Friday Fics Fix - Gotham City

This week, dear nerdlets, I have something a li'l creepy and very cool to recommend to you.

Do you know, my dearest nerdlets, of the TV show Gotham?

If you don't then GO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW.





You want reasons? Cheeky b**gers.

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OK - it's Batman before Batman. Gotham while Bruce Wayne was just a kid.

Jim Gordon and the Gotham police department fight familiar and unfamiliar villains and criminals, and try not to sell their souls in the process.

It's like a cop show hybridised with a superhero show... and then given a fair old slap of gangsters and gothic-ness for good luck.

IT'S AMAZING!!!!!!!





In case, you haven't figured it out (but I haven't exactly been subtle,) today's fic is from the Gotham fandom.

And it's 18+ only... because clearly fandom cannot resist the sexy-times. And there's much violence because... Gotham.

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It features Penguin (aka Oswald Cobblepot) in a relationship with Ed Nygma.

(*Mild spoiler*) They actually shared an apartment in canon at one point (and it was freaking hilarious.)

And I totally ship the thing.

(Fangirling note:

'I ship the thing' means I want Penguin and Ed to be in a relationship... mainly because the apartment thing was, as I said, FREAKING HILARIOUS.

I would actually settle for platonic bromance if they can just share the apartment again.)

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This week's fic my dears, complete with creepy plot which actually made me want to read more of this fic-series, and randomly included sexy-times, is:

Fingerprints in the Dust by HarveyWallbanger


So, I will see you soon for more fanfiction-style demented goodness.

Meanwhile - go watch Gotham. Go on. WATCH IT. XD

Like this post? Try these:

• Friday Fics Fix - Bat Outta Hell
• Friday Fics Fix! - So Many Alternatives

Comics Wrap Up - What's That Coming Over The Hill?

Graphic Novels

This week I've reviewed two pretty cool (and fairly different to each other,) graphic novels.

Disney's Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Vol 1 (US) (also available in a 2 volume collected edition: US - UK) by Jun Abe is a manga graphic novel from Tokyopop. Alice fans will love it.

Check out my review here.





Luna the Vampire: Grumpy Space (UK - USA ) by Yasmin Sheikh is full of a quirky and off-beat sense of humour that suited me down to the ground (or should that be 'up to space'...?)

You check out my review of Luna's wacky adventures here.






I also read Monstress, Vol 1: The Awakening (UK - US) and IT'S SOOOOO GOOD!

I'll be fangirling over it writing a review of it soon. But... WOW! Really. Wow.





Other Stuff




Michelle @ Tea & Titles wrote a fab post about 'The Cutest Comics of Ever: Part 1' which included comics that I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for from now on :)

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Patrick Lenton wrote a fab article on why we should #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend - and I totally agree!

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Tom Felton - Draco Malfoy to a generation of people  - is joining the cast of The Flash (*does a li'l embarrassing fangirl dance*)

I'm so chuffed! TOM'S GONNA BE IN THE FLASH!!!!  fjngoeirnyheouh!!!!

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Like this post? Try these:

• Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Disney's Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Vol 1
• Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) Luna The Vampire by Yasmin Sheikh
• Comics Wrap Up - It's Much Better To Face These Kinds Of Things...

Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Luna The Vampire, Volume 1: Grumpy Space by Yasmin Sheikh

Title: Luna the Vampire, Vol 1: Grumpy Space

Author: Yasmin Sheikh Genre: Graphic Novels, Sci-Fi, Paranormal, Humour, Vampires

Series: Luna the Vampire

Release Date: 14 July 2016

Amazon: UK - USA

Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Disney's Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Vol 1

Title: Disney's Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Volume 1

Author: Jun Abe

Genre: Graphic Novels, Manga, Fantasy, Media Tie-In

Series: Disney's Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Amazon:
2-volume edition - US - UK

Vol 1 - US
Vol 2 - US

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

OK, we have some stuff to get clear straight-off:

This manga is made up of two volumes (oddly enough, Vol 1 (US,) and Vol 2 (US,)) and is also available in a collected edition of both volumes (US - UK.)

