character in it? X3 was two years ago, man, and it treated its female characters so poorly that it hardly counts, so-- 2003? That's a long time. Let's look on the bright side, Miller's freaky "Spirit = James Bond" fetish could be a blessing in disguise for femslashers!

Although, man, it is totally telling as to *which* female characters are in the movie. Lorelei? *Really?* She was a one-shot villain with a goofy schtick (ie, she had a siren's voice, a literal... Lorelei. Note... in the comics, she did not wear that outfit.) Where's Silk Satin, one of the most dynamic, interesting characters The Spirit ever produced? Where's P'Gell? This is like if 40 years from now someone made a Buffy movie and they put in... oh, *Veruca* as a main character. And left out Faith and, I dunno, Jenny Calendar, or Glory. But, you know, why bother with important characters who actually had a relationship with the Spirit, when you can include the sexy mind-control girl who gave you funny feelings in your tummy back when you were a kid. (And of course, let's not even get started on changing Silken Floss from a doctor to a secretary. What's sexy about a doctor? Well, clearly nothing.) [ETA: See comments-- apparently they made Silken Floss not a doctor so that they could turn *Ellen Dolan* into a doctor, because why? ELLEN DOLAN WASN'T COOL ENOUGH? Go to hell, Miller.]

Anyway. I totally know why they cut P'Gell. Because probably the most iconic image of P'Gell is her saying THIS IS NOT A STORY FOR LITTLE BOYS! And clearly from the trailer, this is *just* the kind of thing she meant.

Spirit femme picspam behind the cut!

(  Cut for AWESOMENESS  )

And this was just what I could find on a random google trawl. Imagine if someone had the books and was specifically *looking* for examples of Eisner writing awesome women. OH MILLER, WHY.

(I actually made this icon ages ago, but now seems like a good time to use it...)

My femslash08 story!

Title: Ask The Next Question
Author: liviapenn
Recipient: triciabyrne1978
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Sam Carter/Julia Donovan
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 3100
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine.
Summary: What would have happened if Thor hadn't shown up to conveniently rescue everybody at the end of 'Prometheus?' Julia Donovan of Inside Access has the story.

(  Ask The Next Question  )

So frostfire_17 and I were talking about what would happen if fandom was allowed to decide casting for the next iteration of Doctor Who, and this poll happened:

(  poll goes behind the cut now  )