entirely ruined her disposition with books

+ Does anybody else think that the reason they kept Benedict Cumberbatch's role in the new Trek movie a secret is because they knew people would be incredibly pissed at this white guy taking Ricardo Montalban's place and they didn't want to deal with the fallout until they were able to say "Oh, it's too late, we already filmed it"? Because I hate to be that cynical about things, but I'm kind of that cynical about things. Needless to say, I'm pissed. I've been looking forward to this movie, itching for this movie since the last one came out, and now this. Also: if any character didn't need to be rebooted, it was definitely Khan. Ugh. I am distressed.

+ Well, Mark at Mark Watches pretty much had all the right reactions to Fool for Love, my favorite episode of TV ever. And I thought he was surprisingly subdued and thoughtful about it. I was pleased.

+ I have watched four episodes of Queen In-Hyun's Man AND IT IS THE MOST WONDERFUL THING. Kim Boong-Do is a wonderful little scholar-turned-resistance fighter (of sorts, it's complicated) in 1694 Joseon Korea, and through some plot machinations he ends up traveling to the future on several occasions and meeting up with this actress who is playing the queen he serves in a new drama. And what is delightful about this show, besides how brilliantly it's shot and styled (which is brilliant), is the character of Kim Boong-Do. I like Choi Hee-Jin, the heroine, quite a lot, too, but Kim Boong-Do is flawless.


source

He's adorable and precious for one thing. But he's also loyal, smart, and incredibly competent. I feel like most time-travel stories really go overboard with CULTURE SHOCK, but Boong-Do's reactions are very calm. He doesn't know things, but he learns very, very quickly, and he has a good enough mind that he can put two and two together and figure things out instead of acting like an idiot. He acts exactly like a smart guy would if he was suddenly time-travelling. He even figures out that he's time travelling all by himself. I can't get over how well the show is handling him and his jumping around through the centuries. It's brilliant.

There is nothing I love more than a show that lets its characters be smart instead of forcing them to be idiots for the sake of the plot. If your plot requires your characters to be idiots IT IS NOT A GOOD PLOT.

[Also, the kid playing Han Dong-Min is insanely cute. THOSE CHEEKBONES.]

+ I feel like King 2 Hearts is becoming kind of sloppy? But I'm still invested, mostly because of Eun Shi-Kyung and his earnestness and his face. Love of mine. Between Ji-Hyuk and Shi-Kyung and now Boong-Do, I am falling in love with kdrama guys right and left.

+ NEW EPISODE OF LOVE RAIN WAITING FOR ME TONIGHT. I DIE OF LOVE.

+ I've watched the first five or so episodes of Young Justice. I like it, but I don't have loads of feels yet. Hopefully those will come.

+ It seems like Vampire Diaries' goal in life right now is to remind me of why I hate love triangles. IT IS WORKING.

+ I am having Bonnie/Jeremy feels again. I know it's insanely underdeveloped, but THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL TOGETHER. I'm rarely struck by how a couple looks aesthetically because I'm so busy being obsessed with their characters, but these two are so beautiful individually and when they're together they become even more beautiful and speaking of beautiful if you aren't on tumblr you missed this, which just reminded me of how aesthetically pleasing Buffy and Spike are. Seriously one of my favorite tumblr posts ever. I look at it, and I think, "This is why tumblr exists."

+ I went to see Avengers on Sunday by myself, because that's what I do when I want to see a movie and no one else will go see it with me. I think it's strange that this is considered strange, considering that you're SITTING IN THE DARK and that common courtesy demands you not talk during the show. And yet you're supposed to feel like a loser if you go by yourself? I do not. My mama said that the reason you go with people is so that you have someone to talk to about it afterwards. I said, "That's what I have the internet for." She said, "Oh, yeah. I forgot." TROLOLOLOL.

( Avengers feelings be here )

All in all, it was just a popcorn movie, but it was a good popcorn movie because it cared about its characters. And I love a good popcorn movie.

+ I am now dreading Anne Hathaway as Catwoman even more than before. DO NOT WANT.

+ Lil Sis graduated on Saturday. Which makes me feel old. Lots of family times, and though it was great seeing everybody, it was overwhelming to have everyone together in my parents' house like that--so many people in such a small space! I loved them but was glad when they were gone and I could breathe again.

