![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
some things! (did you miss me?)
Hellooooo, children. I think I’m back? I feel pretty okay; I think I needed a hiatus, it’d been a while since I’d taken one. So I’ve mostly been watching reality shows about kpop idols and reblogging pictures of pretty people on tumblr, but now I’m writing ALL the things and I feel up to wading through my flist again. I’m not going to try to go back and catch all the things I missed, so I’ll repeat: if you have anything you’d like me to check out, let me know.
+ It’s been well over 100 degrees this week (and will likely continue to be), but it hasn’t been too awful because the humidity has been reasonable, which is not something I ever thought I would say about Middle Tennessee. It’s drydrydry here right now and all the grass is dead so it isn’t as pretty of a green as it usually is here this time of year, so I’m praying for rain because we need it. But I have to admit that the lack of humidity is nice.
+ In book-related news, I am finally reading Bitterblue and it’s fantastic. I think it’s Cashore’s best book yet, though I’m only halfway through. Little Queen Bitterblue! So lovely!
+ Also re: books, I learned the other day that Eloise Jarvis McGraw, writer of one of my all-time favorite YA novels Mara: Daughter of the Nile (perhaps the book I’ve most often re-read in my life? I’ve memorized sections of it and my copy is falling apart) wrote an adult novel about Hatshepsut. Obviously as soon as I heard this I hied myself to the internet and looked for a copy. But this isn’t just out of print, it’s out of print. The only copy on Abebooks was $350. I found a copy on Amazon that was substantially less but still way, way more than I’d usually pay for a book but I splurged anyway because A) I live very frugally and I feel it’s okay for me to do something like that once in a while, B) I have always been obsessed with ancient Egypt and this is totally Relevant to My Interests, and C) did I mention she wrote one of my favorite books? I will definitely let y’all know if it’s good. I can’t wait for it to arrive! *happy dance*
+ Here’s something you never thought you’d hear me say: I’m writing smutty slashfic. Who even am I anymore? I don’t know, but just writing it makes me blush. I’ve gotten to the point over my years (and years) of fandom that I can read porn straight-faced (though you know me: I mostly skim to get to the actual emotions because who cares about the physical stuff?) but writing it myself is a whole different story. Obviously since this is me we're talking about, the physical smut is just an excuse for emotional porn, by which I mean everyone has too many feelings and they're all incapable of expressing any of them but the ugliest ones.
+ I only have like 10,000 more words to write in my novel. But I keep getting distracted by my shiny new fandoms and running off to write fanfic. I need to buckle down and finish because finishing was the whole point of this thing. I don’t think I’m going to clean this one up for publication; I’m going to set it to the side for a while. But finishing it was the goal, and I need to make it happen.
+ Is it okay for me to admit that I have now seen Brave and that I found it disappointing?
Visually, it was lovely and lush, though I felt that the human animation lacked something, especially compared to Tangled, where the characters' faces moved like real faces. And I'm obviously still obsessed with Merida's hair: best thing about the movie bar-none.
But. I felt that the film lacked emotional resonance for me? My BFF felt the same way, too (she raged a lot walking out and said it's going to be eating at her for days; I assigned her an essay to write me). And you have to understand: I went into this film 100% ready to love every single thing about it. I wanted to, especially because it's a film about a girl's relationship with her mother.
But it didn't touch me like most Pixar movies do. It felt like a mess to me, honestly, the elements didn't jibe, the charaterization was very surface-level, the conflict too obvious. There was no subtleness at all and I wasn't invested. They didn't take advantage of the richness of Celtic mythology, and they really didn't take advantage of the richness of the Scottish musical tradition. It just felt like it could have been so much more. Honestly, the little mini-movie they show right before (as they do on all Pixar movies) was so much more beautiful and moving and lovely (I ADORED it) than Brave was.
All that said, I'm glad that this is a mediocre movie about a girl's relationship with her mother rather than another mediocre movie about a guy saving people or whatever. I'm not upset that it was made, I'm upset that it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be.
+ Something that I watched that wasn’t at all disappointing was Appropriate Adult, a BBC two-part series about a woman who was the appropriate adult (via wikipedia: “a parent or guardian or social worker who must be present if a young person or vulnerable adult is to be searched or questioned in police custody”) to Fred West, the serial killer who with his wife killed at least 13 women in Gloucester during the 70s/80s. It starred Emily Watson, always extremely good, who was very convincing as a quiet sort of housewife-type and Dominic West from The Hour. I liked the contrast between his character on the hour—charming, rich, educated—and his portrayal of West—working class, manipulative, rough-edged and a psychopath. He was excellent, and I hear he won a BAFTA for it, which was well-deserved.
