So ...

You have to understand that really, Holmes is a paranoid, manic-depressive, possibly dissociative (he has fuges where he hears voices - his own - telling him what he's going to do next), drug addled masochist with a knack for noticing the details. Watson is a fairly cheerful inveterate gambler, adrenaline junkie and hard fisted brawler whose trying to get out before hanging around Holmes kills him. Holmes is queer, in all sorts of ways, Watson can't quite shake the love.

Hm. The movie might be more palatable if say, instead of Holmes and Watson it was Bob and Fred. No, DeWitt and Young. There.

This movie came out on Christmas day, set in Steampunk London with these two adventurers DeWitt and Young. Then it's not so bad.
( Read more... )

Generally? Bad but mildly amusing. No surprises and best saved for the second run theater. Not at all a Sherlock Holmes story, just pretend they're someone else.

I have an account at AO3, and have for some time. I also have (possibly temporary) access to my website so I'm slowly uploading everything from that website to AO3 - which means my X-men and due South fiction, mostly.

Here's my AO3 account, I'm xtricks there, as you might expect: http://archiveofourown.org/users/xtricks

Re-editing and uploading my old, old fic (some of it over 10 years old) really illustrates my changing style and ability. The work is isn't ... bad, but it's got the occasional badfic issues (a bit weepy, here and there, and my size queen tendencies are more evident).

It also reminded me of how fond I am of images of traditional masculinity: the biker dude, the rich businessman, the soldier, the cop (Mountie) and so on. These are the characters that draw me in.

So, a record of a fanfic author over time, in one handy stop.

Hustle is the English version of Leverage - or, most likely, Leverage is an American reinterpretation of Hustle.

Very similar in initial concept, very different in feel. For one, the first character we're introduced to and is evidently the leader, is a black man. A black man leading a team of white people would be extremely rare in US TV/Film and, in such a case, race would be 'an issue'. And, Robert Vaughn is one of the actors in this show! I wonder of there's an AU out there where Napoleon left/retired from UNCLE under some cloud and ended up being a conman. Where is Illya, I wonder, and what is the relationship between Stroller (Vaughn's character) and Stone?
( What I think )

I'd recommend Hustle, in particular, for people trying to learn how to plot complicated, deception rife stories. But I can recommend both of the shows as lots of fun and without much in the way (so far) of ugly media messages.

Oh, god. The Save Ianto peeps came out with a 400 page report. In itself not at all bad - in fact, I'm very much for the 'consumers' of entertainment media having more say in work that is supposed to be for them and for being vocal when treated badly. I fully support the charity campaigns and donated to the Lluest Pony myself. However, the terrible statistical train wreck, the misogyny regarding Gwen, and the generally poor scholarship makes me cringe so hard that I can't read the report.

Which might be a problem since they evidently quote quite a few LJ people without much in the way of permission or credit. Since I wrote a teal deer or two about it, it's entirely possible it's in there. Also, something I don't mind - LJ is a public forum, not a private diary. I just ... would prefer that my name not get mixed up in something so poorly done.

Time to break out the vodka and a few fail!bingo cards!

Or write porn ... hmm.

So -

I've been very eager to watch 'Life on Mars' and when it showed up in my netflix que I ordered it immediatly. When 'Life on Mars' arrived, I got a bit of a surprise. Netflix had the American version, not the British. Still, I'd heard it wasn't horrible so I gave it a go. Not incidentally, I ran all the way to my local video rental place and got the British version as well. That meant I have been able to watch both shows at essentially the same time, which is very interesting. The first two episodes of American LoM are pretty good. Then there start to be problems.

( Spoilers Ahoy! )

Coming soon ... more on A and B LoM!

Today is World AIDs Day and I've been very, very lucky. I don't have AIDs and, partly because I'm so anti-social, only a few people I knew died of it. It has, however, transformed my world. It's changed the world for all of us.

I believe that AIDs and the 'net are the transformative events of my generation. For all Obama is, might have been, could be or was, his effects is minuscule compared to these two transformative events, the same for the Berlin wall, the collapse of Communist Russia, the Middle-East or all the other grand events, with the possible exception of global warming and the mass extinction we're in the middle of.

