Not riding disco sticks, people.
Three-part rambling today to follow up on finishing a commish and posting a random coda fic.
So I went to bed around 8AM with my Netbook on my lap while trying to write a few paragraphs of my NaNo project - I got one paragraph down and knocked out until around 10:30AM at which point my Netbook was hibernating. One look at the clock and I said, "Fuck it, I'm going to bed." Around 1PM my friend who lives across the complex from me called and asked if I wanted to come over and can I bring Star Trek with me. (Later she said she was surprised I didn't have a "morning voice"; I told her oh I don't have one, it's my mind you should worry about - I asked some nonsense question about whether or not she already had the DVD, but seriously, ask regicidaldwarf; I am out of it when I'm half-asleep)
There was quite a bit of light-hearted teasing because it would be my seventh time watching the movie - and it didn't get old. I swear to god I was constantly flailing throughout the movie like it was my first-okay, second time seeing it. I did learn that blue = stun and red = kill, and I feel a little dumb for not noticing it sooner.
So when we got to the scene where Sulu stabbed the Romulan playing "crush Kirk's fingers" on the drill making a giant hole in Vulcan I suddenly thought of the FFR post about the portrayal of Kirk in TOS, XI, and fandom, and the huge argument that exploded over just how competent Kirk is. Someone argued that the movie didn't portray him favorably because it seemed that everyone had to save Kirk, and someone said Kirk's much smarter than he appears to be, and that it just shows that Kirk's not the whole story or something like that. The bickering got incredibly stupid, but people did link to fics depicting Kirk as smarter-than-he-acts.
My thoughts? What Kurtzman and Orci (and Abrams, can't leave out Abrams) seems to have done is to not make it a Kirk-centric story with an ensemble in the background, but rather very skillfully weave all the characters into a plot that is Kirk-centric but allows everyone to play such a strong role that sometimes you forget that it's Kirk's story. Hell, Captain Christopher Motherfuckin' Pike kicked ass in the beginning of the movie and the end of the movie, and we got a bit of his story (albeit within Kirk's timeline) too.
Plus I think that by showing everyone kicking ass (and saving Kirk's now and then) Kurtzman and Orci avoided turning Kirk into a Gary Stu. He's like Daniel Craig's James Bond - not the suave motherfucker but a real down-to-earth guy who does make mistakes and blunder along but can still save his own skin (and everybody else's) using his wits/brawn. Plus I think Star Trek XI showcases Kirk being more the engine, the spark that gets everybody else moving. He's the eye of the story and everyone swirls around him and where he goes the others follow and they blow down everything in their path. Wow, what a weird analogy. But hey, not all captains are good at physical combat.
So after Star Trek XI we watched Up, painted nails, made food, devoured a large pizza. But I swear to god I don't know what my friend and her roomies (who are sorta-friends) do in their spare time other than play songs praising God and His Son Jesus Christ. It's a very creepy and uncomfortable environment for me; I'm sitting around waiting for my nails to dry or dozing off while sprawled on their couch, and they're singing all kinds of Christian songs. Am I freaked out? I am so fucking freaked out. It's like their lives literally revolve around church.
One of the things that terrify me about religion (and Korean-American Christians) is the possibility of being freakishly obsessed with God, Jesus, and the church. My experiences and opinions are colored by the intense church environment that circles me so I don't know many Korean-Americans who can not only balance church and everything else, but also not make it seem like church = life.
God I'm talking so much about religion lately. It's ridiculous.
Oh, and by the way, when I obsess, I obsess hard. I go full-throttle; once I cling onto something, I don't let go for months. Horse racing has been my life since The Black Stallion in elementary, with my first horse racing being the 2001 Kentucky Derby. An eight-year obsession that hasn't died; I've gotten so deep into it that the people I interact with are oftentimes amazed by my dedication despite my youth - why would someone as young as me be interested in a sport generally populated by old geezers and gamblers?
