Reading List?
I'm making a Want-To-Read book list for books to purchase when we get settled into the new house. My books are packed and won't be out the boxes for a while. It's so strange to see empty bookshelves. Well, they aren't that empty. There are boxes on them. >_>;
I've been reading mostly Mass Effect fanfiction lately, and-- I hate to admit it -- it's getting kind of tiresome. (Never thought I would say that. Ever. I love the series, and the lore behind it. Looking forward to the new SP DLC.) Unfortunately, the fanfiction stories are pretty much the same with only a few variances to make them the authors' own. Only a few really stand out. I don't know if it's because I've been working on Redundant for so long, if it's because I only like to read about certain characters, if there's not enough genfic/action-adventure fic out there, or if I just haven't played the games in a while. I used to love doing a search on ff dot net for new Shepards and their adventures or new takes on quests. Now, without a recommendation from friends, I'm hesitant to read anything new if it isn't genfic or action-oriented.
...and there are a few fics out there that I just want to guide the author to Boot Camp Thursday or the fanfic help thread on the BSN.
Because damn.
Research Is Your Friend.
I don't even care if there are typos or grammar mistakes in the story (as long as they aren't excessive). No one is perfect. You can't catch everything during the proofread process. I know my eyes usually cross after every chapter, and even when I set it aside for its stewing period, whenever I come back to it, I miss stuff.
BUT!
Coming across a fic without obvious research into the lore, the pseudo-science behind the lore, or characters makes me feel like the fanfic author doesn't even care about the series. And if the author doesn't care about the series, what are they doing there? I didn't waste my money on Mass Effect: Deception because of the lack of research, lack of effort, and lack of caring by an author who was paid to care. Why should I waste my time -- which I have very little of anyway -- on fanfiction by an author who doesn't research, doesn't put any effort into their story and doesn't appear to care about the series?
Isn't fanfiction supposed to be written by fans? As fans, aren't we supposed to be, well, fanatical about the details we love so much?
Have I been doing it wrong this whole time? D:
Ugh. I feel like a grouchy old maid or something. :/
Speaking of having time! :3
Since I did have a little time this last week, I did get a chance to update Redundant, and I'm working on the next part - the missing scientists side quest. Because I want a space cow stampede as canon to Redundant.
Because of reasons. But longer and with more Wrex.
Because.
Wrex.
Pfft. Fuck Toombs. There are space cows. Have I said lately how awesome Mass Effect lore is? Yes? Well...
Also, I did go ahead and unpack the XBox (again!) after moseying into the Dragon Age wiki to have something to read, and since we weren't sure when we'll be closing (although today we were told it could be this Thursday depending if everything was repaired -- I'm not holding my breath though). ...And it's not like I have any room to pack any more crap anyway. Going back and re-reading the lore on the Dragon Age wiki really made me want to play the game again (it really is an interesting world they've created, IMO), but the box I unpacked only had Dragon Age II in it.
[OMG HOW DO YOU GRAMMAR AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE AT 4 AM FFFFFFFFF]
So I played Dragon Age II over the weekend and
had fun with ACT I and the first part of ACT 2. Loving the lore and the party banter again. Hubby actually sat with me to watch me play and enjoyed Isabela and Aveline's banter almost as much as I do.
OH! FINALLY GOT IN FENRIS' PANTS. HELLS YEAH.
But Lady Hawke's head went through his during their kissy face scene and their lips totally did not meet. In fact, their heads weren't even close to each other until the camera panned away. It looked awful on a hi-def big screen. ;_;
Have not had Anders in my party the entire game, and unpopular opinion time: I have developed a big Do Not Want for the character since I last played and have no idea why they made him a love interest. He's interesting, but I don't remember him being as... I don't want to use whiny but at four AM, I can't think of another word for him.
At the same time, I'm not really liking Fenris all that much either. And it isn't because he leaves after the sexy tiems. I think that's an awesome part of his character, and the voice acting is stellar. I think it's because of his prejudice against the mages, and there's no trying to convince him otherwise. Same with Anders and his prejudice against the Chantry.
Well, Anders is more than that. He's a villain. I find I can't sympathize with him since he lies to player character. Fenris, for the most part, is open with his hatred. However, if he went on a spree of killing innocent bystanders, I'd have more of problem with him. I can't remember if he does kill innocents - most are abominations or the magisters that are in his path to Denarius. The last time I played, I rivaled both of them and romanced Isabela till she ran off since her friendship score wasn't high enough.
