Get over yourself.

This is sort of the first part of a two-part post I'm planning on writing.  It was originally going to be one post with a disclaimer.  But I realized I'd end up ranting for a couple paragraphs because this is a touchy subject with me and I figured why not just make the original rant shorter for the loss of the page-long disclaimer?

So this is the prologue to the oncoming blogpost, which I'm roughly entitling Doctor Who And Why I Call Myself a Whooligan and Not A Whovian Because My Favorite Season Was Season One and Whovians Hate Me For That.

I'm still working on the title.

But anyway.  The disclaimer was going to say this: loads of Whovians who watched the original Doctor Who before the rebooted show have told me that Eleven is more like the original Doctors, and that's why they prefer him to Nine or Ten.  And that's totally fine.  Different opinions - I like them.  The trouble comes when, as has happened to me, people get belligerent and say that Eleven is the best New Who Doctor and that the people who don't like him obviously have something wrong with them - and if they don't know the original Doctors, then they're obviously n00bs and their opinion is moot.

As John Green said, this is one of those few things that turns me into a giant squid of anger.

Especially now with all of the reboots, remakes, and revitalizations, elitism like this is everywhere.  The people who've been in fandoms before it was cool have disdain to spare for the oncoming newbies.  (Not all of them; I just want to make that clear.  There are idiots and smart people in every group.)  And sometimes I see someone who's had experience in a fandom or an area of interest, and they just swarm over a confused newbie like a one-man cloud of vampire bats, with this wad of corrections and clarifications and facepalms.

It's not. cool. guys.

Entertainment like this is not a big deal.  It's fun.  That's what entertainment is FOR - it's for FUN.  It's for relaxing and deepening your mind and maybe making friends that you wouldn't have made otherwise.

You do not use entertainment - movies, novels, mythologies, comic books, TV shows, radio programs - to talk down to people because they got something wrong.  Okay?  You don't.

A person should be able to enjoy the Marvel Cinematic Universe without getting lambasted because he's never read all hundred billion comics that came before.  A girl should be able to say she really enjoyed The Kane Chronicles even if she knows nothing about Egyptian mythology.  I should be able to talk about Doctor Who even if my favorite Doctor is Nine, I hate Amy with every fiber of my being, and I occasionally write Dr. Who instead of Doctor.  A guy should be able to say he enjoyed the book and the movie without getting "THEY CHANGED THE BOOK SO MUCH" shouted in his face as if he didn't notice himself.  And a girl should be able to say she enjoys Twilight without getting venom spit at her.

Elitism like is hurtful and damaging and it just makes you look like an idiot.  Not all fans do it - fandom people are generally awesome - and of course the nasty fans don't affect everybody the same way.  Some people can roll it off.  Other people internalize.  And before anyone says that they should get used to it - which they should, I agree - I can also say that they shouldn't have to.

I mean, come on.  Jesus loved noobs!  He didn't go around talking down to Gentiles because they didn't have the entire Jewish history in their bloodlines.  I think it was the people who thought they knew everything who ended up getting most of His righteous indignation, wasn't it?

So what this all boils down to, in the end, is respect.  Respect that other people have different opinions. Respect that some people just like Greek stories and that they don't know Ancient Greek and that it sure as heck isn't hurting you if they don't know that Hercules is Roman and not Greek.  Respect that someone doesn't have time to read all the original Avengers comic books and that even if they had the time they might not have the money and that where on earth do you get comic books anymore anyway?    Respect that maybe Owl City's latest album is actually their first introduction to electronica and that just because all they know yet is "Good Time" doesn't mean they don't have all the necessary enthusiasm, love, and effort to put into a fandom.

Or that someone doesn't want to be as big a fan as you are!  What an idea, that someone doesn't want to be just as hardcore and awesome as you are.  Kick in the pants, that.

Let. people. alone.  Newbies don't need a teacher.  They need someone who'll sit and scream with them at Weeping Angels and who'll headbang along with them to OneRepublic's new song and someone who'll await the next book or episode with just as much agony as they have.

In other words, get over yourself.

I LIIIIIVE.

I think I've had several blogposts with titles similar to this.  Oh well.

Five months.  Things have happened.  Hmm.