As you can guess it takes a fuckload of energy whenever I get into a fandom. I'm pretty single-minded and driven, and I pour my heart and soul into it...and the particular OTP in the fandom. I can't spread it out among other OTPs (and even gen, although I do enjoy gen every now and then); it takes too much out of me and exhausts me because when I write fic or draw art I really, really get into it. Right now I'm staring at a few thumbnail sketches for a Dean/Castiel fan art I want to do because I want to get the fake movie screencap feel just right. I can't...divide the dedication between Dean/Castiel and, say, Castiel/Lucifer or Sam/Dean. It'll burn me out.
I tried with Star Trek XI fandom, I really did. The fandom before that generally disappointed me in the ficcing area so I thought I'd spread out and enjoy all the stories as much as possible...but Kirk/Spock didn't ping for me and while Spock/Uhura was pretty awesome (never mind canon/wow, Kurtzman and Orci did that!) it just didn't give me that giddy feeling. And I don't know why but Sulu/Chekov didn't work for me, either; I couldn't see it - okay, I can, but sometimes - plus I never really liked perfect pairings. Seemed creepy. Then I got linked to a Kirk/McCoy fic and HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME.
How obsessed? As of right now my LJ Memorable Entries lists 449 entries under the Dean/Castiel tag and 168 under Kirk/McCoy. My shipping monogamy, let me show you it.
It's not that I don't have some interest in other pairings and other stories; it's just that I tend not to care or have the desire to read something I'm not already emotionally invested in. This mentality has done wonders for me - seriously, go ask my parents; they'll tell you fuckloads about my attention span and how I need to realize that not everything in life's fucking fun.
So in short, I can't ship across the board. I'm boring when I ship, but I ship pretty hard so at least you'll get some creative fanworks out of me.
Oh look, I just doodled Kirk and McCoy. Also, I fucking love that movie. And tomorrow I'm going to clean as much of the apartment as possibly...and get goat cheese, oh my god I love goat cheese. (and Bones/Karl Urban's fucking hot the whole cast is hot)
So I went to bed around 8AM with my Netbook on my lap while trying to write a few paragraphs of my NaNo project - I got one paragraph down and knocked out until around 10:30AM at which point my Netbook was hibernating. One look at the clock and I said, "Fuck it, I'm going to bed." Around 1PM my friend who lives across the complex from me called and asked if I wanted to come over and can I bring Star Trek with me. (Later she said she was surprised I didn't have a "morning voice"; I told her oh I don't have one, it's my mind you should worry about - I asked some nonsense question about whether or not she already had the DVD, but seriously, ask regicidaldwarf; I am out of it when I'm half-asleep)
There was quite a bit of light-hearted teasing because it would be my seventh time watching the movie - and it didn't get old. I swear to god I was constantly flailing throughout the movie like it was my first-okay, second time seeing it. I did learn that blue = stun and red = kill, and I feel a little dumb for not noticing it sooner.
So when we got to the scene where Sulu stabbed the Romulan playing "crush Kirk's fingers" on the drill making a giant hole in Vulcan I suddenly thought of the FFR post about the portrayal of Kirk in TOS, XI, and fandom, and the huge argument that exploded over just how competent Kirk is. Someone argued that the movie didn't portray him favorably because it seemed that everyone had to save Kirk, and someone said Kirk's much smarter than he appears to be, and that it just shows that Kirk's not the whole story or something like that. The bickering got incredibly stupid, but people did link to fics depicting Kirk as smarter-than-he-acts.
My thoughts? What Kurtzman and Orci (and Abrams, can't leave out Abrams) seems to have done is to not make it a Kirk-centric story with an ensemble in the background, but rather very skillfully weave all the characters into a plot that is Kirk-centric but allows everyone to play such a strong role that sometimes you forget that it's Kirk's story. Hell, Captain Christopher Motherfuckin' Pike kicked ass in the beginning of the movie and the end of the movie, and we got a bit of his story (albeit within Kirk's timeline) too.
