(no subject)

[oiran]

It's the fault of that damn stone_princess

I have issues with...

sadness fame patience failure past

Take Word Association Test

um, duh?

~~~

Clever rhiannonhero is developing new talents, i.e., vidding, but she needs to get off of QaF and do SV instead, so everyone please pester her with that goal in mind.

~~~

I keep reading about a new HP story by pandarus that is apparently incredible, and I'd believe it, but I don't want to read an HP story. The idea just squicks me, frankly, and I wish someone would tell me why it shouldn't so that I might readily justify enjoyment of stories by authors I already like very much. I've tried to circumvent the squicks, even. I haven't read all the books, and I have no clue who Sirius and Remus even are (contemporaries of Harry's dad, I'd assume), so I thought I'd be safe: I read a Sirius/Remus story the other day that was just devastatingly lovely and romantic but the word "Hogwarts" ruined it for me, and it was as though I was suddenly a Very Bad Woman reading porn to my 10-year-old niece and trying to force her to act it all out with Harry Potter Legos.

~~~

I'm at the end of writing something, and I'm >this< far from sending it to beta, but I haven't got the fucking last line(s). I never do. It took me a day to write the story, and now another day to avoid nonexistent last lines.

Comments

[nerodi.livejournal.com]

Rhi is currently working on a SV video!

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Yay! That must be why she is incommunicado. Or maybe she hates me. That's probably it.

[rhiannonhero.livejournal.com]

I love my rabbit. I am sick and that is why I'm incommunicado. Also, I'm conflicted about the request to beta because I want to do it but: 1. I'm sick. 2. You are sooo impatient. 3. I have a huge beta job of Mistress Ace's that I've been dreadful about working on because see number one and I don't want to look as though I dissed her for your story. 4. See number one.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Well, I've already got some people agreeing, but I always want a million opinions (to ignore). However, if you've got Ace's thing still waiting, you need to do that one first. Even if mine is short. heh.

[nerodi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, she might hate you. I think she said something along those lines.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Well, most people do. I think she had some notion of using me as her rugged-individualist test case, but my personality drove her back into the herd.

[stone-princess.livejournal.com]

It may be my fault, but it's a scarily accurate test, no?

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

It is. It's kind of embarrassing to post those results. It's like showing around an unflattering picture of some already-unattractive part of my body.

So are you going to agree to beta this thing for me? I don't really expect you to do it, but at least say you will.

[stone-princess.livejournal.com]

But if I say I will and then I don't, you'll think less of me.

p.s. I'm eating butter.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

No, I won't. There were a couple of ways to go with your non-betaing, and I chose to find it endearing. Now I count on you to not beta things.

Are you eating it with a spoon? or just off your finger? If you peel the paper off the stick and gnaw on it, that's excessive.

[stone-princess.livejournal.com]

I would LOVE to beta for you. It'll probably be a day or so, unless it snows, and then I'll get to it first thing tomorrow.

I'm eating it off the end of a (butter) knife. Is that okay?

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

As long as you don't run with the knife in your mouth, you should be fine.

I am giving myself an hour to come up with an ending sentence. If I can't do it, then I'll just send it as-is and figure out the last line(s) later. Or I'll run a contest for someone else to come up with one.

[rhiannonhero.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting on raw source material from Hope before I can do the SV vidding because if I do SV stuff I want to actually be able to show it to people. And, really, I shouldn't be vidding at all!!! I should be writing.

Did you see the QaF vid? Did I send it to you?

I'm sick. I'm sick and lazy and depressed. What's new? Did I mention sick?

Oh, I watched QaF S2 and you and I will have to agree to disagree on it sucking. I loved it. :)

I'm sick.

You are gorgeous and I miss you. Didn't you promise that I could see you soon?

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Things I loved about S2: Ben, Brian, Emmett, Emmett's older man. Michael buying the comic book store. Q-Mart.

