For the record, my guests were selected not on the basis of my friendship with them, but on the level of their contributions to the fandom.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/allaine/2009/07/17/Women-on-X-Men-X-Women-Chat-with-Princess-Alexandria-and-Mooncat

Women on X-Men (X-Women?) - Chat with Princess Alexandria and Mooncat

Everybody has a favorite when it comes to femslash in the universe of Marvel Comics' X-Men. Maybe it's Emma Frost - you know, the one who fought the heroes in a corset. Or Jean Grey, because everybody likes the hot redhead. Or canon lesbian Mystique (see Jean Grey). Or Kitty Pryde - just how close was Illyana to her anyway? Or even wackjob Spiral - imagine what YOU could do in the bedroom with six arms. And Scott, well, nobody likes him. Whoever you like, there's no one dominant pairing in X-Men femslash, which means many popular ones. We'll discuss as many as we have time for with two of the community's most high-profile authors, Princess Alexandria and Mooncat.

Hope you'll be there!

Sincerely, Allaine

Up until now I've focused on individual fandoms, but there are some authors who haven't limited themselves to one or two communities. So while some shows will feature interviews with authors as representatives for a certain pairing, others will feature authors who will discuss their overall work as a whole. And we'll begin with harper_m

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/allaine/2009/07/10/Harper

Multi-fandom Author Interviews - Harper

Harper has never been one to limit herself to one or two fandoms. Since starting out as a fanfiction author she's written at least one story for dozens of pairings. And she's done an excellent job with all of them. You'll find yourself reading her stories when you have no prior knowledge of the show! (Skins, what the hell kind of name for a show is Skins!) We won't worry about ALL of her previous work on this show, but we will be discussing stories from Popular (Sam/Brooke), Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles (Sarah/Cameron), Birds of Prey (Barbara/Helena), Friday Night Lights (Tyra/Lyla), and more!

I hope people will attend.

Sincerely, Allaine

Episode Five will air LIVE on Thursday, July 2nd, from 10-10:45 PM EST, and we will be discussing The Devil Wears Prada and its star pairing, Andrea/Miranda.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/allaine/2009/07/03/Interview-1-Devil-Wears-Prada-authors-Grdnofevrythng-and-Telanu-Speak-Out

The Devil Wears Prada - Featuring Interviews with Grdnofevrythng and Somniesperus

This show marks my first effort at conducting an actual interview as we move away from the world of animation and to the world of living, breathing actors. Despite having nothing that could be considered canon femslash content, in just a few years the film version of The Devil Wears Prada has spawned a hugely successful following of the Miranda Priestly/Andrea Sachs femslash pairing. And my two special guests are partly responsible for that. First we'll talk to Grdnofevrythng, moderator for the DWP femslash community on Livejournal and the successful veteran fanfic author of "No Matter the Miles", about her inspirations (and her workload!). Later, I'll be reading out loud from the transcript of the interview I conducted earlier with Telanu, known better on LJ as Somniesperus, the hugely popular pioneering author of such fics as "She Likes a Prizefight" and "Truth and Measure" who was one of the very first to put high-quality DWP femslash on the Net. Between the two of them, you'll learn everything about what makes this couple work.

Hope some of you on my f-list will continue to be interested :)

Sincerely, Allaine

Episode Four of my show at www.blogtalkradio.com will be this Thursday, June 25th, from 10-10:45 PM EST.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/allaine/2009/06/26/Mai-HiME-NatsukiShizuru-and-You-Know-the-Other-Ones

Mai-HiME - Natsuki/Shizuru and . . . You Know, the Other Ones

The Mai-HiME/Mai-Otome series of anime and manga has been one of the most successful programs to make the jump in the last few years from Japan to America. And with a female cast that heavily outnumbers the males, the opportunities for femslash are endless. Yet the star-crossed canon (depending on what you're watching) love affair between Kuga Natsuki and Fujino Shizuru has completely captured the hearts of fans almost from the beginning. So completely, in fact, that other possible pairings (not to mention the lead heterosexual pairing from Season One) tend to fade into the background or get overlooked altogether. On Thursday we'll look at the appeal of Natsuki/Shizuru, but we'll also give the Haruka/Yukino fans, the Aoi/Chie fans, the Mai/Mikoto fans, and even those Natsuki/Nao contrarians the equal time they don't always get.

