What's up, zebra?
So I've kind of been ignoring the Intranets in favor of being with people in RL. How strange! How new! I've reached this strange plateau where I am consistently about 70 entries behind on my flist.
Well, behind on everything except thremedon and mistful. Speaking of, NEW COVERRRR. Speaking of, LASSST CHAPTTTTEEEEEERRRRRRRS.
OMG YOU GUYS. IT WAS EVERYTHING I WANTED AND MORE. I CAN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT IT. FAVORITE FANFIC EVER, EXCLAMATION POINT! ALL CAPS!
One of the things that has always frustrated me about Maya is that her Harry and Draco have this issue with the L word. But in DDG, communication/miscommunication was such a huge theme, I began to feel it needed to be expressed in some way, that it was a crucial step they needed to take in order to become proper human beings, let alone a proper couple. So I was concerned. BUT MAYA WAS SO ALL OVER MY CONCERN. IN THE END, THEY COMMUNICATED, AND LO, IT INVOLVED THE L WORD. IT WAS PERFECT.
AND THEN THERE WAS AN EPILOGUE THAT ACTUALLY SHOWED A HAPPILY EVER AFTER. I CAN'T EVEN. SO MUCH BETTER THAN PERFECT. SO AMAZING. SO MUCH HAPPY OVERLOAD. SO MUCH MY FAVORITE FANIFC EVER, ALL CAPS, EXCLAMATION POINT!
I was so reluctant to call this my favorite fanfic ever for a long time--mostly because I was scared I was going to get one of Maya's Patented Realistic Endings (where the L word is avoided and the ending is determinedly open, etc etc etc). Don't get me wrong. Maya's usual endings are mind-bogglingly awesome. But at the same time, I am a huge sap. I want to get a positive return when I invest emotionally in a fic. And I invested DEEPLY in DDG. With every passing chapter, I became more more terrified that a pragmatic ending was simply not going to cover the kind of emotional debt I was getting into over Harry and Draco's years of unrequited want/need/loveloveepiclove.
BUT BUT BUT. SO MUCH COVERING. SO MUCH REWARD. SO MUCH GIDDY LOVE. GOD. SO MUCH HISTORIC END OF AN ERA OF AWESOME.
But that last in itself makes me kind of upset, because I have this weird feeling that this does indeed mark the end of a golden age. I feel like I've heard too many people say they've essentially left the HP or H/D fandom except for Maya (or else SBP, or some other BNF phenom). I understand where these people are coming from--what with the closed canon and the wanky fen and the natural fandom drift--but on a personal level, I must admit I resent them a little. I for one plan on sticking around to appreciate what the next generation is bringing to the table. I'm young yet, and in a long line of fandoms and obsessions that have failed to keep my interest for more than a few months at a time, my Harry Potter love is still going strong, six years and counting. Right now, my favorite fanfic may be Drop Dead Gorgeous, but I have great hope that something new and even more amazing will eventually come along and take its place.
Moving on to other aspects of my geekery, I have finally seen the original Star Wars trilogy and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. My nerd cred has received a major boost!
As for other endings I've experienced lately, Itazura Na Kiss ended on a supernatural note? (WHY SHOUJO. WHY MUST YOU DO THIS. I know, splintercat, Japan survives on superstition alone, but still! I do not care how lovely or cute the storyline is, I am so very nearly done with that deus ex machina.)
If you're just following my commentary, you might have noticed that the show got a little iffy around the point where I last wrote about it? They got married and their relationship only seemed to deteriorate! But then they had a real confrontation, and they worked things out, and then episode 22 hit this new, unheard-of level of schmoopy awesomeness, and they rode that high all the way to the end.
So guys, the moral of this story is this: Itazura Na Kiss actually lives up to all the awesome of its first couple of episodes. So you should watch it. It is an epic, classic shoujo for a reason. Also, you have to get to the episodes in the 20s before you can slash Yuuki and Nobuhiro without it being creepy shota.
Speaking of slash, was it just me, or was Natsume Yuujinchou making up for lost slash potential in 13 liekwoah? I mean, I love that show, and I basically realized that the climax of this was not going to get any more action packed then a possibly spirited realization that "Hey! I actually made some friends! I might've actually become kinder!" I knew it had cute fox kid, who I want to snuggle with and love forever and ever, so I knew I was going to be happy no matter what. BUT THEN there was ALL THIS SLASH hitting me repeatedly over the head with its BONUS SLASHY GOODNESS. THIS SHOW, GUYS. YES. SO EXCITED FOR SEASON TWO.
