(no subject)
While looking for something else, I came across this rather interesting article about E.L. James. Seems she treats the Twilight fandom who were her original supporters with complete disdain - and they REALLY had supported her. As in, a group of her readers had actually thrown a party for her when she came to California from England to attend Comic-Con back when 50 Shades was still called Master of the Universe and housed on FF.net. They also eagerly volunteered information on American customs and slang to make her story sound more "authentic" (much of the advice was ignored, BTW).
Say what you will about Twilight and its fandom (and i've said plenty) - but a fanfic writer who "goes pro" should at least be a bit gracious toward the place she came from, especially if the support of those people helped her get there.
And here is another totally unrelated, but equally interesting article about Japan's love affair with Halloween. I can attest to this since I was in Japan last October, and pumpkin decorations were EVERYWHERE. (Japan's Halloween tends more toward kawaii than kowaii - cute pumpkins and little ghosties abound, but zombies and monsters are rare). I even brought home little pumpkin and ghostie decorations from a Don Quixote, plus a Donald Duck in devil cosplay sitting in a pumpkin from the Shibuya Disney Store.
It's also always amusing to see the mainstream media try to explain Japanese pop culture to mainstream Americans (in this case, cosplay and Vocaloids - they describe a guy cosplaying the Gackt Vocaloid as looking "more feminine than usual."). Plus, the article left out one of the best Halloween things I saw over there - the Halloween burger, available at both Burger King and McDonald's, with a black bun made of squid ink! (Burger King tried it over on these shores this year, except the bun was made with A1 Sauce, not squid ink).
Haven't had a chance to write this week. Will try to get back to it next week.
Say what you will about Twilight and its fandom (and i've said plenty) - but a fanfic writer who "goes pro" should at least be a bit gracious toward the place she came from, especially if the support of those people helped her get there.
And here is another totally unrelated, but equally interesting article about Japan's love affair with Halloween. I can attest to this since I was in Japan last October, and pumpkin decorations were EVERYWHERE. (Japan's Halloween tends more toward kawaii than kowaii - cute pumpkins and little ghosties abound, but zombies and monsters are rare). I even brought home little pumpkin and ghostie decorations from a Don Quixote, plus a Donald Duck in devil cosplay sitting in a pumpkin from the Shibuya Disney Store.
It's also always amusing to see the mainstream media try to explain Japanese pop culture to mainstream Americans (in this case, cosplay and Vocaloids - they describe a guy cosplaying the Gackt Vocaloid as looking "more feminine than usual."). Plus, the article left out one of the best Halloween things I saw over there - the Halloween burger, available at both Burger King and McDonald's, with a black bun made of squid ink! (Burger King tried it over on these shores this year, except the bun was made with A1 Sauce, not squid ink).
Haven't had a chance to write this week. Will try to get back to it next week.