I hope some people here will be able to tune in, call in, or download :)

Sincerely, Allaine

So far, dozens of people have listened to at least one of the first two shows, either live or by download. I'm very happy with the numbers, and I hope to continue that with the pairing some readers were undoubtedly waiting for.


http://www.blogtalkradio.com/allaine

Poison Ivy/Harley Quinn - Are They . . . or Will They Ever?

Possibly the best example of femslash subtext in comic books, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn have been the ultimate case of "are they/aren't they" in DC Comics since their first partnership in Batman: the Animated Series. Ivy dislikes people in general, and Harley is most famous for her obsessive love for the Joker - yet theirs is a lasting friendship, and a romance that has been hinted at (and if you've seen that T-shirt, more than hinted at) for fifteen years. We'll discuss the evolution of Harley and Ivy as characters, how that's made their appeal as a couple stronger, some of the allusions to a romantic pairing we've seen over the years, and the ultimate challenge for Harley/Ivy fanfic authors - if Ivy can never get Harley away from the Joker for good, how can we?

Like last week, this show will be on THURSDAY, June 11th, from 10 - 10:45 PM. Listeners are strongly encouraged to call in at any time after 10:15 PM for questions, comments, suggestions, or anything else. People can also download the show afterwards, or they can follow along via the chatroom which will be open concurrently.

And let me say that one more time - STRONGLY encouraged. I don't want to just speak AT you. I'm not so egotistical that I think people just want to hear me blather on. I would love to speak WITH you. Some of you in particular (some of you know who you are) :)

Note there will be no show on June 18th. I need to figure out what my next topic will be.

Sincerely, Allaine

Well, the first show could have gone better from a technical standpoint - a minute of dead air due to phone battery problems, a little rambling near the end, clearly not enough time for a show - but a lot of people seem to be downloading, listening, and/or asking about it. So I'm moving forward with a second show.

Disney's Gargoyles - What Makes Demona So Gosh-Darn Slashable?

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/allaine

Human by day, gargoyle by night, immortal sorceress, ruthless businesswoman, genocidal murderer - and how about that anger management problem? Demona was one of the most memorable villains from a show chock-full of them, a truly three-dimensional character on a show that technically targeted preteens, but could be challenging for fans three times their age. She's also been used in femslash. A lot. Who hasn't she been paired with by now? The question is why. Why do writers of femslash seem to gravitate more to this vicious, tortured, cruel, (did I mention straight), and solitary female than to any other character? From the always-controversial Demona/Elisa, to the slightly questionable Demona/Delilah, to the horde of OFC lovers, we'll discuss the evolution of femslash in Gargoyles and why Demona has always led the charge.

The show will be THIS Thursday, June 4th, from 10-10:45 PM EST. Hopefully the earlier time slot will make it easier for East Coast listeners, while the extra fifteen minutes will be necessary if more people call in.

And people ARE strongly encouraged to call, starting 10-15 minutes after the show begins.

Hoping people will tune in. Hoping authors/fans will call in. And hoping people who can't make it will download the show - which will be available as an mp3 file starting Friday.

Next show: DCU's Poison Ivy/Harley Quinn

Sincerely, Allaine

The site is telling me that I haven't posted any entries in 56 weeks. Wow. That's over a year. Must be hugely important if I'm actually breaking the streak.

Well, I won't pretend that it's the MOST important thing to happen to me in 56 weeks - my wedding in August probably tops that list, wouldn't you think? On the scale of importance, this is probably only a three out of ten.

That being said, I've decided to try my hand at being an occasional radio talk show host in my spare time.

Not THE radio, mind you. Not satellite or FM or even AM. I'll be doing a show on Internet radio - specifically at a website called www.blogtalkradio.com. I've been listening to my friend "Glass of Win" show for a couple months, and the site is right. This DOES seem really easy.

But I need something to talk about, and it has to be something where I think other people will care to listen to from me.

Naturally, the weekly topic will be . . . femslash.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/allaine

I'll be kicking off this THURSDAY, May 27th, from 11-11:30 PM EST. Each week (or perhaps each two weeks, I don't know yet) I'll be discussing my favorite femslash pairing from a different film/TV/comic/etc fandom, beginning with the fandoms where I've actually written fan fiction. A chat room will run concurrently with the program, and listeners will be invited - encouraged to call in and voice their own opinions.

We'll be starting with Kim Possible/Shego from the Disney toon Kim Possible, and in coming weeks I'll be discussing pairings from such worlds as Batman, Justice League, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Gargoyles. I'm hoping to convince other femslash authors to do interviews from time to time later on (should the show prove popular). We'll also discuss femslash in general, including stereotypes, popular pairings suddenly emerging without warning, and pairings from shows that never had a chance.