Things I hated about S2: Lindsey and Melanie and that old girlfriend of Melanie's. Justin. Michael's continued obvious dislike of kissing other men. Justin, and Justin's fiddle-player goatee boy. Justin. The way the death of Emmett's older man was played for laughs. Justin dancing around in his tighty-whities and looking like a little tiny CHILD. Justin bitching. Justin flouncing. Justin. Did I mention Justin?

Apparently he gets better in S3, though?

And yes, I saw your vid. I thought you did a really good job, which is why I want you to do an SV one. What do you need for source? I know some file types are better than others. I have a mix of mpeg and avi and...something else, but I have every ep in digital format, so if Hope doesn't have everything you need, I might.

I have been sick, too. We have to see each other after the first of the year. It's practically a biological imperative.

[rhiannonhero.livejournal.com]

So funny! You and I have nearly completely opposite likes and dislikes about S2!! I mean, seriously, nearly completely opposite.

For source I like mpeg and I'll let you know if I need anything after Hope sends stuff. I think she is only sending S3 through Shattered, so I will definitely need some things.

My biology imperitively demands to see you. :)

[rhiannonhero.livejournal.com]

Actually, to clarify:

Things I hated about S2: Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben. Ben.

Things I loved about S2: Justin. Brian. Justin and Brian. Justin. Justin. Justin.

*laughs*

So, I guess not totally opposite.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Why did you hate Ben? You surely didn't prefer Dr. David? Plus, in RL, Ben dates Kyan from Queer Eye! That's HOT!

I liked S1 Justin. Tell me what you liked about him in S2.

Melanie and Lindsey disappoint but do not surprise me in disappointing. The lesbians are the most un-fun, stuffy, judgmental...kind of accurate characters on the show.

[rhiannonhero.livejournal.com]

Ben is nasty looking. I detailed elsewhere what I don't like about his looks, but I'll tell you here, too:

1. He's too fucking big and bulky. He makes me kinda feel gaggy with his big, built blechy body.

2. He has bug eyes.

3. His lips are annoying and ugly.

4. I don't like his jawline at all.

5. He's grossly built. Blech. Did I mention the bulky built-ness? Blech.

Re: Justin, in S2. Well, I actually posted about this (sorta) on my LJ. I really can understand where Justin is coming from and, personally, I love it when he queens out and throws a fit. I don't know--I find it really kind of hot. So, all of his flouncing worked for me. I just really, really relate to him in S2--I can't describe it. I sort of talk about it on my LJ here:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/rhiannonhero/219546.html#cutid1

Though, not completely. If my nose wasn't draining, I'd probably be able to think more clearly. Also, I think he's hot. I like his body. I dunno.

Melanie and Lindsey are not fun. I agree. But I'd take them over Michael's mom and uncle any day of the week. :)

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, he's kind of strange looking. But he's an interesting character! I don't remember his body being all bulky, but maybe I was so transfixed by his peculiar facial features that I didn't notice. I do not like bulky guys either. At all.

And I read that discussion at your link...Unlike you, it had been my impression that David was really controlling, too. But then again, Michael was a whiny bitch, so it was just an all-around wrong relationship.

I don't like any of the mom characters (including Lindsey). It's a very anti-mom show if you look for the subtext ;)

[j-bluestocking.livejournal.com]

I haven't read this new story, but I once shared your squick. When I first heard of HP slash, I thought, "Some people have to slash everything," as I disapprovingly imagined a couple of ten-year-old boys burrowing under their robes.

Then I read shalott's "Weather" stories. Here's her home page, btw:

http://www.trickster.org/~shalott/

She's a fine writer, so even if you never get into HP, you might try her other stuff. Also, she's written gen HP -- "The Eleventh Doorkeeper" is pretty interesting, for example.

Anyway. I read the first story, and realized I'd had the wrong mental picture in my mind. I'd been imagining ten-year-old boys and the children's-book illustrations of the first couple of Potter novels, and I was in the wrong tonal universe entirely. Fanfic writers were aging Harry and his friends forward long before the world realized Rowling was doing it, too.

Did you ever see a movie called "Another Country"? A British boarding school in the 1930s, young upper-class men/boys on the eve of adulthood, about to go off to university. A deliciously young and attractive Rupert Everett, a ditto, ditto Colin Firth, and a story loosely based on the early friendship between Guy Burgess and Donald MacLean, who spied against Britain for the USSR in later life. In the best literary tradition, the movie is not at all about politics on the surface; it's about Everett's character nailing boy after boy sexually as Firth's character watches, quietly appalled. And it's about ambition, rejection, and the sheer sensuality of sunlight on a desk on a long afternoon of youth.

