How did I not know about this before?!? While reading an article about the Japanese first lady, who claims to have both been abducted by aliens and to have known Tom Cruise in a previous life (suddenly our politicians seem so drab and dull) when I saw that she'd been part of 'Japan's legendary all-female Takarazuka theatrical troupe'. Hm... think I A theatre troupe made up only of women? Sounds kinda dull.  It wasn't until I read about the kind of plays that they put on that my interest stirred.

Gone With the Wind? Phantom of the Opera? Casablanca? Me and My Gal? But... there aren't any men! How do they do this thing? I must see it! Youtube, I choose you!

Seeing as I don't speak much (read: any) Japanese and most of the videos are unsubtitled, I decided to start with a musical I'm more than a little familiar with. Singing in the Rain. And as for how they do the male parts? Well...


Ok... so far so cool. But... love stories?


Heeee! I went and looked at the wikipedia page and I found out that about 90% of the Takarazuka's (many, many) fans are female. In the 40s, the Takarazuka were banned from having anything to do with their fans because of all the les yay being spouted in love letters sent to them, especially to the otokoyaku (the ladies that play the dudes).

If genderbending subversive feministy by-women-for-women sexuality isn't your thing (weirdo!) then you may be won over by Phoenix Wright: The Opera!


Holy dancing Edgeworth pimp-clones!

I have finally once and for all finished reading my fic backlist (this is not strictly speaking true as I still have some rec posts to look through, but those can wait for a bit while I catch up on my youtube subscriptions and, y'know, live my life) and am giving you what will hopefully be the last obscenely huge flist busting rec post for at least until I go on holiday in... March I think? Possibly April? So here goes:

Stargate Atlantis

Go Out Swinging by giddygeek  which is firmly John/Rodney as they are my OMGWTFBBQ!OTP. John is patient and Rodney is a n00b, but he gets over it eventually. It takes a really clever guy to act so dense.

Press-Ganged by sabinelagrande  John/Rodney/Daniel JacksonOMG! because apparently extra nerdy gets me extra excitable. Something that I share with John.


The Hard Prayer by rheanna27  John/Rodney post-apocalyptic AU. I warn you, this is a rather gruelling I-am-Legend-a-like read, chock full of Issues with a capital I. It's also brilliant and I highly recommend it.

Ichor by lobelia321  John/Wraith ho-yes you read that right. And it iisn't non-con either. What it is is original and more than a little disturbing. Seriously, the imagery in this thing alone... Anyway, John is stuck on a desert island with a wraith. Disturbingness ensues.


Doctor Who

A Cat, a Flap by brewsternorth brewsternorth</lj>  Doctor Who gen of what happens when child!Doctor is set what amounts to the flour baby (or egg, c'mon we've all done it) challenge at the academy. This is fluffy and lovely but not played for out-and-out humour, as it could have been. So very Doctor.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

To Build an Igloo (Symbolically) by sahiya</lj>sahiya  Giles and Wesley gen because there isn't enough canon interaction between the two from after Wesley stopped being a prick. Also it's a great little piece and it's Christmas! Well, sort of. Demon Christmas.

Merlin

I'll be the Platform Shoes by raphaela667  Merlin/Arthur political AU, because apparently those just ring my bell at the moment. Arthur is a young Lib Dem MP and the son of Uther, conservative Prime Minister and all round scary bastard (some things never change). Merlin is personal assistant, Morgana is his crazy adopted sister and this story is awesome!


Life on Mars

Looping by mikes_grrl  Sam/Gene kinda sorta umm... hard to explain. Warning: this fic is messed up (temporally and among other ways) and will give you a headache. Yet I still rec it because it's neat. Y'know even thinking about why I rec this fic is making me feel like a lie down.

Undercover, Sex Parties, and Why Communism Doesn't Work by rainer76  Sam/Gene/OFC and most of the plot is in the title. Though I hasten to add that this does have some quality characterisation among the sex.

Due South

Push and Push and Push Till it Hurts by catwalksalone  Vecchio/Kowalski (or Ray/Ray for non obsessive newbie types) and the first part of the trilogy with the other parts here and here respectively. Kowalski is rather messed up, which is how I like him.

