She's Alive!
I cannot believe how long it has been since I updated. What even. The last time I posted an entry was while I was researching for my final Goth Lit essay, and now semester break is not only half over, but I have my results. Can I just say, first semester? OWNED. HD, D, D, C (that's Australian academic grading, for all you Americans who are used to ABCD grades and think that looks like fails). Seriously pleased. I was legit terrified that I would fail the Education exam, given that I had the Lit essay due on the same day the exam was held, studied for about three hours and missed about eight lectures. But it wasn't even the C! I don't even know. I guess I have the right balance of buzzwords and bullshit?
Anyway, yes, rather proud of myself for that (or for the other results that I feel were actually deserved, even if two D's and a HD make me peer at my C in mild disappointment, when at any other time I would be totally happy with it - I'm a hopeless swot, I guess).
But yeah, somehow it has been absolutely ages since I updated, and I kept not updating because I know I have so much to say and share, and putting all that down sounded like so much work, and some stuff I'm a bit embarrassed for leaving for so long, and, gah. But I'm updating now! Hooray!
First, here is some stuff from a post that has been open in a tab for weeks. Contains reflection/ranting on the books I was reading in my final week of classes, mostly Twilight. I'm not changing the tenses, so, FLASHBACK:
This week, I read Like Water for Chocolate for postmodern lit. It was fabulous. I also ploughed through Twilight for gothic lit as quickly as I could, mostly because it made me want to gouge my eyes out, and I wanted to be done with it as quickly as possible. You know, one of the main reasons I hadn't read Twilight prior to this was because I was worried that I wouldn't be critical enough. I had read so many reviews and comments about how gross and anti-feminist it was, but I worry about myself sometimes, while reading, because I'm not very discerning. I tend to read things and get all 'YAY STORY!', and get really into it, and only realise when I see other people talking about them how problematic they were (or aspects of them were). I avoided reading Twilight for the longest time because I was worried that I would get all caught up in it and kind of...idk, betray my feminist self by liking it?
Well, I needn't have worried. It was SO BAD, you guys. SO BAD. I cannot fathom how so many girls/women (mostly, though I'm sure there must be guys who secretly like Twilight) find this story awesome and romantic. Frankly, I find it kind of terrifying. Not only is Bella a ridiculous damsel-in-distress constantly needing to be rescued by the Big Strong Man, but the story is full of the man she calls the love of her life not listening to her at all, or telling her he'll do 'what is best for her', and just. What. Teenage Girls Who Love This Series, really? Really? You think someone who follows you when you go out with your girlfriends and sneaks into your room at night to watch you sleep is a great boyfriend? You don't take issue with him dismissing the things you say to him, including the fact that you don't want to leave your father to die? I just. The fact that this has been held up as an example of a great love story by so many people scares the crap out of me, frankly.
Ew ew ew.
In other news, Beholder reveals happened oh, two months ago? In case anyone was still unaware, I wrote Chosen and Accepted for woldy, which I will cross-post here as soon as I have thanked my reviewers (gah, cannot believe I still haven't done that; I'm such a terrible fandomer right now). Still haven't had the chance to catch up on all the fics - not out of a lack of interest, but because of Busy and the fact that the Fic Stops for No One, and now there are new things to read, and ahsfgsfhshfsgs SO MUCH FIC SO LITTLE TIME.
But there is something I want to say, and I am ashamed of myself for taking so long to say it. My fabulous gift, The River Horse (Amelia Bones/Severus Snape, R) was written by the late leni_jess. I read it and adored it (Hippo patronus! Heterosexual, Slytherin Amelia, utterly believable in Leni's hands!) and did indeed leave a comment, but I never did get back to re-reading and leaving a second comment with all my favourite lines, and at the time I was so busy with uni that posting a rec in my journal completely slipped my mind. But although I did not tell everyone when Leni might have seen it, I cannot recommend this fic highly enough, and I encourage everyone to go read it and leave a comment in the spirit of fandom. I did not know Leni, but I am honoured to have been the recipient of the last story she gifted.
In keeping with the theme of Awesome Stories Written For Me That I Should Be Telling Everyone About, can I also direct your attention toward hp_friendship fest? The whole fest, basically (or everything I have thus far read, which isn't all of them, but did I mention the so many fics, so little time thing?), but most especially Cocktail Time (Rita, Gilderoy, PG). Seriously, this fic, omg. The idea of Rita and Gilderoy flatting together is one that has been floating around my brain for a very long time, and when I had the chance to prompt it for this fabulous fest, I jumped at it. What the author did with it, however, was beyond my wildest dreams. I cannot even begin to describe how perfectly this author nails the relationship, these two characters with their charm and their flaws, the ways in which their friendship was fabulous, and the ways in which it was doomed to fail. This story is just stellar.
So this is getting long now; I suppose I should wrap it up to spare your flists. Best go and work on my minerva_fest story, though perhaps I can manage another episode of Law and Order: SVU first. I have been marathoning this shit since I finished exams, no one-day binge since there are thirteen seasons of it. I must have watched this through 4 times now, at least, but I've never been fannish about it. Mostly because I don't have the Elliot/Olivia feels, I think, and what fandom SVU has is so E/O centric. If I were to be fannish about it, I think I might find myself writing Olivia/Munch, but that might get me burned at the stake by shippers, and I don't know if anyone in the world would even read it. (SVU is one of the rare fandoms where I find that I my favourite character is male: Munch is just awesome and his episodes give me all the feels). But yeah. Screw all those books I have in a pile to read, apparently. Reading two novels a week all semester just made me want to mooch in front of a TV show.
