Is this a plague?

In recent weeks, two members of the f-list have had their computers die on them. Went home last night and when the computer booted up, nothing I opened would work after I opened it (that is, I could open internent, MSWord or My Pictures and get the screen they opened to first, but nothing else, including McAfee) and nothing showed up on the taskbar, which kept the same time as when the computer booted up. Ditto when I checked it this morning.

I don't know if it's dying (it was a cheap computer I won at work) or has a virus, and won't be able to take it in to find out until overtime is over at work (and, if it is a lost cause, then I kinda want overtime to last a few more paychecks!) I do still have the laptop, but I have very little set up on it, as I rarely use it, and all my files are on the computer...

*frets*

Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones

Forty years ago, Mr. Chesney came to a fantasy world and, with the aid of a demon he captured, forced it to enter into a contract with him. Each year, the world must prepare for the touring season, where Mr Chesney will bring in multiple touring groups who expect a world straight out of an RPG game, complete with a Dark Lord. The Dark Lord must be 9 feet tall, have blazing red eyes, and rule over a desolate wasteland from an evil fortress. The people of this world are, understandably, upset over having to arrange their entire lives around the touring groups, not to mention the fact that it’s ruining the economy, and whoever ends up being the Dark Lord each year has an utterly miserable life. Oh, and this year, a god is expected to manifest to each touring group.

So they turn to Querida, the new High Chancellor of the wizards to fix things. Except Querida can’t find a loophole, so they go to the Oracle, who tells them to nominate the wizard Derk as this year’s Dark Lord. Derk, of course, rules over a relatively humble, bucolic country estate. He is also something of a failure as a traditional wizard, and is instead something of the equivalent of a mad scientist, and creates all sorts of fantasy creatures. Except he includes his DNA, and that of his wife, Mara, in many of the creatures, making them his children. And so the whole family-both humans and fantasy beasts-gets to work creating the new Dark Lord’s Empire, while Querida sets about using this years touring season to free her world. Naturally, nothing goes quite as planned.

I think the book is best summed up with this bit: At one point, a dragon comes out of a 300 year hibernation, thinks everything is real, throws a bit of a disastrous hissy fit when he learns otherwise, gets lectured by Mara, and then becomes what amounts to a glorified drill sergeant and babysitter. If the idea of that appeals to you at all, this is the book for you. It also has griffin children taking over the entire book. It’s a bit slow in some parts, but is overall a wonderful spoof of RPGs and generic medieval-lite fantasy worlds, without losing sight of the more serious parts.

Kamen Tantei Vol 2

At one point, Haruka was talking about actors who she would play the lead if the book she and Masato wrote was made into a movie. Thanks to jdramas, I recognized every one.

( Spoilers aren’t spoilers so much as they’re nonsensical if you haven’t read. )

This started off a mystery manga with ghosts and a ghost detective who may or may not be the character starring in the books of two teen writers. Now I think it’s about fiction taking over your life, especially if you’re a writer. I don’t remember Petshop of Horrors ever being this crazy.

Small Fandom Friending Meme

Despite some duplicates and a few that are definitely not small fandoms, 25 pages of mini-fandom memes:

ಠ_ೃ SMALL FANDOM MEME
TO MAKE NEW TOMODACHIS with SIMILAR INTERESTS

*has spent too much timethere today*

ALSO! Claymore Ch 83! Where are you!