If you can't listen to a show, you'll have the option afterwards to download it to your iTunes.

I hope some people from my f-list will turn out to listen :)

Sincerely, Allaine

EDIT: Damn it, that should say Thursday the TWENTY-EIGHTH. Sorry for any confusion.

Commercial #2 (which I forgot when I wrote about Commercial #1)

Sigourney, Sigourney, Sigourney . . .

Actress. Oscar-nominee. Goddess. Have I told you how hot you were in the 1980s? The 90s? Today? Despite what Melanie Griffith told you, you were never a "bony ass". Ghostbuster. Working Girl. Galaxy Quest. Gorillas in the Mist. Alien.

Oh yes, did I mention Aliens? Greatest sci-fi/action/thriller of the entire decade? The movie I stayed up until 11 PM watching for the first time when I was ten, by myself, with all the lights out? You remember the poster on my bedroom wall for years.

How could you, Sigourney? How could you do that DirecTV commercial? How could you cheapen that climactic fight scene? Do you realize how many times I watched you say the immortal "GAFH,YB!"? Do you realize what came before you in those commercials? Dukes of Hazzard and Baywatch. That's right, you've linked yourself forever to one of the Simpsons, and Pamela Anderson.

Big mistake.

I will try to forgive you, but it could take a long time. Why, why, why?

Sincerely, Allaine

Liberty Mutual has conceived one of the most idiotic commercials ever.

You've probably seen them. They're a sort of "pay it forward" storyline where person C sees person B doing a good deed for person A, so person C does a good deed for person D, which is witnessed by person E, who does . . .

Let's ignore the fact that these commercials violate the space-time continuum, since at the end of the commercial, we see person B witnessing a good deed by person K, and so she does a good deed for person A - which is odd, since the chain of events leading to K's good deed was B's good deed.

There are two moments which especially bother me.

1. Woman brakes car as dog runs across street.

2. Woman reaches out and stops pizza delivery man as he's about to step in front of a speeding car.

What bothers me is the suggestion that the ONLY reason these women are doing this is because they saw someone else do something selfless. As if NORMALLY, people are indifferent to running over pets, or seeing people get struck down by cars. Because we're all such heartless bastards.

"You know, I was just going to stand here and read my paper, but I've been wanting to do a good deed all day, so I think I'll save that guy's life. Boy, is he lucky I saw that other guy help someone with his luggage today."

I saw another commercial that bugged the s--t out of me, but I forget now. Most commercials bug the s--t out of me anyway.

Sincerely, Allaine

So, latest meaningless baseball stat last night. Phillies lost their 10,000th franchise game in history. First team in pro sports to do that.

Never mind that if you're a pro football, basketball, or hockey team, you play a much shorter schedule, so you're not GOING to lose 10,000 games any time soon.

And that many baseball teams haven't been around long enough to lose 10,000 games.

And that the Atlanta Braves, masters of the division championship (although not winning actual World Series), are going to pass that milestone too by the end of the decade.

But it's 10,000, and as Dogbert says, it's bi-ig and it's rooound!

Because the media loves dwelling on "futility" in Philadelphia sports, and frankly so do the fans here.

Some things to remember, though:

1. Philadelphia has won more than one World Series. The Athletics used to play here, and they won championships while they were here.

2. The Seattle Mariners have been around for 30 years, and have never made it to the World Series. Same goes for the Texas Rangers, who have been playing for 45 years. (The Phillies have played in three Series in the last thirty years alone, and won in 1980.)

3. Chicago Cubs fans, unlike Phillies fans (sorry, Ellen), can't remember the last time their team won the Series. Possibly because they weren't alive when it happened last - in 1908. (Yes, that's right, ninety-nine years ago.) Most of them can't even remember the last time the Cubs REACHED the Series. (1945 - the Phillies made it in 1993.)

4. Cleveland Indians fans would gladly take a couple thousand losses off the Phillies' hands if it meant winning a World Series once in the past sixty years. (Thank you, Jose Mesa.)

I would ask the national media to keep this in mind, but you can't compete with a big, round number.

Sincerely, Allaine

Basically you have two good chances to get into this show before Season Two begins sometime late this year or early 2008.

- The season premiere will be rerun tonight at 9 PM EST on CBS.

- Next Friday, CBS will air the recap episode at 8 PM, which will summarize episodes 1-11. Then, at 9 PM, it will air Episode 12. The final ten episodes will then be shown in order, one every Friday at 9 PM.

