[ Arashi, FFVII, FFX, FFXII, FNL, Gokusen, JE, LOVELESS, Okami, Tutu, ToA, Ugly Betty, XTB ]

[tomomichi]

Notes: ....I'm just going to pretend that I totally planned to make updates a once-a-week thing now. >_>
Series:
    Arashi - 1 Fanfic
    Final Fantasy VII - 1 Fanfic
    Friday Night Lights - 2 Fanfics
    Gokusen - 1 Fanfic
    JE - 2 Fanfics
    LOVELESS - 2 Fanfics
    Okami - 1 Fanfic
    Princess Tutu - 2 Fanfics
    Ugly Betty - 4 Fanfics
    X/Tokyo Babylon - 1 Fanfic
    Final Fantasy VII - 3 Fanart
    Final Fantasy X/Final Fantasy XII - 1 Fanart
    Final Fantasy XII - 1 Fanart
    Tales of the Abyss - 2 Fanart



- Arashi - Nymph by Honooko - There are two aspects of this fic that I really love. One, that it's Nino with all of the various members of Arashi, each with their own dynamic, but still part of a larger whole. The author really does a lovely job of showing what each of these potential pairings would be like, making me love each one of them, making each one special and heart-warming. And, two, of course, somehow Ohmiya is special, somehow Ohno is different for Nino, even though he cares about them all. I love that I loved everyone in this fic, that it wasn't about making other pairings lesser, it was about Ohmiya being Ohmiya. Somehow. This fic absolutely warmed my heart. (Nino/everyone, Ohmiya.)

- JE/Arashi - Three People Who Weren't in Kanjani8 by travelingpsycho - Okay, technically, this is only a little bit Arashi, but it's so damn fantastic that there's no way I couldn't include it in the Arashi section proper. This started with Wolfie and I talking about a Jun/Ryo friendship after that Duet interview with the two of them, which spiralled off into Ryo meeting Arashi and then Aiba joining K8 and then there was this fic prompted by it and it's fantastic and so perfect and so many little details or bits of characterization that are fantastic. I don't even know the rest of them that well, yet I still avidly read the other two sections to this fic because it's just such a fantastic execution of the idea of K8 getting other members. ♥ (No warnings/pairings.)

- Final Fantasy VII - Making Camp by Ger - This was a very cool fic set early on in the game, not long after Cid joins the party, and it's a good take on his character, how he sees the rest of the group, even the parallels that he finds in surprising places. That's one of the things I love most about fic (especially in gen fic), where the author puts all these neat little details into the story, writes a strong voice for the character, but then also comes up with a connection or parallel between two characters--in this case, between Cid and Cloud--that I'd never really thought of before, but makes a lot of sense. This was a really good read just for its own sake, but the great use of the prompt made it even better. (No warnings/pairings.)

- Friday Night Lights - Listen to Her Quiet Heart Singing Loud by krabapple - Again, I really didn't think that I would even need Matt/Julie fic, since canon is so lovely for them. But this is a quiet, rather understated look at a future for Matt and Julie, the way she wonders how things might have been different, but likes the way things turned out anyway. There's a certain tone to this, something about the way it's told in such a straight-forward, almost simple way that captures the tone of the series just so well. A lovely piece that I like to think will totally happen for them. (Matt/Julie.)

- Friday Night Lights - Window by tigs - I think I could get rather addicted to reading Matt/Julie fic if I'm going to keep stumbling over stories like this one. Because, once again, somehow a fic manages to capture that tone the series has, the one that's not quite simple, but maybe something like it, something that's direct yet still with all that sweet, adorable awkwardness that Matt Saracen has. The narration for the story, even when it something as uncomplicated as Matt and Julie walking home from a date and standing on her front step, is so fantastic that I could just see the entire story playing in my head. I loved this so much. <3 (Matt/Julie.)

- Gokusen - The Way to California by saxon_dogs - I picked up the link for this fic from here, curious to read a Shinkumi fic that I'd never come across before, and this was a darling piece that really does show just how emotionally backwards Yankumi is and how everyone around her reaches the conclusions probably years before she does. Her reactions to her feelings for Shin are fantastic, I could just see this happening. <3 (Shin/Yankumi.)