From what I can make out, here in the UK (and probably a lot of other countries,) it's currently only available in the collected 2-volume edition (in English, anyway.)

I received a review copy of the first volume, so that's what I'm reviewing here.

This is a manga adaptation of the movie adaptation (UK - US) of the classic book (UK - US).

It reads right-to-left in traditional manga-style.

Right, we all got that? Great.

Premise:

Alice Kingsley is a girl trapped in society's expectations. Then... then she sees the rabbit.

What follows is a trip to Underland, an adventure, a prophecy, and the chance to be 'the Right Alice;' prepare for impossible things.

Best bits:

The combination of Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton, and a manga-style just works. Ok?

There's something about this which is just... right.

The character design is spot-on - not least in terms of The Hatter and the Red Queen.

The right level of detail is carried throughout - highly intricate in the places where it needs it, and less dense in the places that need a lighter touch.

The whole thing is deftly carried out with skill and a real love of the vivacity of the source material.

Basically, I loved it.

Not so great bits:

In places, I felt like this was so true to the film, that I could quote some lines before I read them, and that did take a little of the sparkle out of things.

But this is a tie-in with the film, and you're going to expect an element of this at the least.

There's the odd drop of violence here and there, but nothing beyond what's in the film - if you know the film, you know what to expect, and it's fans of the film that're going to be the main audience here.

Verdict:

Alice fans rejoice!

The artwork is beautiful, and the combination of elements astounding.

Any Wonderland fan will love it.

Goodreads (Volume 1) – Tokyopop Catalogue (Volume 1)

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• Comics Wrap Up - A Town Called Alice
• Nerd Church - Of Impossible Things

Nerd Church - Of Impossible Things

You all know that I'm an Alice in Wonderland fan (if you don't, I just told you;) and I've been thinking lately that we could all take a leaf out of Alice's book.

(I'm mainly talking Alice a la the recent Disney films starring Johnny Depp; the first movie was directed by Tim Burton (UK - US.))

One of the main themes of the two Alice films is the impossible. Alice makes the impossible possible, and believes in impossible things.

I think we all need to do that - no matter how hard it may feel (and lord knows we've got some damned tough times coming.)

When you believe, and you keep trying, you really can achieve what others may call the impossible.

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My lovely country, Wales, has reached the semi-finals in Euro 2016.

Now, if you know nothing about football (soccer) this may not mean much to you.

Let's just say that short of the World Cup, the Euros are about as big as you can get (and thank whoever may be listening that competing is not reliant on being a part of the EU.)

We were not expected to do anything - we were expected to be canon fodder to the other teams. We didn't care. The red shirt is the red shirt, whether it's on a rugby player or a football player.

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(In case you've been hiding under a rock, this is Gareth Bale. He's one of the best players in the world. And he's ours.)

We believed the impossible was possible, and made it so.

(And so did Iceland, for that matter - they aren't even professional players, which is fab. Their coach is a part-time dentist, and they defeated England - one of the richest international teams in the world.)



I'm not saying that failure isn't an option - it's OK to fail. What I'm saying is that a little hope, optimism, and belief, can go a long way.

So believe in 6 impossible things before breakfast. Because the world moves in a better direction when we achieve Impossible Things.




Nerd Church is a weekly post where I ramble on about various 'issues' and/or random thoughts. If you liked it, I'd be uber-pleased if you shared :)

Like this post? Try these:

• Nerd Church - The Reaction
  
• Nerd Church - Love Will Always Win
• Comics Wrap Up - A Town Called Alice

Conversations - Lending Out Books

Conversations is a meme from Geraldine @ Corralling Books and Joan @ Fiddler Blue.

I faff in and out of the discussions when it pleases me - 'cos that's just who I am (this week, lie in the grass... sorry, FOB playing in my head.)

This fortnight's theme/question/whatever you wanna be calling it is:

What are do’s and don’ts for someone who wants to borrow

your books?

Now, I really don't know why there's so much issue with this in the bookish community.