-I went to the OYAN Winter Workshop in January.  Great way to spend the beginning of the year.  If you don't (which is unlikely since most of my followers are indeed OYANers, so hi to you guys!) then you should definitely look into OYAN.  I mean, if fiction writing is your thing.

-I'm officially accepted into the college of my choice, I have a giganto scholarship from them, and I'm in the Honors Courses.  Huzzah!

-I've read some stinking amazing books.  Check my Goodreads to look because I need to actually talk about stuff that's not going on and on and on about books.

-My Norse fascination has officially ended.  Apparently I inhaled all I wanted and I'm now moving on.  Not that I inhaled overmuch, but I prefer to be a Jack of all trades and master of none.  (Slipshod, maybe; don't judge me, I have a short attention span.)  My poor Prose Edda is still sitting over there, having been waiting to be read since Christmas.

-New obsession - to wit, Japanese culture/mythology/language/poetry - here I come!

-I like pudding.  No, seriously, I am obsessed with homemade pudding because homemade pudding is God's gift to His chosen few who make it themselves.  Pudding is included in my nightly prayers.

-There's a face on my chair.  Like a :D face, etched into the paint.  It's really cute.  It's smiling at me.

-I have a stuffed lobster named Larry.  Larry the Lobster is the official therapist in my room full of characters.  They all go to him and cry into his fuzzy fire-engine-red fuzz whenever they need a break.  Chance occasionally flirts with the lobster.  It's all good.

-DOWNTON. ABBEY.  S'all I'm gonna say.

-Except that IRON MAN 3 Y'ALL.  And we're supposed to get a Thor 2 trailer sometime in early April.  Marvel makes me all... fuzzy and warm inside.  Like I just ate a nice big bowl of pudding.  I'll probably post the trailer the day it comes out, complete with lots of caps/italics.

-AND SHERLOCK.  They're starting filming... I think this week.  Me, a stalker?  Noooooo.  I merely observe.

I think that's it.  It's a good rundown on my life since November, anyhow.  I'll try to post more often.  Lots of writing and TV and movie and otherwise related to entertainment... stuff.  Yes.  Stuff.  I like stuff.

Stuff. Yes. Stuff.

I'm not rightly here.  If you can tell.

First thing.  NaNo.  I was going to update on the first day, but that... did not happen.

But today's the seventh, so I think a week's update is sufficient.

At the moment, I'm completely and totally in love with the story and I'm not even to the really good parts yet.  It's been ridiculously easy to write.  As of tonight, I have about 12.5k words - ahead of schedule!

And then today, we saw Wreck-It Ralph which was, in a better man's words, fantastic.  Ralph was a great character, Vanellope was flipping ADORABLE, and Felix and the Hero's Duty lady and King Candy and - Merlin's beard, it was just a good movie.

"I'm okay - it just glazed me!"

"Why are your hands so freakishly big?"
"I don't know - why are you so freakishly annoying?"

"You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would you?"
*WHACK*
"Okay, you hit a guy... with glasses.  That's clever.  Well-played."

"They invited Pac-Man?  That cherry-chasing dot-muncher?"

And I admit that half of its charm was the game references.  I actually did play a lot of those games (Frogger. In the background.  Oh yes, one happy girl here), and I was having a flip-out when I saw Sonic doing ads for 'not dying' outside one's own game.

So yeah.  NaNo, going pretty well on schedule.  Wreck-It Ralph is a must see.  That's it for me.

The return of normal Aster.

Yep.  Catharsis is over.  I'm back to my unsocial, sarcastic, selfish, uncaring self!

To prove it, here's my report on this week's movies.  They actually only measure up to... two.  So I got distracted.  The first, which I watched Tuesday, was Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief.

Ye gods, Eragon was better than that.

That's all I have to say on that matter.  Except that at least you cared about Brom and Saphira and maybe even Eragon a little bit.  And that the battle scenes were actually interesting.  And that the dialogue wasn't always abysmal.

PJ gets no checks on those.

Today I watched Jane Eyre, the 2011 version with Mia Wasikowska in the title role.  I'd heard great things and I expected to love it, but... didn't.  I don't blame the actors - they were fantastic with what they were giving.  The script was just so... boring.  And it left so many holes in the relationship between Jane and Rochester.  Sigh.  Two disappointing book-inspired movies in one week.  Maybe I'll get better luck tomorrow.