Besides the fact that I love this show, and that I can't wait for its return, I'm also posting this here because I feel that the story of its resurrection will have equal resonance with Gargoyles and Kim Possible fans.

The journalists talked a lot about how Family Guy was an earlier example of a network show being brought back from the dead, but we know what they were forgetting. Family Guy is old news. We know that Kim Possible was dead, over, finished at 65 episodes, three seasons. It was directly because of a huge, extended, devoted campaign by the fans that Disney ordered Season Four, a whole 22 brand-new episodes. It was because of those fans that we've gotten episodes like "Mad Dogs and Aliens" and "Stop Team Go". Kim Possible fans flexed their muscles, showed their strength, and got results. Jericho fans did the same thing, you've all heard the story. "NUTS!" KP fans, Jericho fans, you are brothers and sisters-in-arms.

Gargoyles fans - do you know what the Jericho fans are talking about now? They're talking about how the show, the message boards, and the campaign brought them closer together. That they've formed friendships they didn't have before. That they're planning a Jericho CONVENTION in Kansas for September 2007. Guys, you know what I'm talking about. We've been pushing this show for years. CBS is encouraging the fans to go out and tell ten people apiece about the show. Doesn't that sound like Greg Weisman at the 2004 Gathering telling us that it wasn't enough that we buy the DVDs, that we needed to become "proselytizers" and get the word out to our friends, get THEM to buy the DVDs? Have we gotten everything we wanted? Hell no, but it hasn't been for nothing, we got the DVDs and the comic book and all the friends that I didn't get to see in Tennessee this year.

I would encourage Gargoyles fans to watch this program, not only because it's good, or because Lennie James' Robert Hawkins is a great character, or because it takes the old post-apocolypse story and makes you think about things like resources and power and contractual obligations and commerce and justice and the flow of information. But because Jericho has a real shot at living on beyond the seven new episodes. CBS is promoting the shit out of it, the "Jericho Rangers" are out there. Watch an episode or two as a way of showing that the voice of the Internet collective matters, that we have just as much power as the Nielsen ratings geeks. Let the Jericho Rises campaign serve as an inspiration to other fans that they can make a difference.

Besides, like I said, it's a great f---ing show.

Sincerely, Allaine

P.S. While everyone else was watching Transformers, I was seeing Ratatouille and having an awesome time. I question whether any Pixar movie can live up to Finding Nemo or The Incredibles, but they're always in my Top Ten films of the year. The animation in the kitchen scenes alone is amazing.

I'm not sure who I'm more pissed off with.

CBS, for cancelling Jericho.

Or the producers, for ending the season (sorry, series!) on a major, unresolved cliffhanger.

I think I'm more pissed off with CBS, since it was THEIR decision to take Jericho off the air for twelve weeks in winter, and that crippled the ratings when it came back. So they're partly to blame for the downturn. Fuckity-fuck-fuck-fuckers.

Sincerely, Allaine

My gf and I are leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow. We'll be there all week. We're staying at a place called Tahiti Village. You may have seen the commercials with Alan Thicke. It's basically a timeshare, and they invite couples for "free" to give them sales pitches.

Since the gf's aunt already HAS a timeshare, we don't have to listen to any sales pitches. We just get to stay there all week for $100.

Not $100/night. $100.

That, combined with the $300 airfare for the two of us combined (thanks to $500 in vouchers from USAirways after they totally fucked us over on our flight to Chicago last year), means we have a lot left over to spend.

Right now plans include a lot of things I didn't get to see/do during the 2005 Gathering:

Stratosphere
Gondola ride at Venetian
Fountain show at Bellagio
Star Trek Experience
Cirque de Soleil's Mystere
Red Rock Canyon
Hoover Dam
Grand Canyon
Spago's

Plus we're seeing Cirque's Zumanity. This show, I saw in 2005 with mooncatx, alexandria24, and summer_jackel, but I want to see it again.

But no, I won't be seeing Fashionistas again. (Not that it wasn't good.)

Anyway, I know none of my friends live out there, unfortunately, so I guess I'll tell you all about it next week :)

Sincerely, Allaine

Last fall I posted a series of drabbles here based on a fanfic I never wrote. It was a followup to the Bridesmaid series, you may remember it. It took place two years later, and it was basically a melange of JLU, Identity Crisis, OYL, and my own improvements. And two of the segments involved the "Furious Four" - Clayface, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Volcana - and the "Secret Six" created by Luthor to hunt them down.

