Recommendation Post #1
++ A list of things you should check out.++
Includes:
==TV Series==
==Good Books==
==Good Fanfiction==
==UPCOMING POSTS==
So I realized I haven't updated my journal in a while. It's mostly because I'm saving up a bunch of good stuff to post in bulk. Until I post all of my new goodies for you, I'm going to recommend some really great TV shows/books, etc. that I have enjoyed lately. Feel free to reply with your thoughts and questions.
==t e l e v i s o n s e r i e s==
10 Things I Hate About You
Summary:
Julia Stiles as Katarina "Kat" Stratford: The female protagonist of the story, the "shrew" in the movie, is a proud, nonconforming feminist who listens to riot grrrl music and reads books like The Bell Jar and The Feminine Mystique. She tends to make people upset and angry because she is not afraid of telling it like it is. She is against dating and often "sneers at the idiocy of teenage social life," as The New York Times puts it, and is "a breath of fresh air in the stifling materialistic atmosphere of today's Hollywood teenage movies." She was accepted into Sarah Lawrence College. She has an English literature class, during which she openly contradicts the teacher, with Pat and Joey. Bianca infers that Kat actually likes men after finding a picture of Jared Leto in her dresser. Bianca describes her as being from Planet Loser, having once been popular "until she got sick of it or something" and Cameron refers to her as antisocial. She eventually decides to date again upon meeting Patrick, dedicating her sonnet assignment to him. Her only friend is fellow outcast Mandella. On the TV series, Kat is portrayed by Lindsey Shaw.
Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona: The male protagonist of the story, described by a The New York Times reviewer as a "rough-edged outsider" and "teenage rebel" who hangs out at a pool hall, smokes cigarettes and drinks. He has English literature with Kat and Joey; and biology with Cameron and Michael. He speaks in a partly Australian dialect, often lapsing into American. When Kat inquires if "the accent" is real, he explains to her that he lived in Australia with his mother until he was ten. He is hired by Joey, Cameron, and Michael to take out Kat so that Bianca can be permitted to date, hence his job is to "tame the shrew." At first, he pursues her for the money but later he falls for her, showing a softer side and transforming into a more sensitive person. One of the recurring jokes of the film is the numerous rumors surrounding Patrick's past activities. Other characters reveal that Patrick supposedly (among other things): once ate a live duck, set a State Trooper on fire, did a year in San Quentin Prison, sold his liver on the black market for a new set of speakers, knows Marilyn Manson, slept with a Spice Girl, and was a former porn star (In reality he spent the last year looking after his ill grandfather). On the TV series, Patrick is portrayed by Ethan Peck.
Thoughts/Reasons to Love:
This movie was one of my favorites of all time. Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles made their "big break" into the acting world with this movie. I loved their chemistry and interaction. They were just classic epic-ness. So when I heard that ABC Family was making a TV series from this movie, I was very skeptical. I mean, NO ONE could replace Heath Ledger's role as Patrick. I just couldn't believe that. But I have to say that (after my sister made me watch the pilot) I was pleasantly surprised! I actually found myself enjoying the interaction between Lindsey Shaw and Ethan Peck. They were kind of...hot. And Ethan's voice is swoon-worthy. I think Lindsey is quite likeable and I enjoy her witty dialogue. I definitely recommend that you give this show a try. And if you have never heard of "10 Things I Hate About You", then that is not acceptable and I demand that you go rent the movie right now. You will be in love.
F a r s c a p e
Summary:
John Crichton (Ben Browder), an astronaut from present-day Earth. At the start of the series, a test flight involving an experimental spacecraft goes awry, propelling Crichton through a wormhole to a distant part of the universe. He quickly runs afoul of the Peacekeepers and is recovered by the crew of Moya, a living ship which is the main setting for Farscape.
Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black), a renegade Peacekeeper officer. At the start of the series, she is stripped of her rank and marked for death after protecting Crichton. Trained as a soldier since birth, she initially lacks any emotions or empathy. Her severance from the Peacekeepers allows Aeryn to rediscover her compassionate nature.
Thoughts/Reasons to Love:
One thing you should note about Farscape is that it is VERY different and a little crazy. It's not like any other show I have ever seen on Sci-Fi. But I reccommend that you watch this show for John Crichton and Aeryn Sun alone! Despite the crazy circumstances of the show, they are what makes this show EPIC. They have amazing chemistry and can pull at your heart strings as you watch their relationship's ups and downs. There is just something unique about their story. I love the fact that John is the one who persues Aeryn. Usually, the female is the one doing all the pursuing in most TV series. But Aeryn is one hard-core chick and it takes just about everything for John to crack that tough shell of hers. Give this show a chance.
