Merry belated holiday of your choosing, flisties :D
I hope we all enjoyed ourselves. I had a pretty kickass day, am only now catching up on all my interneting. Things that need mentioning in this post are the following: Update on ex-friend, yay!news on best friend, LJ comms: they're irritating, and The Hunger Games and all the win that they contain,
1) Ex-friend's husband knew NOTHING about the whole "we've moved on" email, or about the facebook bitching. We're meeting for coffee tomorrow, and he's been mega-insistent about it, texting me several times every day just to say hi. I kind of don't want to get too involved here, because he's a nice guy and all, but I barely know him and yet he seems to think I'm his new best friend. I know he doesn't know a lot of people in Australia because his bitchwife doesn't let him talk to people outside her insane baby-rabied family, so he's lonely, but I'm not sure I can be his BFF or anything, because that would cause all kinds of superdrama. I'm glad he's standing up for himself and meeting up with me despite what ex-friend thinks, but I'm just so over all her bullshit, I don't want to cause problems either for him or for myself.
2) One of my besties is engaged! Her and her boy (who is lovely, and is also one of my closest friends) have been together for almost 10 years, so we all kind of saw this coming, but I'm so thrilled for her! No word yet on whether myself and the other bestie are required to do the bridesmaid thing (though her childhood bff is already slated to be maid of honour), but am stupidly excited all the same. I don't really believe in marriage for the most part, but if there was ever a reason to believe in it, they would be it. Love the lovely friends <3
3) LJ comms, fuck you. Seriously, I'm ready to quit almost all the ones I'm a member of (with the exception of the Criminal Minds ones, because us CM fans seem to be surprisingly well adjusted individuals who don't start shit for the sake of it - with the notable exception of one particular troll who has been dealt with). The Bones ones go without saying - nothing against the fandom at all, but I'm not watching season 7, so it's kind of pointless reading spoilers/news/etc. NCIS comms are fairly inactive, so there's almost no point. The childfree comm is one I used to love, but now it's full of so much bullshit and drama. People whine about things that are not worth whining about, then get into bitchfights in the comments. Everyone gets so self-righteous and defensive about the smallest things, and the whole point of the community is lost. The True Blood ones are no better - the chilidish hostility from a few months ago seems to be over, but the constant "I hate Beel/Alan Ball/everything that is not Alexander Skarsgaard's penis" thing is not getting any better, and it's tedious. I joined the new Eric/Pam comm hoping there would be some cool pics/fics/etc, but so far it seems to be a lot of "OMG I ship Alexander & Kirsten soooo hard!" and "I bet they had an affair in season 1!" which is, um, creepy. These are real people you are discussing here, not fictional characters whose lives you are free to mess around with.
4) The Hunger Games! I first heard of them when Mark from "Mark Does Stuff" started reading them, but I didn't realise they were the new thing the way Twilight was a thing, and the way Harry Potter was a thing. I bought the first one on a whim a week or so ago and once I started reading it I could not put the fucking thing down. I've read Catching Fire now too, and am about to start Mockingjay. However, Things:
*This is partly my fault, because at first I didn't realise these were meant to be young adult novels. i'd heard everyone talk about how gritty, violent and intense these books were, so when I started reading I was kind of like "Uhhh, where is said intensity?" Then I realised these were actually meant for teenagers, and it all clicked into place. To be fair, I'm a Poppy Z Brite fan, so when I think of gore, we're talking about some serious gore. If I was writing this story, it would be like Battle Royale on crack, and possibly banned in several countries, so now that I know it's for the young'uns I get why suzanne Collins didn't amp it up a little.
*How good are these books? Well, if Harry Potter was the best series ever and Twilight was the worst, Hunger Games is somewhere in between. The thing is, JK Rowling is a fantastic storyteller who had a fantastic story to tell. Stephenie Meyer is an awful storyteller who had no story to tell. Suzanne Collins is somewhere in between - she's not actually that good a writer, as far as I'm concerned, but she thought of a really kick ass idea and turned it into a really kick ass plot.
*I told a couple of my friends (who are serious bibliophiles who have read everything ever) that I was reading these books when I was literally four pages in to the first one, they told me I'd love it because Katniss is smart and could kick Bella Swan's ass. I can sort of take or leave Katniss, to be honest - I think it's partly Collin's writing, but I don't really care that much about any of the characters. I've been spoiled a little as far as Mockingjay goes, and i know Prim dies, but I'm honestly not sad about it - Prim's annoying and I don't feel any real connection to any characters. And also, in the first few pages, Katniss talked about wanting to drown Buttercup when he was a kitten, and yeah. I don't love kitten-drowners.