I can’t say that I exactly recommend it, because it was rough. Not physically graphic at all, because it’s all about the aftermath of his arrest, but the things you learn about what the Wests did will obviously never leave your brain after you hear them. Their actions are the kind that we like to convince ourselves are inhuman, and I can’t emphasize that enough. That said, it was an extremely well-done production, I was very impressed. If you think you can handle it, you might want to check it out.
+ I also saw Snow White and the Huntsman a while back, and I liked it. Visually it was absolutely stunning and exactly the type of thing I love. The characters were a bit underdeveloped, but it was trying to be a fairy tale, and that comes with the territory. There was some weak dialogue, some cheesy moments, and some other weaknesses, but all in all I thought it was a good summer popcorn movie with a nice twist of being A) AMAZING TO LOOK AT and B) about ladies.
+ I have watched 2 and a half episodes of Teen Wolf. I am trying to get into this thing because everyone loves it, but I need a goal: tell me when it’s going to become an obsession, please. You know I'll hold out as long as I know how long I need to.
+ The only kdrama I’m all caught up with at the moment is I Do I Do, which is kind of ridiculous. But it’s very light and adorable and has a noona romance that works for me with a badass hbic leading lady and the world’s sweetest guy as her romantic interest. I am going to catch up on Gaksital soon and also get back into Big, which I hear has gotten really awesome.
+ I am a giant sap (things you already knew if you have been here long), so have a video that actually made me tear up:
+ It’s been well over 100 degrees this week (and will likely continue to be), but it hasn’t been too awful because the humidity has been reasonable, which is not something I ever thought I would say about Middle Tennessee. It’s drydrydry here right now and all the grass is dead so it isn’t as pretty of a green as it usually is here this time of year, so I’m praying for rain because we need it. But I have to admit that the lack of humidity is nice.
+ In book-related news, I am finally reading Bitterblue and it’s fantastic. I think it’s Cashore’s best book yet, though I’m only halfway through. Little Queen Bitterblue! So lovely!
+ Also re: books, I learned the other day that Eloise Jarvis McGraw, writer of one of my all-time favorite YA novels Mara: Daughter of the Nile (perhaps the book I’ve most often re-read in my life? I’ve memorized sections of it and my copy is falling apart) wrote an adult novel about Hatshepsut. Obviously as soon as I heard this I hied myself to the internet and looked for a copy. But this isn’t just out of print, it’s out of print. The only copy on Abebooks was $350. I found a copy on Amazon that was substantially less but still way, way more than I’d usually pay for a book but I splurged anyway because A) I live very frugally and I feel it’s okay for me to do something like that once in a while, B) I have always been obsessed with ancient Egypt and this is totally Relevant to My Interests, and C) did I mention she wrote one of my favorite books? I will definitely let y’all know if it’s good. I can’t wait for it to arrive! *happy dance*
+ Here’s something you never thought you’d hear me say: I’m writing smutty slashfic. Who even am I anymore? I don’t know, but just writing it makes me blush. I’ve gotten to the point over my years (and years) of fandom that I can read porn straight-faced (though you know me: I mostly skim to get to the actual emotions because who cares about the physical stuff?) but writing it myself is a whole different story. Obviously since this is me we're talking about, the physical smut is just an excuse for emotional porn, by which I mean everyone has too many feelings and they're all incapable of expressing any of them but the ugliest ones.
+ I only have like 10,000 more words to write in my novel. But I keep getting distracted by my shiny new fandoms and running off to write fanfic. I need to buckle down and finish because finishing was the whole point of this thing. I don’t think I’m going to clean this one up for publication; I’m going to set it to the side for a while. But finishing it was the goal, and I need to make it happen.
+ Is it okay for me to admit that I have now seen Brave and that I found it disappointing?
Visually, it was lovely and lush, though I felt that the human animation lacked something, especially compared to Tangled, where the characters' faces moved like real faces. And I'm obviously still obsessed with Merida's hair: best thing about the movie bar-none.
But. I felt that the film lacked emotional resonance for me? My BFF felt the same way, too (she raged a lot walking out and said it's going to be eating at her for days; I assigned her an essay to write me). And you have to understand: I went into this film 100% ready to love every single thing about it. I wanted to, especially because it's a film about a girl's relationship with her mother.