I Can See the Stars from a Million Miles by green_grrl  Fraser/Kowalski in which Fraser get's abducted by aliens and replaced by a clone. Cos he does! Alright?!?


The Widening Gyre by belmanoir  Fraser/Kowalski. Fraser and Ray go undercover in a gay bar, a plot trope which has been done to death in the DS fandom. But this is before they go, and beautifully written. It also has swapping clothes, something I've loved ever since I saw High School Musical 2.


The Man From UNCLE

The Drunken Bet Affair by RAC. Illya/Napoleon, who else? An absolutely slaughtered Illya makes a bet involving Napoleon with an OFC, who suprises me by being thoughroughly bearable.

Harry Potter

Currancy by byblythe  An absolutely brilliant Harry/Draco which follows the recently very popular mould of grownup!Harry with a grownup!job (in this case investment banker) meets grownup!Draco. If it sounds boring then you are fooled because it totally isn't. It's great!


The Marriage Benefit posted on the sshg_exchange  Snape/Hermione in which no one is forced to marry anyone, thank God (curse you MLC)! This is a lovely fic, and my favorite part of all is the bacground staff reactions to it all. Plus it has the best worst first sex I think I've ever read. In a pairing that specialises in it.


DCU

Fluent in Silence by arch_schatten Bruce/Clarke and four things that let Clark know it's not just casual sex. Bruce is only uncommunicative in the obvious ways.

Fishnets and Malice by merelymine  Jason/Tim (aka Robin II/Robin III) So, this fic was recced on crack_van  and it's amazingly excellent. MerelyMine totally understands her characters, the inexplicable allure of the Tim-in-a-dress and hot. I reccomend it unreservedly. After finishing this I decided to read everything she had written ever. Which, in this fic journal is only two (awesome) drabbles and a funny, sexy Kyle/Guy fic. I fear my head would have kersploded at this point as there was no more, but she has posted a meme outlining her WIPs which gives me hope for the future. There will be more! My head stays whole.

Singing in the Rain

You're the Cream in my Coffee by cimness  Don/Cathy/Cosmo as is right and proper. I've recced cims' Singing in the Rain fics before, because she just gets the world and the characters. And also because this is one of my favorite OT3s and she writes it beautifully.


Crossovers

Smooth Transitions by canape_rouge Torchwood/RPF involving Jack and President Obama. Not in that way, you gutter-mind! Mostly I love this because of the premise. You know if Torchwood were real, this would happen. Though possibly with a little more élan and a little less stalking.

The Longest Three-Week Day by michelel72  Stargate Atlantis/Doctor Who and Rodney/Donna. What, you need to hear more? Rodney saves the world and Donna remembers...

Exposure by thedeadparrot  Batman/Ironman movieverse, Bruce Wayne/Tony Stark smexing. That's pretty much all.


The Stargate Files by enigel  a Stargate Atlantis/The Dresden Files bookverse that could stand to be much much longer and have many sequels.

All Talk, No Action by wizefics  RPS/Ironman Rahm Emanuel/Tony Stark. Not only the pairing is great, but it mentions the finger, something guaranteed to have Rahm fangirls glomping you by the dozen. Also hot, as if that needed to be said.


Cooking

FUCKING EXTREME SHEPHERD’S PIE RECIPE by heatermcca  I'm not sure if cooking is really a fandom, and this isn't a fanfic but I'm including it because it's awesome and I'm childish.


RPS/RPF

It's About Building a Team by  coldwine  Howard Dean/Rahm Emanuel because I'm a sick sick puppy. For those of you either not American or not getting into American politics through the medium of slash, Howard Dean was until recently the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and Rahm Emanuel is the White House Chief of Staff. I may have mentioned him before...

Stormfront by evercourant  Post-Inauguration gen ficlet featuring President Obama, Rahm and extended metaphors.

Post-Partisan Depression by coldwine  Barney Frank/Rahm Emanuel fic. Barney Frank is a Democrat and a member of the US House of Representatives. Rahm Emanuel seems to get around quite a lot. Also, he's a mouthy bastard.


