You guys!

So I went to leviosa2016 over the weekend and I guess the fruits of that labor are best summed up by the fact that i just spent several hours downloading a bunch of handwavey tech magic that would allow me to install Semagic on my Mac. Semagic! I HAVE MISSED YOU SO MUCH, Semagic. (Semagic is to LJ what XKit is to Tumblr, I suppose. Long may it reign.)

Anyway, I'm hoping this will make it easier for me to feel comfortable updating LJ and subsequently interacting on LJ again. I really have missed the community here and I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep up with so many of the lovely people I met this weekend!

I'm also super-lucky because I actually got to have an INCEPTION FANDOM MEET-UP while I was there, sort of! This is all thanks to bicrim, who was so fantastic about letting me try to indoctrinate her into the world of Inception by watching the whole crazy movie with me. During the ball, we commandeered a room and I was so delighted that so many people dropped by to hang out with us and indulge in my crazy love for this dumb stupid terrible great movie. rurounihime and snottygrrl pretty much let me squee at them about Arthur/Eames all weekend. And red_rahl not only stayed for the whole movie but joined me in my inarticulate, frantic attempt to explain to Bicrim why we loved the movie so much, and then GAVE ME THIS HOLY SHIT.



Isn't it the most gorgeous? Aren't they the best *__* Isn't she just incredible :D :D :D :D

A few people I have to call out for being so amazing this weekend:

• dicta_contrion for being so lovely and nice and so smart and articulate, and for getting me excited about new H/D fic while also preaching the gospel of Not Being Afraid of Tumblr to all the old-timers. If you haven't checked out her LJ post about how to use Tumblr, it's a really nice intro!
  
• oceaxe, who I had totally lost touch with and was totally delighted to meet and get to spend lots of time with this weekend. You're awesome. :)
  
• femmequixotic and noeon for convincing me to do a bunch of panels that all turned out to be a really great time
  
• writcraft for being such an amazing mod and contributor in all of her many panels, and such a smart, articulate thinker with so many broad areas of interests and such a fabulous ability to listen and process the conversation. I'm so happy I got a chance to meet you!
  
• furiosity because I had never gotten a chance before to meet her despite our many years hopping around HP cons, and it was really nice to have a moment just to chat! I hope your Japan tour is epic, F!
  
• Stephanie and her mom!!!! Stephanie IDK if you will see this, haha, but you are both great. <3
  
• of course my lovely hotel roommates Jill, Tracy, and Elizabeth, who put up with me and my social neuroses most admirably. :) And Lilah Vandenburgh, who probably won't see this post but who is supremely fantastic.
  

Stuff I wish I'd gotten to do more of:
- Squee about H/D, especially all the new tropes and fandom developments I have woefully been missing out on
- Rant more about how much I hate the Cursed Child spoilers
- Rack up some hot tub time (though I'm here through tomorrow morning so I still do have some time for that!
- Drink and party lol. I was so worried about losing my voice before the Hamilton singalong I mostly just hung back and was a fuddy-duddy. NEXT CON.

There were so many old H/D friends I ran into this weekend and it just made me kind of ache to be back in this community again. I'm gonna post this, finish the 18 Pokemon GO articles I have been assigned, and then finish reading "The Stately Homes of Wiltshire," which is an H/D fic recced to me both by Oceaxe and Elizabeth. It's so good. *__*

I'm still failing at replying to comments! And I'm still failing at cross-posting to Dreamwidth! (sob, Dreamwidth) But I guess while I'm here I might as well wish a happy birthday to the only Cathy, two_if_by_sea <3

So tell me about this Misti Con deal? :D

Hi, LJ. I miss you so much. I feel displaced constantly on the Internet these days. My heart is like a grounded fledgling, staring longingly back at its far-away nest, knowing it needs to fly away but unsure where to go.

(Do you like how we can't blockquote things on LJ anymore because now they auto-format as shitty fucking italics? I KNOW I SURE DO!)

Anonymous asked you:

aja, i just watched inception for the very first time (I KNOW) and now i need all of the arthur/eames fic. what's the best you'd recommend? where should i start? #latetothepartyproblems

___________________

*Deep breath* Okay. Ahaha wow. You don't know what an overwhelming question this is for me to be asked 3 years into a fandom whose fics are as good as Inception's. I don't know if I just turn my critical filter off more, or if the fics are just objectively better (i like to think both), but you should know my rec rate is about 40% higher in Inception than in any other fandoms I read in. (I calculated this on Pinboard once, it was ridiculous, haha.)