F E L I C I T Y
Summary:
The story of the series begins at Felicity's high school graduation where she asks Ben Covington (played by Scott Speedman), a classmate whom she has a crush on, to sign her yearbook. Moved by his comment that he wished he had gotten to know her, she changes her education plans completely, deciding to follow Ben to New York rather than attend Stanford University for pre-med. Felicity's overbearing parents, concerned about Felicity's seemingly rash decision, come to New York to try to convince her to return home and 'get back on track.' Felicity has second thoughts about her decision, but soon realizes that she came, not only to follow Ben, but to find herself.
While Felicity works to sort out her emotions, she continues the basic motions of student life and moves into her dorm. There, she meets the resident advisor Noel Crane (Scott Foley). Eventually, romance ensues, and the relationships between Felicity, Ben, and Noel form the basic dramatic conflicts in the show throughout the series.
Thoughts/Reasons to Love:
Favorite TV series of ALL-TIME. I can't believe there are people out there who do not know about this show. Yes, it's been quite a long time since the end of the series, but still! How can you not know who Ben and Felicity are? They have to be one of my favorite/most-loved couples ever. Ben (played by Scott Speedman *swoons*) is such a messed-up, yet beautiful character. He's such a huge part of Felicity's life. I mean, she followed this guy across the U.S. just because of what he wrote in her yearbook. Felicity made Ben a better person and taught him how to be sacrificing and more open. She changed him. And Felicity, oh, I just LOVE that girl. Throughout the series, you get to see and feel the hurt, loss, confusion, and epiphanies she discovers. She's not perfect, but she has this compassion for life & others around her that is so rare. You have to see this whole series! I know you will be the biggest Ben & Felicity shipper at the end of it all, like I was. (Noel never happened. LOL)
r o s w e l l
Summary:
Roswell focuses on three teenage alien-human hybrids living in Roswell, New Mexico. They are survivors of the 1947 UFO crash popularly known as The Roswell Incident. Max Evans, Isabel Evans, Michael Guerin and Tess Harding were sent to Earth as cloned replacements for the royalty of Antar, an alien planet. Their counterparts died in a war, and the "Royal Four" will one day return to Antar to save their race.
Central to the plot are the relationships between the hybrids and their human companions, particularly the one between Max Evans and Liz Parker. The three seasons follow the hybrids as they attempt to survive as humans and hide their alien sides, while trying to learn more about their alien powers, as well as figuring out how to get home.
Thoughts/Reasons to Love:
No matter how many times I watch this TV series, it NEVER GETS OLD. I wish there were still shows out there today like Roswell. Liz Parker & Max Evans are just the sweetest pairing ever in the history of pairings. They go through every situation imaginable, they hurt eachother, they sacrifice for eachother, and they make it through it all together. They love eachother regardless. There is just no stopping it. They are that Soulmates Foreva couple you love to ship even though they are so epic it can make you want to either swoon or puke. Not shipping them is not an option. Michael & Maria (aka Space Boy & That Maria Girl) are the 2nd most epic couple on this show. Michael had a terrible childhood that taught him to become cutt-off and calous toward those around him. He doesn't trust anyone. But he loves Maria like he's never loved anyone else. He is FAR from being the perfect boyfriend that Max is to Liz, but he does try to be for Maria's sake. Maria puts up with a lot from Michael because she knows that has to accept him for who he is. She loves every one of his flaws. She is crazy about him and over him. They argue a lot, but you know they would never give eachother up. I also love the pairing between Alex & Isabel. They were just the sweetest. I wanted to put them in my pocket. But I have to say that after things ended with them, I was all aboard the Kyle & Isabel ship! Third season with them is just precious. There was definately not enough of them! I like to think they got together in the end, though. ;-)
==b o o k s==
THE HUNGER GAMES
by Suzanne Collins
Summary:
The Hunger Games takes place in an unidentified future time period after the destruction of North America, in a nation known as Panem. Panem consists of a rich Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts. As punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol, every year one boy and one girl from each district are forced to participate in "The Hunger Games", a televised event whereby the participants, or "tributes", must fight to the death in an outdoor arena until only one remains. The story follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. Also participating from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a boy whom Katniss knows from school and who once gave Katniss bread when her family was starving.
Katniss and Peeta are taken to the Capitol, where they meet the other tributes and are publicly displayed to the Capitol audience. During this time, Peeta reveals on-air his long-time unrequited love for Katniss. Katniss believes this to be a ploy to gain audience support for the Games, which can be crucial for survival, as audience members are permitted to send gifts to the tributes during the Games. The Games begin with 11 of the 24 tributes dying in the first hour, while Katniss relies on her well-practiced hunting and outdoors skills to survive. As the Games continue, the tribute death toll increases, but both Katniss and Peeta are able to evade death.