*goes now*
Anyway, yes, rather proud of myself for that (or for the other results that I feel were actually deserved, even if two D's and a HD make me peer at my C in mild disappointment, when at any other time I would be totally happy with it - I'm a hopeless swot, I guess).
But yeah, somehow it has been absolutely ages since I updated, and I kept not updating because I know I have so much to say and share, and putting all that down sounded like so much work, and some stuff I'm a bit embarrassed for leaving for so long, and, gah. But I'm updating now! Hooray!
First, here is some stuff from a post that has been open in a tab for weeks. Contains reflection/ranting on the books I was reading in my final week of classes, mostly Twilight. I'm not changing the tenses, so, FLASHBACK:
This week, I read Like Water for Chocolate for postmodern lit. It was fabulous. I also ploughed through Twilight for gothic lit as quickly as I could, mostly because it made me want to gouge my eyes out, and I wanted to be done with it as quickly as possible. You know, one of the main reasons I hadn't read Twilight prior to this was because I was worried that I wouldn't be critical enough. I had read so many reviews and comments about how gross and anti-feminist it was, but I worry about myself sometimes, while reading, because I'm not very discerning. I tend to read things and get all 'YAY STORY!', and get really into it, and only realise when I see other people talking about them how problematic they were (or aspects of them were). I avoided reading Twilight for the longest time because I was worried that I would get all caught up in it and kind of...idk, betray my feminist self by liking it?
Well, I needn't have worried. It was SO BAD, you guys. SO BAD. I cannot fathom how so many girls/women (mostly, though I'm sure there must be guys who secretly like Twilight) find this story awesome and romantic. Frankly, I find it kind of terrifying. Not only is Bella a ridiculous damsel-in-distress constantly needing to be rescued by the Big Strong Man, but the story is full of the man she calls the love of her life not listening to her at all, or telling her he'll do 'what is best for her', and just. What. Teenage Girls Who Love This Series, really? Really? You think someone who follows you when you go out with your girlfriends and sneaks into your room at night to watch you sleep is a great boyfriend? You don't take issue with him dismissing the things you say to him, including the fact that you don't want to leave your father to die? I just. The fact that this has been held up as an example of a great love story by so many people scares the crap out of me, frankly.
Ew ew ew.
In other news, Beholder reveals happened oh, two months ago? In case anyone was still unaware, I wrote Chosen and Accepted for woldy, which I will cross-post here as soon as I have thanked my reviewers (gah, cannot believe I still haven't done that; I'm such a terrible fandomer right now). Still haven't had the chance to catch up on all the fics - not out of a lack of interest, but because of Busy and the fact that the Fic Stops for No One, and now there are new things to read, and ahsfgsfhshfsgs SO MUCH FIC SO LITTLE TIME.
But there is something I want to say, and I am ashamed of myself for taking so long to say it. My fabulous gift, The River Horse (Amelia Bones/Severus Snape, R) was written by the late leni_jess. I read it and adored it (Hippo patronus! Heterosexual, Slytherin Amelia, utterly believable in Leni's hands!) and did indeed leave a comment, but I never did get back to re-reading and leaving a second comment with all my favourite lines, and at the time I was so busy with uni that posting a rec in my journal completely slipped my mind. But although I did not tell everyone when Leni might have seen it, I cannot recommend this fic highly enough, and I encourage everyone to go read it and leave a comment in the spirit of fandom. I did not know Leni, but I am honoured to have been the recipient of the last story she gifted.
In keeping with the theme of Awesome Stories Written For Me That I Should Be Telling Everyone About, can I also direct your attention toward hp_friendship fest? The whole fest, basically (or everything I have thus far read, which isn't all of them, but did I mention the so many fics, so little time thing?), but most especially Cocktail Time (Rita, Gilderoy, PG). Seriously, this fic, omg. The idea of Rita and Gilderoy flatting together is one that has been floating around my brain for a very long time, and when I had the chance to prompt it for this fabulous fest, I jumped at it. What the author did with it, however, was beyond my wildest dreams. I cannot even begin to describe how perfectly this author nails the relationship, these two characters with their charm and their flaws, the ways in which their friendship was fabulous, and the ways in which it was doomed to fail. This story is just stellar.
So this is getting long now; I suppose I should wrap it up to spare your flists. Best go and work on my minerva_fest story, though perhaps I can manage another episode of Law and Order: SVU first. I have been marathoning this shit since I finished exams, no one-day binge since there are thirteen seasons of it. I must have watched this through 4 times now, at least, but I've never been fannish about it. Mostly because I don't have the Elliot/Olivia feels, I think, and what fandom SVU has is so E/O centric. If I were to be fannish about it, I think I might find myself writing Olivia/Munch, but that might get me burned at the stake by shippers, and I don't know if anyone in the world would even read it. (SVU is one of the rare fandoms where I find that I my favourite character is male: Munch is just awesome and his episodes give me all the feels). But yeah. Screw all those books I have in a pile to read, apparently. Reading two novels a week all semester just made me want to mooch in front of a TV show.
*goes now*