Of course, it's a cliche that British boarding schools in the old days were chock full of young men/boys (that is, boys right on the edge of adulthood) who were experimenting with each other and forming intense attachments right and left because girls lived on some entirely other planet. I only know about it from books; CS Lewis, that sort of thing -- but as someone who was there, Lewis seems to think it's a pretty valid picture.

I'm telling you more than you need to know, because I'm setting the stage. You have to entirely clean the HP films out of your head, take the characters of the Potter books, form your own picture of them, and imagine them further along. Rather like imagining Superman and Lex Luthor in Metropolis, ten years from now. Where's your comfort level? Age eighteen? Seventeen? Put these characters in a non-children's world, not unlike the world of "Another Country." Where has the magical world taken them? Into what thickets of ambiguity? What does growing up mean?

Anyway, it worked for me. Or you could just try something heavily removed from school life entirely -- Lust Over Pendle, for instance; I've never met anyone who didn't like that, including people who can't stand slash in general.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/russell.baldwin/ebooks/lop/

Good luck in this noble attempt to refurbish your mental world!

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

I saw Another Country many, many times. Many times. I might need to see it again ;) And that actually is the mental model I use for, er, schoolboy antics.

Of course, fanfic writers need to use the names, but they are currently my greatest source of horror. Hogwarts. Hufflepuff. Dumbledore. They're child-friendly, outlined in heavy black and ready to be colored in by clumsy little hands. A werewolf named Lupin, for god's sake! Doubtless, I can work up some sort of highly-personal behavioral modification program that allows me to enjoy Potterotica, but I'm having difficulty imagining success at this point.

Even so, thank you so much for the recs. I trust your judgment, so I will give these a chance. However, should I find myself horrified, I shall arrange to have my loud, petulant hissy fit in your corner.

[djinanna.livejournal.com]

Lust Over Pendle can also be found at Shoes for Industry, along with the sequel and other companion stories. Excellent post-Hogwarts story, a mixture of whodunit and comedy of manners. And Draco Malfoy coping with a brace of springer spaniels is not to be missed!

pandarus's Invisible To See is also excellent, though the setting is Hogwarts for that one.

[porntestpilot.livejournal.com]

Hi Jed. I have to laugh at the hatred of Justin because Princess_Bunny came about because of Justin. I LOVE Justin. Though I did want to murder him for breaking up with Brian so that's fair.

Do you want a video of a ten year acting it out with legos? I at least have some pictures of 16 year old girls dressed up like Harry and Draco and kissing.

Am I scarier than you think you are now?

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

All of this Justin love amazes me! He's such a whiny little bitch! But, again, the caveat being I haven't seen S3 at all.

NO! to the video! We'd go to jail!

What's scary to me is that the girls would dress like Harry and Draco; certainly not the kissing ;)

[porntestpilot.livejournal.com]

I love him because he's a whiney little bitch. He won my heart with his 'I like dick' speech and I've not detoured since then. I liked his balls. It takes a lot to make me change my mind about a character. He had pretty hair in season three. Do you need tapes? I think I have most of it.

I suppose we would go to jail. *sigh* I could film it in England, it would be okay there. The best part of those photos? Draco is played by an Asian girl in a blonde wig.

Harry and Draco:

[meret.livejournal.com]

I have the same reaction to any fic featuring the HP students.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I did think I'd get around it with characters I know little about, but the fact that it takes place at that damn school with the silly name just made me feel like a pervert, and not in the fun, bouncy way.

[rayaluna.livejournal.com]

Clever rhiannonhero is developing new talents, i.e., vidding, but she needs to get off of QaF and do SV instead, so everyone please pester her with that goal in mind.

I shall do no such thing. I've turned to the QaF fandom and I'm trying to bring people with me. *dangles candy*

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