Anyway.  The Book Report:

* Myths of the Norsemen by Roger Lancelyn Green.  YAY NORSE.
* Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted.  Modern-day Beauty and the Beast retelling that could be really horrible or really good.
* Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones.  JONES AGAIN.
* Beowulf translated by... someone.  I'll get back to you on that.
* Magical x Miracle Vol 2 by Yuzu Mizutani.
* Pandora Hearts Vol 7 by Jun Mochizuki.  I didn't get around to it last week.  I WILL do it this week.
* Wonder by R.J. Palacio. About a kid with a facial deformity.  It was actually really good.

I'm also sort of slowing down with my 100 In 100, but I'm still in the game.  Even if I don't beat everybody else...

So behind with so many things.

Well, I missed about three different things I meant to blog about.  I'll just have to give the abridged version.

Book Report:
* The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman (SHUSTERMAN)
* The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson (rec'd by a trusted friend)
* Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones (JONES)
* Henry IV, Part One by William Shakespeare (didn't get around to this last week)
* Magical x Miracle Vol. 1 by Yuzu Mizutani (random manga I picked up in Goodwill)
* Pandora Hearts Vol. 7 by Jun Mochizuki (didn't get around to this either)

Now.  The 100 In 100 Challenge.

As of yesterday, I had 1784 words.  About 700 of those were in the novel I started; the rest went into an epilogue I wrote for my fairytale/ghost story, Bitter Magic.  I haven't written anything today and I'm thinking this may end up my grace day for this week.  Headaaache.

Anyway.

As anyone knows, The Avengers comes out on DVD on the 25th - in other words, thirteen days. (Cue fangirl screams.)  I like counting down to such momentous events (it's sort of like my thing with Top Ten Lists and such) and so I've given myself this challenge:

Watch a new movie every day for thirteen days.  Then I can watch Avengers which I saw in theaters three times.

Does the connection make sense?  'Course not.  But I want an excuse to watch a new movie every day, so here we go.

I haven't decided on one for tonight, but yesterday I got around to one I've been wanting to see for ages - Castle in the Sky, a masterpiece straight from Hayao Miyazaki himself.  It was really brilliant - the art was gorgeous, the characters were awesome, and the soundtrack - aahhh, the soundtrack.  Definitely a winner.

I'll check back in tomorrow with something about both today's and tomorrow's movies.  And hopefully a much-higher wordcount.

*high-pitched girly scream of absolute terror*

This movie.

THIS MOVIE.

A 60s suspense movie, about a doll stuffed with drugs, the criminals who want the doll, and the young blind woman who's unlucky enough to get between them.

Watch it, they said.  It's a great movie.  It's a scary movie! they said.

Sounds fun, I said.  I doubt I'll be scared, but it sounds fun, I said.

LOL NOPE, the movie said.

Don't get me wrong.  This is an awesome movie.  Audrey Hepburn is my favorite actress of all time, and she acts blind so well.  It's almost impossible to not imagine it from her perspective - in the dark.  All the time.  Relying on her ears.  She just begs you to imagine what it's like for her.

Wherein lies the terror.

It feels. so. real.

And that last scene.  I understand why it'd be one of the most famous scary scenes of all time.  See, I'm not scared by anything.  Okay, well, some things, but not usually anything fictional.  I'm really hard to terrify.  Not to mention that it's physically hard for me to scream.  I've tried and it just doesn't work.  There's something up with my throat, or something.

During that last scene?  I screamed.  

I read somewhere that when it was in theaters, they turned down the lights as low as possible.  And then when Susy (the blind girl) starts breaking lights, they turned off the theater lights one... 

by... 

one.

I can't even imagine.

So, if anybody needs me, you'll find me under my blanket.  With a flashlight.  And my cat.  And maybe Winnie The Pooh.  And one or two of my dear faithful characters armed to the teeth to protect me from the drug dealers who may have hidden their coke in my Pillow Pet.

This is why I hate book-movies.

The Twilight Saga.  The Hunger Games.  And now Beautiful Creatures.  All books or series that have been or are going to be made into movies.   The hype is unbelievable. (Well, not for Beautiful Creatures.  That's not quite as well-known, for excellent reasons.)

I think everyone knows Hollywood is struggling.  And I personally don't mind lots of books being made into movies, if the people making them have proper respect for their sources. (That doesn't mean I want my book-movies EXACTLY LIKE THE BOOK!! but that's another rant.)  I love books, and there are hundreds of amazing, engaging stories out there.