But it didn't touch me like most Pixar movies do. It felt like a mess to me, honestly, the elements didn't jibe, the charaterization was very surface-level, the conflict too obvious. There was no subtleness at all and I wasn't invested. They didn't take advantage of the richness of Celtic mythology, and they really didn't take advantage of the richness of the Scottish musical tradition. It just felt like it could have been so much more. Honestly, the little mini-movie they show right before (as they do on all Pixar movies) was so much more beautiful and moving and lovely (I ADORED it) than Brave was.
All that said, I'm glad that this is a mediocre movie about a girl's relationship with her mother rather than another mediocre movie about a guy saving people or whatever. I'm not upset that it was made, I'm upset that it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be.
+ Something that I watched that wasn’t at all disappointing was Appropriate Adult, a BBC two-part series about a woman who was the appropriate adult (via wikipedia: “a parent or guardian or social worker who must be present if a young person or vulnerable adult is to be searched or questioned in police custody”) to Fred West, the serial killer who with his wife killed at least 13 women in Gloucester during the 70s/80s. It starred Emily Watson, always extremely good, who was very convincing as a quiet sort of housewife-type and Dominic West from The Hour. I liked the contrast between his character on the hour—charming, rich, educated—and his portrayal of West—working class, manipulative, rough-edged and a psychopath. He was excellent, and I hear he won a BAFTA for it, which was well-deserved.
I can’t say that I exactly recommend it, because it was rough. Not physically graphic at all, because it’s all about the aftermath of his arrest, but the things you learn about what the Wests did will obviously never leave your brain after you hear them. Their actions are the kind that we like to convince ourselves are inhuman, and I can’t emphasize that enough. That said, it was an extremely well-done production, I was very impressed. If you think you can handle it, you might want to check it out.
+ I also saw Snow White and the Huntsman a while back, and I liked it. Visually it was absolutely stunning and exactly the type of thing I love. The characters were a bit underdeveloped, but it was trying to be a fairy tale, and that comes with the territory. There was some weak dialogue, some cheesy moments, and some other weaknesses, but all in all I thought it was a good summer popcorn movie with a nice twist of being A) AMAZING TO LOOK AT and B) about ladies.
+ I have watched 2 and a half episodes of Teen Wolf. I am trying to get into this thing because everyone loves it, but I need a goal: tell me when it’s going to become an obsession, please. You know I'll hold out as long as I know how long I need to.
+ The only kdrama I’m all caught up with at the moment is I Do I Do, which is kind of ridiculous. But it’s very light and adorable and has a noona romance that works for me with a badass hbic leading lady and the world’s sweetest guy as her romantic interest. I am going to catch up on Gaksital soon and also get back into Big, which I hear has gotten really awesome.
+ I am a giant sap (things you already knew if you have been here long), so have a video that actually made me tear up:
no subject
Teen Wolf seems to be all over Tumbkr, but it hasn't really Ppealed to me much. I'd much rather spend my time watching all the TV I missed because I was studying - Game of Thrones, Mad Men, and the first five seasons of The West Wing that I downloaded. I realized why everything seemed familiar to me was because I actually saw the first two seasons ten-ish years ago and kind of had whatever knowledge I had of the show blended with that one fanfic of Holly's where the senior staff are stuck in a Bed and BreKfast in the deep South with the Scoobies, so I thought my knowledge came from the fanfic and not the show itself. I told that story because I figured it was pertinent to your interests.
Yay of 10,000 words left in the novel! Take yurt time, endings are always hard so don't stress too much.
YOU? WRITING SLASH FICTION?! I still can't bring myself to ream m/m slash because I think I can only handle one penis at a time.it. It might be a phobia or something.
What else did you talk about? I'm on my iPad so I can't see your post while I comment, so everything's being done with my sketchy memory. Snow White and the Huntsman was pretty good? I knew it was going to be a pretty movie, that's for sure.
AND OH MY GOD HOW COULD I FORGET MARA? MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE FROM AGES TEN TO SIXTEEN! I ruined our library's copy reading it so much! Is the Hatshepsut one called The Golden Goblet? I remember reading that one by Eloise Jarvis McGraw in sixth grade and not being too impressed with it, mostly because it was about a boy and nothing could compare to Mara, so I just switched to Elizabeth George Speare and read The Bronze Bow, Calico Captive, and The witch Of Blackbird Pond over and over again. If I actually get around to doing the 100 Things Challenge I decided it would be the 100 Books I Want My Future Children to Read, so this stuff is on my mind a lot. I kind of recently spent four hours in the library's Children's section when I was supposed to be studying for the GRE. It was time well spent.
no subject
kind of had whatever knowledge I had of the show blended with that one fanfic of Holly's where the senior staff are stuck in a Bed and BreKfast in the deep South with the Scoobies
Ha, I remember that one! In Natchez!