- JE - Dear Ryo (Or, If I Help You With Your Problems, You Owe Me) by papercandy - Pero linked this fic to me and I was curious enough to click on it and read just the first few lines at least. And OMG PIKAME FIC. GOOD PIKAME FIC. Ryo being bitchy and arrogant to his friends but not psycho! Yamapi being dumb and loveable, but in the best possible way. Actually funny dialogue and terrific pacing. At least three points where I burst into giggles. Just. I want to flail over this fic, because it's Yamapi annoying the crap out of Ryo about how he (Yamapi) likes Kame and trying to figure out how to tell Kame this and Ryo's reactions are fabulous and it has so many insanely quotable lines. Ryo's line to Koyama is possibly the funniest thing I've read all week, srsly. ♥ (Some Yamapi/Kame, it's only half the point.)

- LOVELESS - You Got a Piece of Me by allira_dream - I've liked several of the author's other stories that I've read, so I was intrigued by seeing a LOVELESS fic by her, hoping to find a Yamato/Kouya story that I would like, since it's such a rare pairing. I wasn't disappointed at all--the prose of this piece is beautiful, it creates these lovely, painful images that strike me as being so like the tone of the original series itself and it's a lovely voice for Yamato. She's so cheerful on the outside here, yet there's so much yearning and aching underneath, the author really bringing out the emotion of her without having to hammer it into the reader's head in an obnoxious or over the top way. It just. It really worked for me, the language and characterization of this piece. Beautiful writing. (Yamato/Kouya, Yamato/OMC, some NC-17-ish content.)

- LOVELESS - Even by EnchanteRhea - Another lovely LOVELESS fic, this time of Soubi and Ritsuka, as they sit in the grass, back to back, a well-done sense of detail and description, so that I could easily imagine Soubi's coat underneath Ritsuka to keep him from the damp grass. The way nothing is really said or done here, even while they're ostensibly working on improving Ritsuka's focus, is lovely and feels like it's in the same tone as the original series. The writing is also smooth and the characterization understated yet very nice. There's a peaceful sense to the piece that I liked, then a cute ending that Ritsuka and Soubi should have more often. :D (No real warnings/pairings.)

- Okami - How friends and devotees call you by Kirisame - I really kinda liked this piece, it's hard to set a story from Amaterasu's point of view because she never has any lines in the game and while you do have some sense of her personality, how do you translate that into fic form? Yet this fic does a nice job of it, the way she doesn't care what people call her, so much as the meaning behind it, how they feel about her, rather than what may or may not be proper. It makes good use of the various nicknames and titles given to her throughout the game, it makes good use of showing her relationships with various people/creatures as the game goes along, even as Amaterasu is figuring things out herself. Very nice. (No warnings/pairings.)

- Princess Tutu - between stories by thornsmoke - No matter how much the fandom is steadily growing, I still have this feeling of holding a treasure in my hands every time there's a new Princess Tutu fic that has a lovely style to it, that actually uses the literary themes, much less one that's post-series with Mytho and Rue. This is a lovely Rue piece, very much like a fairy tale story in the telling of it, as she travels with Mytho through the woods and meets a stranger in a tower. It's almost simple, almost vague, and yet that works so well for the fic, as it's more about implications and things unsaid and flashes of imagery than anything else, I think. At any rate, it's a very nice piece to add to the Princess Tutu fandom. ♥ (Mytho/Rue.)

- Princess Tutu - Meta- by Mithrigil - This was a fun, interesting story, half a conversation between Fakia and Autoa, half a take on the meta aspect of Princess Tutu as a story. What really makes this work for me is the way it's a story about a story, which is addressed in the conversation Fakia has, that quandary about what they were written to do and what they're doing of their own selves and it's kind of greatly amusing to watch Fakia tie himself into knots trying to work it out in his head. This is why Princess Tutu, for all that it's rather small-ish a fandom, is kind of one of my favorites, because it produces stuff like this, stuff that's actually kinda very cool. (Fakia/Ahiru.)

