an unstoppable high seas action thriller

Multifandom Icons

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:36:14 GMT

I had a fit of icon making recently. Enjoy. :-)

[1-4] Various (quotes from my friends)
[5 - 12] Supernatural (Sam, Dean, Impala, text)
[13 - 21] Constantine (John, Gabriel, Balthazar)
[22 - 48] Xena: Warrior Princess (Xena, Gabrielle, Caesar, Ares, Ephiny, Callisto, Aphrodite, Iolaus)

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Created with angelamaria's Icon Table Generator @ Bauble

Zomg Kitties

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:02:38 GMT

I just posted this to baaaaabyanimals, but thought my flist could use a kitten fix as well.

A while ago my mother fostered four kittens, and I just got my hands on the pictures. There were four of them, and I can't remember their names.

This thingy was endlessly fascinating to them.

The big fuzzball on the right is my mother's shepherd mix, Apollo, who was obsessed with the kittens once he got over his fear of them.

They climbed the walls a lot, looking for escape.

They warmed up to Apollo quickly.

I wish this pic wasn't so blurry.

Apollo put up with the abuse to his ears and limbs very graciously.

In fact, he would lie outside their crate waiting for a chance to play with them.

The kitties bounced around for hours (we never got any pictures of their bouncing, sadly), and they were always pooped afterwards.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Wincest

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:25:54 GMT

... Or Damn You Freaky, X:WP/H:tLJ Fandom.

When I first learned people were into Wincest I was all like "WTF" and "that is not condoned by gods and men!" I still don't really see it, but I've come to realize that I have no moral authority with which to judge it, because my biggest fandoms are loaded with hot relatives who like to bang each other.

It's almost all slash and het. The only incestuous femslash around seems to be Discord/Aphrodite. Why no Hope/Gabrielle, people? Or Xena/Eve-Livia?

See, Hercules and Iphicles are brothers (okay, half brothers, whatever), and they bang each other all the time.

And Hercules and Ares have angry brother sex.

And Ares likes blondes, so he also bangs Apollo.

Ares is kind of a slut, so he also bangs Aphrodite. It's even mythology canon: those incestuous freaks have kids together.

Aphrodite is also a slut, so she's also banging Discord.

Ares/Discord is canon, and those two are brother and sister.

One can also make the case that Ares/Xena, a huge ship in canon and fandom, is incest, since Xena makes a good argument that Ares is her father.

Speaking of kids, there's all that slash about Ares and Cupid -- omg father/son slash.

Let's not forget the occasional (dark, angsty, violent) Ares/Zeus slash.

And the Zeus/Hera stuff, which is canon and brother-sister.

Everybody's favorite uncle, Hades, gets to bang Ares whenever he wants.

There's been some Ares/Strife stuff, too. I think Strife is Ares' nephew, although his parentage has always been shaky.

Joel Tobeck also played Deimos, who bangs his fanon sibling Phobos. Fringed leather shorts --> twincest. Trufax.

And then there's the Cupid/Strife slash. I think they're cousins.

Oh, and there's also the Joxer/Jett/Jace stuff, which doesn't even have the excuse of being mythological. It beats J2 by a power of J.

And I'm not even covering the AU (the canon AU, not AU AUs. Oh H:tLJ, how I love your cracky ways), and the threesomes, and the mythology characters who get added to fics about canon characters, and the fics where Joxer is actually Strife's son and they have kinky sex for kicks.

Don't even get me started on the centaurs. And the implied Ares/Chicken!Discord. And the Ares/Poseidon with tentacles (I'm looking at you cycnus39).

Time Is On My Side Thoughts (Spoilers)

Fri, 09 May 2008 22:15:37 GMT

Nothing can stop Dean's love for his cheeseburger! Dean/cheeseburger otp! I can't wait for inevitable Dean/cheeseburger/Impala threesome.

"Of course I want to hunt some zombies." Why would that be obvious? The last two times they've dealt with zombie-related things, Sam either got his arm broken or was nearly infected with demon zombie virus (or so they thought). You'd think they'd be itching to avoid zombies, especially with the whole Hell thing looming.

Speaking of the Hell thing, I was thrilled to see Sam suggest that they make Dean an immortal organ-stealing zombie type. It jolted me at first, because even with Sam's increased determination to save Dean, that's still a big jump. But then he says: "It's not magic at all, Dean. It's science." Sam has always been as afraid of becoming a monster as he has of losing Dean, but I think he's recognizing now that given the choice, he will always pick saving Dean. He's been waiting, I think, for some awful piece of piece of black magic that he will find himself having to accept to save his brother. But no, this is just science, same kind he's studied in school, nothing evil. There is such a note of surprise in Sam's voice when he says it. You can practically see him rationalizing to himself about how he can have both Dean and his soul now, because they're not doing anything evil, and it's just for a little while anyway, to buy them more time. It was very creepy, and very well done.

