( Spoilers, duh )

So, in general, I'm kind of annoyed at the whole show. I never thought of Merlin as great entertainment, but now it's not even amusingly bad. It's just bad. Although I have been re-watching Buffy (my girlfriend has never seen it!) and in comparison it makes most things on TV right now look pretty fucking bad. We just finished the first season, and oh, you guys, I forgot how much I loved this show. It is so good.

imaginarybeasts is "a bi-monthly webzine dedicated to original fiction of the oneshot variety". Anyone may participate, whether you would like to write, make visual art, volunteer to help with beta'ing, or, most importantly, read and review the stories. Etc, etc, here's the tag for previous reviews.

Each edition, or "book", has a theme; June's (I swear I will catch up someday!) was "Cities". My favorite stories and art:

Smaller Than the Blink of an Eye by hacy morris. The story of what happens after Sleeping Beauty wakes up. I really love this twist on the fairy tale.

Gloves by ladyofthelog. A dark, ambiguous story about abilities and what they cost. Awesome world-building.

City of Light by atalan. An adventure in a dystopic, crowded city consisting of levels upon levels of structures, far below any light or fresh air. This story is really well-written, with excellent characters and a great plot.

You can read all of the stories and see the art here.

imaginarybeasts is "a bi-monthly webzine dedicated to original fiction of the oneshot variety". Anyone may participate, whether you would like to write, make visual art, volunteer to help with beta'ing, or, most importantly, read and review the stories. Etc, etc, here's the tag for previous reviews.

Each edition, or "book", has a theme; February's (I am so far behind, Jesus Christ) was "Erase/Rewind", which basically means 'free for all'. Writers and artists were free to use any of the previous themes. I have a lot of recs for this review, but the quality was really particularly high this time. My favorite stories:

Citydust by overrule. About the life of a city, the birth and death of a city, and how to love a city. Short but vivid.

That Beautiful Apple by scratchmist. A retelling of a well-known myth, but it would be cheating to tell you which one before you've read it. Or not a retelling, a sequel, a second chance for the people involved. Simple, but so well-done.

[ctrl]+[alt]+[del] by rei_kurasaki. A cyberpunk story, set in a Terminator/Matrix -esque world, but more brutal than either of those movies. Plus, gay boys!

The Cobbler's Son by phoenixgold. This is obviously using the language and tropes of fairy tales, but it's like the anti-fairy tale. By which I mean not that it's sad or aggressive, but it's just an entirely other thing than stories of heroes and monsters and destiny and treasure. A wonderful little tale.

The Assassin's School for Girls by hazard_us. Now this one is a fairy tale, but it's like what would happen if Edward Gorey wrote a fairy tale. Detailed, precise, and fun.

The Greatest Bluesman by thanatophilia. This story is far and away the "if you only read one, read this one" of the issue. In fact, I think it might be the "if you only read one, read this one" of the entire imaginarybeasts archive. I'll repeat that one more time: read this one. This is amazing. It reads like a song, with the perfect rolling rhythm of its Louisiana setting. Death, the devil, and souls sold for musical ability, and even though I know you've heard that story before, it's still new this time. Here's the first paragraph:

Catherine Mary Saint Croix done eat her baby. Done eat her baby and start singing so sweet. Townsfolk call her a witch (which means knowledge and just imagine what horrors of horrors she knows). Townsfolk say she sold her soul. Townsfolk run her out of town and they don't wanna hear from her no more.

It's so good, I cannot tell you.

You can read all of the stories and see the art here.

imaginarybeasts is "a bi-monthly webzine dedicated to original fiction of the oneshot variety". Anyone may participate, whether you would like to write, make visual art, volunteer to help with beta'ing, or, most importantly, read and review the stories. Right, whatever, here's the tag for previous reviews.

Each edition, or "book", has a theme; September's was "School Stories". Now, I have to say that this is not a theme to which I'm particularly attracted, which is probably why I didn't get around to reading it until now. But this is one of the best editions I can remember. I liked every single one of the stories, and some of them were really exceptional. My favorites:

Making Friends by hacy morris. A simple story about two boys, but the setting is subtle and other; a slightly off hint to everything, which starts with a lunch box full of small, black spiders. I enjoyed this; it was sweeter than it seemed. Or maybe darker. I don't know, but I liked it.

Girl in the War by xskadi, with art by llyse. How to describe this? A high school girl starts to see ghosts, and gets caught up in a team that fights them. And yet. Nothing's quite what it seems, and everything's a little bit sharper than you expect. Also: heart-breaking ending.

Warm Where You Are by gyoku. A perfectly normal story about two high school boys, but this is subtle and lovely. I adore the bitterness in one family and the affection in the other, both done so simply it feels like a pencil sketch.

Fake Glass Skies by rei_kurasaki. A story about a kappa, but not a fairy tale. Or rather, it is like a fairy tale, but the old ones with fangs. Gorgeous, slow imagery and language.

Hmmm, I'm really liking the creepy today. You wouldn't guess "school stories" would lend themselves to that so much. All of the stories are great, and the cover is adorable; you can see the rest here. The next book's theme is "Mythology", and will be out next week. (I managed to get this review in just under the deadline!)

imaginarybeasts is "a bi-monthly webzine dedicated to original fiction of the oneshot variety". Anyone may participate, whether you would like to write, make visual art, volunteer to help with beta'ing, or, most importantly, read and review the stories. Blah, blah, you all probably remember this from yesterday.