Sexting by dagnirovanaliel  Rahm/Anderson Cooper fic written entirely because Anderson seemed to be chacking his blackberry quite a bit on the CNN  webcam. That is all it takes to get our dirty little minds working!


We Did, But Can You? by klaudyna  Jon Stewart/"Stephen Cobert" the "" signifying that Stephen Cobert is in his Cobert Report character. Not that it's really him or really Jon Stewart as I'm pretty sure they don't emotionally manipulate each other into sex. Or sex each other up at all. But this is a great fic with an interesting image at the end...

The Other Boys Don't Know How to Act by vixen_notatramp Jon Stewart/Daniel Craig because of the recent Daily Show interview in which there was much flirting. Also because of the hawt!

Behind Closed Doors by annonymouse Jon Stewart/Denis Leary and Jon Stewart/Stephen Cobert and an absolute lack of plot.

Turtle by bergeronprocess  gen in which Rahm wants a pet. Cute fluff and rather adorable.

At The President's Pleasure by i_iz_norml  Rahm/Obama. They.. oh come on, look at the title. You can guess what this is about. Seriously, there is no excuse. I think I should look back over this list of RPS and reconsider my lifestyle choices.

So what have we learnt today? Mainly that I've downloaded a program that lets me watch The Daily Show on the website and that it has corrupted  my brain. I think in my first LJ entry I talk about my distaste for RPS. Well done internets, you've certainly cured me of that.

So, the reason I haven't been posting much recently is that I still have a backlog of fic to read from when I didn't have the web a couple of months ago. And from when I was ill over new year. Seriously, my flist are such overachievers that I've never been able to catch up. And so, as my list of fics to rec has reached gigantic proportions, I'm giving up on the catching up and will just post what I have. So here you go:

Harry Potter

The Fisher King byatdelphi Who doesn't post enough fic for my liking. It's Percy/Moody which I realise may not be everyone's cup of tea (this is called understatement children) but I love it like a slightly grubby and rather twitchy kitten.

Draco, Merrily on High bybyblythe Harry/Draco featuring sarcastic downonhisluck!Draco, jovial drunk!Harry and small children sining Christmas carols. Also a little Tonks/Remus on the side.

For the Public Good by blamebrampton  Harry is loaned to the Muggle government to assist relations between the two governments after the London bombings. When his counterpart in the Communications team comes to him with evidence of a plot to expose wizarding Britain, he is all ears. And only in part because the messenger has such a familiar voice. Harry/Draco, also featuring gratuitous Peter Mandelson bashing.

Once Upon a Time, Yesterday by femmequixotic  Epilogue compliant Harry/Draco, though there is no cheating on spouses I'm happy to say.

The Beginner's Guide to Breeding Peacocks author not revealed yet (it's an exchange fic). Snape/Hermione/Lucius in which Snape has a theory about Karmic balance - and Peacock Poo.

RPS

Breaking News by Propaganda. A couple of weeks ago I didn't know who Rahm Emanuel is, and now through the medium of the internet I've been made to love him. For those who have not yet have the pleasure, he is a short, jewish, ex-ballarina badass missing half of the middle finger of his right hand, who is going to be Barak Obama's Chief of Staff. He's hot, he's awesome and in this fic he's buggering Anderson Cooper.

The Strange and Not Entirely Ineffective Courting of Jon Stewart by Stephen T. Colbert bysparky77 The title says it all really, though it's very much in the camp of pre-slash. Absolutely adorable and hilarious.

District 13

Dangerous Neighbourhoods by frostfire_17 Thanks to the wonder that is the Yuletide fic fest, patron saint of all tiny and obscure fandoms, I can now present you with District 13 slash! Naturally it's Leito/Damien and naturally it's hot and badass, though not always in that order.

Maybe, This Time by shrift  And there's more Leito/Damien awesomeness! I should imagine writing Parkour is about as easy as drawing music coherantly, but Shrift manages it. Cos she's awesome.

Die Hard 4.0

Die Hard 4.5: I'll be Hard for Christmas bybookshop  Apalling title pun aside, this is a great John/Matt (is there any other kind of Die Hard slash?) which features congressional hearings, lots of pizza, sarcastic aides and gay sex scandals. Also gay sex.