Dean, on the other hand, both refuses to become a monster and has such low self-esteem that he hasn't considered his death a big deal for most of the season. Where Sam maneuvers around shades of gray and justifies the means with the goal, Dean confronts all of his choices with a black/white mindset. The twist of this episode is that he's stuck with two shades of gray: become a monster on earth, or a monster in Hell. Poor puppy. ::squishes him and gives him cheeseburgers::

Dean's also got to deal with being the moral compass for the duo, which has never been his role. Compare this episode to "The Benders" way back in Season 1:

The Benders:
DEAN: We should go kill these human-hunting weirdos.
SAM: But they're human!
DEAN: Yeah, so? They're kidnapping, psychopathic freaks who torture people!
SAM: But -- but -- Angst!

Time Is On My Side:
DEAN: We should go kill this human-hunting weirdo.
SAM: I've got a better idea: we should become human-hunting weirdos ourselves!
DEAN: I'm glad you agr-- wait, what?
SAM: It'll be brilliant. I've got it all planned out and everything.
DEAN: But, um, icky bad?
SAM: Better than Hell, though, right?
DEAN: When you put it that -- gah, what am I saying? No!

Sam's been on a moral downward spiral for a while now, despite all his angsting about becoming evil. He didn't bat an eye at Lucy's death in "Fresh Blood," and you could see Dean's confusion and fear when he realized that he couldn't count on Sam to give him a different perspective on killing. Now he's got badass post-Mystery Spot Sam full on suggesting that they do all the things they stand against, and Dean's clearly not used to being the voice of reason.

I was pissed, however, that after becoming such a hardcore badass when it comes to making moral choices, Sam still manages to be a total dweeb when it comes to hunting on his own. We know that Sam can get along on his own. He survived four months sans Dean and was extremely successful. He pulled a bullet out of his torso, took out a whole nest of vampires, rearranged the gun-trunk to be uber-organized, brushed his teeth with a deadly gleam in his eye, etc. I understand that he wants to erase that and forget it ever happened, but that isn't something you can just lock away. It's taken an obvious toll on his moral standards when it comes to saving Dean: now that he's lived without Dean, he will do anything to get him back. But Sam still can't seem to handle being on his own: in the past three episodes he's been kidnapped three times, and nearly stabbed/had his soul eaten/had his eyes removed before Dean showed up at the nick of time. Learn to kick more ass, Sammy.

I've never heard "wakey, wakey, eggs and bac-y" in a not creepy context. The other one was in Kill Bill, right before The Bride gets buried alive. Normal people don't say it, I'm convinced.

I enjoyed the Bela storyline, but I thought it could have been handled better. For one thing, it took focus away from the brothers -- annoying at any point, but especially when they've got all this Hell/angst/tension crap going on. Secondly, the flashback to Bela's past was extremely awkward to me. I know SPN shows scenes without the boys which they wouldn't know about, but when they're on screen the scene is generally from their perspective. It felt forced when they suddenly showed Bela having a flashback that Dean wasn't privy to. That said, I thought both of the flashbacks were well done. Sexual abuse may be a cliche, but I think it would explain a lot. I was pleased that Bela refuses to consider herself a victim, but sad that the show seems to imply that, by trying to stand on her own instead of depending on the Big Strong Heroes, she's doomed to hell hounds.

Although if she had any smarts, she would have realized after Lilith changed the deal that Winchester Boys > Demon Mistress.

And also, no body = no death. Victor and Bela live!

Ghostfacers

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:44:06 GMT

Oh, Corbett. I loved his big gay smile, and I need an icon that says "I love my dead gay intern" stat! But I'm really tired of seeing the gays die. I was also a little frustrated with the way they handled the whole homosexuality thing in the episode. It seemed like they were trying to make up for the gay jokes in previous episodes, but I'm not sure whether it worked or not. Corbett's homosexuality seemed to be a joke most of the time. I mean, the end was very emotionally wrenching, and SamandDean seemed pissed that Ed and Harry had exploited it for their own means. But on the other hand, for most of the show Corbett's love for Ed was depicted as ridiculous.

Corbett's love for Ed in the first place was a little shaky. I don't want to sound like a snob, but I also don't understand how Corbett could have fallen for a frumpy, scruffy, self-centered, homophobic guy like that. Aesthetics vary, and aren't everything anyway, but I'm tired of the stereotype that because gay men like men, they'll go for any man. I've found that the most homophobic guys are the ones most gay men would never, ever go for. Even with that issue aside, Corbett's feelings are never really validated. Corbett faces his murderer for Ed's sake (he looked so vulnerable when he asked what was going on!) and Ed and Harry didn't learn from it at all. When they're watching his death echo choke on his own blood, and Ed decides to go ask this huge favor of him, Harry only says: "You have to go be gay for that intern."

Ed and Harry came off as extremely self-serving in this episode. In the first episode we saw them in, they were dinkuses, but they seemed to have their heart in the right place. At the very least they didn't hurt anybody. But Corbett died because of them, and instead of waking up they used his death for their own interests. I used to think of them as funny, ridiculous characters, but now I really hate them.

I also noticed that once the show got the bleep feature for profanity the boys swore like sailors. I've always found it lame that Dean said "fudge" and "freakin'," and appreciated seeing them swear like normal twenty-something guys. It'll be really hard to go back to the regular episodes.

Dean was on fire whenever he looked at the camera. I loved how he almost spilled the beans to Spruce, and then was like "fuck it." No chick flick moments!