So why doesn't Hollywood use them instead of picking out the stupidest, most boring chick fluff on the market?

Okay, okay, The Hunger Games is no chick fluff (mostly).  But it's not the best thing since sliced bread.  Katniss is annoying, the violence isn't gory but it's self-indulgent, and aaaaaauuugh, de Wuv Twiangle!  Must every girl have at least two guys hanging on her every selfish word now?

Anyway.

I have a list of books that deserve to be made into movies.  Hollywood, listen up.

1. Ranger's Apprentice series

Action!  Adventure!  Blood!  An awesome old grumpy mentor!  What's not to like about RA?  And, Hollywood, it's got ten books.  Sequel material!

I've actually heard whisperings of an RA movie, but that was ages ago, so it's might have been dropped.  I'd enjoy any recent interviews/snippets about it, though.

(Oh.  And if it does get made into a movie, Hollywood, please get Jeremy Irons to be Halt.  I BEG OF YOU.)



2. Artemis Fowl series

You know the whole villains-as-heroes thing that's going on?  Artemis fits the bill perfectly.  With fairies and technology.  It's James Bond in Wonderland.  Or... something.  Anyway.

Seriously, after ages of this series being insanely popular, it should be a movie already.  I guess finding a convincingly evil twelve-year-old could be difficult.  Asa Butterfield was kinda creepy as Morderd on Merlin, but he's not the Artemis type.  Oh well.

But really.  I'd pay twenty dollars to see this movie.  With some great CGI affects, it could be epic.


3.  The Sisters Grimm series

Fairytales are in, too, Hollywood.

This series is definitely a younger series, but if the movies got a little more grown-up - not a lot, just draw the characters more complexly, cut down the corny humor, make things a bit more terrifying.  Like How To Train Your Dragon, really.  Epic movie that came out of epic-but-sixth-grade-oriented books.  It's possible.



4. Children of the Red King series

Maybe a Charlie Bone movie would be pretty tacky coming straight off the heels of Deathly Hallows: Part 2, but in a year or two, I bet a lot of people would flock to see some more 'magical academy' stories - for instance, people with HP withdrawal.  Like me.

And again, sequels, Hollywood!  And they just keep getting better. (I haven't finished the series yet, but I'm close.)  The characters are interesting, and the 'endowed' idea is just fun.


5. The Bartimaeus Trilogy

Okay.  The best YA series of its kind - what kind that is, I'm not sure; maybe urban fantasy? alternate reality? somethin' - as a movie?  With the snarkiest djinni and the rottenest little magician you've ever met as co-stars?

As Bartimaeus would say: I ask you.  BEST. MOVIE. EVER.

True, I can imagine about a hundred things that might get lost in translation, due to Bartimaeus's amazing inner monologue and those delightful little footnotes.

But, if the movie didn't take itself too seriously, they could find ways to put it in there.  As long as it did take itself seriously sometime.  So, if they found a way to balance the humor with the darkness... Harry Potter, meet you maker.

***

So can you tell what I like to read/watch?   Yeah, lots of those are very similar.  Well, they're sending out a ton of similar teen romance movies and faux-angsty action movies now.  Might as well start a new trend!

Really, the best stories are in the kids' books.  Take my word for it.  You too, Hollywood.  Try looking for stories somewhere besides a Twihard's bookshelf for once.

Belle/Mulan/Pocahontas = Ariel? [A Raving Senseless Rant]

I mentioned in the last post that I can't stand the movie The Little Mermaid.  Seriously.  I can't stand it.  I love "Kiss The Girl," and Ursula is a wicked villain, and Sebastian is funny.  But I'd rather watch the entire Vampire Knight series than watch The Little Mermaid again anytime soon.

Most of this rather unhealthy hatred stems from Ariel herself.  How girls love her and want all her merch and sing "Part Of Your World" nonstop is way beyond me.  I guess it's just easier to be her than to be someone better.

It boggles my mind how people compare Ariel to the likes of Belle, Mulan, or Pocahontas.  And they use the flimsiest arguments.  "Ariel is just like them.  She's spirited and lively and fiery just like Belle and Mulan and Pocahontas."