Due South

First One Thing, Then the Otter by alex51324  Fraser/Kowalski now with added otter cuteness and otter crimefighting.

Crossovers

In Which Worlds Collide and Eeyore Investigates a Terrible Crime byflambeau  A Winnie the Pooh/Discworld crossover. Do I really need to tell you any more?

Merlin

The Dragon Was a Babble-Mouth byjade_dragoness Arthur/Merlin and Arthur/pretty much everyone ever because Arthur is in fact a massive dork. Which is why I love him. I also love the truth that there's no way you could have a huge magical reptile living under a densely populated castle without people knowing about it.

Misrule bythehoyden  in which Merlin is suprisingly hot in a dress. Which I can see, actually. Arthur/Merlin.

Pirates Of The Caribbean

Facades bypenknife  Jack/Elizabeth which I love even though I usually hate anything even slightly angsty. There are a number of reasons why I love it though. It has an Elizabeth who is growing a bit older, not just staying 20 for ever as women in fiction seem wont to do, and it has a scrubbed up Jack. Which while I can't picture it sounds pretty awesome. Also it's a good fic.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Noir Enough bythefourthvine  Perry/Harry In which Harry is stoopid (natch), sea-sick and then makes out with Perry in the cause of great justice. I sniggered. Lots.

Not With a Bang a Whimper by lyrstzha  Perry/Harry again, whose banter brings all the boys to the yard and damn right it's better than yours. Unless you're Shane Black, in which case all I have to say is 'Thankyou!'

The Other Line bygiddygeek Perry/Harry. I'm starting to see a theme. Harry is very drunk and Perry has the patience of a rather sweary saint.

The Prestige

Only One of Us byscribblinlenore  A fascinating, though rather incestuous, look at how Fallon might have become how he is.

Doctor Who

I Were the Heavens bysam_storyteller  Actual honest-to-god gen. A sixteen-year-old boy from Boeshane is going to win the war. The Time Agency has a vested interest in children like him -- and so does the Admiral of the Fleet. But not in that way.

Iron Man

The Kids Aren't All Right  bysamdonne  More gen. I must be tired. One of the best things I've ever read in any fandom ever. Written as a Vanity Fair article by Christine Everhart after Tony Stark has revealed himself to be Iron Man, I really hope Jon Favreau reads this, because it's just amazing. 

Black Books

The Morning After byionlylurkhere  Hee hee hee! Just read it. I wouldn't want to predjudice you.

Hot Fuzz

Danny Butterman's Magical Box o' Love bykoshiroryuu Danny/Nicholas, which is normally a pairing I find a bit off-putting (yes there are some!) but this is great. And thankfully non-graphic.

Mary Poppins

Wind in the East by dragojustine  I've always had very strong ideas about how Mary Poppins knows Bert, and this totally josses them. But I love it anyway because it works so well. Bert/Mary, but not in any kind of disturbing way.

Phew!

So, this evening I went to see Mandy Patinkin in concert (tickets got courtesy of my frind Alister, pimp extrodinaire) and he was brilliant. Highlights included two seperate Stephen Sondheim medleys, a great version of It's Not Easy Being Green and White Christmas sung in yiddish. If you ever get a chance to see him (and he's in London for I think another week or so) then I highly recommend it. The show was awesome, and our tickets got upgraded which was awesome. But that wasn't the most awesomest thing. 

I got touched by Elisabeth Sladen. She brushed past me as she was coming into the theatre and she's amazing. She's really neat and tiny, and looks even better than she does on the television. She has amazing hair and went to the same show as me, which blows my mind and must mean that I'm cooler than I thought I was. She was sitted to one side, right next to where an usher was standing, and I could see that she was chatting to her. This makes me love her even more, which I didn't know was possible.

Now, for my massive fannish moment, the best fan video. Ever. Fo sho. It has every superhero you care to think of and a few you don't (Puck, I'm talking about you). The only things I'm not sure about are the overuse of the Hulk and the treatment of Batman. Though if they treated Bats how I think he always should be then the film would be over far to quickly. Watch. Enjoy.

Matt Smith? Who??? Oh, him!