This episode didn't focus on Sam and Dean as much as I would have liked. They're the prettiest, after all (OMG CHISEL CHEST!), and why I watch the show. Even if it didn't allow for much SamandDean time, though, the style of the episode was still pretty cool. It reminded me of Cloverfield, and was definitely the scariest episode I've seen. It reminded me of a theme I really like in fanfic, where we see Sam and Dean from an outsider's perspective. To Ed and Harry, Sam and Dean are jealous hicks with too many muscles. Or at least that's what they tell themselves.

Thoughts on X:WP's "Antony and Cleopatra"

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:09:41 GMT

I came across this on my computer and realized I never posted it to my actual journal, just to xenites. I like it, so it's being reposted. If you already read it on xenites... suffer!

A little while ago I watched Season Five’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” complete with commentary by Lucy, Renee, Michael Hurst (the director), and Rob Tapert. I loved how the girls giggled at all the racy parts, and how Michael squeed over his creation, but one part really frustrated me. Several times Lucy mentioned how she wished she’d played Xena as more “pragmatic” and not in love with Antony. I don’t know why she insisted on this, because I think Xena’s love for Antony is what makes the episode so great.

I’ll admit that I thought her falling for him was a little rushed, but hey, they’ve only got an hour. Even if it is a little contrived, Xena’s weakness for bad boys is what saves her. She walks a very thin moral line in this episode, and if anything redeems her, it’s her emotional vulnerability.

For me, the whole episode makes reference to “Destiny,” where Xena, a cocky young pirate with good intentions and shady methods, is screwed and screwed over by Caesar, everyone’s favorite sexually manipulative, megalomaniacal bad boy.

Now, years later, Antony is the one with the big heart and brutal methods, and Xena is the fatal seducer. Antony, like the young Xena, thinks he knows how the seduction gig works, but Xena plays him like a lyre. She gains his trust and love, builds him up with plans of domination, and then stomps all over him. Sure, Antony is a big hunk of ruthless, sword-happy Roman who needs to be stopped, but he seems to use brutality for the same reason that Xena used piracy: patriotism. After Amphipolis was attacked, Xena burned and pillaged towns that could pose a threat. She wasn’t the “Destroyer of Nations” at that point, just someone who chose to use violence to protect the peace. Antony uses violence to uphold and protect Rome. He puts faith in “the Roman way,” and prides himself on being a Roman. He sneers at peaceful Octavian, Caesar’s chosen heir, but only because he believes Octavian is not the right ruler for Rome.

The biggest difference between them seems to be that Antony does not believe in mercy, as Xena did: she chose to spare the villagers whose towns she raided, while Antony insists on executions. However, I don’t think that separates them that much. Sure, Xena didn’t kill those villagers in “Destiny,” but she took all of their worthwhile belongings and burned their homes – and stored goods, and livelihoods – which is hardcore mean. She also claimed that she was doing these things for Amphipolis, but I didn’t hear her mention that any of those pirated goods ever wound up benefiting her hometown.

As an aside, Octavian continues the “Destiny” reference. From his conversation with Gabrielle about “pax Romana,” we’re supposed to gather that he represents the opposite of Caesar’s “divide and conquer” philosophy. Caesar, though, knew how to choose a winning horse, because he’s my smart little ruthlessly cunning Squishy, yes he is. By the end of the episode, Octavian tells Cleopatra’s servant that he feels as though he is “destined to rule Rome.” By entrusting power to him, Xena once again helps a dictator come to power: Octavian becomes Augustus, and is as egotistical as Caesar once was.

Antony, however, unlike Caesar or Octavian or even Xena, is not a big picture guy. His goals are forthright and immediate: to express his love for the woman he thinks is Cleopatra (Xena), and protect Rome from people he considers threats (Brutus and Octavian). Like Xena once was, Antony is brutally honest about his agenda, from his devotion to Xena, to his opinion on the necessity of violence. Like Xena in “Destiny,” his emotions overrule his judgment, and he decides that he’d rather have Xena’s love than her navy. With that admission, Xena has effectively “divided his emotions from his sensibilities,” just as Caesar once did to her. Antony only gets the navy because Xena insists he take it (not because she loves him, but to further her plan to destroy him). Antony has, by that point, completely given up trying to control Xena, just as Xena once entrusted everything to Caesar. Just like Caesar did, Xena sets up a confrontation point and completely turns on Antony: he expects her love and support, and instead she uses and abuses him.

The only thing that really stops Xena from being as much of a bitch on wheels as Caesar, in the end, is the fact that she falls for Antony. At the very least Caesar can keep himself removed from his victim, and at most actually seems to enjoy breaking people to his will and then using it against them. He’s a naughty boy, really. He ought to be spanked. Xena, on the other hand, doesn’t manage to separate herself from the situation. She may have many skills, but she’s ultimately an ass-kicking warrior, and that’s what she does best. When she tries to use feminine wiles instead of pressure points to get what she wants, it backfires. She falls for Antony, big bad boy studmuffin that he is, and it genuinely hurts her to hurt him.