Varric is really the only sane character other than Isabela, and you can't trust Isabela far enough to throw her if you aren't neutral. And even then I bet she loots Hawke's stash chest when Hawke isn't looking.
And you can't be neutral because the game doesn't really allow you to Not Take Sides at the end of the game. Which doesn't make any sense.
;_;
...why am I playing again? Oh, right. The Lore! I enjoy learning about the lore of the game and the world. The Characters! Their characterizations really are written well enough that I can rant about not liking a character because he or she rubs me the wrong way, and not that they were poorly written.
But I digress. I was not going to rant about Mass Effect and Dragon Age lore and characters when I initially thought to post this. I swear.
Books! Let's talk about reading books! I'm making a Want-To-Read list.
My current Need-to-Reads are books about repairing masonry (because I've never done it before and will need to learn in order to repair my new home without 1. making a mess of things and 2. spending out the ass), backyard farming, vegetable gardens, landscaping over an acre and subsequent costs, and raising chickens, turkeys and honeybees. As interesting and educational as that is, it's not really something I would call "reading for fun". I'd like a little fiction to go with my non-fiction. My last "fun read" was A Game of Thrones (and... I didn't find it very fun. It was well-written, but waaay too grim-dark. Apparently sane characters are not as interesting as the batshit crazy ones, but I seem to have missed the memo somewhere). Prior to that I think I re-read Code Name: Princess and Night Game. ...because smut and Navy SEALS/Special Forces guys. Nom Nom Nom.
I've been thinking about purchasing Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. The few pages that are available on Amazon.com piqued my interest. I think he has one of his other books online, so if I can find it, I'll read it before deciding on making a purchase. Random note: rose_in_shadow has gotten me addicted to Writing Excuses. I love that they recently did an astronomy podcast. :3
Digressing again to the main point: Books!
What books have you read recently? What books have you read recently that were outside your normal reading preferences? Anything interesting? Anything fun? Anything you'd recommend?
Public post is public. I'll share my unpopular opinions and ranty 4 AM ramblings with all, and someone may want to reference the book list...
I've been reading mostly Mass Effect fanfiction lately, and-- I hate to admit it -- it's getting kind of tiresome. (Never thought I would say that. Ever. I love the series, and the lore behind it. Looking forward to the new SP DLC.) Unfortunately, the fanfiction stories are pretty much the same with only a few variances to make them the authors' own. Only a few really stand out. I don't know if it's because I've been working on Redundant for so long, if it's because I only like to read about certain characters, if there's not enough genfic/action-adventure fic out there, or if I just haven't played the games in a while. I used to love doing a search on ff dot net for new Shepards and their adventures or new takes on quests. Now, without a recommendation from friends, I'm hesitant to read anything new if it isn't genfic or action-oriented.
...and there are a few fics out there that I just want to guide the author to Boot Camp Thursday or the fanfic help thread on the BSN.
Because damn.
Research Is Your Friend.
I don't even care if there are typos or grammar mistakes in the story (as long as they aren't excessive). No one is perfect. You can't catch everything during the proofread process. I know my eyes usually cross after every chapter, and even when I set it aside for its stewing period, whenever I come back to it, I miss stuff.
BUT!
Coming across a fic without obvious research into the lore, the pseudo-science behind the lore, or characters makes me feel like the fanfic author doesn't even care about the series. And if the author doesn't care about the series, what are they doing there? I didn't waste my money on Mass Effect: Deception because of the lack of research, lack of effort, and lack of caring by an author who was paid to care. Why should I waste my time -- which I have very little of anyway -- on fanfiction by an author who doesn't research, doesn't put any effort into their story and doesn't appear to care about the series?
Isn't fanfiction supposed to be written by fans? As fans, aren't we supposed to be, well, fanatical about the details we love so much?
Have I been doing it wrong this whole time? D:
Ugh. I feel like a grouchy old maid or something. :/
Speaking of having time! :3
Since I did have a little time this last week, I did get a chance to update Redundant, and I'm working on the next part - the missing scientists side quest. Because I want a space cow stampede as canon to Redundant.
