Happy Fourth of July!

...Saying that, my post has nothing to do with the holiday. Hope everyone in the U.S. is enjoying the odd mid-week day off!!

First some fandom stuff:

Moment by kishmet is a wonderful TezuRyo AU in which Tezuka is a photographer and Ryoma is a model. Ryoma's attitude is in full force here, with Tezuka the resolute guiding force. They clash and slide sideways and end up all jumbled together.

The God of Go Singles Ad by flonnebonne and bookshop is retarded. Shiny, yes, but totally retarded. And cracked.

Then some BL:

Mada ai ni todokanai by Hizaki Yuu and illustrated by Asou Kai is about salarymen Naganuma and Chiya. Naganuma had mentored Chiya from when Naganuma had been a part-time worker in college, and had thought of him as a cute, big puppy. But when Naganuma sees Chiya in a suit, looking all grown up and hot, he is struck by Cupid's arrow. But after much thought he decides that a) they are both guys and b) Chiya is the son of a company president, so there was no future for them even if he said something and Chiya didn't reject him. He will treat Chiya the same as he always had...or try to. Unfortunately, this is a BL novel so things can't be so boring simple. One drunken night one thing leads to another and they kind of fall into a physical relationship. While Chiya insists that he's in love with Naganuma, Naganuma takes the attitude that he'll go along with Chiya to mutually get each other off in the absence of girlfriends. Of course this causes much internal angst, but Naganuma amazingly manages to stick to his story pretty much all the way through. I was pretty impressed at how manly Naganuma was despite the usual torment of unrequited love that makes almost all uke weepy/snivelling and annoying. The story is very straightfoward and very predictable, but because Naganuma and Chiya weren't stupid and weren't forced to act in some grand tragedy by the author I enjoyed reading this. It also didn't hurt that I happen to like the illustrator a lot:

( Two pretty pics )

Another nice aspect is that their physical relationship didn't include anal sex, which seems to be de rigueur in BL. Unfortunately the novel did fall into the typical anal sex = consummation of love convention at the end, but...I didn't say this novel was particularly original, did I? :P

And last but not least, some music. I've been listening to some great stuff lately:

bleu sky by moumoon
This group is produced by Nagao Dai of DAI (Do As Infinity), and in a way the sound reminds me of DAI. Possibly a cross between DAI and YUI? It is...breezy and slightly folksy and terribly addictive. I have got to find more of their music...Check out the music video of their single "Flower" on youtube.

Kiss Goodbye by Wang Lee Hom
Lovely Chinese ballad. As the title suggests, it sounds like a sad song. According to this translation the lyrics are exactly what one would expect. It's just a pretty, pretty pop ballad.

Moi...Lolita by Alizée
She's apparently a successful French singer, the protege of Mylène Farmer? This is the big hit from her first album. Fabulously addictive if too...consciously sexy? ^^;

Invisible Ink by Aimee Mann
The way she sings in this song reminds me of Vienna Teng a little bit. It's a lovely, simple, folksy song. (I didn't make the connection immediately, but I have a fabulous live cover version of Coldplay's "The Scientist" by her. Damn, she kicks ass!)

Hm, looks like I've gone for four different languages and styles. I'd share more but I'm sick of uploading. :P