It’s that affection and guilt that really redeem Xena here. It’s her love for Antony that prompts her to give him one last chance, asking him if he’d be willing to work with Octavian instead of against him. Caesar would never have done something like that, and it’s an important difference. Antony blows it, of course, sealing his own fate and removing the blame from Xena for killing him. After that point, Antony obviously has to be stopped. Before that, however, he’s just a man trying to do the right thing who has fallen in love with an exotic woman. If Xena hadn’t fallen in love with him, prompting her to try to find a way to work with Antony, she would have executed him without ever giving him a chance to prove himself, just as Caesar did.

The biggest difference between Xena and Caesar, however, becomes apparent at the climactic sea battle. Antony has been mooning over Xena up until the battle, and begins the fight brimming with love and confidence. He fights magnificently, until he finds out that “Cleopatra” is actually Xena. He starts fighting her because that’s the only thing he knows, and he’s emotionally broken and hurt and crying. His sword thrusts against her even have a sense of finality to them, as though he knows he’s going to lose, and his last words are an affirmation of the love he had for her.

If Xena had been able to be “pragmatic” through that, I would have been deeply disappointed. That kind of detachment from someone you’ve manipulated and broken is not very heroic, especially when that someone loves you and has only done what he thinks best. Xena’s emotional vulnerability and hurt – evident on her face even as she gives Antony a lethal blow – is what makes her human. She knows that Antony has to be stopped, and does what she has to, but she also responds to the human parts in him, the love he has for her, and it hurts her to have to kill those parts. That compassion sets Xena apart from Caesar and other manipulators.

It also, I think, sets Xena apart from other heroines. Many women in television and other media use sexuality to get what they want. That’s fine and dandy, but Xena has always stood out as a woman who prefers a sword to a stiletto. It’s an important theme in the show, and it’s reflected here. Xena knows how to work her looks, but she rarely uses her sexuality for extended periods of time to control other people. Consequently, when she does use it, she has difficulty keeping an emotional distance. In “The Siege of Amphipolis,” she uses it to manipulate Ares for a little bit, but there’s never been any debate that she’s affected by him. She uses it in her evil days on Hercules and Iolaus, but winds up attached to both of them. She uses it against Caligula in “The God You Know,” but winds up with similar results as “Antony and Cleopatra.” She doesn’t fall for Caligula, as she does for Antony, but she does come to understand and pity him, and it hurts her to hurt him. When asked how she feels after killing him, she says only that she feels “dirty” and insists that Caligula wasn’t evil, just “damaged.” That hurt and pity shows that Xena isn’t experienced when it comes to sexual manipulation: she’s better with an honest sword. I don’t see this as a weakness on Xena’s part. It makes her more interesting than some other heroines, and more human than other manipulators. If she were able to play earnest people with no remorse, she’d be just another female stereotype. Even worse, she’d be like Caesar.

Not that I’d have a problem with that, I guess. Caesar is, after all, really hot.

But What is Bindweed?

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 06:33:16 GMT

My poster of Icarus keeps falling down. It's irritating, but it also makes me laugh every time. The poster itself is pretty comic, since Icarus is all tragedy and woe and the nymph at the top has an expression of "Still good?"

This perfume site seems to me to have a sort of freaky subtext. But maybe I've been reading too much Xena/Argo porn.

I keep getting these really strange spam emails on my spikeface address. I made myself stop clicking on them because they hurt my brain, but the last one was entitled "cocks," and I'm very easily led astray. The email was from someone named "Kneisley Kienow," and reads like something James Joyce wrote on an off day:

Ahn nyeong,

Real men! Millionss of people accross the world have already tested THIS and ARE making their girlfriendds feel brand new sexual ssensations! YOU are the best in bed, aren't you ?

Girls! Deveelop your sexual reelationship and get even MORE pleasurre! Make your boyfriennd a gift!

Alternation between nothing and abundance as these as she faltered, here's the slate, dear mother: nora take more interest in her schooling. Lots this point especially not even particularly amusing. Was still waging a losing war with bindweed. Yes, three bills from his pocket, and, with the trembling water. Nobody knew what to do with the disaster said, surely that's very odd? Mr. Seddon said to go and identify the body. That was some time poor dick symmington hasn't the least idea of represents him as standing there in the attitude wants them will have to steal my coat to get them. Dune with his keen eyes, for he had hinted to kind. I remember it, though, said lance. I was of dust at every step. She fastened something.

"Mystery Spot" Thoughts

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:20:02 GMT

It was at the end of this episode that I realized how much of my emotional health is invested in this show. I love both Sam and Dean, but I realized that aw, damn, I love Sam and Dean. That first time Dean died just killed me. There was so much fear on his face, and he couldn't even say anything. Gah. I identified with Sam a lot in this episode, and most of that came from how much I loved Dean.

I also loved the Groundhog Day Device. It worked out really well on Xena, and it worked great, if in a very different way, here. It had a lot of the same humor (light-hearted killings, anticipation of other characters' words and actions etc.) but had a much bigger emotional toll. I liked how quickly Sam caught on at first, but how his efficiency at dealing with the situation waned as he watched Dean die over and over again.