Each edition, or "book", has a theme; May's was "Steampunk". My favorites:

Your Woman by shinju_yuri. Another Walter and Frederick story, who I adore, but this is a lovely little piece even if you haven't read anything else about them. A story about robots, really, and the people who make them, with a killer last line.

The Grace Affair by iseepurplehair. My favorite story of this issue. About a naive inventor and a country at war, and you probably already know where this story goes. And it does go exactly there, but it's well-written, so it makes the expected seem like the archetypes of mythology, that inevitable fall from grace. Excellent.

Lady by rakugaking. A gorgeous piece of art, full of little details, but still being stark and vivid. So pretty.

You can read all of the stories and see all of the art here, though it's a short issue this time. Another reminder: the next theme will be School Stories, and you can sign up here (post locked to community members). You have until September 7th to submit a story.

imaginarybeasts is "a bi-monthly webzine dedicated to original fiction of the oneshot variety". Anyone may participate, whether you would like to write, make visual art, volunteer to help with beta'ing, or, most importantly, read and review the stories. The authors and artists need love, people.

Each edition, or "book", has a theme; February's was a special double theme of "Science" and "Magic". My favorites:

Take Wing on Sundays by loika. A gorgeous piece of art. I love the slick style of this, but even more so all the details of the world implied in it. Gorgeous.

The World Is No Longer Green by rei_kurasaki. A really fascinating piece about forest spirits in a world that doesn't believe in them. So much sharper by the end than I thought at the beginning.

At Times, Science Can Seem Like Magic by redplasticglass and vonbrigthi. Another art piece! What can I say, they were really excellent this time. This piece just makes me want to stare and stare at it, to see all the details. An absolutely brilliant melding of the two themes.

The Tale of Colonel Blackheart and the Voodoo Zombie Tigers by xahra99. Hee! I do adore people who can write humor well. This is such a spot-on parody of all the action cartoons I watched on Saturday mornings when I was little.

You can read all of the stories and see all of the art here. The next theme will be Gendertwist, and you can sign up here (post locked to community members), though unfortunately I have been late writing this review and you only have till the 9th to finish your story.

Remember to comment on anything you read!

I got to see a special showing of The Golden Compass last night! Yay! I was so excited to see this movie; I first read the books back when I actually was the age they're targeted at, when I was 12 or 13. Well, the first two; by the time the third one came out I was a bit older, and have vivid memories of not sleeping a whole night to tear through it.

( Not really spoilers, since it has the same plot as the book, but if you want to see without having heard anyone else's reactions )

bb_shousetsu, to quote their userinfo, is "a webzine for original boy's love oneshot stories, intended as an online, English-language text equivalent of one of those All Yomikiri Bimonthly Summer Special 100 Extra Pages!! manga phonebooks where every story is about the torrid romance of an ordinary schoolboy and his soccer club captain - or a teenaged yakuza boss and his faithful lieutenant - or the prince of an exotic desert country and the emerald-eyed winged bishounen he rescues from the sawtoothed sand monsters of G'or, self-contained in 30 pages and heartwarmingly predictable. Our editorial policy is to dispense with meaning and literary merit and concentrate on cracked-out inconsequential fun."

However! Every summer they have a special issue featuring yuri (female/female) stories instead of yaoi (male/male) stories, which is pretty much the best thing ever. Why is there no regular yuri webzine? Maybe I should start one. Maybe I should create extra hours in the day first. Maybe I should just beg someone else to run it and enjoy the free, effortless stories.

Anyway, as I've said, the theme of the summer issue is yuri. You can read all of the stories (and appreciate the art which comes with the illustrated ones) here. I particularly recommend:

The Archive by Kagamino Kage. A very interesting urban fantasy with a main character who has a fascinating relationship to reality. This feels more like a novel than a short story, but in a good way, like there's a lot left to explore that you'd like to read. There's also some lovely images in here, which is always a plus.
The Heart Eater's Children by Usagi Anami. When I was 13 or so, I was obsessed with the Drizzt Do'Urden books; I read them until I had them memorized. Which clearly explains why I fond this story of a twisted, dark relationship in a Dark Elf society to be a good read. I like the way gender roles work themselves out here, too; there's quite a different twist on things like using a strap-on.
The Passion of Saints Tryphaena and Tryphosa by Shukyou. My favorite story of the issue. It uses the style and format of early Christian writings, and it does it really, really well, even in the sex scenes. It could be just blasphemous fun, but this story strikes me as something much more lovely.
Masks and Stockings by Torino Koji. I liked the story a lot because it has a transgendered person as the main character, and that's not the focus of the story. It's there, it effects some relationships, but so often a story with such a character comes off as a Very Special Episode, but instead 'Masks and Stockings' manages to let Alex be a real, three-dimensional person, and tell a normal story about first relationships. That made me happy.
Fire by Tsukizubon Saruko. The basic plot of this story is: a fighter pursues Fire across a desert. But wow. There is so much more going on here, about passion and love and obsession, and the writing is just absolutely gorgeous. Well worth the read.

My only criticism with this issue? Needs more sex scenes! Heh. The next issue will be out in October, and will probably have a theme of 'Horror'. However, signups have not yet started; I'll let you all know when the post goes up, or you can join bb_shousetsu yourself.

*Yeah, yeah, eventually I'll get around to posting something other than reviews of webzines, but that time is not right now.