Because of reasons. But longer and with more Wrex.
Because.
Wrex.
Pfft. Fuck Toombs. There are space cows. Have I said lately how awesome Mass Effect lore is? Yes? Well...
Also, I did go ahead and unpack the XBox (again!) after moseying into the Dragon Age wiki to have something to read, and since we weren't sure when we'll be closing (although today we were told it could be this Thursday depending if everything was repaired -- I'm not holding my breath though). ...And it's not like I have any room to pack any more crap anyway. Going back and re-reading the lore on the Dragon Age wiki really made me want to play the game again (it really is an interesting world they've created, IMO), but the box I unpacked only had Dragon Age II in it.
[OMG HOW DO YOU GRAMMAR AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE AT 4 AM FFFFFFFFF]
So I played Dragon Age II over the weekend and
had fun with ACT I and the first part of ACT 2. Loving the lore and the party banter again. Hubby actually sat with me to watch me play and enjoyed Isabela and Aveline's banter almost as much as I do.
OH! FINALLY GOT IN FENRIS' PANTS. HELLS YEAH.
But Lady Hawke's head went through his during their kissy face scene and their lips totally did not meet. In fact, their heads weren't even close to each other until the camera panned away. It looked awful on a hi-def big screen. ;_;
Have not had Anders in my party the entire game, and unpopular opinion time: I have developed a big Do Not Want for the character since I last played and have no idea why they made him a love interest. He's interesting, but I don't remember him being as... I don't want to use whiny but at four AM, I can't think of another word for him.
At the same time, I'm not really liking Fenris all that much either. And it isn't because he leaves after the sexy tiems. I think that's an awesome part of his character, and the voice acting is stellar. I think it's because of his prejudice against the mages, and there's no trying to convince him otherwise. Same with Anders and his prejudice against the Chantry.
Well, Anders is more than that. He's a villain. I find I can't sympathize with him since he lies to player character. Fenris, for the most part, is open with his hatred. However, if he went on a spree of killing innocent bystanders, I'd have more of problem with him. I can't remember if he does kill innocents - most are abominations or the magisters that are in his path to Denarius. The last time I played, I rivaled both of them and romanced Isabela till she ran off since her friendship score wasn't high enough.
Varric is really the only sane character other than Isabela, and you can't trust Isabela far enough to throw her if you aren't neutral. And even then I bet she loots Hawke's stash chest when Hawke isn't looking.
And you can't be neutral because the game doesn't really allow you to Not Take Sides at the end of the game. Which doesn't make any sense.
;_;
...why am I playing again? Oh, right. The Lore! I enjoy learning about the lore of the game and the world. The Characters! Their characterizations really are written well enough that I can rant about not liking a character because he or she rubs me the wrong way, and not that they were poorly written.
But I digress. I was not going to rant about Mass Effect and Dragon Age lore and characters when I initially thought to post this. I swear.
Books! Let's talk about reading books! I'm making a Want-To-Read list.
My current Need-to-Reads are books about repairing masonry (because I've never done it before and will need to learn in order to repair my new home without 1. making a mess of things and 2. spending out the ass), backyard farming, vegetable gardens, landscaping over an acre and subsequent costs, and raising chickens, turkeys and honeybees. As interesting and educational as that is, it's not really something I would call "reading for fun". I'd like a little fiction to go with my non-fiction. My last "fun read" was A Game of Thrones (and... I didn't find it very fun. It was well-written, but waaay too grim-dark. Apparently sane characters are not as interesting as the batshit crazy ones, but I seem to have missed the memo somewhere). Prior to that I think I re-read Code Name: Princess and Night Game. ...because smut and Navy SEALS/Special Forces guys. Nom Nom Nom.
I've been thinking about purchasing Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. The few pages that are available on Amazon.com piqued my interest. I think he has one of his other books online, so if I can find it, I'll read it before deciding on making a purchase. Random note: rose_in_shadow has gotten me addicted to Writing Excuses. I love that they recently did an astronomy podcast. :3
Digressing again to the main point: Books!
What books have you read recently? What books have you read recently that were outside your normal reading preferences? Anything interesting? Anything fun? Anything you'd recommend?
Public post is public. I'll share my unpopular opinions and ranty 4 AM ramblings with all, and someone may want to reference the book list...