But...but...there's no reason to write fic. And it's not very well-written on its own. And almost all the characters suck in the bad way. Nice, naked man-ass aplenty, I realize, but it's just...there. And, yeah, I know people write fic, but I don't see the point. Because I'm a bitter old crabapple, that's why.

[rayaluna.livejournal.com]

*growls a bit, then remembers that you rock, so raya stops growling*

Yes, it's not about the subtext, in that way it's the complete opposite of Smallville. Smallville is so repressed. On QaF, the actors don't even wear cock socks. On QaF there's no Lana and there's on screen gay sex. It's what would happen if slashers wrote smallville & it switched networks. I mean "Zero" had SO much more potenial. And Brian's hotter than Lex. And Justin has the best ass ever. (see previous icon)

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

I do think Brian is very hot. But I love Lex more--I think he's a more interesting character. I haven't seen any S3 QaF, but Brian wasn't given all that much to do except be a prick who was not-so-secretly in love with his little twinkie during S1 and S2. Gale Howard is hot, but I think MR is (surprisingly) a better actor.

Of course, if the actors were really fucking, I'd be there every week and I'd head up a fan club.

[rayaluna.livejournal.com]

MR is a better actor, I am not challenging that in any way. But I like Lex and Brian in different ways, both of their characters I like and I'm not trying to compare which is better. Season three was the best season. Apparently all seasons need to be that length (season 4 will be) because they cut out the crap & went straight for the good stuff. I LOVED Brian & Justin in season three. They both grew up and I just LOVED it.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Well, maybe I should watch S3, especially if Rhi is going to start going on and on about it. I don't want to get bored with her, see?

I did enjoy S1 but hated S2--it was like the worst aspects of all the characters were highlighted week after week. However, the prom scene at the end of S1 is still one of my favorite romantic scenes of all time.

[rayaluna.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I LOVED the prom scene. That ep was really amazing. Season two I missed a lot of, so I'm not that comfortable passing judgement on, but there was a lot of it I liked. I loved the Pride ep. That will always be one of my favourites. I hated Ethan, but almost everybody did. We were supposed to, IMO. If we weren't, then we would have seen a scene were Ethan and Justin talk and there's forgiveness so we aren't left hating Ethan.

[rayaluna.livejournal.com]

Also, the BEST fic I've ever read, which is amazing considering the thousands and thousands of fic I've read, was a QaF story. "Reaper Boy" (http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=nanowrenlet) by wrenlet.

And it's not very well-written on its own. And almost all the characters suck in the bad way.

As opposed to Lana? Pete? Chloe? Clark at times?? BO!? There's a reason the GAYLE's have/had(?) a cheese award each week.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know SV sucks. I treasure it's suckiness, in fact. If it didn't suck, who'd write fic? The shows I love for the shows have little or no fanfic associated with them. I love SV for the pretty boys and the potential. That Shattered was actually a really exciting episode was just a wonderful bonus.

I'll read that fic on your rec.

[rayaluna.livejournal.com]

WARNING: That fic is long in length (done for NaNoWriMo) and I suggest you get kleenex. A box.

[rayaluna.livejournal.com]

I love SV for the pretty boys and the potential. That Shattered was actually a really exciting episode was just a wonderful bonus.

QaF certainly has the pretty boys and if the last season was any indictation, it has a lot of potential. And the thing with "Shattered" is, it was a perfect episode. And now the show can only go downhill. The next ep has promise, but after this.... we'll be back to the Clark/Lana show. Oh, and that Lex Luthor guy is in there occasionally. I HOPE they don't do that. But I have little faith in the writers.

[pepperjackcandy.livejournal.com]

Don't watch QAF, not sure I want to go there, either (dh's squicked enough by my passionate love for the boys of SVs' love for each other).

However, I did take the word association test and apparently I have issues with submission and discipline.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

...which words, by their omission, I can conclude I do not have problems with. Therefore, I shall turn you over my knee...

My favorite thing about QaF was the passionate kissing. Boys kissing and kissing! I have seen enough gay porn now to be blase about it, but there's never enough kissing!

[porntestpilot.livejournal.com]

I still think Gale and Randy [yeah yeah Brian and Justin, I don't care] kissing is hotter than any other gay porn I currently have. Though anyone is welcome to attempt to prove me incorrect by sending me porn.