I know I'm the odd one out here but I see every dog-ear, slight tear, or general dishevelment from when you put it in your bag and then put something heavy on top, as badges of honour.

This book has a story. It's been loved, used, and abused.

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Saying that, I don't purposefully go out to wreck my books.

That's just silly. Especially when I know my natural clumsiness and hare-brained habits will deal with it for me in half the time.




I also do have some ground-rules (although they'll probably seem extreme to you guys,) namely:

• You DO NOT PUT A MARBLE IN MY BOOK (this was my brother, he embedded a marble in the front page of my HP:OotP book by accident... somehow. I wasn't pleased. Though I was slightly impressed.)

• DON'T KEEP MY BOOK FOR OVER A YEAR (a school friend; literally every time she saw me for a year she swore and slapped herself for forgetting again. At least I eventually got it back, she lost the DVD I lent her.)

• Please don't leave it in a pile of dirty clothes and other general detritus, that's just gross (my sis-in-law with my copy of The Casual Vacancy; I confiscated it when she and my brother moved out and left it in said icky pile of their cr*p.)

• Don't intentionally wreck it (no-one's actually done this one, but it's just common sense.)

And that's about it. Sometimes I'm a little bit fussier if it's a graphic novel that was expensive and/or hard to find - but even then a general 'please look after it,' usually does the job.


What can I say? There are much worse things in life than a bent corner or a tea/coffee mark. And if I didn't love you, I wouldn't be lending you stuff anyway.

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Like this post? Try this:

• Conversations - Is 15 Years Old Too Young To Be Reading Fifty Shades of Grey?

Friday Fics Fix - Bat Outta Hell

Fanfiction has no rules. It's part of what makes the medium so unique.

If a fic author wants to cross Harry Potter with something completely random, like EastEnders (please don't tell me if such a fic exists - I don't want to know,) then they can.

No questions asked (except maybe regarding your sanity in the 'wtf did you do?!' kind of style.)

Of course, once unleashed onto the interweb - particularly if you're using one of the more popular platforms like AO3 or FF - people are likely to read your bizarre Franken-fic. People like me.

Because when I see a random cross-over fic, my dear nerdlets, I can't help myself. I just can't resist it, even though nine times out of ten you can be damned sure it will end badly.

This week's fic is one of those random cross-overs that I really shouldn't click on but inevitably do. Lucky for me, it's part of the one in ten times when I wasn't scarred for life by doing this (woo!)






Now, bear (is it bear or bare? Always confused by that,) with me: this is going to sound completely batsh** crazy (upcoming pun intended - because that's just how I roll sometimes.)

This week's fic decides to pair-off Hermione Granger with none other than... (*DRUMROLL*) BATMAN!

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I know! It sounds so freaking demented. But... and this is the really weird part... it works.

The fic author has done a fantastic job of smushing the DC world and the Wizarding world together - and somehow it seems plausible (about as plausible as either of these universes is on their own anyway.)

This is set several years after the Harry Potter books end - in an AU (Alternate Universe) where the fighting didn't stop. There's also some spoilers for the books, just a warning in case there's anyone who hasn't read them yet.

(Also, when searching for the link to this fic, I found there is more than one fic out there that crashes Harry Potter into Batman. Be afraid. Be very afraid.)

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This week's fic is:

Blessings From Malice by sarhea





Sure, there are some grammar and spelling issues (if someone has bigoted beliefs, they are usually referred to as a bigot, not a bigamist - that's a whole different type of situation! #JustSaying) and some plot-hiccups that aren't really big enough to be called holes, but overall it's actually quite well-written.

There's a bunch of violence and some references to sexy-times (nothing graphic - which was almost more of a shock than the whole Hermione/Bruce Wayne deal-y... this is fanfiction after all,) but nothing that really goes that far past normal YA level.

Certainly, it doesn't get as graphic as some New Adult books I've read - so the easily embarrassed can rest easy.

Like this post? Try these:

• The Case For Fanfiction
• Nerd Church - The Pottermore Controversy
• Popcorn Review! - Batman (1989)