So when I say you should READ ALL OF THE FICS I mean that with a kind of desperate urgency because they're all so good, haha. Read all of the fics on Phen's enormous 600-strong rec list, read all the fics on Mementis's rec lists, read all of the 2,000-something fics on my Inception pinboard bookmarks, read them all because Inception fandom is amazing, and Arthur and Eames are just. There's nothing quite like them.

( so, fic recs.Collapse )

(there is a monster Tim Roth / Gary Oldman fic at the end of this chat book)

Ifrit.: JGL was a wreck on SNL
bookshop: oh god really? oh god poor guy
bookshop: UGH SO EMBARRASSED
Ifrit.: flkd;lk no wait I'm not actually sure if it was TERRIBLE TERRIBLE
bookshop: he was really bad the last time too wasn't he? fdljafj;dslasdfj
Ifrit.: but I am just assuming that it was because the opening involves him doing a striptease a la Magic Mike
bookshop: uh
Ifrit.: I am looking at gifs and just being like really embarrassed
bookshop: why are he and tom hardy both always so asdklfja;sdlfdklj;kldj
Ifrit.: embarrassing
bookshop: safdk;kjfksdf;sdajsdfjs yes sdlka;sdfjsljsssjfljld
Ifrit.: WHY
bookshop: SO HILARIOUSLY NOT THEIR CHARACTERS fdklasdj;fkadjaskdflajaklfjdl
Ifrit.: but Tom Hardy is like
Ifrit.: he's okay but JGL JUST STOP
bookshop: yes, he's just
bookshop: yes
bookshop: yes
bookshop: yes
bookshop: yes
( bookshop: sdjfk;lsadf;ksdjkldsCollapse )

Received word that I'm not teaching music this fall because enrollment is down. So that means I can unlock the fluff memes, and so I have!

Fluff Meme, Round One!
Fluff Meme, Round Two!
Fluff Meme, Round Three, hosted at cherrybina's place! :D

(*cough* in case anyone wanted to spontaneously put more inception fluff on my journal, in between writing a zillion articles, i would come here and make googly eyes of love and adoration at you. <3)

Hello, LJ! Hello, Dreamwidth!

Fic Rec!

So eleveninches has posted her latest Inception fic, When a Man Loves a Pasiv! And it's not like the other boys! By which I mean it's a Cobbfic. By which I mean, like Cobb, it's a really, really impressive blend of pathos and dark comedy and sociopathy and cluelessness and sympathy. It's a wonderful, smart fic.

Usually when I beta Erin's fics I know where they're going to end up. This time I didn't, and so when I finally read it through, it left me really satisfied, emotional catharsis ringing deeply. I really, really love this one, and if you've ever looked at Cobb and thought:


(source: the mighty beatonna, of course <3

--but still liked the bastard anyway, then this is the story for you. :D

Book Rec!

omg omg omg omg you guys. So, there is this book, Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge. and it is THE MOST WONDERFUL BOOK. *_*

It first came to my attention when I saw jibrailis wistfully tweet about how incredible the writing was, and I thought, 'wow, okay, any book that has Nance envying the writing style is a book I have to pay attention to.' And then chibi_lurrel chimed in to agree with her, so that's two fantastic writers I know talking about how amazing this book is. So I bought it without knowing anything about it, which turned out to be the best decision I made in ages!

(time out to rant about how much i hate that they placed the BANNED banner over this edition of the book. it covers up the gorgeous artwork and makes you think you're in for some kind of YA dystopia, which is not what the book is like at ALL.)

Unbeknownst to me, my lovely friends over at The Book Smugglers had also heard about this book around the same time I did, and they wrote a fabulous review of it here, which you can read! Or you can check out the excerpt-heay review by The Eager Readers on YouTube!

The Smugglers went on to get their eager hands on all her other novels, including the sequel, Fly Trap / Twilight Robbery (UK title), which I am finally reading even as we speak. Quoth Ana: "I am bolting at high speed to buy ALL THE BOOKS by Frances Hardinge and proceeding with great alacrity to read them AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE." This is exactly how I felt, EXACTLY, which is why I now have a blessed stack of Frances Hardinge novels courtesy of the Monroe County Public Library, because the bookstore could not order them fast enough.

