Thoughts on Fangirl
At first this was going to be a comment on ikel89's readthrough, but then, uh .... *waves downward* that happened. So it gets its own post. :D I may figure this LJ thing out yet ...
On the whole I quite enjoyed this book! It was a nice, breezy read; most of the drama was not of the "unnecessary bullshit" variety, the characters themselves were mostly fun ( Read more... )
the summary of every discussion ever xD <3
I did find that the closer I thought about it when trying to pull together these bullet points, the less impressed I was by some of the author's narrative choices*nods* I know what you mean, except in my case the distance between the breezy read and raised eyebrow was shorter, probably, as I already went into Fangirl with a clear bias towards Carry On :') This is not CP-levels of disappointment, as there hasn't been anything bigger than "whee breezy read and a context to another book I liked" going on, but yes. The scepticism for arcs concerning Wren, Nick, ending - all there and growing ( ... )
Reply
*nods* That's about where I am as well. Though to be fair, even my quibbles I don't think it messed up nearly as badly as CP3. :D
But it did seem weird to me how easily she dropped by Starbucks when cafeteria was such a terrible chore.Well, this is all speculation based on my own personal experience, which means I feel like I ought to make a handwavy "never officially diagnosed, etc." disclaimer, but what really clicked for me was her describing the cafeteria thing as a block ( ... )
Reply
I think if she "grew up" fandom-wise in the ff.net era (or pre-internet), that could definitely help explain the lack of close fandom friends - especially if she was similarly twitchy about the internet being full of Axe Murderers Who Will Steal Your Credit Cards or whatever XD
... Though now I'm really wondering about that European beta who was mentioned, like, twice ......
But one more thing that made me raise eyebrows was her attitude for Nick - it seemed very inconsistent.YES! Thank you for reminding me. That was the other thing that bugged me about the situation with Nick. (I think we discussed this yesterday? idk ( ... )
Reply
I think the difference with Cath would be, she's always had an external stimulus (Wren) to be that voice that both understands her and will bossily get her to do/not do stuff. So it makes sense to me that she could get to the point of college without knowing how to do this herself (and in effect Reagan kind of takes over the Wren role there at first, which also makes sense).
But this still leaves open the primary question of inconsistency about her anxiety.
WHY MAKE HIM HER TA? Especially if she had no compunction about firing him later for ??? something she had strong suspicions about already ????I was confused by the TA mentions, but the handwavy explanation I gave myself is that Piper must have known Nick from a previous (lower div) class, probably the one he was TAing for right now ( ... )
Reply
But this still leaves open the primary question of inconsistency about her anxiety.
*nods* At this point I'm not sure we'll reach a more satisfying answer than "because the plot said so". :P Though your point below about strangers being less "scary" sometimes than people you see regularly is also a good one. (It's difficult for me to parse how much of Cath's initial state was "fear of strangers" vs "fear of currently-strangers who will still be around after I RUIN EVERYTHING", but I'd be willing to buy it being more the latter.)
the handwavy explanation I gave myself is that Piper must have known Nick from a previous (lower div) classOhhhhh good point. Haha despite the "wait, ( ... )
Reply
I think the was pretty true for me, also. Although the external stimulus thing I do understand pretty well; while I do not subsist on protein bars left to my own devices, I definitely benefit from having someone around me who will act as the "engine", as Wren does for Cath before all this started.
"fear of currently-strangers who will still be around after I RUIN EVERYTHING",LOL, that's a perfect way of summarizing the way in which random passing-through strangers are different from the kind you meet when you start college ( ... )
Reply
Oh, it's definitely not just you and Cath. :D
Parties are interesting, though ... Once they hit a certain size (I'm thinking things like large-scale office Christmas parties), they tend to get filed in my stress levels under the "group of strangers I'll never see again" setting.
Still exhausting, but I think more just I find aimlessly milling around and half-heartedly attempting to talk to people I don't know well about small-talk level subjects to be exhausting. :D
Oh, you're a comp sci person? cool! :)Weeeeelll technically I got my degree in ( ... )
Reply
Hmm, that might actually be true for me, too. I do think I find them less stressful, possibly because I assume people are less likely to be paying attention to me when there are so many other people around...
I got my degree in electrical engineering with a computer engineering focus. :D (I like to call it "the path that let me skip out on a bunch of CS theory courses I didn't care about" ;)Gotcha! Mind if I ask where? (though totally cool if you'd rather not mention in an unlocked post / answer a nosy stranger :) I'm curious because a lot of my friends went the EECS/COEN route, especially as we went to school next door to Silicon Valley. I mostly have no regrets about NOT choosing that path, even though it turned out I really enjoy the little bit of coding I've had to do in the course of my other classes (not electrical engineering, ( ... )
Reply
*nods* This is likely part of it for me, too. (I keep thinking I'm mostly over my shyness in front of crowds, but then whenever I actually have to speak in front of people I spontaneously combust sooo ... :D)
Gotcha! Mind if I ask where? (though totally cool if you'd rather not mention in an unlocked post / answer a nosy stranger :)
Haha, in deference to the part of me that still remembers being a wide-eyed teen afraid of Posting Public Stuff On The Internets, I'll just say that it was a smallish private uni in Texas. :)
I do have several friends who went to uni in the Bay Area, and it's always seemed like a nice place the times I've visited. :)
sorry! my dad's an electrical engineer, but I was very clear on that being NOT a thing I ever wanted to doHahaha, tbh I like coding a LOT more than more "typical" EE jobs, too ( ... )
Reply
It's very odd, but I was cripplingly shy for a couple of years as a child -- like, it was a tremendous effort of will to ask someone what time it was, or how much the carrots were at a store. I still hate asking for directions or otherwise asking strangers for stuff, although I absolutely don't mind just chatting with strangers. But speaking in front of crowds never bothered me, which is really odd. My brain seems to process it as a different thing entirely, a less unpleasant one. Not the same thing, but my daughter hates performing alone in front of a crowd -- choir is fine, but solos are not, and she doesn't like the idea of doing drama -- but has no problem with public speaking -- she does debate and enjoys school presentations and being a volunteer at the zoo who has to talk/present to people. I would think performance would be easier, because you don't have to come ( ... )
Reply
I've read the first... three, I think? Alexia books, and I'm not really a fan -- it's one of those series I do keep reading periodically even though it annoys me more than it entertains me. I think one of my biggest problems with it is Alexia's informed ability, where she's supposed to be this brilliant woman, but she keeps being Totally Oblivious! and making really stupid mistakes. And also the "not like other girls" flavor, where Alexia's mother and sisters are awful and silly, and her friend Ivy is useless and silly.
But E&E series is a lot better in this regard -- I actually believe in the friendship between Sophronia and the girls she's going to school with. It's also more properly steampunky, I think? That's not necessarily a draw for me, because I am indifferent to steampunk, but it feels a bit more consistent.
Reply
Leave a comment