ALSO, SO SO SO EXCITED FOR NODAME CANTABILE SEASON TWO. YAY FOR IT FINALLY BEING OCTOBER!
On the RL nerd front, I went to (1) Equus last Wednesday for a pre-season showing and only paid $30 because Columbia is very good to its students. I loved it. I loved it so much I didn't even pay attention to DanRad's exposed package. I also went to (2) NY Anime Fest on Saturday, which was a nice time. I got to hang out with some cool firsties and splintercat and her boy-thing. And then, (3) Neil Gaiman's tour stop for NY was at Columbia['s Teachers College]! I take inordinate pride in this. Yay for Columbia supporting the geeky side of book-learning! So I went and had a lovely time listening to Neil be funny and wise for two hours, and now I have a signed copy of The Graveyard Book to show for it, even if I don't know when I'll be able to read beyond the first chapter.
Which brings me to the actually real RL front, where school is sort of getting away from me. I have a paper due for Romantic Poetry on Monday, which happens to be the day of my Psych midterm, and I am not ready for either. Can I write five pages on the use of the word "minstrelsy" in Coleridge's poems? I like the idea because it allows me to explore interpretations we already touched on in class (automatically know I'm not doing it wrong!), but still, writing an entire paper on one word could present a challenge.
(Also, I really want to drop Psych? The readings are unbelievably boring, it really does nothing for my transcript, and I have discovered I have issues with being awake at 8:30 on a Monday morning, surprise surprise. However, I've already promised my friends in that class that I would do a share of the study guide, so I am forced to stay on until the midterm, which is the day before the drop deadline? Dilemma...)
Also, one of my friends--previously referred to on this journal as Paypay--is in the Sign Language Club and has been teaching me things. Today, I learned how to sign "L-U-K-E, I (AM) YOUR FATHER" and "NOOOOOOOO." Also, "What's up, zebra?" is our new unofficial catchsign. You heard it here first.
And thus, this tl;dr post to break all tl;dr posts has come full circle at 6 o'clock in the morning. It is time for me to put this and myself to bed.
Well, behind on everything except thremedon and mistful. Speaking of, NEW COVERRRR. Speaking of, LASSST CHAPTTTTEEEEEERRRRRRRS.
OMG YOU GUYS. IT WAS EVERYTHING I WANTED AND MORE. I CAN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT IT. FAVORITE FANFIC EVER, EXCLAMATION POINT! ALL CAPS!
One of the things that has always frustrated me about Maya is that her Harry and Draco have this issue with the L word. But in DDG, communication/miscommunication was such a huge theme, I began to feel it needed to be expressed in some way, that it was a crucial step they needed to take in order to become proper human beings, let alone a proper couple. So I was concerned. BUT MAYA WAS SO ALL OVER MY CONCERN. IN THE END, THEY COMMUNICATED, AND LO, IT INVOLVED THE L WORD. IT WAS PERFECT.
AND THEN THERE WAS AN EPILOGUE THAT ACTUALLY SHOWED A HAPPILY EVER AFTER. I CAN'T EVEN. SO MUCH BETTER THAN PERFECT. SO AMAZING. SO MUCH HAPPY OVERLOAD. SO MUCH MY FAVORITE FANIFC EVER, ALL CAPS, EXCLAMATION POINT!
I was so reluctant to call this my favorite fanfic ever for a long time--mostly because I was scared I was going to get one of Maya's Patented Realistic Endings (where the L word is avoided and the ending is determinedly open, etc etc etc). Don't get me wrong. Maya's usual endings are mind-bogglingly awesome. But at the same time, I am a huge sap. I want to get a positive return when I invest emotionally in a fic. And I invested DEEPLY in DDG. With every passing chapter, I became more more terrified that a pragmatic ending was simply not going to cover the kind of emotional debt I was getting into over Harry and Draco's years of unrequited want/need/loveloveepiclove.
BUT BUT BUT. SO MUCH COVERING. SO MUCH REWARD. SO MUCH GIDDY LOVE. GOD. SO MUCH HISTORIC END OF AN ERA OF AWESOME.