Sure she is.  I don't deny that.  But it's how Belle, Mulan, and Pocahontas use their spirit that sets them waaaay apart from Ariel.  Belle (she's a bit weak in the beginning, but she gets her sea legs, so to speak) uses her 'spirit' to save her father in a very selfless act.  Mulan dresses like a man and goes to war - not for grrrl powah or anything, but to save her father.  Pocahontas, while still not my favorite Disney heroine, is intelligent and brave, and through her courage saves both John Smith, her people, and his.

What does Ariel do?  She complains about her life (she's a PRINCESS, she could do anything she wanted), stalks a sailor she's never met, and then gives up her whole life in order to attempt to communicate with the same guy who's never met her before.


That's spirit, all right.  Really misdirected spirit, but hey, she's spirited!  Little girls can look up to spirit!

JUST STOP BEING A FIERY SPUNKY HEROINE AND SHOW SOME INTELLIGENCE ONCE IN A WHILE, YOU STUPID STUPID FEMALE!

Really, what smart decision does Ariel ever make?  She's a total jerk to her dad (who is actually pretty awesome, if you ask me), she disobeys just about everything anyone tells her, and she makes a deal with a sea witch.  Now, real love wouldn't make a deal with a witch.  Obsession would.  Ariel is obsessed.  Not in love.  Obsessed.

Besides all that, she gives up her voice - which is the main technique people use to really get to know each other - for... a pair of legs.  Which she doesn't know how to use.

Nice try, Ariel.

I shudder to imagine Ariel's thought processes.  "Let's see.  I hate my life for some reason, and I'm like so in wuv with the hot human dude on the ship.  Like, humans are so much better!  So I'm gonna go trade my voice, my fins, and my family to an evil sea-witch.  And if I can't get the dude to fall in love with me in three days, then I get my soul sucked out.  But, like, no prob.  This is cool."

Geez...

And I'm not even going to start in with the whole 'if he doesn't love you in three days, then you fail - and falling in love with you means giving you a big sloppy wet one.'  You cannot get a guy to fall in love with you in three days, and a kiss does not mean love, and it's a horrible message.  I mean, Prince Philip killed a witch in dragon form to get to Aurora - not that just grandstanding is love, either, but come on.  Eric is such a sap.

Sigh.  And this is the most beloved Disney Princess of them all.  And before you say, 'It's just a fairytale!' I'm going to say that, no, it's not a fairytale.  Fairytales are not tales of happiness and spunky heroines whining and getting their way through the power of insta-love.

I'm sure everyone knows, but the real Little Mermaid went through excruciating pain to be with and to please her prince, and in the end he still went off and married another lady.

Fairytales are painful.  Disney is not.  And The Little Mermaid is Disney.  Not a fairytale.

Okay, I'm done ranting.  If you agree or if, hey, I made you mad, I'd love to hear about it!

A Rant For An Intro

Hello there.  Cactus Maye at your service. *bow*

I figured that a boring old intro would be... well, boring.  And I don't plan on being boring.  If I am, hit me with a crowbar or a piano or something.  So, since I'll not be wanting any piano-sized bruises now, I'll start off with another sort of bang.  

My thoughts on the Hobbit trailer.

So, yes.  The Hobbit.  Hmm.  Well.  Looks like we'll being having a lot of the same of the original trilogy.  

Which means, y'know, HOLY MOLEHILL OF GUACAMOLE EPIC.

Now, it's going to take a while to sell me on Bilbo.  He's never been on my Top Twenty Favorite LotR Characters (though that would be an interesting list).  But he's... well... a hobbit.  The hobbit, in fact.  So I doubt it'll take me long. 

The dwarves look awesome.  Gandalf - well, you just can't mess up Gandalf. (Though I'm wondering about that bit with him and Galadriel.  Looked a bit... erm... weird?  I hope they don't add romance between them.  Because Galadriel is an elf and Gandalf is not and he looks like he could pretty much be her grandfather, even if she is probably way older.  So no.  I'm praying I'm just a bit paranoid.) 

And the music.  Oh, the music.  I swear every time that theme comes on, my heart tries to stop.  Really, it feels like it.  It's beautiful, beautiful music, and I'm glad they've stuck with that theme, because LotR (even the prequel) without it's theme is not LotR.  And the dwarf song.  Shivers.  All up and down my spine.

So, in conclusion: why isn't it December 2012 now?