+ I have discovered the best barbeque place in town. If you're ever in the area ASK ME WHAT IT IS so that I can tell you and you can get some of the best barbeque I've ever had. Everyone in the family agrees that it's so good that you don't even need sauce.

+ I just finished The Man without a Face about Vladimir Putin, and now I am depressed about the world. It was an excellently written book, fascinating and insightful, but being reminded that there are people with so little regard for human life, who will sacrifice anyone and everyone to get what they want...it just reminds me of how broken the world is.

+ I have hit the climax for my novel. And...I have no idea of how to make my hero end up in the vicinity of my villain for a show-down. It would frankly be stupid for her to go into it on purpose, because she is so outmatched, and yet I can't have the villain go to her because of reasons. I think I have written myself into a corner and am not sure what to do. This is the first time since I started the book 65K words ago that I don't have any idea of what to write next. UGH. I really don't know what to do. I didn't write yesterday and I probably won't today, and I do not like what this is doing to my momentum.

Well, this is the grossest article I've read in a while (not to mention: really, really poorly argued. And short). It reminds me of peope who when you ask them what shows they watch say, "Oh, I don't waaaaatch TV." And when you ask why, they don't have a good reason (like: I don't have the time because I'm busy raising kids/working three jobs/with school/whatever -or- I can't afford a TV -or- I'm a neo-Luddite -or- something like that) but instead smirk and say something about how how all TV is awful, LIKE I AM SUPPOSED TO THINK THAT YOU ARE SUPERIOR TO EVERYONE ELSE BECAUSE YOU DON'T WATCH FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS OR THE WIRE OR JUSTIFIED OR THE HOUR OR SOMETHING. YOU DO REALIZE THAT NOT EVERYTHING ON TELEVISION IS JERSEY SHORE, RIGHT? LIKE, YOU ARE NOT SO STUPID AS TO THINK THAT THERE IS SOMETHING INHERENTLY INFERIOR ABOUT THIS MEDIUM, RIGHT? I really, really hate people who think some mediums have more value than others. Like, I do not like comic books/graphic novels, okay? I have the world's hardest time investing in them. But I will die on this hill: they can be art just like anything else. Just because they don't speak to me doesn't mean that Maus or Persepolis or something isn't genius. GTFO with your snobbery.

Whenever someone says something like that, I always think of one of the most ubiquitous phrases in our house growing up: "Why not? Think you're too good?" Maybe I should start asking people that.

Ugh. If you genuinely enjoy reading Pynchon more than you do Hunger Games, that is cool with me! And if you want to argue that Shakespeare has contributed more to humanity than Stephanie Meyer, again: cool! And if the latest hipster-approved band moves your soul more than ABBA or something: that is FINE. But do not think you are superior because of your tastes and please take the time to acknowledge that there are people out there who don't just blindly follow trends but who actually connect to something in the art that you find disposable. I am not going to stand here and argue that everything I love is objectively good, because some of it is not. Some of it is poorly written or overproduced or otherwise fails from more "objective" standards. But I have reasons for loving all of the things I love, and if reason knows them not, that's okay.

I feel that I can say all of this because I used to be a snob and now I am not. When someone likes something that I find worthless, you know what I do? I ask them why they like it! And usually they have a reason for it! They saw something in a character that they identify with and that they don't normally see portrayed. Or they connect emotionally to a situation that they've been through, too. Or a relationship reminds them of someone precious in their lives. THESE ARE PERFECTLY LEGITIMATE REASONS TO LOVE SOMETHING. It doesn't all have to be about objective quality. Reason is not automatically better than emotions. Guess what? We need both in order to be human. And a lot of our problems come when we prize one over the other, sure. But we need both.

Ugh. Sorry for the word-vomit. I just have a lot of feelings.

[eta] Someone left this quote in the comments:

"When I became a man I put away childish things, such as the fear of childishness and the desire to be terribly grown up." - C. S. Lewis.

Gah. I just love that man so much. He always has the best quotes.

What's the opposite of a bulletproof narrative kink? Whatever that is, I have settled on my ultimate one.

