Moiraine (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
blue_ajah) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
ways_back_room2004-07-29 02:01 pm
blue_ajah) wrote in ways_back_room2004-07-29 02:01 pm
Pimp your Canon-- the Milliways Library!
One thing I've noticed while playing here at Milliways is that there are a lot of really interesting characters from books/movies/etc. that I am not familiar with yet. As a result, my things-to-read list is growing at a rapid pace. :)
I figure I can't be the only one doing this, and so I thought I'd toss up a post here in the back room asking for specific recommendations.
Are you particularly fond of your source material? Well, probably yes, or you wouldn't be playing a character from it... ;) Anyway, in that case, why not remind others of what it is, and tell why it's so compelling? Please leave a comment, if you're willing, with your recommendation and why it's worth reading/watching, whatever. (If enough people are interested, I'll collect it all and put it up on a page somewhere as a more organized form, even.)
I and my library card thank you, in advance, for your help!
I figure I can't be the only one doing this, and so I thought I'd toss up a post here in the back room asking for specific recommendations.
Are you particularly fond of your source material? Well, probably yes, or you wouldn't be playing a character from it... ;) Anyway, in that case, why not remind others of what it is, and tell why it's so compelling? Please leave a comment, if you're willing, with your recommendation and why it's worth reading/watching, whatever. (If enough people are interested, I'll collect it all and put it up on a page somewhere as a more organized form, even.)
I and my library card thank you, in advance, for your help!
Woodpecker-mun here
You can read the first 20 pages or so on Amazon. :)
Re: Woodpecker-mun here
(polishes her Straight)
Re: Woodpecker-mun here
:D Well-spotted!
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So, Daria... the best show I have ever seen come out of MTV, and the only reason I bothered watching that channel. Daria's smart. She and Jane snark at things, especially about/at the idiots around them. Character development of all sorts in the last two seasons (see especially Quinn, Daria's sister, starting to use her brain. Oh, and The Tom Thing [TM]).I'm really surprised it lasted as long as it did.
And the fanbase rocks. Outpost Daria is a long-standing favorite site of mine (there's even episode transcripts!). Also, DVDaria is finally getting somewhere, as MTV noticed the fannish noise and is working on a DVD set. (Considering I mostly forgot the show existed for two years, this is WONDERFUL news.)
In the meantime, the two movies (Is It Fall Yet and Is It College Yet) are already out on DVD, and I think the former has a couple necessary-viewing eps on it so's the movie makes sense. The show itself is in reruns on Noggin (but they cut random bits out of the eps), and possibly one of MTV's spinoff channels. (I think it's on air in the UK as well, but I don't remember what channel.)
Evil Dead
I think what I love most about the ED movies is the progression in tone. They go from scary (Evil Dead) to Scary/Funny (Evil Dead 2) to just plain funny (Army Of Darkness). There are still parts of Evil Dead that squick me right out, but I can (and often do) watch Army of Darkness while I'm falling asleep. (I can't sleep without my TV on, it's a weird neurotic ADD thing. Anyway...) Whatever your taste in horror movies, chances are you'll like at least one of them.
And for all their obvious low-budgetness, the movies are very well made. Most of the special effects hold up quite well (aside from a couple of rather dubious bluescreen shots) and a lot of the camera work is quite inventive. Throw in an actor (http://www.bruce-campbell.com) who can make even the worst movie enjoyable, and you've got a couple hours of good blood-splattery fun.
Kassandra-mun recommends...
The apocrypha of her two sons, Teledamos and Pelops, is from my notes in Norton World Masterpieces class manymanyyearsago. Dr. Nelles, my instructor, was fanatically well-read but I never asked him for the source.
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It is a highly untypical work for Stephen King, as it is epic Fantasy and Adventure, instead of pure modern horror.
What is it about: Roland, the last Gunslinger of a world long gone, is on a quest to the Dark Tower, the center of the Universe. The Tower is on the brink of falling, and if it does, the world will end. Roland is accompanied by his Ka-tet, a group of people he dragged out of different versions of New York. Together, they have to overcome the dangers of their journey, time travelling, parallel versions of reality, demons and robots and the followers of the Crimson King, who wants to destroy the Tower. Or does he have other goals?
There are a lot of Western elements (Roland is inspired by Clint Eastwood in his Western times), apocalyptic fantasy, a wee bit of horror and lots of more or less obvious allusions to other King stories.
Why I love it ... it's about values like determination and honour. It's a great mix between fantasy, western and modern times. And it has an incredibly sexy protagonist X3
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If I could live in a book, it would be 'Howl's Moving Castle', such is my love. The characters and setting are well-written, it has so much to research in it, it's frightening, and best of all there are parts that you never expect, despite the fact that the clues are all there. It's also one of those books that is worth at least three readings so that everything can be caught. The first time I finished it, I went immediately back to the beginning, which was nice. It gets hard to find books that do that to a reader after awhile. Ah yes, the book also contains not one, but TWO hissy fits, one that contains gobs of slime and the other which concerns the death of all things green. This alone merits a renewal of my love. ^-^
Barbie has many canons, actually, what with the television shows, the video cassettes and the horrible dance tapes. She also has a line of dolls, seeing as she is one. Fear her.
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Here (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=3966) is a really good interview with Mike Carey, who is coming out with a Hellblazer graphic novel called "All His Engines" (Hellblazer is the Vertigo comic book John stars in).