The Smugglers' review of FxN says everything I could possibly want to say about the book and also includes my favorite writing excerpts! But I have to add one thing, which is: ZOMG EPONYMOUS CLENT.

This is the first description of Eponymous Clent that we get in Fly by Night:

A week before, a man named Eponymous Clent had arrived in Chough and talked his way into every heart and hearth. He had bewitched the entire village with one urbane twinkle. Clent had brought phrases as vivid and strange as spices, and he smiled as he spoke, as if tasting them. That afternoon, however, Chough had fallen out of love with him just as quickly and completely. Word had spread that a visitor to the magistrate's house had exposed Clent as a notorious trickster and cheat.

....are you thinking what I'm thinking?



( EPONYMOUS. CLENT.Collapse )

People always talk about how such-and-such book makes them experience joy in the act of reading, but it's so rare that I feel that way when I'm reading a book, taking delight in the way words fall on a page. But I know I'm going to feel that way with all of Frances Hardinge's writing, so: heads-up, there may be more incoherent babbling from me about this author in the near future.

At the very least, I am nowhere near done babbling about my opprobrious love for Eponymous Clent.

__________________

Finally:

Webseries rec: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

I've never really gotten into web series before this. I watched nearly all of The Guild and was like, meh. Then The Lizzie Bennet Diaries happened, omg.

They're exactly what you'd expect them to be from the title: that is, a modernization of Pride and Prejudice in vlog form. But they're also witty, cute, modern without being ~edgy~, and often laugh-out-loud hilarious. Bing Lee is a doctor who carries around stuffed elephants and wants to watch period romance with Jane. Charlotte is a pedantic film school nerd, Collins is a blogger who awkwardly follows Lizzie around Vividcon :DDDDD!!!, the coming of the Regiment has now become Swim Week :D and Jane is........... still Jane and Lydia.............. is still Lydia. :D

It's so so brilliant, and fun, andover 30 eps in we haven't even met Darcy yet, and I'm just enthralled. Caroline is not a bitch REPEAT, CAROLINE IS NOT A BITCH!!! AND SHE AND LIZZIE are FRIENDS and they MAKE FUN OF DARCY TOGETHER AND IT'S THE GREATEST THING EVER!!, and Lydia and Lizzie love each other so much (okay I totally ship Lizzie/Lydia in this P&P AU, but not as much as I ship Lydia/Goth Nerd Cousin Mary ahhhh) and can I just say this is THE GREATEST THING IN MY LIFE right now I love it so much. Deep down all I really want in life = endless quality retellings of Pride & Prejudice. Right now, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is on its way to becoming the best non-fanfic fanfic of P&P I've ever seen.

First off -- Livejournal, I love you, I am back. I am back and I have a WHOLE NEW DEFAULT ICON! because nothing says THINGS HAVE CHANGED like changing your default LJ icon, I don't care how much time has passed.

I am back because I am now, amazingly enough, working for a fantastic online news source that has asked me to ferret out stories about the things you all are doing. They require me to be actively engaged in the community I'm reporting on. And I can't be actively, effectively engaged in fandom if I'm not (somehow, don't ask me how this will work) actively, effectively engaged on Twitter/Tumblr/Dreamwidth/AO3/ff.net and Livejournal. Of course Livejournal.

So, remember last year when I took a 7-month LJ hiatus and then came back? Let's just pretend that's what happened here. :)

The circumstances that led to my needing to lock much of my content have not gone away, either. For those of you who wondered why it all had to be locked, the answer is that I got a fantastic job teaching music at the beginning of the year, <3 and there are rules about teachers in fandom. I have abided by those rules diligently for both periods of my life when I've been a teacher. But although I'm still teaching, now that I am literally professionally writing about fandom, that horse is out of the barn, and I'm okay with that. So if you want me to unlock things, just ask. I may not say yes to everything, but I probably will. Much of my fic is posted over at AO3, and some of my main posts have been archived at architect.

I am also writing a new column over at Manga Bookshelf, Fanbatte! and I will still write for the Mary Sue, but my publisher gets first dibs on everything, including my time.

