I feel a subtle shift in me now that the last Harry Potter movie is over and done with. I've been thinking about it the last few weeks and it's been slowly, but surely, taking over my life. I've been decluttering and packing away old, precious things. It's a little sad, but inevitable, I think. Well. Until I have a room to display it all again. Of course.

The last movie was a wonderful experience; it can never match what I felt when I read the book, but it approximated something close to it. I had some good friends to experience the movie with and I thought it was good that they put in that epilogue in. We needed a laugh after all that seriousness!

So. Yeah. Harry Potter. Over.

This, oh my gosh, this.

This is what I wanted the prequel to be. Essentially a look at the tragic friendship and love Erik Lensherr and Charles Xavier have (had, will always have) for each other.

Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy completely made these two characters their own. You could see echoes of their future counterparts, and it felt so completely natural.

I am in love.

Not that I post much anymore, but it never hurts to try new things out.

It's a lovely, dreary day. Rain and clouds are underrated.

Please donate if you can!

Seattle Japan Relief

I've been dropping in and out of FMA for years now, catching up here, reading a bit there, and over the past month, I've finally read all twenty-seven volumes (OMG IT ENDED).

I'd forgotten just how much I loved this series. It's an amazing read if you read it from start to finish with no pause; you realize just how tight and well-arced the story is and how the characters fit in with each twist and turn. I can't spoil it, but I have to say that I was quite pleased with the ending and though I wouldn't have minded a bit more of an epilogue (it seemed rather rushed to me...), overall, this one of those perfect manga series. Doable length, no-thousand-character-lists, no volume-long battles (well, kind of). It's what I'd label an 'almost perfect manga'. It joins Fruits Basket, One Piece and Monster for me and it's going to stay on my bookshelves, methinks.

And also.

HOW DID I NOT LOVE RIZA AND ROY BEFORE THIS?

The story and characters make me giddy. Very giddy. Am a little late joining the party, alas.

Also. Was it me, or did everyone get rounder as the series progressed? The faces, the muscles, everything...

Second part and this one is a killer because this is the section that has 'fairy tales'... almost the reason why I read/participate in Yuletide in the first place.

* Stars denote a more specific rec. And/Or more love.

( Yuletide Recs F - L: Chronicles of Narnia, Fairy Tales, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy XIII, Gargoyles, Greek and Roman Mythology, Howl's Moving Castle, His Dark Materials, Graveyard Book, Jurassic Park, Little Mermaid, Love Mode, Love Actually )

I received the loveliest, loveliest Yuletide fic, for a fandom I have so little to read for, especially good fic.

I'll Still Be Here in the Morning by Anonymous. Love Mode, Jin/Katsuki

Whoever wrote that, must either have read through my recs and fics and known what I'd wanted, because that's what I wanted! I am so unbelievably happy with this fic! It makes me all giddy and excited and I've already copy and pasted it to my hard drive so I can read it whenever I want. =) Katsuki is one of those idiot characters that somehow turn into the character you really identify with. I loved, loved him and the relationship between him and Jin. This fic really captures what I love most about the pairing. =)

Love!

So, this is a bit of an odd question, but I'm not sure where to even begin looking.

I've always wondered if there were even stories in regards to this out there. The idea comes from an unrealized script where Rose discovers that her whole life has been manipulated by the Doctor in order to turn her into the ideal companion. This was supposed to be episode 11, but due to certain issues, Boom Town was written instead. Here's the link

Synopsis: Involved the revelation that the Doctor had been manipulating Rose's life in order to turn her into the ideal companion.

Obviously, this is season 1 of New Who, so it's the Ninth Doctor. I feel like there must be one or two fics which have tackled this idea, but I've been combing various archives and it's slowgoing since there's no obvious filtering technique that will allow me to find such a specific plotline. -_-;;

Any suggestions would be loved!

The first part of the seventh HP movie is coming out in a few days. Midnight tickets are bought, group outfits are assembled, and supplies for the waiting period prior are packed.

But strangely, I'm a little reluctant to see this movie. It's the same way I felt about the seventh book; I couldn't bear to read it at first, because I knew no matter how many times I could riffle through the pages and read it again, there's nothing like that very first time, each new page and direction filling you with thrills and sorrow. You honestly don't know what's going on, and no matter how much you've theorized or discussed or bet, it's unveiling itself in front of you, like some sort of cosmic canon map. It's the same with this movie, which I wager will be a tearfest by the end. I cried when I finished reading the seventh book; no doubt I'll be a sobbing, phlegmy mess by the end of the second part. (for one thing, how am I going to sit through Snape's death without going to pieces?)

As a movie, that's weird. I know exactly who is going to live and who is going to die. Technically, that movie will show nothing new. They're not going to randomly kill off, say, Minerva McGonagall, for dramatics. They're not going to give Fred Weasley a "Get Out of Jail Free" card. They split the movie, and while the point of that was to make loads more money (which does not bother me), it also means that those moments in the books that gave us all pause? Time will be (hopefully) given to them. We're going to lose Hedwig, Dobby, Fred, Snape, Lupin, Tonks, Colin, Mad-Eye Moody, Vincent, and maybe we'll even get a mention of those like Rufus Scrimgoer, who died protecting Harry, or Ted Tonks, who should have gotten more than a passing mention, or Charity Burbage, whose death started the book out.

1998 was when I became a fan of HP and you could say that I feel melancholy that in a matter of months, it's going to be over. (no matter if she writes and eighth, ninth, or tenth book... HP ended at seven for me, even if I do read and enjoy her future works). After the second part, we're not going to have more movies to look forward to (unless someone goes off the deep end and decides that making a movie about MWPP-era would be a great idea) and certainly, no matter how dramatic that sounds, an era is over.

Doesn't make me sad, per se, but it does brings up the chance for me to write pseudodeep, emotastic posts about it.

Kinda worth it in the end.

Is anyone participating in help_haiti? I'm offering a fic here and I'd like to see if someone on my flist has also participated so I can seek you all out. Have made a donation to Doctors Without Borders, but I feel relatively useless so after a bit of thought, I'm participating. Hopefully, it'll help out in a tiny way.

Everyone should have seen the various links now scattered about donating. The non-profit I'm currently supporting is Doctors Without Borders. Please bid on something at help_haiti or donate a little to the group/any verifiable non-profit. Every bit counts and a dollar is just as important as ten or twenty.

Remember: Always check the group you're thinking of donating to. Not just to see whether the group is legit or not, but where your donation may fund. Some groups have a poor ratio of administrative costs versus actual charitable givings and activities.