I'm also really liking the Trickster. He's shaping up to be my favorite new character of the third season, and I hope we see more of him. Of the pagan god figures we've seen, he rocks the hardest, since his hang ups are sugar and fitting consequences, not freaky leather suits or Christmas sacrifices. I don't know how much of his power is manipulating time and space and how much is just fucking with Sam's head, but he's definitely powerful. I kind of doubt that he's omnipotent enough to manipulate time, but I definitely think he could create a time warp if he wanted to. I also doubt he's playing any demon politics, since he's so generally self-centered. I think his interest in Sam and Dean is personal, not political. The Trickster, like any ancient god figure, is very confident in his right to interfere with the lives of mortals, and Sam and Dean seem to be his favorites. Unfortunately, his plan has apparently backfired: instead of making Sam less focused on saving Dean and more focused on the demon war, Sam is now even more obsessed about not losing Dean. It's a nice traditional trope: instead of changing a character's fate, he seems to be securing it. Sam's closer to being a demon king than ever, just to save Dean.

I think what I loved so much about this episode was the way it brought you into Sam's head. Usually as an audience we get both the boys in equal measure, watching them from the outside. With this episode a lot was from Sam's perspective: we relive the day with him, conscious of the repeating days, unlike Dean. We also stay on earth when Dean kicks it, instead of visiting Hell (or wherever the Trickster put Dean if he wasn't actually killing Dean and then manipulating time and space). Other episodes, like the Djinn episode, have shown how much Dean needs Sam, but here we get how Sam needs Dean. Even before those dark three months after the fateful Wednesday, you can see how much Sam leans on Dean, how much he relies on him for. It's Dean who gets him up in the morning, who gets him to a diner and gets all excited about breakfast, who cracks all the jokes. When Dean's there, we witness how he throws himself into everything he does, how he sings along to that same stupid song, how he always gargles with abandon, how every damn day he gets excited about a pig in a poke. When Dean dies we see the world the way Sam sees it: the colors seem to bleed out, and our sense of time becomes blurred.

I also loved seeing in a detailed way how the boys live together when they aren't going over exposition or cleaning their weapons or having tearful heart to hearts. And they're so close. They brush their teeth together, for crying out loud. When Sam is watching Dean gargle with his broody face of death, Dean is like "What's wrong?" rather than "It's not a peep show, you freak."

I wonder what the ramifications of this episode will be for the rest of the season. I really hope we see the Trickster again. He's a very powerful figure, and it would be a shame to use him as only the occasional plot device. I also hope that Sam will be visibly affected by those three months he spent without Dean, methodically brushing his teeth, even though at the end he seemed prepared to shrug it off as "just a dream."

My only real complaint about the episode was that Sam just cut his shirt open a bit to remove that bullet. Very butch, yes, but come on, Sam can't take his shirt off every goddamn once in a while? Inquiring fangirls need to drool!

Oh, and I can't figure out the title. I know that the fun house thing was called a Mystery Spot, but that seems like a red herring, since it turned out to be irrelevant. Is the Mystery Spot Sam's weakness for Dean? The Trickster's role in the demon war? Sam's experiences in general? I'm probably over thinking it, but SPN is usually pretty good about coming up with significant titles.

Xena and Supernatural Walls

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 05:07:24 GMT

Tell me if you need an lj-cut. This set is really simple, and text free. They still feel a little empty to me, but I liked playing with space and placement. And Dean.

Dumbass Fic Quote of the Day

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:00:55 GMT

After a homocidal lover curls up with his beloved:

"You seem to be at peace with yourself. You let me get in bed with you. Naked skin against naked skin. Like it was always meant to be. I can’t even feel the smell of gas."

I lolled so hard.

Yes, I Do Have Other Interests Besides Fandom

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:23:42 GMT

My first solid homemade book. I figure bookbinding is like murder: the first one is the sloppiest. The book's about 6 x 6 inches.

A shot of the homemade paper I used. This was the first time I made paper, and I was quite pleased.

The pieces before I assembled them.

The stitching was kinda messy, although you don't notice it as much here because these pictures were taken with my camera phone.

Drop Dead Gorgeous Fanart

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 22:38:43 GMT

My squeeful love for Maya's fic Drop Dead Gorgeous and my unhealthy fascination with Jon Rhys Meyer's charms have been combined in another bit of fanart. Harry's not as angry and confused here as I picture him in the fic, but on the other hand, who cares when Meyers is so smokin'? I was all set to do another piece of fanart from the same fic for the ever patient skig , but I got... sidetracked. First came the Jon Rhys Meyers piece (with glasses this time!), and then came the layout based on that piece, and then came the poster featuring Harry and Draco based on a picture from a completely different fandom. Anyone who guesses which one wins my eternal fannish love.

