So Here's A Rant, Now That My Journal's Fixed...

[redbrunja]

So I’ve been trolling around livejournal in a brand-new fandom....



Seriously, I've heard so much bashing about fanfiction.net and how everything there is badly-written junk by teenie-boppers, but you know what? Livejournal is not that much better. Quite frankly, it looks like I’ve gotten spoiled by Supernatural- when I started to read lj’s about that tv show, it seemed like articulate, vibrant lj-ers dropped into my lap. I've been looking around trying to find some good Fullmetal Alchemist journals, and it's hard work. I keep clicking links around and running into sites where people don't say anything and just gibber on and on and on, or are completly off the wall. For example, I checked out this Ed hater's site, and I'm thinking, "I'll fit in there. I mean, I really feel there's legitimate criticism of Ed" and it's all, "My cat is better than Ed" and I query "How does that follow? Your cat's a cat, not an anime character who needs to learn how to see Winry as a person."

And what is with all the Friends-Only journals? What is the reason for locking your journals like that? I know some people do to make sure their boss or whoever isn't reading their lj, but at this point it feels like a popularity contest. I thought the point of livejournal was to reach out to other people who share the same interests, not make it impossible for people to read your journal unless you deign to let them past the velvet ropes.

So, now that I’ve got the bitchy out of my system, anyone writing good FMA fanfic? Or any good wallpaper sites?

Comments

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

"Some people just want a place where they can share their thoughts with just people they know and trust in real life."

Yeah, that makes sense, but it still drives me batty when I come across someone with great icons and I can't even ask her where she got them or if they're sharable because she won't let non-friends reply, and on her "will be friended at my discretion" post, she doesn't have a place to reply! (As you can tell, a nerve got hit. Just a small one. But I'm letting it go now. I'm letting it go...)

I'll be sure to check out the lj's you suggested. Right now, I'm all about Roy/Riza, so I'd love some good fic about them (gen or romantic). Even though she's seen once, I have a soft spot for Psiren, the thief, as well as Maria Ross. I'd love some either Al/Winry fic, or Ed-Grows-Up-And-Realizes-That-Winry-Is-Actually-A-Person fic. But really, I'm willing to read just about anything that's well-written and not slash. (I don't have anything against slash per say, but in most shows I just don't seen it, and the author doesn't take the time to show me how she sees it, so I'm left going WTF?)

It'll probably be a little while until I start really reading FMA fic, just because I haven't finished the series yet and don't want to be spoiled. So this is preemptive fic-finding so I don’t get to episode 51 and then go into severe FMA withdrawal.

I don't know if you're interested in wallpapers, but http://www.fullmetal-alchemist.com/ has some nice ones in their gallery.

Also, who's your favorite character? (I have my suspicions and want to know if I've guessed right.)

[mzminola.livejournal.com]

Friends-locking original-fic is to keep ahold of "first publishing" rights or something. Friends-locking fanfiction, however, is, as you said, stupid.
If they have icons and don't say not to take them, it's usually safe to yoink. Maybe say where you got the icons. I know on my icons page, I say where I got icons from. If I don't say, then I made it. I personally don't care if people credit me or not, as long as they don't say they made the icon in question. Hope that was semi-comprehensible.
I myself don't tend to read much fanfic, sorry, but as for seeing slash onscreen...any interaction that could be seen as flirting/ lusting/ crushing/ hitting-on etc will be, no matter the sex of the characters. There's about as much on-screen tension between Riza and Roy as, say, Hughes and Roy. In Harry Potter (also for example) it's as "obvious" that Hermione has a crush on Ron as Ron has a cruch on Harry.
Brother and I just finished the most-recently-released disc. And since we don't trust fan-burned copies, we're waiting for the next one to come out...if you're looking for another anime to watch in the meantime, along with reading fanfiction then I recomend Saiyuki.
Sorry for hijacking this comment thread

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

See, I wouldn’t feel comfortable just taking icons without asking. If I made icons, and I came across someone just using them with asking, I’d feel a bit annoyed, so I’m always really sure I take icons from people’s icons-posts, where it’s clear they made the icons to share and I’m sure to credit. The fact that the person who probably made the icons that I *really really really want* doesn’t even want people to *comment* makes me thinks she isn’t amenable to having her icons snagged. Which, makes me sad, but what can ya do?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