YOU? WRITING SLASH FICTION?!
This was my reaction myself, not gonna lie.
Is the Hatshepsut one called The Golden Goblet?
No, the Golden Goblet is another of her books, which I like but not nearly as much as Mara. This one is called Pharoah, and it's for adults.
Elizabeth George Speare is amazing.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
I haven't seen Brave yet, but I want to agree with this sentiment with lots of exclamation points!!!!!
no subject
Exactly--it wasn't a bad movie. It just wasn't what a Pixar film should be.
I do wish we could have a female protagonist who's storyline doesn't revolve around defying the conventions of princesshood. I want one where the fact that girls can be badass is just taken for granted, and then maybe a more original story can be told.
I completely agree with this.
no subject
no subject
LOLOL Teen Wolf. I will not lie: I watched the first ep a while back because of all the a/b/o fic of it I saw turning up on AO3. I concluded, based on one episode, that not only was I bored by the whole premise, but that it had no better chance of convincing me of Derek/Stiles than the fic I'd read. I therefore decided not to watch anymore.
That said: STILES. Is he not the most adorable thing under the sun? Do you not want to just cuddle him forever and ever? He's so sweet and genuine without ever being saccharine. I adore him. I'm told he continues to be the best part of the show, and also that other people (Lydia and the head jock dude) develop a lot more complexity later. So.
Hurrah for living frugally and splurging occasionally. This is totally my budgeting philosophy. Walk to work, buy nothing ever except groceries (which I do splurge on, because otherwise I wouldn't eat), and then fly places / go to an SPN convention / etc every so often.
YAY novel!!!
That's a pity about Brave. I'm still planning to see it, because I see all the Pixars (except for Cars 2, which I hear was a disaster). It makes me very sad to hear they couldn't handle "a girl's story" with the deftness they've been handling all their other stories over the years (mostly; they pretty much threw 'deft' out the window in the second half of Wall-E, and honestly most of the subtlety of Cars went into the car-related geek-out, not the characterization). :P
no subject
I am quite fond of Stiles. He's a Xander-type, without carrying around all the things that make Xander drive me so very crazy. At least from what I can tell right now.
Hurrah for living frugally and splurging occasionally. This is totally my budgeting philosophy. Walk to work, buy nothing ever except groceries (which I do splurge on, because otherwise I wouldn't eat), and then fly places / go to an SPN convention / etc every so often.
Exactly! I wish I could walk to work, but I really do rarely buy anything that isn't food (recently clothes, but it's always a long time in between clothes-buy experiences) and gas. So maybe if they ever set a date for the SBS Kpop Festival I can actually buy a plane ticket and not feel guilty! :D
(except for Cars 2, which I hear was a disaster).
That doesn't surprise me. I thought Cars was one of the weaker of the films (not a bad one, of course, just not Pixar Level in my mind), so a sequel wasn't necessary to me.
It makes me very sad to hear they couldn't handle "a girl's story" with the deftness they've been handling all their other stories over the years
This, this. I was so disappointed, because I was so ready to love it!
no subject
djldkjflkl LAUREN. WHAT HAS KPOP DONE TO YOU. I love it omg.
Also, re: Teen Wolf - I basically really enjoyed the show from the beginning but I feel like I really sat up and started flat-out loving it from Night School (which is episode seven) onward? The stakes just went UP for me, since it is this tightly contained fast-paced bottle episode that is just awesome all around, plus it provides a lot of inciting character stuff that kicks Allison's arc into gear and provides her with the motivation to start coming into her own + actively knowing that there's something going on and trying to figure it out. (W-which is.......kind of my favorite thing in the entirety of season one?? Just, OH MY GOD HER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THO. Also her stuff involves two of my very favorite scenes in the whole show, so.)
no subject
Excellent! I looooove bottle episodes, so I will be holding out for that one.
kicks Allison's arc into gear and provides her with the motivation to start coming into her own + actively knowing that there's something going on and trying to figure it out
GOOD. She's just there to be a pretty girlfriend for what's-his-face so far with the added ~conflict of her dad being a hunter, so I am so pleased to know that she's going to come into her own. Yay!
no subject
Oh, good. I will shoot for that episode, then. I loooove a good bottle episode, and I'm looking forward to Allison becoming something other than a plot device/motivation for Scott.
no subject
"nods" That is a good book.