And here's the layout: ddglayout

Smooth Sailing
Works with or without sidebar
Looks much better sans navigation bar

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     padding: 2px 6px 2px 6px;
     color: #468d9a;
     font-weight: lighter;
     }
  .header-menu a:hover {
     color: #dfb8a3;
     background-color: transparent;
     text-decoration: none;
     }
  .header-menu ul, #footer-menu ul {
     margin: 0px;
     padding: 0px;
     }
  .header-menu li, #footer-menu li {
     display: inline;
     }

/* BODY */

.bodyblock {
     padding: 10px 10px 0px 0px;
     margin-left: 10px;
     margin-right: 10px;

}
  .bodyheaderblock {
     display: none;
     }
  .bodynavblock {
     background-color: transparent;
     color: #193b69;
     margin: 10px 0px 4px 0px;
     padding: 10px;
     }
  .bodynavblock a, .bodynavblock a:visited {
     color: #000;
     text-align: center;
     }
  .body-title {
     display: none;
     }
  .body-midtitle {
     font-family: tahoma;
     font-size: 18px;
     color: #000000;
     text-align: left;
     padding-left: 8px;
     }

/*ENTRIES*/
  .entryHolder {
     color: #c0cdd3;
     background-color: transparent;
     font-family: verdana;
     font-size: 12px;
     letter-spacing: 0px;
     line-height: 15px;
     margin: 10px 0px 10px 0px;
     text-align: justify;
     }
  .entryUserinfo {
     text-align: center;
       margin: 5px 6px 3px 5px;
     
     background-color: transparent;
     }
  .entryUserinfo-usericon img { 
     padding: 2px; 
     border: 0px solid #c0cdd3;
     } 
  .entryText {
     padding: 0px;
     }
  .entryHeader {
     background-color: transparent;
     color: #a9a9a9;
     font-family: tahoma;
     font-size: 12px;
     padding: 4px 0px 4px 8px;
     font-weight: normal;
     text-transform: uppercase;

}
  .entryHeader a{
     color: #c0cdd3;
     }
  .entryHeaderSubject {
     font-weight: bold;
     color: #c0cdd3;
     }
  .entryHeaderDate a {
     color: #000000;
     text-decoration : none;
     }
  .entryHeaderDate a:hover {
     color: #000000;
     text-decoration : underline;
     }
  .entryMetadata {
     padding-left: 0px;
     }
  .entryMetadata ul {
     margin: 0px;
     padding: 0px;
     }
  .entryMetadata li {
     list-style: none;
     display: block
     padding-right: 5px;
     }
  .entryMetadata-label {
     font-weight: bold;
     padding-right: 4px;
     }
  .entryLinkbar {
     font-family: tahoma;
     font-size: 11px;
     color: #000000;
     text-align: right;
     padding: 4px 0px 4px 0px;
     }
  .entryLinkbar ul {
     margin: 0px;
     padding: 0px;
     }
  .entryLinkbar li {
     padding: 0px 5px 0px 5px;
     margin: 0px;     
     display: inline;
     }
   blockquote{
     background-color: #c0cdd3;
     color: #468d9a;
     padding: 5px;
     border: 1px dotted #468d9a;
     }
/*FOOTER*/

#footer-menu {
     font-size: 10px;
     }
  #footer-menu a, .footer-menu a:visited {
     color: #468d9a;
     white-space: nowrap;
     padding: 10px;
     text-align: center;
     }

/*SIDEBAR*/
  
  .sidebar {
     font-family: tahoma;
     font-size: 7pt;
     text-align: left;
     margin-right: 0px;
     margin-left: 30px;
     margin-top: 0px; 
     width: 150px;
     letter-spacing: 1px;
     line-height: 15px;
     }
  .sidebox {
     color: #000;
     background-color: transparent;
     margin: 4px 0px 4px 0px;

}
  .sideboxTitle {
     background-color: transparent;
     color: #000;
     font-family: tahoma;
     font-size: 10px;
     padding: 4px 0px 4px 0px;     
     text-align: left;
     text-transform: uppercase;
     margin-left: 15px;
     }
  .sideboxContent {
     text-align: left;
     padding: 2px 4px 2px 4px;
     }
  .sidebox #profile, .sidebox #latestmonth, .sidebox #search {
     text-align: center;
     }
  .sidebox #tags_sidebox {
     text-align: center;
     }
  .sidebox #systemlinks {
     text-align: center;
     }
  .sidebox #latestmonth table{
     width: 90%;
     margin-left: auto;
     margin-right: auto;
     margin-top: 4px;

}
  .listtitle {
     font-weight: bold;
     }
  .profile-label {
     font-weight: bold;
     }

/*OTHER PAGES*/

/* COMMENT PAGE */

.commentHolder {
     color: #fff;
     background-color: #000;
     font-family: ;
     font-size: 12px;
     margin: 4px 0px 4px 0px;
     }
  .commentUserinfo {
     text-align: center; 
       margin: 0px 8px 8px 0px;
     padding 5px;
     background-color: #000;
     }
  .commentUserinfo-usericon img { 
     border: 0; 
     padding: 5px;
     } 
  .commentText {
     padding: 6px;
     }
  .commentHeader {
     background-color: #000;
     color: #fff;
     font-family: ;
     font-size: 12px;
     padding: 4px 0px 4px 8px;
     border-bottom: 1px dotted white;
     }
  .commentHeader a{
     color: #000000;
     }
  .commentHeaderScreened {
     font-family: ;
     font-size: 12px;
     background-color: #cccccc;
     padding: 4px 0px 4px 8px;
     }
  .commentHeaderSubject {
     font-weight: bold;
     }
  .commentLinkbar {
     font-family: ;
     font-size: 11px;
     color: #000000;
     text-align: right;
     padding-top: 4px;
     padding-bottom: 4px;
     }
  .commentLinkbar ul {
     margin: 0px;
     padding: 0px;
     }
  .commentLinkbar li {
     padding: 0px 5px 0px 5px;
     margin: 0px;
     display: inline;
     }
  .replyform {
     background-color: #f8f8f8;
     color: #000000;
     padding-left: 10px;
     }
  #commenttext{
     width:100%;
     }