Here are a few quotes from Carey that are a perfect summation of John:
"[John] a guy who's made up of about twenty five per cent black magician and seventy five per cent con artist, and whose self-imposed quest to screw over the lords of Hell has blighted his life and the lives of everyone who's ever gotten close to him. John is a sort of Jonah figure, a harbinger of doom. Every ship he sails in goes down, and even when he wins it feels like losing. But having said that, he's smart and cool and sardonic and he'd talk back to God himself....
"He's very ruthless and in many ways very self-centered, and he often makes the most appalling mistakes by not thinking about the consequences of his actions. But on the other hand, he's ultimately a person who tries to do good - a person who can't walk away from trouble or cross the street when there's some bad shit going down. That's the paradox - he's a mean bastard, but he means well. You have to try to show both sides of that complex, messed up personality....
"He's got a magical crap-detector. He sees through other people's pretensions and he can cut anyone down to size. He's utterly unintimidated by angels, demons, gods and monsters, and he always has the perfect put-down....
"'Hellblazer' is the quintessential humanist horror book. The central theme is an ordinary guy flipping the finger at Heaven and Hell and everything in between. It's John's attitude that's at the heart of the whole thing - his cynicism and flippancy and refusal to bow down before other people's agendas. Not only is he not searching for redemption, he'd shove it in your face if you offered it to him. This is the guy who engineered the fall of the archangel Gabriel: he doesn't take favours from anyone, least of all God or the Devil.
"But having said that, John is always haunted by the things he's had to do and by the knowledge of his own failings. In that sense, I guess there is something that he needs - a peace that eludes him. He's something of a tragic character - like a Moses who can see the promised land but never enter it. Well, you know, if Moses was foul-mouthed, irreverent, ruthless and fond of strong liquor."
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Series of science-fiction novels by Lois McMaster Bujold. Most of the books in this canon have the phrase "A Vorkosigan Adventure" somewhere on the cover. (Bujold's also written some fantasy recently, which I haven't read yet but plan to.)
Cordelia is the protagonist of Shards of Honor and Barrayar (which have been rereleased in a single volume called Cordelia's Honor). Her son Miles is the protagonist of most of the rest of them.
It's got solid SF, tightly plotted action, and beautiful characterization -- including some of the best Strong Female characters I've encountered anywhere, and I don't mean just tough battle-ready women (though there's quite a few of those).
Anyway. Read. You'll be happy you did.
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Ten volumes in the story, then assorted other stories around it. But its comics, so it isn't, sayyyyy....the Wheel of Time.
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But they really are very good books... :)
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=sigh= back to book cataloguing. 1670 books down, 3000+ to go (approximately)
QX - Belgarath out.
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I definitely have a fanfiction/metafiction theme going here.
You should all read all of these books. They have entertaining stories, great characters, and multiple levels of metatextuality and general geekiness to entertain all of us overeducated people here at Milliways.
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1. It is all rather explicitly sexual. All. And it enjoys it. Freud would die so very happy if he ever saw this anime.
2. It is cracktastic. The only description of it I've consistently come across is "the good crack."
3. It has, briefly, surfing elephants.
Utena: It's like Milliways, in a way.
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Billy Tallent is a character from what was originally a book by Michael Turner, a Canadian poet. It's a very unique book- fragmented, and told through song lyrics, pictures, monologues, interviews. Someone described it as a "fractured mirror reflecting the sky", and I have no words that can beat that.
The basic story involves the reunion tour of Hard Core Logo, a punk band. There's more to it than that, but... well. It's just worth getting.
The Billy I play is from the film version, rather than the book. They're significantly different, because of the media involved- the film ends somewhat differently to the book, but both are equally fantastic.
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Anyway, everyone who survived the adversary's attacks is now exiled to the mundane world, most of them residing within a one-block area in New York.
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Lucifer is a combination of a few different characterisations, but most strongly the Mike Carey Lucifer comics, an offshoot of Sandman that I discovered recently and adore beyond all reason. The art is lovely and varied, the plots are intricate and highly original, and the language is very well used. *pimps like mad*
And everyone should watch Buffy because Joss Whedon is God and Spike has pretty cheekbones and the kind of sarcastic British humour that I fall in love with instantly *g*
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Gilbert Whimple is a Harry Potter character - sort of. On page 86 of Goblet of Fire (US ed.) Arthur Weasley says "There's Gilbert Whimple from the Experimental Charms Committee...he's had those horns for a while now".
And that's all anyone knows about Gilbert Whimple.
Actually he's about the closest thing in Milliways Bar to an OC - poor dab - and is only here on the sweet tolerance of Nny and Sophie having been led here gently by Sirius, who presumably needed a coffee.
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Rodya Raskolnikov is from Crime and Punishment. It does an amazing job of getting you into the mind of a killer and showing you how people are often their own punishment. Really, insane axe murderers, how can you turn it down?
Joe Dick is from Hard Core Logo, which is a movie done like a documentary of a Canadian Punk Band. It's a very intense movie, and actually not for everybody. But if you like dark and angsty, then go for it. If you're hesitant, I wrote up a summary of the movie the other day here, (http://www.livejournal.com/community/ways_back_room/143344.html) but there are HUGE SPOILERS for the movie, if you're somebody who cares about such things.
I did have many witty and intelligent things I wanted to say, but they all ran away.
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Will Stanton is from the Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper. This is a series of five books, written for young adults but very accessible for adults as well; they're quick reads, but not shallow ones at all. (For reference, one was a Newbery Honor book, and another one the Newbery Medal.) They're about, well, a battle between cosmic good and evil, and an eleven-year-old boy who is also an immortal born to fight for the side of the Light, and several humans, mostly but not solely children, who are caught up in the struggle. Lovely, complex, and bittersweet books, and I highly recommend them to anyone who hasn't read them.