- Ugly Betty - foresight by Mardia - Part of me really didn't want to read Ugly Betty fanfic because I'm mostly content with canon and fanfic seemed... extraneous, I guess? But I marathoned nearly all the first season in one go (after ignoring it since the second episode aired) and I wasn't quite ready to be done with it yet. So, fanfic it was. And I have this really complicated relationship with the idea of Daniel/Betty because I don't think that's where they were going in canon, but I feel like maybe it could eventually happen, despite that I'm not sure whether or not I want it to. I like that they're friends, that it's not about the usual cliche things. I even really like Betty with Henry. But, at the same time, I can't deny that I have an interest in Daniel/Betty and this fic just makes it that much worse. Because it's got a great voice for Daniel's character, the way things sort of blindside him even when he knows they're coming, the way Betty doesn't really change over the course of the fic, even as he slowly figures out how he feels. It's just... it's got a really amazingly deft touch for the idea of the pairing, not pushing too hard or trying to oversell it, nothing really even happens, and that just makes it exactly the right thing to hit me at exactly the right time. Fabulous writing here. (Some Daniel/Betty, some Henry/Betty.)

- Ugly Betty - anything but a triangle by Mardia - So. Since I read the previous Ugly Betty fic by this author, I was curious enough to start clicking around to find more. And I was curious about a fic from Amanda's point of view, so I read a bit and was promptly sucked into the whole thing. It's a really interesting look at the relationship between Betty and Daniel (not really a romantic one, but a very important one nonetheless) through Amanda's eyes, giving the character the depth we've seen fleeting glances of in the series while not taking away from the superficial, biting person she still is. The way she sees the two of them, the way she sees everything is really well-done here, it's a really terrific Amanda piece. (No real warnings/pairings.)

- Ugly Betty - Embarazada by svilleficrecs - ....I swear, I'm not really actively shipping Daniel/Betty, but it's just that... their dynamic, that weird platonic, yet-maybe-something-else-way-in-the-future dynamic just fascinates me, it's the one that really would benefit the most from exploration in fic. So, I'm attracted to the sort of writing that captures that--which this fic is all about. This is the beginning of their relationship, the awkwardness that's there until Daniel slowly starts to realize what an amazing person Betty is, the rough edges in their relationship that slowly smooth out into... something... else, that's not precisely romantic, not really even close to that, but something very real, friendship with maybe something in the future, maybe nothing in the future. That's what I like for these two. (....sort of Daniel/Betty, sort of not Daniel/Betty.)

- Ugly Betty - The Right Time by Jess - This is another story that hit me in the right way at the right time, since I'd been reading several fics that were only vaguely sort of Daniel/Betty, hinting at potential between them more than actually doing anything. So, I was primed for an actual get-together fic. One that took its time to set things up, to move the characters forward and get me to believe that maybe it could happen a little ways down the road (since they're obviously not ready right now) and this fic did a fabulous job of it. The dialogue is sharp and in the style of the show, the characterization and voices are fantastic for both of them set a few years from the series' current time, the insight into Daniel's character and the way he sees Betty, how much he actually starts to notice about her, the way his feelings are obvious to the reader, but slower to come to Daniel are all done with such a deft touch that it's pulled me from kinda-sorta shipping it to maybe actively shipping the pairing. Really excellent fic. (Daniel/Betty.)

- X/Tokyo Babylon - untitled by Xyn - I don't even remember how I stumbled across Xyn's work again this morning, some random journal hopping that eventually had me clicking onto her journal. But I'm glad I did because this is a really interesting pre-TB series fic about a random encounter between Subaru and Kanoe, one of those kind of stories that I sort of adore in this fandom. Because it makes sense in this context, this random encounter back when Subaru was still so young and before everything went wrong, still just a wee, tiny little thing. And it's one of those random meetings of not-quite-fate that works for these characters, filled with little details that let me see it easily, and some great characterization. Very nice. (Some Subaru/Kanoe, but it's not really a pairing, more gen than anything.)

---

- Final Fantasy VII - SACRED [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I actually came here for the Tales fanart, but got sidetracked by the FFVII art, which I wasn't originally going to click through everything, but then there was really cute Sephiroth/Zack art, which I have a weakness for... and then it was sort of all downhill from there. (And I may have recommended this site, like, twice before, but I can't find it in my links, so it's going up again.) There's so little Sephiroth/Zack fanart, much less art I find genuinely cute that this site was kind of a real treasure, the artist has this really light, almost airy, cute style that just... makes me happy somehow? She's also got a bunch of chibi comics with kitty/wolf ears that are SO ADORABLE that I kind of had to be won over. (Some Sephiroth/Zack maybe, some gen.)