---

OKAY HEADS-UP OVER, RANT GO.

Tumblr, I have such a love/hate relationship with you.

Here is an illustration that encompasses what I hate about Tumblr.

2 years ago, when I wrote a self-indulgent missive about our Mr Eames on Livejournal, this is what happened. Discussion happened. Squee happened! Debate happened. Loads of fanfic happened. And then even more discussion happened!

Here is what happened when I wrote a self-indulgent missive about our Mr Eames on Tumblr two days ago.
Literally 400 reblogs, all without comment, roughly 15 reblogs with versions of comments that amounted to "I HAVE FEELINGS!" and literally 3 people who actually wanted to reply substantively with thoughts about meta.

The other day, cherrybina said, very eloquently, to me:

You and I have discussed this before, but what I loved the most about Inception fandom was how it exploded in this flurry of energy, and people were making art based on fic that inspired more art, and entire verses grew out of massive comment threads, and there were memes and fests with thousands of comments, and all of the energy and interaction just kept inspiring more. More people, more squee, more fanworks - more of everything. That's what I love the most about fandom in general - that shared energy, and Inception was basically an entire fandom illustrating what that kind of energy can do. If Inception came out this year instead of 2010, that wouldn't have happened. It couldn't have, because the kind of interaction that created it is impossible on twitter and tumblr.

jlh also recently said to me that Tumblr gives voice to the lurkers. And I love that, because I have always loved lurkers and tried to make my LJ/DW a safe space to, uh, lurk and still have fun! And I also love that I can go to Tumblr and not have to say things, that I can just reblog and be done with it. I love, too, that my dash is visually diverse and progressive and a constant reminder that the world is not just for white people.

But I miss that discussion and I miss that interaction, and god knows I miss Inception fandom. Are we still here? Do we still have thinky things to say?

Or is my tumblr future just an endless round of a) gav and I trading insults and b) Ifrit and I having endless long-winded discussions that inevitably end in the two of us shrieking "STOP BEING MAUDLIN!" "STOP HATING EVERYTHING!" "NO!" "NO U!" at each other ad nauseum?

PLEASE DISCUSS.

Regarding my previous post about LJ deleting all comments from deleted users: the comments appear to be still there if you switch to an S2 customized comment page. it looks like if you have an S2 style and you turn *off* the LJ universal default, the comments are still there. However, I am also being told this does not work for all S2 style pages, so you might need to experiment.

Of course, given that many S2 customized comment pages destroy usability, this may not be the best option for many people--it's certainly not for me--but it's a temporary measure if you're trying to do a backup or a DW import.

Dreamwidth account creation is currently open to all without an invitation code through the end of 2011. To create a Dreamwidth account, go here. To initiate a Dreamwidth import, go here.

Per denise, if you are trying to import your Livejournals over to Dreamwidth, and you previously did an import with comments that are now deleted on LJ, those comments will not be lost or overwritten in this new import.

eta: aaaaand we have confirmation from starcrossedgirl that new/first imports from DW are importing the "deleted" contents with no problem. So the data is clearly still intact, and the new LJ default style is just hiding them. D: If you've been hesitating about whether to import your journal over to DW, it may be time to take the plunge.

I cannot find confirmation anywhere as to whether this is a coding glitch or an accidental preview of an upcoming LJ change, or whether it was intentional and unreported to the LJ userbase, but there are several support tickets in and I will update this post as I know more.

_______

Yuletide!!!!!!

It's been a distracting holiday so I haven't gotten a chance to do too much reading yet, but I absolutely love, love, LOVE the fics I got for Yuletide. The gods of Yule blessed me with 5 amazing fics in 4 different fandoms:

[Ten]-Four. Summary: It's 2009. Roya's hair has grown out, the elections have come and gone, and Iran has met the Green Wave.

This is fanfiction for the film Ten (2002). Ten is a brilliant, mesmerizing feminist film by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, and you can watch the whole thing online here.