/*ARCHIVE PAGE*/
  .yearlinks{
     text-align: right;
     }
  .yearlink{
     padding-left:4px;
     padding-right: 4px;
     }
  .month {
     width: 500px;
     border: 1px solid #dddddd;
     margin: 8px 8px 8px 40px;
     }
  .daysubjects {
     color: #fff;
     padding: 8px 8px 8px 40px;
     }
  .daytitles {
     text-align: center;
     border: 1px solid #dddddd;
     background: #fff;
     color: #000;
     }
  .day-blank {
     border: 1px solid #dddddd;
    }
  .day {
     border: 1px solid #dddddd;
     }
  .day-date {
     border-right: 1px solid #dddddd;
     border-bottom: 1px solid #dddddd;
     color: #fff;
     width: 50%;
     text-align: center;
     }
  .day-count {
     width: 50%;
     text-align: center;
     float: right;
     font-size: 20px;
     }
  .day-count a {
     text-decoration: none;
     color: #fff;
     }

/*TAGS PAGE*/

.tagstable, .tagstable td {
     border: 1px solid #dddddd;
     }
  .tagstable { width: 400px; }

Harry Potter/Xena Icons

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 09:45:17 GMT

You can always tell when I've got work to do because my fandom life becomes very active. Here are a mess of icons that apply X:WP quotes to Hogwarts Houses. The majority of them are Slytherin, followed by Gryffindor. I believe that the reason for this is that the baddies of the show are almost invariably Slytherin and sassy.

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058	059	060

Created with angelamaria's Icon Table Generator @ Bauble

Another Character Meme

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:48:17 GMT

Stolen from marinarusalka:

Name a character from one of my fandoms, and I'll give you either (a) three facts about them from my personal canon/fanon, (b) a reason he/she sucks, (c) a reason he/she is fantabulous, (d) five things that never happened to that character or (e) five people that character never fell in love with and why. You pick the character. I pick the letter(s).

Fandoms I'll do: X:WP, H:tLJ, SPN, SV. Or any character you know I know.

Poster and Wallpaper

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 04:26:33 GMT

Here's a Livia movie poster I made for a Livia/Eve related contest. It didn't place but it totally rocks anyway.

And here is a Pompey poster I made after I read Pat Southern's Pompey biography, recommended to me by cycnus39. It's also my entry for a minor characters contest, although I would argue that Pompey is anything but "minor."

Almost forgot: go check out amphipolisinn, a new Xena RPG community. It's got my layout on there now, although I intend to make one more customized for the community. Woot!

Bearing Gifts

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 08:31:41 GMT

I stumbled across this gorgeous fellow the other day, and thought some of my flist -- the some who enjoy pouting pretty boy Italians -- might like it. According to my weak Italian, he's whining about a girl who left him after he "offended her," but it doesn't really matter what he's saying, right?

I also made a layout. I'm pleased that it's come out so nicely, since my css fu is very weak. I used my own journal as the guinea pig as I futzed with it, so now it's pretty bland, but I plan for that to change.

xgfightlayout
S2 - Smooth Sailing

/* PAGE */

body {
     font-family: tahoma;
     font-size: 12pt;
     margin: 0px;
     background-color: #dadada;
     background-image:    url(http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb16/spikefaceblue/bgbanner.png);
     background-attachment: scroll;
     background-repeat: repeat-y;
     background-position: top center;
     color: #9a9a9a;
     margin-bottom: 0px;
     }
  a {
     color: #193b69; 
     font-weight: lighter;
    text-decoration: none;
    text-transform: uppercase
     }
  a:visited {
     color: #193b69; 
     font-weight: lighter;
     text-decoration: none;
     }
  a:hover {
     color: #800000;
     font-weight: bold;
     text-transform: uppercase;
     }

.pageblock{
     width:950px;
     margin: 0 auto;
     background-color: transparent;
     }
  .pagefooterblock{
     background-color: transparent;
     color: #dadada;
     padding: 0px;
     margin-top: 0px;
     color: white;
     text-align: center;
     background: url(http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb16/spikefaceblue/bottomversion-1.png);
     width: 950px;
     height: 61px;
     }
  .pagefooterblock a, .pagefooterblock a:visited {
     color: #dadada;
     }

/* HEADER */

.pageheaderblock {
     text-align: left;
     background: url(http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb16/spikefaceblue/xgfightbanner.png);
     width: 950px;
     height: 500px;
     }

.header-title {
     display: none;
     }
  .header-subtitle {
     display: none;
     }
  .header-icon {
     top: 0px;
     right: 0px;
     position: absolute;
     z-index: 1;