- Final Fantasy VII - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - It took a little while to get me to warm up to this site and the artist's style, but the Sephiroth/Cloud fanart definitely helped ease that along. But it's also that, the further I got into the site, the more I started to genuinely appreciate the artist's style. It's a little messy, but when going through the pages of oekaki art, I think it really worked for her in the b&w stuff, there's a certain intensity to it that works well with the ideas she's using and these characters. Also, her Zack is totally hot. ♥ There are even a bunch of really fun comics and a really decent selection of art to go through, which just makes me want to go looking for FFVII art again all over. *__* (Sephiroth/Cloud, Zack/Cloud.)

- Final Fantasy VII - [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I kind of fell for this site almost immediately, because there's a certain style to the Cloud and Tifa images that just hit me right at the right time. There's a vague sense of evoking all the emotions that I feel like the pairing should evoke--which isn't very helpful in describing the site or even making all that much sense, I know. It's hard to describe. It's almost nostalgic with some of the early art, like a "simpler times" sort of feel, which is what I love about these two. A lot of the art is almost deceptively simple with lighter colors or sometimes a watercolor-like style and a sketchy quality, but it works really well and the artist uses that style well. Also, there is an image of Cloud on a flying chocobo looking like he's ready to freak out because it's out of control and it's SO CUTE that I don't know how anyone could resist it. Very lovely site. ♥ (Cloud/Tifa.)

- Final Fantasy XII/Final Fantasy X - MISFORTUNE [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - So. The first image I stumble across on this site? Ashe holding both Basch and Vaan by collars. I am intrigued! Especially since it looks pretty and those are my two Ashe pairings. I scout around a bit more and find a love Basch/Ashe piece amongst the artwork here. It's probably more of a Basch/Vaan site than anything, but the artist clearly has a fondness for Ashe as well, so maybe it's more of an Ashe/Basch/Vaan triangle site? Either way, there's this really beautifully drawn image of Ashe in a black (mourning?) dress and veil that is quite possibly the prettiest FFXII fanart I've seen yet. The FFX art is much the same, some of them are just beautifully colored and beautifully drawn, absolutely worth going through. *__* If just for the blue one of Jecht turning into Sin that's just so, so, so pretty. (Some Ashe/Basch/Vaan permutations, some Jecht/Tidus I think, a lot of gen, too.)

- Final Fantasy XII - Starman [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - I originally intended to pass this site by, since the style wasn't really my thing. I did really like the shiny colors and the nice amount of detail, but it wasn't grabbing me overall... until the image of Balthier with little kidlet Fran, who skinned her elbows and knees, so he's offering her a handkerchief. I'm not sure what to make of it, since I assume Fran's older in the game, but the art is SO CUTE that I wibbled and barely thought twice about falling for it. It's just the right combination of colors and adorableness that I couldn't help myself. <3 There are also some cute oekaki illustrations and it just wound up being a solid site to add a few more images to my list of FFXII fanart. (No real warnings/pairings.)

- Tales of the Abyss - MAKIBISHI [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - So, I was at the video store the other day and happened to rent Tales of the Abyss, since I was looking for a new game to play. I didn't get as far into it as I would have liked, but I played enough to know that I kind of liked the story. Then I was browsing one of my regular oekaki sites and it was apparently Tales of the Abyss week recently. Well, if that's not fate, I thought. So, I started poking around and this is one of the first sites I really liked, the artist has a really solid style, some very pretty colors that remind me of the original game itself and a lot of fun concepts/poses/expressions for the characters, especially Guy and Luke. There are also some fantastic group images, very much like poster art for the game. A really solid site to start off a TotA hunt, I hope. (Maybe a little Guy/Luke? It could be completely gen, too.)