I give you the newest member of DC's Secret Six.

http://community.livejournal.com/harleen_quinzel/93175.html?#cutid1

Isn't it nice being an inspiration? Gail, I have other ideas we could work with.

;)

Sincerely, Allaine

I had an early-morning eye exam today. So they did everything but inject my eyes with drops. And now my pupils are dilated. Everything's glarey.

I've had my sunglasses on all morning.

I feel like Stevie Wonder.

Sincerely, Allaine

P.S. Jericho is starting to remind me of NML in Gotham.

P.P.S. I need more KP icons.

Wonder Woman/Audrey, from Justice League, is pretty much my only major fanfic pairing that doesn't have any fanart.

That has finally been corrected :)

( Read more... )

Ain't it great?

I've actually commissioned three different fanarts for various pairings of mine in the past six months, which is a lot considering I'd commissioned a whopping one before that. Once they're finished, I'll have fanarts for the main pairing from the four fandoms in which I've done most of my writing. (Gargoyles, B:TAS, Justice League, Kim Possible - I used to write a lot for BtVS, but that was over five years ago). I expect the other two will be as good as this one :)

Sincerely, Allaine

Greg Weisman wrote the Kim Possible episode "Big Bother", which is premiering this Saturday night at 8 PM. It can also be currently seen on the Disney Channel website. (Expect to see Monkey Fist and Yori in this episode.)

Sincerely, Allaine

We have a 10-gallon aquarium containing several communal tropical fish and an algae eater. Two of them are red platys - we had two originally, and one died, so recently we bought a second one.

The surviving Red tended to sit by itself in the corners of the aquarium because he tended to get chased around by two OTHER platys (sunbursts, I believe the name is). So we thought, "Let's get him another Red. Either he'll have a friend, or he'll get bumped up the totem pole."

Yesterday, there was a little fish skeleton at the bottom of the tank. And one red platy.

Question One - Identify the victim.

Was it the old red, or the new red? If it was the old red, then was this the inevitable conclusion of a campaign of systematic harassment and stalking? If it was the new red, was he eliminated because he was the newest addition to the gang, and couldn't be trusted? Or was it a case of mistaken identity?

Question Two - Identify the perpetrator.

Was it one of the sunburst platys? One of them has this suspicious bulge that either means it's sick, it's fat, or she's pregnant. If she's pregnant, then that would explain the other sunburst being so aggressive. (Or maybe she's been stepping out on her man with the deceased.)

Was it the algae eater? He seemed to be sitting on the skeleton, like it was a trophy. Maybe we've unleashed a new menace upon the aquarium.

Witnesses? Plenty, but they ain't talking.

Verdict? Unsolved.

We also had another fish die of natural causes - it had started to swim left and right while facing UP. I don't remember the type of fish it was, we called it Pineapple.

It may be a good thing Petsmart sells these things for $1-$2 a pop. We might start going through them like Kleenex.

Sincerely, Allaine

Motive - Sunburst Platy #2 (aka Suspect Two) is possibly pregnant.

Ack, I am confusing people. YOU post in MY journal..and I will Tell YOU the following. ^_^;;

1) Tell you why I friended you.
2) Associate you with a song/film.
3) Tell a random fact about you.
4) Tell a first memory about you.
5) Associate you with a character/pairing.
6) Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
7) Show you my favourite user pic of yours.
8) In retort, you can repost this in your LJ.

Sincerely, Allaine

This morning the Preston & Steve show was talking about "300", so I decided to call in.

Producer: Hi, who's this?
Me: Eric
P: What's your comment?
M: I was wondering if they'd be interested in talking to someone who hasn't seen the movie and never, ever plans to see it.
P: . . . Why?
M: Because Frank Miller is a scumbag.
P: . . . I don't think so, but we appreciate your call.
M: *hangs up* Mwahahahaha!!

I would have liked to say, "Because Frank Miller is a misogynistic, bigoted thug," but I thought it was too long.
____________________________________

Was "Escape (the Pina Colada song)" a 1970s song? Because I know it went to #1, and I heard it on the radio again today, and that song simply must have been released in the decade that brought us wife-swapping.

I mean, come on, people. He's reading the personal ads in bed . . . while his girlfriend is asleep in bed next to him.

That is f---ing cold.

Sincerely, Allaine

P.S. In case people were wondering, the other six answers were Sayid (Lost), Question (JL), Keith Mars (Veronica Mars), Dwight Schrute (The Office), Addison Montgomery (Grey's Anatomy), and Titus Pullo (Rome).