*My friends also told me I'd grow to hate Gale as much as I hated whichever Twilight male lead pissed me off more (Jacob, but it was a close call), so I'm guessing that happens in book three? Because so far I have no problem at all with Gale, in fact, I like him much more than Peeta, who annoys me for reasons I can't pinpoint, and I even like him more than Katniss, who seems a little ... I don't even know. Something. I mean, I know it's meant to be his bomb that may or may not have killed Prim, but as I said, IDGAF about Prim. I don't like Mrs Everdeen either. I like Cinna, but I need Suzanne Collins to be less heavy-handed in that "here are the characters you like, DEAL WITH IT" way. I like the prep team too, because I think there are some really interesting ideas about privilege there - Katniss finds it hard not to hate them sometimes, but the thing is, sometimes people are born into privilege and they're not inherently awful. I mean, they system is awful, and life is unfair, nobody is disputing that. The Hunger Games theselves are barbaric, and it's monstrous to find them entertaining, but Venia, Flavius and Octavia didn't make it that way. i'm quite privileged myself - I'm white, employed, I live in an English-speaking, prosperous society, I'm educated, healthy, etc. I have some pretty strong opinions on minorities (and no, I don't mean "people who are a different colour than me, and hey, I can say it because I'm caucasian", I mean basically anyone who is not a straight, cisgender, wealthy white man) and I'm aware that not everyone has it so damn good, and I know I'm lucky. But I wasn't born knowing that there are some people who live in poverty, and just because I didn't know it didn't mean I was an horrible, ignorant person./tangent. So far I like Octavia the best (curvy chicks rock, and everybody who has green skin is awesome - Kermit, Yoda, Elphaba, etc). I'm also partial to Foxface, Thresh, Rue, Johanna, Nuts & Volts, and Mags. No real opinion either way on Haymitch, Effie, or most of the others.
*I know Collins had to keep the story moving, so she couldn't go into detail about every single tribute and district, but the OCD part of my brain that demands complete lists of things requires names, descriptions, history etc about all the other people and places Katniss fought in the arena/visited on the victory tour. I also realise, that considering this is written from Katniss' point of view (and I'm with Mark, first person present tense is a little jarring, but meh, whatevs), she wouldn't have had time to meet every other tribute, and considering she had to be ready to kill them, it would be easier if she wasn't buds with them. But still, INFO. I need her to write a wiki or something and fill in the gaps.
*I don't like that Katniss is going to end up with Peeta. I'm not a shipper at all, but it just seems too forced. I think the story would feel more rounded out if she hooked up with Gale, or more empowering if she decided to go it alone. Having her end up married to Peeta and with two kids is a less-than-ideal conclusion that I think only a more sophisticated story could get away with. Then again, I haven't read Mockingjay yet, so I may just wind up eating my words.
*The whole "President Snow is a monster" thing is too heavy-handed. I mean, really? He smells like blood? I know that it's the future, so hopefully this will be explained in Mockingjay - the dude drinks blood as some kind of cure for something, or youth elixir, or whatever. I know that's hokey, but it's better than just "he drinks blood becuz OMG EVIL".
*I've heard that Mockingjay is kind of an anti-climactic letdown after the awesome that was the first two installments, and yeah, I can see that. I haven't read it yet, but like I said, I don't think Collins is the best writer in the world, so I'm not surprised she kind of ran out of steam on this one. I still want to read it, and I certainly don't expect everything to be Deathly Hallows incredible.
*The movie, OMG, the movie. I'm starting to question my own sanity in reading the books now, I should have waited until March so that I could see the movie straight away, because a three month wait will be a little bit torturous. So far what I know of the casting seems pretty spot on - I googled a couple of days ago to see who was playing who, and it kind of amazes me how much of an audience these books have. Because I was late to the party, nobody is really talking about the books the way they were about HP or Twilight, so even though I knew it was a popular series, the fact that everyone seems to know about what feels to me like some little indie book series that's my own secret awesome discovery is kind of bizarre :) Anyhoo, casting: Woody Harrelson is going to make a much hotter Haymitch than I was anticipating. I was imagining some potbellied, grey-haired, semi-hobo type. Jennifer Whatserface looks like a pretty good Katniss, and I'm pretty stoked that Lenny Kravitz will be playing Cinna. However, Kirsten Vangsness was meant to be Octavia, yes? Yes. Clearly this is a thing that needed to happen. I'm sure this other chick will be great, but as soon as I read the description of the prep team, I was like, "Uh, yeah, this calls for a green Garcia, methinks".