Plus I think that by showing everyone kicking ass (and saving Kirk's now and then) Kurtzman and Orci avoided turning Kirk into a Gary Stu. He's like Daniel Craig's James Bond - not the suave motherfucker but a real down-to-earth guy who does make mistakes and blunder along but can still save his own skin (and everybody else's) using his wits/brawn. Plus I think Star Trek XI showcases Kirk being more the engine, the spark that gets everybody else moving. He's the eye of the story and everyone swirls around him and where he goes the others follow and they blow down everything in their path. Wow, what a weird analogy. But hey, not all captains are good at physical combat.
So after Star Trek XI we watched Up, painted nails, made food, devoured a large pizza. But I swear to god I don't know what my friend and her roomies (who are sorta-friends) do in their spare time other than play songs praising God and His Son Jesus Christ. It's a very creepy and uncomfortable environment for me; I'm sitting around waiting for my nails to dry or dozing off while sprawled on their couch, and they're singing all kinds of Christian songs. Am I freaked out? I am so fucking freaked out. It's like their lives literally revolve around church.
One of the things that terrify me about religion (and Korean-American Christians) is the possibility of being freakishly obsessed with God, Jesus, and the church. My experiences and opinions are colored by the intense church environment that circles me so I don't know many Korean-Americans who can not only balance church and everything else, but also not make it seem like church = life.
God I'm talking so much about religion lately. It's ridiculous.
Oh, and by the way, when I obsess, I obsess hard. I go full-throttle; once I cling onto something, I don't let go for months. Horse racing has been my life since The Black Stallion in elementary, with my first horse racing being the 2001 Kentucky Derby. An eight-year obsession that hasn't died; I've gotten so deep into it that the people I interact with are oftentimes amazed by my dedication despite my youth - why would someone as young as me be interested in a sport generally populated by old geezers and gamblers?
As you can guess it takes a fuckload of energy whenever I get into a fandom. I'm pretty single-minded and driven, and I pour my heart and soul into it...and the particular OTP in the fandom. I can't spread it out among other OTPs (and even gen, although I do enjoy gen every now and then); it takes too much out of me and exhausts me because when I write fic or draw art I really, really get into it. Right now I'm staring at a few thumbnail sketches for a Dean/Castiel fan art I want to do because I want to get the fake movie screencap feel just right. I can't...divide the dedication between Dean/Castiel and, say, Castiel/Lucifer or Sam/Dean. It'll burn me out.
I tried with Star Trek XI fandom, I really did. The fandom before that generally disappointed me in the ficcing area so I thought I'd spread out and enjoy all the stories as much as possible...but Kirk/Spock didn't ping for me and while Spock/Uhura was pretty awesome (never mind canon/wow, Kurtzman and Orci did that!) it just didn't give me that giddy feeling. And I don't know why but Sulu/Chekov didn't work for me, either; I couldn't see it - okay, I can, but sometimes - plus I never really liked perfect pairings. Seemed creepy. Then I got linked to a Kirk/McCoy fic and HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME.
How obsessed? As of right now my LJ Memorable Entries lists 449 entries under the Dean/Castiel tag and 168 under Kirk/McCoy. My shipping monogamy, let me show you it.
It's not that I don't have some interest in other pairings and other stories; it's just that I tend not to care or have the desire to read something I'm not already emotionally invested in. This mentality has done wonders for me - seriously, go ask my parents; they'll tell you fuckloads about my attention span and how I need to realize that not everything in life's fucking fun.
So in short, I can't ship across the board. I'm boring when I ship, but I ship pretty hard so at least you'll get some creative fanworks out of me.
Oh look, I just doodled Kirk and McCoy. Also, I fucking love that movie. And tomorrow I'm going to clean as much of the apartment as possibly...and get goat cheese, oh my god I love goat cheese. (and Bones/Karl Urban's fucking hot the whole cast is hot)