- Tales of the Abyss - colorcube [ Japanese Fanart Site ] - This site has some really super-cute art, some really pretty, light, airy coloring that reminds me a little of the game itself combined with adorable line-art and then some really cute concepts/poses. The artist really has a lot of skill, so her CG-style art looks really good and she totally does a great job with each and every character, and her girls are SO CUTE. There's a solid amount of art here, which made it even more fun to go through the gallery. ♥ (Maybe some pairings, but no real themes.)

NEW GOAL: 581/1500

Comments

[startredder.livejournal.com]

I've been watching Ugly Betty since the first episode! And everyone else I tried to get to watch it went 'Meh' and I was sad.

No, no, we love Tales of the Assholes Abyss! How far did you get?

[tomomichi.livejournal.com]

I watched the first episode when it aired, was sort of not-impressed-but-not-un-impressed by it, let the episodes pile up until last week, and then marathoned the whole season. It's really very charming. (I feel weird liking Daniel/Betty because it's soooo not the point and I really like Henry/Betty and yet....)

I got far enough to recognize most of the characters and yet not far enough that you won't hit me really hard. ;__;

[startredder.livejournal.com]

Honestly? Ugly Betty, along with Friday Night Lights, was /the/ show I was watching this past season. It was the one where I was always impatient for a new episode and would watch it as soon as I could get my hands on the next one. I found most of the characters so damn /likeable/ and there are a lot of great dynamics between various people and groups and plus there was the episode where Betty fought the woman in the wheelchair. That was glorious. (I think Daniel needs to clean himself up a /lot/ more and Henry needs to be, like, repeatedly killed of or shown to be a serial killer before I could really get behind the idea of /not/-Henry/Betty.)

Details, Becky, details!

[tomomichi.livejournal.com]

For about the first half of the season, my reluctance with Ugly Betty is that America Ferrara is a beautiful woman and I realize that they need Betty to not be beautiful, but they're obviously trying so hard to make her unattractive that it feels forced. But by the second half they seemed to settle into their groove and happily embraced the soapiness (which I love) and I sort of came to love all of the characters in their own ways. Even Marc and Amanda, who were funny but unlikable at first.

I did start to like Amanda around the time we found out that she loved Daniel in a way he didn't love her back. And I agree so, so much that Daniel has SO FAR to go and Henry is all sorts of adorable awesome, but I like Henry/Betty in canon for the most part. Daniel/Betty is the one that has room to be explored in fic.

...crap, this was supposed to be a short comment.

umimayhavegottenjustpastengevepleasedon'tkillme

[startredder.livejournal.com]

I was actually worried, early on, that they would quickly succumb to the temptation to make Ugly Betty not so ugly, because America Ferrara /is/ gorgeous. ... Honestly, at the beginning of the season, I didn't think the show would last beyond three or four episodes before a) giving into the temptation to cute Betty up or b) being cancelled.

And, God, the way they've embraced the totally insane soapiness is /glorious/. I love it. I don't actually watch soaps, but this is /perfect/.

I looked at Daniel and I think 'Betty could do /so much better/', although I love Daniel, and since I'm sure, if the show lasts long enough, they /will/ go there, I think I'm happy to enjoy dorky Henry for as long as he's around.

Ha ha! I win!

I'm not going to /kill/ you. I just ask because I don't want to be dropping spoiler bombs all over the damn place!

[tomomichi.livejournal.com]

It's a weird position I find myself it. I wish they wouldn't try so hard with Betty, because she would still stand out against all the other models even if she looked like a normal girl. I think that's what was itching at me for so long, that they sort of spun her as this normal girl amongst these crazy fashion people and she really wasn't normal, she was just as loopy and soapy as the rest of them.

But once they really embraced the soapiness, it was so much better and I wouldn't change Betty at all. (Well, I might get rid of the braces, but I understand why they're necessary, since America Ferrara is so beautiful.)

As he is, Daniel is too much of a mess to inflict on Betty and they would probably be a mess and I don't think either of them feels that way. But it seems almost inevitable that Daniel will clean up his act and they'll probably get together. In the meantime, Henry is ADORABLE and while I don't necessarily want his girlfriend to be a bitch, I'm really hoping the baby isn't his. And, god, how great is it that they have a questionable paternity storyline? I love this show.

Re: Tales of the Abyss, you don't have to worry, I've spoiled myself pretty good for the whole game.