}
  .header-menu {
     padding: 450px 0px 0px 0px;
     background-color: transparent;
     font-family: tahoma;
     font-size: 10px;
     text-transform: bold;
     line-height: 20px;
     text-transform: uppercase;
     text-align: right;
     padding-right: 70px; 
     }
  .header-menu a, .header-menu a:visited { 
     white-space: nowrap;
     text-align: left;
     padding: 2px 6px 2px 6px;
     color: #193b69;
     text-decoration: none;
     }
  .header-menu a:hover {
     color: #fff;
     background-color: #193b69;
     }
  .header-menu ul, #footer-menu ul {
     margin: 0px;
     padding: 0px;
     }
  .header-menu li, #footer-menu li {
     display: inline;
     }

/* BODY */

.bodyblock {
     padding: 10px 10px 0px 0px;
     margin-left: 5px;
     margin-right: 70px;

/*ENTRIES*/
  .entryHolder {
     color: #000;
     background-color: transparent;
     font-family: verdana;
     font-size: 10px;
     letter-spacing: 0px;
     line-height: 15px;
     margin: 4px 0px 4px 70px;
     text-align: justify;
     }
  .entryUserinfo {
     text-align: center;
       margin: 5px 6px 3px 5px;
     
     background-color: transparent;
     }
  .entryUserinfo-usericon img { 
     padding: 2px; 
     border: 1px solid #e0e0e0;
     } 
  .entryText {
     padding: 0px;
     }
  .entryHeader {
     background-color: transparent;
     color: #a9a9a9;
     font-family: tahoma;
     font-size: 10px;
     padding: 4px 0px 4px 8px;
     font-weight: normal;
     text-transform: uppercase;

}
  .entryHeader a{
     color: #000000;
     }
  .entryHeaderSubject {
     font-weight: bold;
     color: #000;
     }
  .entryHeaderDate a {
     color: #000000;
     text-decoration : none;
     }
  .entryHeaderDate a:hover {
     color: #000000;
     text-decoration : underline;
     }
  .entryMetadata {
     padding-left: 60px;
     }
  .entryMetadata ul {
     margin: 0px;
     padding: 0px;
     }
  .entryMetadata li {
     list-style: none;
     display: inline;
     padding-right: 60px;
     }
  .entryMetadata-label {
     font-weight: bold;
     padding-right: 4px;
     }
  .entryLinkbar {
     font-family: tahoma;
     font-size: 11px;
     color: #000000;
     text-align: right;
     padding: 4px 0px 4px 0px;
     }
  .entryLinkbar ul {
     margin: 0px;
     padding: 0px;
     }
  .entryLinkbar li {
     padding: 0px 5px 0px 5px;
     margin: 0px;     
     display: inline;
     }
   blockquote{
     background-color: white;
     color: #193b69;
     padding: 5px;
     border: 1px dotted black;
     }
/*FOOTER*/

#footer-menu {
     font-size: 10px;
     }
  #footer-menu a, .footer-menu a:visited {
     color: #163b69;
     white-space: nowrap;
     padding: 50px;
     text-align: left;
     }

/*SIDEBAR*/
  
  .sidebar {
     font-family: tahoma;
     font-size: 7pt;
     text-align: left;
     margin-right: 0px;
     margin-left: 30px;
     margin-top: -450px; 
     width: 150px;
     letter-spacing: 1px;
     line-height: 15px;
     }
  .sidebox {
     color: #000;
     background-color: transparent;
     margin: 4px 0px 4px 0px;

}
  .listtitle {
     font-weight: bold;
     }
  .profile-label {
     font-weight: bold;
     }

/*OTHER PAGES*/

/* COMMENT PAGE */

/*TAGS PAGE*/

.tagstable, .tagstable td {
     border: 1px solid #dddddd;
     }
  .tagstable { width: 400px; }

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 02:13:03 GMT

I've been a real Spammy McPimpalot recently, but I have yet another thing to tell you guys to go check out: cryoutforahero, a community devoted to Xena and Gabrielle (and/or Xena/Gabrielle). I made it because I thought LJ could use one and also because messing with layouts is much more entertaining than being productive.

Shinies for a Shiny New Journal

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:22:38 GMT

If you see anything you like, all the downloads are at my new graphics-resource journal pretiosa. I can put this behind a cut if anyone would prefer, but I promise this is the last time you'll be spammed with this. Unless you friend pretiosa, in which case you'll be spammed with it regularly.

You Can Has Iconz

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 04:52:00 GMT

I realized I hadn't posted icons in a while, so they're all from different periods of icon-making. The result is a little frenetic, but I kinda like it.

Icons: Xena, Gabrielle, Xena/Gabrielle, Ares/Gabrielle, Ares, Callisto, Aphrodite, Ephiny, Caesar, Cupid
Wallpaper: Gabrielle

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022	023	024


025	026	027

Created with angelamaria's Icon Table Generator @ Bauble

A pretty wallpaper for a pretty community

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:02:54 GMT

I made a new community, caesarlove, because I figured my obsession needed a more focused outlet. Go. Join. Admire my shiny layout and the wallpaper I based it on.

I generally don't eat food touched by a pig.

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