The fic returns to two of the film's characters 7 years later. Whether you've seen the film or not, you should still read this fantastic look at two Iranian women in the middle of the Green Wave. Don't be put off by the downbeat narrative style. It's a perfect recreation of the narrative style of the film, which reveals the lives of Iranian women in short sequences just like this one. It's so fabulous, and its take on both the characters and their position within Iranian society is spot-on. I am so delighted by this fic, and I really, really hope you all read it, and thank my Yuletide Santa for writing something so thoughtful. ♥

I also got two AMAZING fics for The Room, oh my gosh. O, HAI, HILARIOUS META-PARODIES!

First is The Room 2, which takes us on a tour of the characters from The Room 1 via the POV of Ghost!Johnny. Featuring such hilarious and accurate Ghost!Johnny observations as ""Bagels still taste good, even when you are a ghost" and "I love Denny like a son. He takes drugs," this fic will take you on a FABULOUS JOURNEY THROUGH THE AFTERLIFE, Wiseau-style. The narrative pov in this is hysterical. I laughed and laughed. <3

Second but no less brilliant is The Room: Post-Mortem. This fic takes a look at Lisa's life after canon, with such sheer brilliance as “Why, Johnny, why,” she gargled into the scotchka and "Isn’t it time you get up and go find yourself a new husband?  Someone has to pay for my breast cancer treatment!”! AMAZING. I screamed "U.S. DOLLARS!" out loud and then had to explain to my relatives why I was talking to the air. DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT, relatives.

"I'm Here. You're Here. Someone else actually nominated Cruising this year, which totally blew my mind because I have had no luck ever getting people to fill my requests for gay serial killer fic before. But of course since someone else nominated it, I HAD to request it, because next to Strangers on a Train, the Al Pacino/William Friedkin flick Cruising is my very very favorite of all gay serial killer films. Beneath all the rampant homophobia and gay panic it's a really smart, layered, and ambiguous mystery, and I was overjoyed to get a fic that represented all of its darkness and complexity as well as this one did. It's absolutely fantastic, and if you've seen the film--or even if you haven't, but you just like dark and twisted stories (WHO DOESN'T??), then you should definitely, definitely read this, omfg.

Sweet Smell of Success: Sidney's Revenge. Oh my gosh, this fic! My head was spinning just like it was when I saw the film! If you've never seen Sweet Smell of Success, drop what you are doing and GO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW oh my gosh. (Or you can wait for next month's movie nights because it is definitely on the menu.) And then after you've watched it, go read this fascinating spin on what happened next between Sidney and JJ and Susan, enjoy the twisted barbed dialogue that's so in-keeping with the original film, and geek out over the subtext. :D :D :D This was awesome.


________

I wrote 5 fics and 1 short treat for Yuletide/Yuletide madness this year. 3 of them were for pretty obscure fandoms, but the other 3 are pretty well-known. 3 of them are super-predictable if you know me at all; 2 of them I'm actually really fond of, and 1 I'm really proud of having written, so. Yay. :D

I don't expect anyone to guess what I wrote; but if you do guess at least 1 of the 6 fics, then you get a ficlet from me, any pairing of your choice as long as it's a fandom i'm in. (Or one of my past yuletide fandoms!) If you guess 2 of the 6 fics, then, uh. idk, I WILL DECIDE THAT WHEN IT HAPPENS. :D

I wanted to do dream_holiday recs in this post, because they are all so wonderful, omfg, but I'm out of time, so I'll just say READ! READ THEM ALL!

Also there are so many exciting things happening in Inception fandom right now! inception! arthur_eames! reception! insearchtion! oh my gosh, so much to do, SO LITTLE TIME.

Update soon - hope you all are enjoying your holidays!

You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently comments!

Tags: 2011, inception, recs, yuletide

inception fandom i loooooooooooooooooooooove you ♥_♥ YOU ARE MY SOUL SOUL

I promised myself that when I reached the milestone of having watched 100 films this year on the Sight & Sound top 10 list (not counting rewatches), I would celebrate by making my own top 10 list.

It just so happens that I am due to see my 100th film later today - To Sleep With Anger by Charles Burnett. And since today also happens to be my birthday, I figure I would jump the gun a bit, and make my list now.

If the gods of cinema were to send me my Hogwarts Sight & Sound letter right now, saying, 'OH, GREAT AND WISE CRITIC, SHARE WITH US YOUR TOP 10 GREATEST MOVIES,' I would flail a lot and drive myself into fits, much as it seems a bunch of the actual voters did :D

In my head, right now, there are two lists.