I believe that AIDs is pretty directly responsible for the current cycle of destabilization of Africa and that the consequences of it will continue to cripple that continent for generations. I also believe that AIDs set back sexual morality and affirmation, and that it has transformed sex and desire and our view of sex in sad and lasting ways. I also believe that AIDs crippled the 'men's movement' – to the point that there really isn't one, anymore.

If I could trade my life for AIDs never having existed, I'd do it without hesitation. I believe it's been one of the most destructive forces in a century.

One of the tragedies that I think is not often discussed, especially so many years after its beginning, is the loss of male mentors for men – particularly gay men. My partner mentions frequently that the men who died first and in largest numbers were the bravest of their time. The ones who were willing to step out of the closet, not ashamed of their sexuality and desires, the ones most willing to touch and be touched. That very courage killed them.

One of those men was Vito Russo . He died when he was forty-four years old, of AIDS.

He wrote the, Celluloid Closet a book that should be required reading for anyone interested in queer history, the presentation of queers in the media (and the way it has shaped public perceptions) and – as so many gay men became because they had no choice, a gay activist during the early, horrible years AIDS in the 80s. He was one of the co-founders of GLADD and active in ACT UP. He was a critical voice for gay men and queers in general.

My partner met Vito Russo and had a chance to speak with him. They ended up talking about classic monster movies (Frankenstein, the old Dracula movies etc) and how – as queer kids – they often identified with the monsters; isolated, outsiders, freaks and 'impure' and how those movies shaped and supported them through their growing up. My partner said, excited, that maybe that could be Vito's next book. The look he got in return was very tired and Vito Russo said: "Perhaps you'll be the one to write it" (paraphrased from memory).

Vito Russo died not long after. He should have had decades of life ahead, to teach, to write, to mentor younger gay men (and women and straight people and everyone), to live in the world and help change it. He didn't and we're all poorer for it.

Title: Russian Roulette
Author: x-tricks
Fandom: Torchwood, Jack/Ianto
Notes: this is part of the fucked-up universe that Falling belongs to. People are very screwed up here and doing unhealthy things. This story follows Falling. It also fulfills the 'gun play' square on my kink_bingo card.
Disclaimer: These imaginary characters, performing fantasy acts, belong to legal entities and not me - I'm real. More or less.

( Russian Roulette )

As you all must know by now, I spend a fair amount of time watching genre based TV/movies and so on; particularly action-y type things (cop shows, sci-fi, fantasy, horror etc). I'm less interested in romantic themed stuff and comedy. Then, I talk about it ( and talk and talk and talk … )

Waters of Mars

Short form: slow zombie movie with LOLs and some classically cheesy whoinverse special effects. Tennant does mournful, sad face much better than crazed megalomaniac face.

( Long form )

Addenda to some of my general discussion about the whoinverse – esp. CoE, since I have folks on my friends' list who quite liked it and valued it for what it gave them …

The fact that I don't like CoE and thing it's 'wrong' and blah, blah is separate from anyone else's view on it (same with my views on anything else, really). I may disagree with your interpretations but I recognize that we all get value and emotionally significant stuff from different stories. To have a story that moves you, that gives you something you need to understand or get through life is valuable, wherever it comes from, and I respect that.

Which, most everyone knows by now, I dislike. More importantly I don't respect it.

I have an earlier post about some of the messages I got from the show, which I think are valid and are solidly based on historical presentations of men and queers in media all the way back to 'The Children's Hour'.

Beyond the media analysis, and any individual death or loss, however is this - ( Read more... )

I wasn't expecting much, and I know there's controversy regarding the very existence of the show (and I agree with parts of the controversy) but ... that aside, it's pretty damn good.
( Read more... )

Title: A Perfect World Ch: 4
Author: X-Tricks
Fandom: Torchwood
Notes and Etc: Mature: themes. Some sex, various Ianto pairings, but romance isn’t the point of the story. It’s another ‘episode’ folks!
Disclaimer: Not mine. BBC and cool folks in Wales own them all.

( A Perfect World )

About violence ...