(I have a really long comment, so I'm going to have to post it in bits. Sorry.) “Seeing the slash” is really what differentiates the slasher from the non-slasher and I’m beginning to think it can’t be taught. (And before we start this dance, I just want to say that I’m not trying to convince you, I’m just stating my position.) The thing is, you’re right there is about as much on-screen tension between Riza and Roy as Hughes and Roy, EXCEPT that it’s already canon that Hughes likes girls. He has a wife he loves and a daughter he adores beyond reason, so an author would have to work really hard and show me a gradual progress for me to even ENTERTAIN the idea that Hughes was into Mustang.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

The same thing with Ron and Harry; we have canon from Harry’s perspective that he likes girls, (Cho Chang, Fleur, Ginny) and none of his ‘missing Ron’ when he and Ron had a fight couldn’t be explained by missing his best friend.

So my issue with slash is that usually the relationship as presented justifies the emotional reactions, so I just don’t see the slash. But if the show itself gives me just that bit more, I’m there, i.e. Jack kissing the Doctor in Doctor Who, or the two main characters in Fried Green Tomatoes (in the movie it was never overtly stated that they were lovers, even though they were in the book they were).

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Also, just to show you how inconsistent I am, I’m much more willing to read and enjoy femmeslash. I don’t know if that’s because it’s much more socially acceptable to have lesbian subtext than male-male subtext, (i.e. Faith & Buffy, which the created described their relationship as Bring-Your-Own-Subtext) or if I just find it easier to believe that woman are more likely to swing both ways that a man. *Shrug at my own gender biases*.

Never apologize for going off on tangents or leaving really long comments on my lj. As you can see, I’ll just respond in kind (which I love to do).

[wishforhome.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that studies have shown that women are more likely to swing both ways than men. This may because women are just more inclined to bisexuality, or it could be a product of men being a lot less comfortable with homosexuality/bisexuality. Just an interesting tidbit.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

That really doesn't surprise me at all– and I wonder if part of the reason that woman are more comfortable swinging both ways is that it is seen as attractive i.e. men have always loved the idea of watching two woman with each other, so if a woman is bisexual, she (I'm not quite sure how to put this but) "gains points"? Increases her attractiveness to men while getting to broaden the field with women? There isn't that same sense of cachet with a man saying "oh, yeah, I fooled around with another guy in college." Which ties back into the whole "men being comfortable with homosexuality thing." Gender and sexual politics are so interesting! (And I really wish I had my "Saving Face" icon uploaded.)

[wishforhome.livejournal.com]

The study I read about -- and god, I wish I had the link! but it's been ages so I don't anymore -- tested men and women by having them look at erotic images of men and women. The results were interesting in that (if I remember correctly) all of the women were aroused by all erotic images, regardless of sexual orientation, while all of the men were attracted only to images depicting their gender of prefences... interestingly, none of the men were attracted to both genders.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Proof girls really do have more fun!

[wishforhome.livejournal.com]

HAH. I found the article.

I forgot a couple things -- the study *didn't* test women, but does mention some other tests about women at the end that pretty much make the point.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/05/health/05sex.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=5a82f18cadf2ad83&ex=1278216000&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Researchers have little sense yet of how these differences may affect behavior, or sexual identity. In the mid-1990's, Dr. Diamond recruited a group of 90 women at gay pride parades, academic conferences on gender issues and other venues. About half of the women called themselves lesbians, a third identified as bisexual and the rest claimed no sexual orientation. In follow-up interviews over the last 10 years, Dr. Diamond has found that most of these women have had relationships both with men and women.

"Most of them seem to lean one way or the other, but that doesn't preclude them from having a relationship with the nonpreferred sex," she said. "You may be mostly interested in women but, hey, the guy who delivers the pizza is really hot, and what are you going to do?"

I really appreciated this article when I read it because I very much identify as a lesbian, but occasionally I find a man attractive (mostly Jensen Ackles... *cough*). That really threw me off at first because I vastly, vastly prefer women, but when I suddenly found myself really attracted to this guy, I got very confused about the whole thing, but apparently it's normal.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

That's very very interesting. And honey, EVERYBODY finds Jensen Ackles attractive. I'm sure there are rocks that are going "I'm a rock, so I'm all about the compression and plate tectonics..... but *damn* that boy is fine."