But that last in itself makes me kind of upset, because I have this weird feeling that this does indeed mark the end of a golden age. I feel like I've heard too many people say they've essentially left the HP or H/D fandom except for Maya (or else SBP, or some other BNF phenom). I understand where these people are coming from--what with the closed canon and the wanky fen and the natural fandom drift--but on a personal level, I must admit I resent them a little. I for one plan on sticking around to appreciate what the next generation is bringing to the table. I'm young yet, and in a long line of fandoms and obsessions that have failed to keep my interest for more than a few months at a time, my Harry Potter love is still going strong, six years and counting. Right now, my favorite fanfic may be Drop Dead Gorgeous, but I have great hope that something new and even more amazing will eventually come along and take its place.
Moving on to other aspects of my geekery, I have finally seen the original Star Wars trilogy and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. My nerd cred has received a major boost!
As for other endings I've experienced lately, Itazura Na Kiss ended on a supernatural note? (WHY SHOUJO. WHY MUST YOU DO THIS. I know, splintercat, Japan survives on superstition alone, but still! I do not care how lovely or cute the storyline is, I am so very nearly done with that deus ex machina.)
If you're just following my commentary, you might have noticed that the show got a little iffy around the point where I last wrote about it? They got married and their relationship only seemed to deteriorate! But then they had a real confrontation, and they worked things out, and then episode 22 hit this new, unheard-of level of schmoopy awesomeness, and they rode that high all the way to the end.
So guys, the moral of this story is this: Itazura Na Kiss actually lives up to all the awesome of its first couple of episodes. So you should watch it. It is an epic, classic shoujo for a reason. Also, you have to get to the episodes in the 20s before you can slash Yuuki and Nobuhiro without it being creepy shota.
Speaking of slash, was it just me, or was Natsume Yuujinchou making up for lost slash potential in 13 liekwoah? I mean, I love that show, and I basically realized that the climax of this was not going to get any more action packed then a possibly spirited realization that "Hey! I actually made some friends! I might've actually become kinder!" I knew it had cute fox kid, who I want to snuggle with and love forever and ever, so I knew I was going to be happy no matter what. BUT THEN there was ALL THIS SLASH hitting me repeatedly over the head with its BONUS SLASHY GOODNESS. THIS SHOW, GUYS. YES. SO EXCITED FOR SEASON TWO.
ALSO, SO SO SO EXCITED FOR NODAME CANTABILE SEASON TWO. YAY FOR IT FINALLY BEING OCTOBER!
On the RL nerd front, I went to (1) Equus last Wednesday for a pre-season showing and only paid $30 because Columbia is very good to its students. I loved it. I loved it so much I didn't even pay attention to DanRad's exposed package. I also went to (2) NY Anime Fest on Saturday, which was a nice time. I got to hang out with some cool firsties and splintercat and her boy-thing. And then, (3) Neil Gaiman's tour stop for NY was at Columbia['s Teachers College]! I take inordinate pride in this. Yay for Columbia supporting the geeky side of book-learning! So I went and had a lovely time listening to Neil be funny and wise for two hours, and now I have a signed copy of The Graveyard Book to show for it, even if I don't know when I'll be able to read beyond the first chapter.
Which brings me to the actually real RL front, where school is sort of getting away from me. I have a paper due for Romantic Poetry on Monday, which happens to be the day of my Psych midterm, and I am not ready for either. Can I write five pages on the use of the word "minstrelsy" in Coleridge's poems? I like the idea because it allows me to explore interpretations we already touched on in class (automatically know I'm not doing it wrong!), but still, writing an entire paper on one word could present a challenge.
(Also, I really want to drop Psych? The readings are unbelievably boring, it really does nothing for my transcript, and I have discovered I have issues with being awake at 8:30 on a Monday morning, surprise surprise. However, I've already promised my friends in that class that I would do a share of the study guide, so I am forced to stay on until the midterm, which is the day before the drop deadline? Dilemma...)
Also, one of my friends--previously referred to on this journal as Paypay--is in the Sign Language Club and has been teaching me things. Today, I learned how to sign "L-U-K-E, I (AM) YOUR FATHER" and "NOOOOOOOO." Also, "What's up, zebra?" is our new unofficial catchsign. You heard it here first.
And thus, this tl;dr post to break all tl;dr posts has come full circle at 6 o'clock in the morning. It is time for me to put this and myself to bed.