And welcome back.
no subject
Thank you!
no subject
Appropriate Adult sounds like something I would get caught up in if it was on, but I'm not sure when I would actually be in the mood for it. I like gritty dramas, though and I love Dominic West *bookmarks for a later date*
no subject
no subject
no subject
It's well worth watching if you think you can stomach it, and Dominic West was fantastic. I was only familiar with him from The Hour, so it was cool seeing his range.
no subject
no subject
I've seen a lot of lukewarm reactions to Brave, which is so disappointing given Pixar's track record.
no subject
I know what you mean. I love that it took the consequences of his reign so seriously. I also wish I'd reread Graceling, too, but sometime I'll have to reread them in order to get the full effect.
which is so disappointing given Pixar's track record.
I really think that's why it was so very disappointing. If it had been, say, a Dreamworks film, I don't think I would have expected so much, and so I don't think I would have been so disappointed. It was a real shame.
no subject
That's awesome! I'd never heard of the book before this year, but the kids at my school read it for class, and then actually made (a pretty professional-looking) movie out of it. I could totally send it to you if you like...
no subject
no subject
+ In book-related news, I am finally reading Bitterblue and it’s fantastic. I think it’s Cashore’s best book yet, though I’m only halfway through. Little Queen Bitterblue! So lovely!
Is Bitterblue different enough from Graceling and Fire that one might like it even if they didn't like the first two? I wasn't crazy about Graceling, but I bought Fire because the plot sounded fascinating. And then I liked Fire even less, so I had that "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" feeling. But I've heard from other people that Bitterblue is great, so I feel like I should check it out.
I’m writing smutty slashfic.
If I were a Gif Queen like Cate I would have an appropriate reaction for this. But I'm not good with gifs, so just imagine a very, very shocked, amused face. :D
I'm so disappointed by what I've heard about Brave. I've been feeling disgruntled about it for a few weeks, ever since I flipped through a kiddy book in the bookstore and saw the plot (because the trailers didn't actually tell you much about the story). I used to say I would see this movie automatically because it was about a girl, but now I don't really feel like spending the money and the time (cause now I'm working, so I have no time...). I'm just so annoyed that their first female-oriented movie had to be about something as trite as wants-to-escape-gender-roles. The plot requires that the character be a girl. Why couldn't we have had a really original, creative story like in "Up" or "Finding Nemo" or "Monsters Inc." and the main character just happened to be female? But no, if it's an original story, the main character automatically defaults to male.
Sigh, I suppose a mother-daughter story could be nice, and it is a parallel to the father-son story in Nemo. And that's relevant since Nemo is being re-released in a few months. :/
Yay for your novel!! I completely understand about being distracted by fandom and fic-writing.
no subject
Hmmm....I like Graceling but I liked Fire even more. Bitterblue does feel different to me, though--it's very much about this girl trying to figure out how to be a queen and how to deal with the legacy her evil father left on her kingdom. You might give it a chance and drop it if you decide it isn't working for you.
so just imagine a very, very shocked, amused face. :D
I imagined it in technicolor!
I'm just so annoyed that their first female-oriented movie had to be about something as trite as wants-to-escape-gender-roles. The plot requires that the character be a girl. Why couldn't we have had a really original, creative story like in "Up" or "Finding Nemo" or "Monsters Inc." and the main character just happened to be female? But no, if it's an original story, the main character automatically defaults to male.
YES YES. This is definitely one of the things that's bothered me. This story has been done to death, so if you're going to do it, you need to add some nuances or details that are compelling enough to make it worthwhile, and the movie just did not do that for me, unfortunately.
no subject
um, YAY ON YOU about the novel. That's amazing.
no subject
Thanks so much! I just need to kick myself in the rear and make myself finish.
no subject
Because I imagine you're missing him bunches since I've abandoned tumblr, here's a little happiness for you:
CONGRATS on the near-completion of your novel. I mean, WOW YOU DID IT. I am all admiration and wonder.
THAT VIIIIIIIID. <3<3
no subject
Oh, you're sweet to check out my stories! The Infinite ones I've posted haven't been smutty, actually, but I'm working on a chapter fic full of it, so. I lovelovelove that it's the Salvatores that got you into slash.
HAHAHAHA BEST GIF. I just love you to death.
You are the sweetest, and I have missed you!
no subject
I love my flist. I love that this is what we like because yeah, porn as character study is pretty much the only kind of porn I'm interested in.
That video is incredibly sweet.
no subject
My flist understands this, and I love it, too. We are the BEST, aren't we?
I thought it was so sweet!
no subject
As for Brave, I have to say that I loved it! I saw it yesterday with the family and we all really enjoyed. I was definitely crying at the end.
no subject
Me, too! I love seeing a writer's work get stronger with each subsequent book.
I'm really so glad that you loved Brave! I really wanted to, so I'm pleased that it worked for you!