Oh, and I also finished "Cetaganda" and started "Ethan of Athos" now and I'm cautiously enjoying the book so far. It's still a bit soon to tell, but I honestly want to keep reading, not just because I owe you the book.

[startredder.livejournal.com]

I see what you're saying, but at the same time, everything else in the show is so over the top that Betty would end up playing straight woman to the rest of the cast if she /was/ just a normal girl, and I think that would be awfully boring. She can be a moral compass, /that's/ fine, but I think America Ferrara is too awesome to just be the normal one amongst all the insanity.

And think of all the plotlines you wouldn't have if Betty was normal! I mean, how could you have her involved in a love-triangle/questionable paternity storyline if she was just a random girl?

I'm /so conflicted/ over the Henry thing. On the one hand: yeah, I don't want Charlie to be a bitch because she's so cute when she isn't being evil. On the other hand: CHARLIE WHY YOU GOTTA KEEP HENRY AND BETTY APART? Do you know how often I went "NOOOOOOO" at my screen whenever another wrench was thrown into the works of the Henry and Betty relationship? A LOT.

Oh, man. Then you better not spoil /me/, 'cause Matt and I have managed to keep ourselves pretty ignorant, which makes it fun, since we keep going DUDE WTF at the various plot twists. (But, dude, Luke and Guy are the gayest thing ever. Even /Matt/ went '... /Wow/ they're really fagging it up' when Guy was introduced.)

Oh! I was going to ask, but I didn't want to be naggy! How'd you find Cetaganda? I admit, Ethan of Athos is a much weaker book, but I still adore it. Ethan's such a sweetheart and I can see what Bujold's trying to do with the whole thing, even if she wasn't at a point in her career to pull it off with the panache she does in some of her later novels.

[tomomichi.livejournal.com]

Looking back on it, I agree that Betty needed to be over the top to make the whole show work the way it does. And it's not like the early episodes were bad or anything, just that they didn't seem to have the absolute perfect balance they achieved later. Or maybe I just got used to the series and it's utterly crazy plotlines--god, I love the Alexis storyline so much that I just can't stand it. I should hate it! I should hate the Bradford/Wilhemenia storyline! I should hate the babydaddy storyline! And yet I love them all.

I really want to like Charlie, her actress is so cute and she seems like such a nice girl, and I don't blame her for coming between Henry and Betty, because Henry was her boyfriend first. I don't really even blame her for cheating because Henry was emotionally "seeing" Betty, too. I'm hoping that the show finds a way to work things out with Henry/Betty and Charlie and Dr. Farkus (who I hope is the dad) actually liking each other.

I think my biggest complaint is that I've gotten used to games like KHII, FFXII, and Okami, where the save points will instantly heal your party and so when ToA didn't do that, I was cranky as hell. I do like the characters so far, but I'm not sure how much I like the gameplay, since I'm used to the newer games.

I'll still say that space novels aren't my thing, so there are times when I felt a little bogged down by all the technical stuff she puts into her books, but by the time I was getting to the climax of Cetaganda, I was having to fight off an urge to skim ahead to read the ending ahead of time. So I definitely liked it and I have great affection for Ivan still and I think Bujold's a strong writer. I did like the world she set up with Cetaganda, the society was genuinely interesting as Miles tried to parse the whole thing and never really could quite figure it out. And my urge to slash anything has dwindled down to almost nothing!

I'm only about half a chapter into Ethan of Athos, but I'm vaguely intrigued so far. I think maybe her writing just took some time for me to acclimate to.

[startredder.livejournal.com]

I know! It's all so ... stereotypically soap operay, but it's /so glorious/. I cannot /wait/ to see what they pull out for /next/ season. What will happen to Alexis and Daniel?! Will Claire escape to murder Wilhemina?! Will Bradford and Wilhemina get married?! What will Amanda do with her newfound knowledge that Fay was her mother?! Who's baby is it?! Is Santos dead?! Will Papa Suarez ever come back to America, or will he die in Mexico?! I must know!