I...oh, actually watching him now he's kind of growing on me. He has this thing with his hands... and he twinkles.

Matt Smith as the Doctor. I can see that.

So, everything was going fine on Tuesday. Until the evening when I got hit with what I can only imagine was the demonic semi of karmic retribution for all my past sins. The morning was actually ok. I even have a slightly amusing anecdote.

I, as is my lazy habit, left the house with damp hair. My hair is pretty fine, so it dries on its own fairly quickly. That morning it froze, which freaked me out a little as you can imagine. Nevertheless I wrapped my scarf around my head, bought a hat at the station and got on with my day. Then at 5.30 I was told by my boss they had decided not to renew my contract. Which ended that evening. After he had practicaly assured me the job was mine. I was a rather upset but made it out of the shop without crying. I had a bit of a breakdown on the way home but pulled myself together enough to go over to a friends house and play trivial pursuit.

In the middle of a game which I believe I and my team-mate had in the bag, I started to feel rather ill. I though I'd just eaten too much and lay down on the sofa. I kept feeling worse and worse, so the much obliging fiance of my friend gave me a lift home. I got out of his car and then two minutes later vomited copiously all over the stairs up to my flats (the outside ones, thank god!) and my new scarf (luckily recovered). I got up to my flat And proceeded to be up all night with the worst stomach flu I have ever had. Ever. And I've been sick in my time.

In the morning I called my Mum, who came to fetch me and has been nursing me for the past four days. I'm still on dry bread and water as my stomach still hasn't settled. This thanks to the welcome addition last night of my period starting. So now I'm jobless, crampy, sick, weak, can't stand up for any amount of time and can't eat much. Thank you fate!

On the plus side, I must have lost some weight, so I'm sure Wii Fit will praise me next time I'm able to use it.

So last night I went to see Inkheart. I felt some trepidation as I've read 2 star reviews of it, and it's got lots of people I like in it. Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Brendan Fraser, Jim Broadbent, Andy Serkis et al. And you know what? I liked it quite a lot. I've seen lots of bad films, and this was not one. I mean, it wasn't great but it was fun. And Andy Serkis stole every single scene he was in, cos he is made of awesome.

When I read the book I remember thinking how awesome it'd be I Mo died or whatever and Meggie was raised by Capricorn and his cut-throats. Assuming that Capricorn decided to content himself with his criminal empire and not have the Shadow read out of the book. And Andy Serkis in the part only makes this seem like an ever better story. I shall have to trawl the internets.

There is one other thing I liked about the film. What was that... Oh yes! Topless Fire Dancing!!  That's hot, fnar fnar fnar.

So, the other day I was serving customers and it was pretty busy so I hadn't had a chance to glance around the shop much. I finished with one customer and automaticly said 'Can I help you sir?' looked up and it was Derek  Jacobi! And he looked at fay and cool looking. That was awesome, but it was such a suprise I almost yelped in a very unprofessional manner. He bought White Tiger by Avinda Adiga, which won the Booker Prize a couple of months ago, and Coda by Simon Grey. We also had Jack Straw and Jeffrey Archer in (not together, that would have been odd) but that wasn't so exciting.

So, yesterday I saw Alan Ahlberg, who looked just like a normal older guy. I was not however fooled by his disguise for he is Alan Ahlberg and he is magic! And then today, I served Judi Dench! Who was awesome and chatty and glamorous and lovely and very very short. She bought the new Gok Wan book, which I can't see that she needs it at all.

I am now lying on my bed watching Clash of the Titans for the first time since I was a sprog. It's even better than I remember it, though Persius does remind me rather strongly of Rocky from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Pretty, but not too bright.

Here, have a fic of Iron Man sexing up a rather suprised Spidey. Not in a sudden 'Suprise Buttsecks!' way, more a 'ZOMG! It's Iron Man! And those are the Fantastic Four!' kind of way. It's written by basingstoke  and is terribly funny and charming, with spot on characterisation.

You want more things that are awesome you say? Well hows about BlueGobo, a website which hosts a whole load of clips from stage musicals through the ages. Name a musical, it is there. And genrally in a number of different revivals too! And, to finish you off, a funny funny picture:



Oh Zeffron, never change.