[wishforhome.livejournal.com]

That is so very, very true.

And really, he's just pretty enough for him to appeal to me, but he's not so pretty that it makes him non-masculine, because he is a beautiful, beautiful specimen of a man. He's very pretty and very manly. It's a really deadly attractive combination.

My friend and I once stayed up until 5AM talking about how we wanted to sleep with Dean -- which was funny as hell, because we're both queer and like girls.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I would have loved to be there for that conversation! He is pretty, but in a very manly, interesting way- and I'm just a sucker for the kind of characters that he portrays, so I'm sure that plays into it. All hail the Jensen love!

[wishforhome.livejournal.com]

Without going into an uncomfortable amount of detail, we came up with some really interesting scenarios. I'm definitely more attracted to his characters than to him though -- after all, I don't know Jensen. Dean, on the other hand, I know very well, and they have the same pretty, manly, disgustingly beautiful face.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'm not attracted to Jensen per say, but I feel lusting after an actual person, who has a life and doesn't know me from Eve, has this slight stalkerish vibe. Lusting after a fictional character, however, is completely normal, and, as you mentioned, we know the fictional character better than the actor. It's like when you find out that the person who plays a rugged bachelor character has a wife he adores and three kids and lives in the suburbs. I just don't want to know that. (Which is why I never read magazines that are about actors lives. Interviews, yes, but not "He broke up with whoever! Extra, extra, read all about it!")

[wishforhome.livejournal.com]

I only read the trashy celebrity gossip mags when I'm waiting for an appointment, and then never about the actors that I actually like, mostly because -- man, I just don't care. And it infringes on my fantasies about their characters. Interviews are different because they get to choose their own words and it's not from a friend of a friend of a friend. It's not infringing on their privacy, either, because it's information they have chosen to divulge. I just thank god I'm not one of those girls who freaks out whenever Jensen gets a girlfriend -- again, I don't really care. I think it's great, hope he's happy, blah blah blah, where's Dean so that I can lust after him, please and thank you. ;)

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

While I school, I was able to *hem, hem* acquire through the school’s downloading program all 51 episodes of FMA. They’re good quality, with nice subtitles, so if you wanted, when I catch up to you (what episode are you at, anyway?) we could get together and watch some.

I don’t think I’ve heard of Saiyuki. What’s it about?

[mzminola.livejournal.com]

Don't know the episode number...thanks, we'll have to see about that. Are you going to be swinging by Writer's Group once summer starts?

Saiyuki is a (very loose) retelling of the Journey to the West but none of the characters are actually animals (except Hakaru, the small dragon who can turn into a Jeep)
According to Wikipedia, Saiyuki is
Gensomaden Saiyuki deals with the fortunes of four fighters - the monk Genjyo Sanzo, the monkey deity Son Goku, the half-demon Sha Gojyo and the demon Cho Hakkai, who have been dispatched by the Sanbutsushin (The Three Aspects of the Buddha) to India to investigate the reasons behind the recent insanity among the demons. Demons, who have formerly coexisted peacefully with humans in Shangri-La, are going berserk and turning against them.
I don't want to give too much away, but I will add that Goku isn't really a "diety" quite, and everyone is more awesome than the blurbs amke them sound.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Sounds interesting. Yes, I'm going to be at Writer's Group this Friday- I'm really looking forward to it. Is it at 4:00 or 4:30?

[mzminola.livejournal.com]

4:00, and we've got a new librarian.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I'll be there.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Really? Envy? That would not have been my first guess, but I can see that considering your preferences. ;-) I actually would have thought of Ed (that isn't an insult) because I thought his Napoleon syndrome and massive amounts of power and attitude would have appealed to you. I just don't know you as well as I should! *Sob*. I admit, I really enjoy Ed when he thinks someone’s called him small, or when he’s evading doing what Mustang has ordered him to do. (I love the scene where he’s getting off in the Water City, and Al is all “I feel like we’re being truants!” and I’m like, “that’s because that’s exactly what you’re doing!”)