( In which I get a bit personal, then generalize )

Title: Wants and Needs
Author: x-tricks
Fandom: Torchwood, Jack/Ianto
Notes etc: oh, so adult you wouldn't believe. Seriously perverse. D/s big time. Jack and Ianto move in together! *fluffy bunnies, rainbows and kittens* - yeah, no, not so much.
Disclaimer: These fake people are virtually owned by a corporate entity and all of them are above the imaginary age of consent.

Gee, I've only got a billion WIPs to work on, and the virtual season, and my game and ... so, of course, I wrote this instead. It's sort of a porny excerpt to an imaginary longer story that involves post Cyberwoman and Contrycide Jack and Ianto dealing with Ianto's suicidal ideation via a hard core D/s relationship. Then I realized, who wants to read about that sort of thing when they can just skip to the porn? So, I skipped to the porn. No grimness, all consenting, though there's clearly something a little off kilter about Ianto. There you go.

( Wants and Needs )

So -

My partner's other boyfriend has no livejournal and nearly no presence on the 'net and yet he's a part of my - and our - community. Like many of us, he's not quite in step with the rest of the world and determined to do good in it regardless. He makes space in the world for desire and joy, strangeness and courage. He's a thesis away from his PhD in anthropology and a breath away from homelessness. I'm putting my hand out on his behalf ...

A mutual friend of ours has offered up her paypal for any donations anyone would care to share and her post is below. Anything will make a difference, even five dollars will enable him to eat, something that is not a certainty in his life just now. Whatever you can, and you're willing, will make a direct difference in this man's life. You may not know him, you may never meet him but that will not change the good you do. The information is below.

A friend of ours is in desperate need.

His name is Bob F. He's a PhD candidate in anthropology, and is about two inches from his goal. As a queer man of color, he's gotten the runaround from more than one graduate school. He's doing his dissertation on intersections between the queer and Pagan communities.

The superhero mythology is personally sacred to him - and his life's work is to be a superhero for our communities, to advocate for queer and trans and kinky and Pagan folk, to create communication between us, support our lives and stories.

He is waiting on a signature in order to receive a financial aid payment that will pay his rent. The rent is due in five days; the signature is not going to happen until next week at least. He hasn't been eating very much lately.

Our goal is to raise a thousand dollars for his rent and immediate living expenses. We want him to be (a) fed and (b) not in immediate danger of eviction. More than that is helpful as well.

Even if you can't donate, please BOOST THE SIGNAL.

Signed, amberite, xtricks, teaotter, heron61 and panoramagram.

We're keeping his surname out of the post for privacy reasons. We can all attest to the fact that he exists, and is in this dire situation. Payments sent to amberite's Paypal account will be sent along to him before they even clear, since amberite can float a little.

Well, I have survived another visit to my parents. Not always an easy task.

It's not so much the rather ... dreadful, abusive history in my family that is the issue any more. That's mostly over the bridge or under the rug, depending on who you are and, with my parents the age they are and as sick as they are, leaving unresolved issues lie is the most ... graceful way to handle things.

That's not really the risk in visiting my folks anymore. It's the Mocha Mix.

My parents are obsessed with it and have been since it first came out. They think it's healthy and no discussion in the world will change their mind on it. They use it on their cereal instead of milk, they use it in cooking instead of cream, they use in coffee, sometimes my father drinks it in a glass. In one memorable occasion, my mother bought a lovely bunch of fresh spinach and made home made cream of spinach soup - with Mocha Mix! Cups of it!

The ingredients to Mocha Mix? Water, corn syrup and hydrogenated soy oil. Aside from food coloring and flavoring, that's it.

My parents are elderly and therefore don't eat very much at the best of times. Since they also live in an area where I (who do not drive) can't get *anywhere* to eat, I'm dependent on whatever they have in the house. Generally this means gallons and gallons of mocha mix and cold cereal, velveeta cheese and highly processed cold-cuts and highly processed, high sugar, low protein foods (the term 'lite' features strongly in the stuff they buy). I spend a lot of time cooking while I'm there out of sheer survival needs, even so, because they eat so little meat I can tolerate ('brown sugar' added hormel's pre-sliced ham is inedible to me), I spend a good part of the time there sort of half-starved. Because my migraines are frequently triggered by hunger, I also spend most of my time there sick.