Supposedly due to Katniss and Peeta's beloved image to the audience as "star-crossed lovers", a rule change is announced midway through the Games, stating that two tributes from the same district can win the Hunger Games as a pair. Upon hearing this, Katniss searches for Peeta and finds him wounded. She nurses him back to health and acts the part of a young girl falling in love to gain more favor with the audience. The couple manages to outlast all the other tributes, and the Gamemakers try to force them into a dramatic finale where one must kill the other to win. Instead, they both threaten suicide and are subsequently both declared winners. After returning to the Capitol, Katniss learns her ploy to save both her and Peeta has greatly upset the Capitol because it made them look like fools and she must watch over her shoulder from now on. Her on screen romance with Peeta also comes to a crashing halt when the cameras are gone and Peeta is heartbroken to learn it was all an act for the audience, though Katniss is not so sure of that herself anymore.
Thoughts/Reasons to Love:
OK so this sounds like it's all about Peeta and Katniss, but I have to say that I wan't that fond of Peeta. I wanted him to be her friend. I totally fell in love with Gale in just those first few chapters. Hence the reason I created a community for Kat&Gale (quietmoments_hg ). A little community promoting there. LOL But despite all the Peeta/Kat stuff, I just loved this book for the creative and different mentality. Katniss Everdeen rocks the party. I love her thought process and dialogue in this book. She is no damsel in distress. She takes care of her family and herself. The author did a great job of keeping the readers in suspense of what was going to happen next. I absolutely recommend you check this out if you like books such as "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer. It has that alternate-universe feel to it. I loved this book from start to finish. (Catching Fire was AMAZING!!! But I won't spoil you.)
== f a n f i c t i o n ==
S i g n a l F i r e
by MintEnergy
Summary:
Kara and Lee get one last chance to be together. Begins the moment after Daybreak II, on the hill where Kara didn’t say goodbye.
Thoughts/Reasons to Love:
I don't even know where to start my gushing about this fanfic. It gave me so much closure on the whole relationship between Kara Thrace and Lee Adama. That series finale left me feeling so completely jipped about those two! I wanted them to have the perfect ending. Something dramatic and epic. But all we got is *poof* Kara's gone. Lee's alone. This sucks. Then, I read this fanfic. Usually, I'm not a huge fan of fanfic that is based on TV characters that are really important to me. Because I'm afraid that the author will be unable to write them "in character". But no worries about that with this story! I could actually visualize everything that was written. The dialogue was so clever. And the storyline! Oh, how I wish the producers could have used this amazing storyline. I reccommend you Kara&Lee shippers trust me on this one and go read the story! You will not be disappointed.
Where You Can Find/Read It:
signal fire at mintenergy's livejournal
signal fire at fanfiction.net
S t a r t i n g O v e r
by serendipity_50
Summary:
Ginny waited a year for Harry to defeat Voldemort, convinced that he would eventually come back to her. But, the war is over, now, and Harry, Ron and Hermione are swept away in the wizarding world's celebratory tide while Ginny stays home to help rebuild her family after Fred's death. The weeks pass with no word from Harry and an old friend begins to fill the emptiness. Just as she loses hope and decides to move on with her life, evil intrudes and turns her world upside down. Even Harry may not be able to make things right again.
Thoughts/Reasons to Love:
My sister actually introduced me to this bit of fanfiction. And, since we have the same taste, I took her word for it. It was surprisingly nice. I always felt there was a lack of Harry and Ginny's story in the books. But I understood that because the books are not based only on the romance, they are based on the epic story of Harry's destiny. Nevertheless, I was excited to read more Harry and Ginny goodness. The author keeps these two "in character" most of the time. I found the dialogue to be reasonably believable and I was glad I could invision what happened those years before Harry & Ginny were married. It's a very sweet wrap-up of their epic story. I suggest you go check it out.
Where to Find/Read It:
starting over at Gryffindor Tower Reloaded
==UPCOMING POSTS==
In my next post, I will be showing a music video I have been working on for a month. It is a fanfiction video, based on the story "Signal Fire" I suggested you read above. It is Kara and Lee centered, of course. I made it using a Free Trial of Sony Vegas 9 (which has now expired, i'm sad to say). I hope that one day I'll be able to affoard the real thing.
In the post after that, I'm going to finally upload all the fanart I have been working on for your viewing disinterest pleasure. It includes 10 Things I Hate AboutYou, Twilight, The Host, Dark Angel, Farscape, The Hunger Games, etc.