I hatehatehatehatehatehate when Character A does something that Character B misinterprets. But there is a totally logical and reasonable explanation for what Character A did that if Character B just knew about it, would totally be okay with. But Character A doesn't explain, and so Character B feels betrayed/angry/whatever.

Now, there are very rare occasions when Character A has some actual reason when s/he can't explain--sometimes because of a promise or honor or very, very, very rarely because Character A is so timid or whatever that s/he can't work up the courage to.

But 90% of the time, the only reason Character A doesn't just explain what happened is because the narrative wants to prolong the angst and misunderstanding. And I hate this not only because it's hella annoying but because it privileges plot over characterization, which is something I can't stand. Good plot arises from the actions of the characters, actions that are consistent with who those characters are. Plot that overwhelms characters or demands that characters act a certain way...I have no interest in those kinds of stories. The best stories have excellent plot and characters, but I'll take characterization over plot any day.

Ugh. Why do fictional characters never just talk to each other? It's so unrealistic to me. Communication is the key to good relationships, and it's far more interesting to me to have characters who actually tell the truth to each other and then have conflict because they want different things or something than it is to see them misunderstanding each other at every turn. Ugh.

This post brought to you by romantic comedy kdramas: best OTPs, worst plotting.

So as much as I would like fandom to have a better standing in society's eyes, I'd rather us kee being ignored forever if it means we can avoid articles like a this. Ugh. That just makes me feel uncomfortable. What is the point of this article? Why does it need to exist? It doesn't provide any real insight into the world of fanfic or why people write fanfic or how we feel about it. It pretty much only exists so that people outside of our community can wrinkle their noses and think about how weird we are.

Plus, I'm like 99% sure that the writer of that article didn't contact the writers of the fics to ask if they could quote them. Which of course they don't legally have to do, but it would be POLITE, okay? Nobody wants to find out their fic has been quoted on NBC's website. Gross.

Ugh.

Stop looking so happy, Andrew-in-my-icon. This is making me uncomfortable.

[eta: I feel like this is also a good time to point out that I stumbled across the article via fanthropology, which is simultaneously awesome and HORRIFYING. It start out as a sort of meta community about fandom, but now it's mostly just a linkspam of media references to fanfiction. There are a few surprisingly positive discussions about the fanfiction community in the larger culture, but most of them will just make you SO ANGRY.]

So as much as I would like fandom to have a better standing in society's eyes, I'd rather us kee being ignored forever if it means we can avoid articles like a this. Ugh. That just makes me feel uncomfortable. What is the point of this article? Why does it need to exist? It doesn't provide any real insight into the world of fanfic or why people write fanfic or how we feel about it. It pretty much only exists so that people outside of our community can wrinkle their noses and think about how weird we are.

Plus, I'm like 99% sure that the writer of that article didn't contact the writers of the fics to ask if they could quote them. Which of course they don't legally have to do, but it would be POLITE, okay? Nobody wants to find out their fic has been quoted on NBC's website. Gross.

Ugh.

Stop looking so happy, Andrew-in-my-icon. This is making me uncomfortable.

[eta: I feel like this is also a good time to point out that I stumbled across the article via fanthropology, which is simultaneously awesome and HORRIFYING. It start out as a sort of meta community about fandom, but now it's mostly just a linkspam of media references to fanfiction. There are a few surprisingly positive discussions about the fanfiction community in the larger culture, but most of them will just make you SO ANGRY.]

popping in just for a sec (replies to other entry comments are forthcoming! i promise!) because i needed someone to complain to.

this review from ff.net just popped up in my inbox on a fic that i completed over four years ago. it's totally marked complete. and it was a collection of vignettes, anyways, so it wasn't like there was more of a plot that was needed.

When are you going to update? Honestly? There are people waiting, you know.
It's been ages too. So...why not update?

obviously i'm not going to dignify this with a response, but the entitlement here just makes me want to throttle someone.

seriously now?

"Rebooting" Buffy?

With no Joss?

And no Sarah?

And supposedly there's a huge fan base just waiting to see it get rebooted?

Uh-huh.

I'll believe that when I see it.



I am trying not to think about this too much lest I get really, really, really angry.