I'm really, really hoping that Charlie and Dr. Farkus hook up happily and he can move out to wherever with her and Henry can come back to New York and /all will be well/ until the next wrench is thrown into things. I mean, Dr. Farkus didn't seem like a /bad/ guy, and I'm sure Charlie could have hooked up with a lot of different guys to get back at Henry. She's so cute!

Yeah, Cetaganda has that great mystery feel going for it, so it probably was a good one to introduce you to the series. Glad you're still liking Ivan, and hopefully you'll be able to get into the other books, too, since almost all of them have /some/ Ivan in.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of Ethan! Keep me posted, dammit :P

[tomomichi.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's because I watched everything over the course of about three days, but I think the soapy gloriousness works because they don't try to drag it out too long. And they're really good at making everyone human, even when they're still bitchy and plotting against each other. Like, Marc has never been one of my favorite characters, but I sort of fell in love with him when he told Justin to be himself, just... learn how to run really fast. Or when he told his mom that the Suarez family had done something really nice for him that night, even if he went right back to being bitchy. Same thing with Alexis and how she still cares about her family, there's a real person in there. Or Wilhemenia giving up the earlier wedding to get Marc back, even she's got a bit of a soul. It makes me like all of them! (Also, Vanessa Williams is just so much awesome.)

I liked Dr. Farkus. He never stood a chance with Betty, but he seemed to be genuinely a nice, funny guy. So I hope that he and Charlie can hook up and that they're happy together. I don't want either of them to be miserable, I just want Henry and Betty to be able to be together, dammit.

I think I can say with reasonable certainty that I'll finish Ethan of Athos and Labyrinth for sure. It's just a matter of finding some quiet free time away from the computer to read.

But I'm boring about books! I have nothing of interest to say! "I liked it." is not interesting, dammit. XD

[startredder.livejournal.com]

I think you're right. For most of the little soapy things, they're usually resolved in the next episode or so, and the longer things, like, well, the entire plotline with Alexis, works because there's a serious core to it.

Also, I have adored Alexis ever since she and Daniel had the war of the press conferences that ended with her hitting Daniel with his own hand.

I think it really helps that they've just assembled such a bangup cast for the whole thing. Like Vanessa Williams. Everyone is just so /good/ and bitchily evil and hilarious and also able to project just the right amount of heart into their character. My heart broke for Amanda when you found out she was in love with Daniel and I was delighted that the human element didn't detract from how hilariously /awesome/ she is. Ditto Marc and his connecting a little with Justin and his finally coming out to his mother and /everything/. It's all so well done.

Dr. Farkus amused me because he looks a lot like, and reminds me of, one of my real life friends.

Who is a dentist.

EERIE.

Ethan of Athos /is/ really short, and Labyrinth isn't even a novel (and it has Bel in it, who you haven't met, but Bel was my favourite character when I initially read the books, so I hope you'll like it).

But we've babble for /hours/ about Bruno and Boots, and /those/ are books. Clearly you just need the right person to prod you!

[tomomichi.livejournal.com]

I really wasn't sure how I was going to feel about the Alexis thing but two things won me over almost immediately. That press conference of awesome (and the sibling rivalry and offering pictures from each others' pasts) and then they showed how human she was. How it hurt when her friends wouldn't return her calls, how she still cared about her family and how she might be crazy, but some part of her still loves them.

Same for Amanda. I loved her storyline with the not!gay designer and her friendship with Marc is just so bitchy and awesome that I love them. They're also really good at finding the line between being awful to Betty and yet not so awful that you can't kind of love them anyway.

But Bruno & Boots are different! I read those books when I was growing up, I've reread them so many times that I practically had them memorized at one point, so they don't count! I'm not good with other books!

[startredder.livejournal.com]

I /adore/ Alexis. She's, well, got balls and she's been hurt /so much/, and I want to shake her whenever she does things that make things worse between Daniel and herself, because it's obvious she /wants/ to reconnect with her little brother again.

Amanda and Marc are awful to Betty, but they're sometimes awful in a way that /helps/ her, which I think makes a big difference. And, since she's helped them, I think it's harder for them to be /truly/ awful to her, but they're still managing to be bitchy and evil in just the right amounts, and not, you know, getting buddy buddy with her, which is great.

You just need practise! We've talked Chrestomanci before, after all, and those are books, too!