Funnily enough, my father spends most of his time very sick as well. He has violent, catastrophic intestinal trouble fairly often. I think he's allergic to dairy but a: he's a Christian Scientist and therefore doesn't believe in allergies and b: milk is his favorite food - his 'comfort' food and the sicker he feels, the more he drinks it (mixed with Mocha Mix for 'richness') so, if I'm right, the sicker he gets, the sicker he makes himself. All the while denying anything is wrong. Such is the way of my family.

As my parents have gotten older and my mother's illness has continued to progress (it looks like she may lose her ability to speak within the next two years), they eat more and more pre-prepared foods. Thankfully, they're on a Trader Joe's kick so some of the food there is actual food, as opposed to hydrogenated oils and machine extracted meat products. There's still no protein to speak of but at least there were eggs and enough raw ingredients for me to cook some moderately edible foods.

Also, entirely by accident (I've long forgotten their birthdates), my trip coincided with my mother's birthday - I didn't have a gift but I did bake a home made cake and they broke out the celebratory food for the occasion, which included actual hamburger made of actual meat.

I also found out they like the series 'Foyle's War', which I also like and we spent our evenings watching that instead of the usual awkward silences that are more common to my visits. Incidentally, I'd reccomend Foyle's War to Torchwood peeps, if you have paitence for British crime shows. They're gloroius period peices set during WW2 and give a great feel for what the ear would have been like.

I had a migraine two out of the four days, plus my travel day home (just over it now, yay!) but never got violently sick and managed, more or less, to have what passes for a good visit with my family. No fights, no hospital visits, and I got to eat eggs or meat three out of the four days there! I wasn't able to sleep at all there - perhaps an hour or so a night - so I'm so tired I was imagining voices on the plane flight home but I've already had one nap and some real food and will rejoin the world of the living in a day or so. My cat is so happy to see me he's behaving like an actual domestic animal as opposed to a saber toothed cat that was accidentally shrunk.

So, this trip was a veritable triumph.

So, I woke up with this dream/concept immediately in mind.

Captain Jack Harkness, a RAF pilot stationed in Argentina during world war two, is bunkered in the estate of Ianto Jones. As the world falls apart around them, the two discover love and unrealized, forbidden passions. Caught between the demands of wartime and their forbidden love they fight for freedom and a happy ending. Until Jack disappears over Germany.

After the war, a battle-scarred stranger finds his way to the Jones estate, where Ianto Jones is building a new family with his childhood sweetheart Elise.

It was like a harlequin novel had taken residence in my brain. Except it included hot sex and some interesting issues about masculinity and the sexual mores of the time. Then it switched over to a re-telling of the Lone Ranger (my favorite story as a child).

I kept expecting 'and they fight crime!' to be tacked onto the ending of this thing. I felt I had to write this down in case I ever actually want ot persue it.

Title: Mars (doesn't) Attack!
Author: xtricks
Fandom: Torchwood
Notes etc: Mature (sex), crack-fic!, no spoilers. Jack/alien(s)
Disclaimer: I don't own these imaginary characters, which are the entirely intellectual property of a real person and a corporate entity. In addition, all these made-up people are above the arbitrary age of eighteen. This is crack - really, just crack.

( Mars (doesn't) Attack! )

Over the past few years, I’ve been trying to figure out ‘what I’m doing’, particularly in regards to my internet presence. On a most basic level, I’m having fun; a great deal of my social and entertainment life take place on the internet, whether it’s reading fanfic, or meta, socializing (as much as I’ve ever been interested in that), grazing the knowledge base or sharing my pearls of wisdom with the unsuspecting populace. In a slightly deeper sense, I get pleasure out of the idea that my opinions and ideas are heard and maybe even listened to occasionally. Beyond that, the internet has allowed me to both practice certain skills (writing, arranging my thoughts, social skills and so on) and given me room to develop my thoughts and philosophies based on what I see and how people react. Yes, the internet is my first step to ruling the world, next, win the lottery.

( This is very tl;dr and possibly multi-part but this one involves sex so I’m sure you’ll want to read it … )
I do this because I want to be part of the solution, however small, not part of the problem. Yes, I will save the world by writing spanking porn.