handful_ofdust: (eccentricities)
handful_ofdust ([personal profile] handful_ofdust) wrote2009-08-11 04:11 pm

Other Than That...

Because I sometimes feel like I've done nothing but Chapter Eleven for, like, a YEAR now, here are some other very random things that I've done lately:

A) Read an Authoritarian porno story (ah, and now some of you probably know where I've been) which culminated in the people who were "re-educating" our antihero arranging for him to be raped by wolves. No, no--you heard that right the first time. (I am also ashamed to admit that this hasn't retroactively stopped me from quite enjoying the rest of it, ie the "normal" S and M stuff, as opposed to the weird-ass sudden sidebar into wolf-rape.)

B) Picked up a copy of Paul Park's The Hidden World, the final volume in his A Princess of Roumania (quadrology?). So far, it's great--and better yet, it's made me want to re-read the rest of the series, which I had previously become slightly annoyed by (to the point that I hadn't actually even remembered The Hidden World would have to be in paperback by now). As I've said before, the great thing about Park's characters is that they mainly behave like actual human beings; the bad thing is that because they do, they're forever pulling the same bonehead moves you know you probably would, if put in the same circumstances. And because he's also very good at making you care for these people, after a while, you're so afraid for them that you just want to haul off and slap them en masse. Still, he handles magic in a remarkably efficient/inefficient, metaphorical/realistic way; I want to say it's very "European" in feeling, which would seem to be self-explanatory, but since Gran Roumania seems to have deviated from our version of history so far back that their Orthodox Church includes bath-house temples to Athena and roadside shrines to Demeter Mourning Persephone...maybe not.

C) Watched as Toronto abruptly plunged headlong into what one can only hope will remain an atypical monsoon season. Over the last four days, we've had three major thunderstorms (one with additional tornado warning), and the humidity has been frankly off the scale. At various points, just walking outside has felt like being inserted deep into someone else's nether parts (and not in a good way). Naturally, my Mom is currently performing almost every day in a Summerworks play which takes place outside, in a park, with no real shelter. Sometimes two shows an afternoon/night. And we said we'd go see her on Friday (probably with Cal in tow, since we haven't been having a lot of luck arranging for anyone else to take him).

...yup. That's gonna be a blast.

Anyhow. I've also been reading other people's Worldcon reports, with great avidity/jealousy, but it's not like I would've ever really been able to budget the time or the money to attend, so...there ya go. Back to the free delights of the Internet for me! (Debate, music, fiction [of all types], in other words.;))
sovay: (Haruspex: Autumn War)

[personal profile] sovay 2009-08-11 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
but since Gran Roumania seems to have deviated from our version of history so far back that their Orthodox Church includes bath-house temples to Athena and roadside shrines to Demeter Mourning Persephone...maybe not.

Crud. I'm going to have to read these now, aren't I?

[identity profile] handful-ofdust.livejournal.com 2009-08-11 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd recommend it, actually. It's one of those narratives which now reminds me of you, even though I don't think we actually knew each other back when I first started reading it.:)

[identity profile] asakiyume.livejournal.com 2009-08-11 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Actually, raped by wolves sounds kind of cool--you know, within the context of s & m fantasies, not reality, etc. etc. consider the previous statement well disclaimer-d

[identity profile] handful-ofdust.livejournal.com 2009-08-12 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, sure. I mean, isn't "I got raped by wolves" pretty much the basic plot of A Companion to Wolves? At least in part.;)

Further disclaimer: I have not read A Companion to Wolves, and I'm not snarking on either of its authors. I'm just making a not-particularly-fluid geek joke.
Edited 2009-08-12 02:10 (UTC)

[identity profile] asakiyume.livejournal.com 2009-08-12 02:12 am (UTC)(link)
LOL, totally understood :D
phantom_wolfboy: picture of me (Default)

[personal profile] phantom_wolfboy 2009-08-11 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Real wolves? Not werewolves, or something of that sort?

[identity profile] handful-ofdust.livejournal.com 2009-08-12 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, real wolves. I...I got nothin'.

Steve, when I told him: "How would that even work?"

Me: "They, uh--smear him with something that makes him smell like a female wolf in heat? Look, the logic of porn is rarely flawless."

Steve: "I need to write that down."

[identity profile] moon-custafer.livejournal.com 2009-08-12 11:06 pm (UTC)(link)
the logic of porn is rarely flawless."

I already knew that, but I'm still reeling from the Cochrane/Tolliver Deadwood slash : Seriously, what kind of letter-to-Penthouse pairing is that?
"Dear Black Hills Pioneer: I am a powerful and cynical whoremaster in a certain lawless western town, and I've never felt any attraction to men, but last night the local doctor was reporting on the state of my employees, and it suddenly struck me that the fact he cares is really kinda hot. Also he has very blue eyes."

[identity profile] handful-ofdust.livejournal.com 2009-08-13 03:20 am (UTC)(link)
Now I'm thinking about all the characters in Deadwood writing confessional letters about each other. Which immediately makes me want the same thing to happen with the cast of Kings.

"Dear Shiloh Daily Prophet: After marrying young to a rich old man (who thankfully died), I bought my way into...a well-known and -respected public corporation, but found that my background and attractiveness (plus the jealousy of a certain CEO's wife) prevent me from rising any further than I already have. Should I marry the bitch's son? I mean, he IS gay, but he's really cute, and a total bastard--perfect combination! Plus, I kinda like the idea of getting to voyeur out while he screws his security guys. Yours, totally NOT the Minister of Information. P.S.: I'd go for the new blond hire instead, but he talks to God out loud--so creepy!"

[identity profile] moon-custafer.livejournal.com 2009-08-14 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
Alternately, Merrick always seems to have escaped from a Wondermark strip....