First, the, 'Fuck This Noise, I'm Really Not In the Mood To Contribute to the Further Eulogizing of The Straight Euro Dude And His Emo Pain' list, which basically looks like this:

Cries and Whispers / The Silence - Bergman <-- i realize this is cheating but i can't help but feel like Cries & Whispers is actually the prequel to The Silence, and so in my head they have kind of become two halves of the same movie. The same gorgeously tragic and beautifully incestuous movie. sdf;jka.

The Last Picture Show - Bogdanovitch

Killer of Sheep - Burnett

Daisies - Chytilová

Chungking Express - Wong

The Conformist - Bertolucci

Winter's Bone - Granik

Volver - Almodovar

Mulholland Drive - Lynch

Ten - Kiarastomi

ETA: I want to say that I feel like this list is cheating in some ways, because there are straight white male directors on it, and I don't necessarily know that there should be. But to my shame, I don't feel qualified, or, still just haven't seen enough films yet, which could make this list. I would also tentatively put Meek's Crossing on this list, which is an excellent film--but it's a very new film, and like Winter's Bone I feel a bit hesitant in putting newer films on the list and claiming their "greatness" when I'm still kind of parsing out for myself what I think "greatness" even is or entails. It's not the directors; it's me. I haven't watched enough films that successfully subvert the canon, and that is my fault.

And, wait, actually, I lied, because there's a third list: the Gay Serial Killer/Repressed Homicidal Derangee List. Which, quite honestly, I could totally just pass off as the real list, because every movie on here is amazing: ( Read more...Collapse )

Which brings me to the 'Fuck it, i just really love this movie okay :((((' list, which, after forcing myself to make very painful omissions like La Regle du Jeu and Seven Samurai and Modern Times, and leaving out movies that probably can't hold their own in this list but which I love and admire beyond all reason like Hot Fuzz and The Princess Bride and L.A. Confidential and The Exorcist and Midnight Run and Suspiria and every Billy Wilder film and Back to the Future, and--and--ughhhh-- looks like this: ( Read more...Collapse )

And actually, once I spell it all out like this, coming up with the final list isn't that hard, because from each list, the movies that I can't live without are pretty clear:

My Top Ten list:

Andrei Rublev - Tarkovsky - I have so many feelings about this film. I mean. He fucking murdered a horse, this is not an easy film to cope with, but I love it, I love it, I want to talk about it all the time. D:

Stalker - Tarkovsky <-- same with Stalker. I think this film actually broke something in my brain, I can't even quite express what it did to me. YOU CAN FILM ALL THE EMPTY BUILDINGS WITH LEAKY ROOFS, TARKOVSKY. ♥

Talk to Her - Almodovar

Cries and Whispers - Bergman

Strangers on a Train - Hitchcock

There Will Be Blood - Anderson

Last Picture Show - Bogdanovitch

Sweet Smell of Success - McKendrick

The Conformist - Bertolucci

Birth - Glazer

And I would just like to state, for the record, that not having any Asian films or female directors on this list just so that I could include both Tarkovsky films is killing me. KILLING ME. But what killed me even worse was the thought of leaving off Last Picture Show or Sweet Smell of Success, which were the two that I would have ceded place to Chungking Express and Winter's Bone, except I just couldn't bring myself to do it. NEVER YOU MIND, NEVER YOU MIND. And having to choose between Cries and Whispers and Winter Light and Ordet was physically painful, omg. THIS LIST IS A NIGHTMARE I HAVE NOW BEEN WORKING ON IT FOR LIKE TWO HOURS, WHAT WAS I THINKING WHEN I STARTED THIS. HOW CAN I DEFEND HAVING A FILM WHERE SOMEONE SHOOTS A HORSE ON HERE BUT NO NON-WESTERN DIRECTORS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME I HAVE TO START ALL OVER AGAIN. BUT UGHHHHH I CAN'T NOT PUT TARKOVSKY ON HERE, I MEAN, STALKER GAVE HIM THE CANCER AND KILLED HIM AND NO ONE'S EVEN WATCHED IT WHEREAS EVERYONE'S WATCHED WONG KAR WAI AND KUROSAWA AND WINTER'S BONE IS TOO NEW AND OH MY GOD I NEED TO WATCH MORE FILM I AM CLEARLY NOT QUALIFIED TO MAKE THIS LIST.