Done for today, have to go and live life.
1) Ex-friend's husband knew NOTHING about the whole "we've moved on" email, or about the facebook bitching. We're meeting for coffee tomorrow, and he's been mega-insistent about it, texting me several times every day just to say hi. I kind of don't want to get too involved here, because he's a nice guy and all, but I barely know him and yet he seems to think I'm his new best friend. I know he doesn't know a lot of people in Australia because his bitchwife doesn't let him talk to people outside her insane baby-rabied family, so he's lonely, but I'm not sure I can be his BFF or anything, because that would cause all kinds of superdrama. I'm glad he's standing up for himself and meeting up with me despite what ex-friend thinks, but I'm just so over all her bullshit, I don't want to cause problems either for him or for myself.
2) One of my besties is engaged! Her and her boy (who is lovely, and is also one of my closest friends) have been together for almost 10 years, so we all kind of saw this coming, but I'm so thrilled for her! No word yet on whether myself and the other bestie are required to do the bridesmaid thing (though her childhood bff is already slated to be maid of honour), but am stupidly excited all the same. I don't really believe in marriage for the most part, but if there was ever a reason to believe in it, they would be it. Love the lovely friends <3
3) LJ comms, fuck you. Seriously, I'm ready to quit almost all the ones I'm a member of (with the exception of the Criminal Minds ones, because us CM fans seem to be surprisingly well adjusted individuals who don't start shit for the sake of it - with the notable exception of one particular troll who has been dealt with). The Bones ones go without saying - nothing against the fandom at all, but I'm not watching season 7, so it's kind of pointless reading spoilers/news/etc. NCIS comms are fairly inactive, so there's almost no point. The childfree comm is one I used to love, but now it's full of so much bullshit and drama. People whine about things that are not worth whining about, then get into bitchfights in the comments. Everyone gets so self-righteous and defensive about the smallest things, and the whole point of the community is lost. The True Blood ones are no better - the chilidish hostility from a few months ago seems to be over, but the constant "I hate Beel/Alan Ball/everything that is not Alexander Skarsgaard's penis" thing is not getting any better, and it's tedious. I joined the new Eric/Pam comm hoping there would be some cool pics/fics/etc, but so far it seems to be a lot of "OMG I ship Alexander & Kirsten soooo hard!" and "I bet they had an affair in season 1!" which is, um, creepy. These are real people you are discussing here, not fictional characters whose lives you are free to mess around with.
4) The Hunger Games! I first heard of them when Mark from "Mark Does Stuff" started reading them, but I didn't realise they were the new thing the way Twilight was a thing, and the way Harry Potter was a thing. I bought the first one on a whim a week or so ago and once I started reading it I could not put the fucking thing down. I've read Catching Fire now too, and am about to start Mockingjay. However, Things:
*This is partly my fault, because at first I didn't realise these were meant to be young adult novels. i'd heard everyone talk about how gritty, violent and intense these books were, so when I started reading I was kind of like "Uhhh, where is said intensity?" Then I realised these were actually meant for teenagers, and it all clicked into place. To be fair, I'm a Poppy Z Brite fan, so when I think of gore, we're talking about some serious gore. If I was writing this story, it would be like Battle Royale on crack, and possibly banned in several countries, so now that I know it's for the young'uns I get why suzanne Collins didn't amp it up a little.
*How good are these books? Well, if Harry Potter was the best series ever and Twilight was the worst, Hunger Games is somewhere in between. The thing is, JK Rowling is a fantastic storyteller who had a fantastic story to tell. Stephenie Meyer is an awful storyteller who had no story to tell. Suzanne Collins is somewhere in between - she's not actually that good a writer, as far as I'm concerned, but she thought of a really kick ass idea and turned it into a really kick ass plot.
*I told a couple of my friends (who are serious bibliophiles who have read everything ever) that I was reading these books when I was literally four pages in to the first one, they told me I'd love it because Katniss is smart and could kick Bella Swan's ass. I can sort of take or leave Katniss, to be honest - I think it's partly Collin's writing, but I don't really care that much about any of the characters. I've been spoiled a little as far as Mockingjay goes, and i know Prim dies, but I'm honestly not sad about it - Prim's annoying and I don't feel any real connection to any characters. And also, in the first few pages, Katniss talked about wanting to drown Buttercup when he was a kitten, and yeah. I don't love kitten-drowners.
*My friends also told me I'd grow to hate Gale as much as I hated whichever Twilight male lead pissed me off more (Jacob, but it was a close call), so I'm guessing that happens in book three? Because so far I have no problem at all with Gale, in fact, I like him much more than Peeta, who annoys me for reasons I can't pinpoint, and I even like him more than Katniss, who seems a little ... I don't even know. Something. I mean, I know it's meant to be his bomb that may or may not have killed Prim, but as I said, IDGAF about Prim. I don't like Mrs Everdeen either. I like Cinna, but I need Suzanne Collins to be less heavy-handed in that "here are the characters you like, DEAL WITH IT" way. I like the prep team too, because I think there are some really interesting ideas about privilege there - Katniss finds it hard not to hate them sometimes, but the thing is, sometimes people are born into privilege and they're not inherently awful. I mean, they system is awful, and life is unfair, nobody is disputing that. The Hunger Games theselves are barbaric, and it's monstrous to find them entertaining, but Venia, Flavius and Octavia didn't make it that way. i'm quite privileged myself - I'm white, employed, I live in an English-speaking, prosperous society, I'm educated, healthy, etc. I have some pretty strong opinions on minorities (and no, I don't mean "people who are a different colour than me, and hey, I can say it because I'm caucasian", I mean basically anyone who is not a straight, cisgender, wealthy white man) and I'm aware that not everyone has it so damn good, and I know I'm lucky. But I wasn't born knowing that there are some people who live in poverty, and just because I didn't know it didn't mean I was an horrible, ignorant person./tangent. So far I like Octavia the best (curvy chicks rock, and everybody who has green skin is awesome - Kermit, Yoda, Elphaba, etc). I'm also partial to Foxface, Thresh, Rue, Johanna, Nuts & Volts, and Mags. No real opinion either way on Haymitch, Effie, or most of the others.
*I know Collins had to keep the story moving, so she couldn't go into detail about every single tribute and district, but the OCD part of my brain that demands complete lists of things requires names, descriptions, history etc about all the other people and places Katniss fought in the arena/visited on the victory tour. I also realise, that considering this is written from Katniss' point of view (and I'm with Mark, first person present tense is a little jarring, but meh, whatevs), she wouldn't have had time to meet every other tribute, and considering she had to be ready to kill them, it would be easier if she wasn't buds with them. But still, INFO. I need her to write a wiki or something and fill in the gaps.
*I don't like that Katniss is going to end up with Peeta. I'm not a shipper at all, but it just seems too forced. I think the story would feel more rounded out if she hooked up with Gale, or more empowering if she decided to go it alone. Having her end up married to Peeta and with two kids is a less-than-ideal conclusion that I think only a more sophisticated story could get away with. Then again, I haven't read Mockingjay yet, so I may just wind up eating my words.
*The whole "President Snow is a monster" thing is too heavy-handed. I mean, really? He smells like blood? I know that it's the future, so hopefully this will be explained in Mockingjay - the dude drinks blood as some kind of cure for something, or youth elixir, or whatever. I know that's hokey, but it's better than just "he drinks blood becuz OMG EVIL".
*I've heard that Mockingjay is kind of an anti-climactic letdown after the awesome that was the first two installments, and yeah, I can see that. I haven't read it yet, but like I said, I don't think Collins is the best writer in the world, so I'm not surprised she kind of ran out of steam on this one. I still want to read it, and I certainly don't expect everything to be Deathly Hallows incredible.
*The movie, OMG, the movie. I'm starting to question my own sanity in reading the books now, I should have waited until March so that I could see the movie straight away, because a three month wait will be a little bit torturous. So far what I know of the casting seems pretty spot on - I googled a couple of days ago to see who was playing who, and it kind of amazes me how much of an audience these books have. Because I was late to the party, nobody is really talking about the books the way they were about HP or Twilight, so even though I knew it was a popular series, the fact that everyone seems to know about what feels to me like some little indie book series that's my own secret awesome discovery is kind of bizarre :) Anyhoo, casting: Woody Harrelson is going to make a much hotter Haymitch than I was anticipating. I was imagining some potbellied, grey-haired, semi-hobo type. Jennifer Whatserface looks like a pretty good Katniss, and I'm pretty stoked that Lenny Kravitz will be playing Cinna. However, Kirsten Vangsness was meant to be Octavia, yes? Yes. Clearly this is a thing that needed to happen. I'm sure this other chick will be great, but as soon as I read the description of the prep team, I was like, "Uh, yeah, this calls for a green Garcia, methinks".
Done for today, have to go and live life.