um. Ahem. Yes. As I was saying. Behold my top ten list. ....maybe consider it a work in progress.

eta: I would like to make it clear that making this list made me very aware of the privilege involved in my choices and my favorites. This final list is intended to blend the ideas of "greatness" and "favorites" into a list that I'm proud to present as a Top Ten. But I struggled a lot, much more than the previous paragraph implies, with the implications of what I was leaving out--and I'm not, ultimately, certain that I can be proud to present a Top Ten list that has no women and non-western directors on it. This is not my final Top Ten, though, for the moment, it is my list of the films that I feel most emotionally connected to, and with. (See, I already feel like I should have just chucked it and put Winter's Bone on here.)

I am emphatically not claiming that directors missing from this list, aren't good enough to make it on to this list; I'm trying to be honest about privileging the films that blew my mind, even though they don't subvert the canon in progressive ways. That's why the first list I made on this post is so important to me, because I want to continue to be aware that there are two lists in my head, one that tries to combat the privilege bubble, and one made within it--which is an act of privilege, but one I choose to exercise for the sake of also honoring my own basic preferences. For example, I could and should put any Almodovar film on this list--Almodovar, a gay director who makes stories about women look so easy and effortless and necessary; but I love Talk to Her the most, despite the fact that it is about male bonding and vehemently passive women, perhaps because I saw it first and there's that sense of discovery associated with it, this feeling that a film *got* me and that I got it--that moment of connection that will never leave me.

I question my own selections (especially including Birth over any of the non-Western films). I struggled with them before I made the final list, and am still struggling. The list will evolve and it will change, and I hope that the next update will prove my commitment to being more proactive about seeking out diversity of director and filmic experiences. I am working on it, but I acknowledge--and I hope these lists all contain the implicit acknowledgement--that I need to work much harder.

P.S. Inception types! There is another round of last year's fluff meme which I have barely gotten to stick my nose into, but it is beautiful and gloriously fluffy, and I would like to thank Bina for hosting it for me. Go there and enjoy!

You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently comments!

Tags: 2011, film, gay serial killers, inception, life, me

So summertea was complaining that my pinboard tags are impossible to use, which is a complaint I've heard from numerous people. That's fine; I've never pretended to tag for anybody but myself, and, honestly, I hate logical categorical organization methods too much to start now. :D

But in case anyone out there really is interested in using my tagging system to actually find fics, here is the run-down of what the tags are and what they mean.

( FIRST, THE BORING TAGS, which i will graciously put behind a cut.Collapse )



Now for the tags you're probably confused about:

• arthur's-life-is-so-hard: probably the crazy-descriptor tag i use the most. for fics where arthur is longsuffering, hates his life, is the brunt of many jokes, or has to endure many hardships, such as getting shot at, insufferable teammates, or Eames being ridiculously sexy at all times. D: D: D:


• arthur-and-eames-steal-things-(like-each-other's-hearts): my very favorite tag! This is for fics where they fall in love gradually, accidentally, inevitably, inexorably, or inadvertently, while life is happening in other directions. also for fics where they're just plain besotted <3


• arthur-when-will-you-realize-(vienna-waits-for-you): this tag is for the many, many fics where a major theme is arthur resisting his own happiness, or resisting Eames for no good reason except fear/guilt/uncertainty/reluctance.


• arthur-leads-eames-on-merry-chases: a new tag, but i made it for the many fics where arthur makes eames work to win him, lolol. I will probably wind up applying it to everything, because Arthur is ALWAYS making Eames work for it, haha.


• eames-is-the-bamfiest-bamf is for fics where eames is a BAMF and/or notably brilliant.


• except-for-when-arthur-outbamfs-him: obvious. I use this tag only in conjunction with the previous tag, because for some reason in Inception fandom, Arthur is rarely a BAMF on his own, without Eames there beside him.


• arthur-is-the-bottomliest-bottom: for fics where arthur takes it up the ass for Eames like he belongs there. :D :D :D

And may I just say there are not nearly enough instances of that last tag.


Finally, for cherrybina who helfpully suggested that I put a gigantic picture of Tom Hardy on this post, for purposes of elucidation:



( oh, hell, here are some more.Collapse )

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