It Started with a Journal

Avengers fandom things.

* If you're into Clint/Natasha, or might be into Clint/Natasha but aren't sure, or have already been or have been wanting to get into fandom, there's a promptathon going on at the C/N comm here. Meet some people, leave some prompts (which you can do this whole week). Or if you're a hermit like me, don't meet people and just leave prompts. :)) Seriously, the more prompts, the better. If you aren't sure about the ship and want to read a certain kind of story to see if you can get into it, leave a prompt. If you love the ship and want to see some GP thing, leave a prompt. Prompt filling starts at the end of this week, and it's a very casual thing. All prompts are open to any kind of fanwork, and can be used by more than one artist.

* Avengers Assemble #5. The Natasha/Bucky shippers went apeshit on Tumblr because of this and this. I made a comment that I hoped the comic would continue to go in that direction, and I got a couple of eye-roll inducing PMs from Natasha/Bucky shippers/trolls that made me temporarily turn off anonymous mail. They both said something along the lines of, "It's not going to happen, this was an OOC moment. Natasha is dating Bucky and Clint is with Jessica." Oh yes, because in fiction and in real life, there's no such thing as breaking up. Especially in comics. They're all super faithful and never get it on with other people and are involved in permanent unions. Seriously? We haven't gotten to a place yet where we can just let other people ship what they want to ship, even if we might disagree with or hate it? Is it just because Tumblr's full of teenagers? I guess I'm just too old and have been involved in fandom in general for too long (~13 years). Flame wars are stupid and pointless. Ship what you fucking want to ship and let others do the same, jesus.

* I have written two whole stories! They both need editing like crazy, then beta after that, but it is exciting just to have finished a story (much less two). Regular writing is a skill that's evaded me for so long that I thought I'd never get it back. But thanks to a little "program" Jade's helping me with, I seem to be back in the rhythm of writing. It's a good feeling, even if what I produce is crap. I'm slowly getting over the stress and pressure of feeling like I have to produce something better than anything I've written before. I need to get back in the mindset of writing for me, writing things I want to read, and to hell with everyone else. Well, you know, not really, I love everyone else. But you know what I mean.

* Ohmygod, I just love RDJ. He showed up at Comic Con to judge a kids' Iron Man costume contest. My favorite bits:



:)))))))))))))

* Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier. I am... cautiously extremely excited about this. :D ( I kind of went on about this longer than I intended. )

In non-Avengers news:

* In the past few days I have baked three loaves of bread using Cooks Illustrated's Almost No-Knead Bread recipe, and it's been a rousing success. I may never make bread any other way again.

* I've started watching Leverage. Shhh don't tell Jade. Unless she happens to see this. :)) I'm planning on telling her once I've finished S1. My problem with the show is that it's too caper-y. I don't like capers -- or at least, not enough to watch hours and hours of it (one movie, like Ocean's 11, is about my limit). All the resolutions are so convenient that the plots don't hold my interest, because none of it really seems to matter much. It'll all get fixed in the end in some easy way. Plus I'm not a Timothy Hutton fan. I do like Christian Kane (though he's so much puffier than his days on Angel, and I'm not into his long hair), and I like Eliot & Hardison, but I don't know if I like them enough to watch the show just for them (they're no Troy & Abed). I like Sophie okay, but she's Nate's love interest, and I'm meh about Parker as a character. Of course, these are all thoughts from the first half of S1 so I could change my tune.

* I'm going to start watching Psych because T. is totally into it and I want to see what the fuss is about.

* I finally finished all of House. Boy were those final three seasons torturous. ( Possibly spoilery comments. )

VOTE JOHN WATSON IN THE FINAL FOUR!! I should never read comments, they just piss me off. I'm fine with people cheering on their favorites, but when they start insulting other characters that's when I have to throw down. Remember how I made the initial comment when this all started a few days ago that the results seemed over-the-top feminist? Proof are the comments I'm reading, people complaining that a guy, and worse, "the blandest white guy ever," got into the Final Four. STFU morons! If you can't appreciate how awesome John Watson/Martin Freeman is because of his gender then you lead a SAD LITTLE LIFE. I mean, yes, I'm glad he beat Mary, and not because I'm totally anti-Mary. I voted for her until she came up against another character I liked more. But now I want to vote for John JUST TO SPITE THE HATERS. He probably won't win, it seems that Donna Noble's supporters are just too vast, and I should be sorry because John and Leslie are my final two and I'd have a better chance of winning the pool if they both make it to the championship 'game,' but instead I'm sorry because it means the moronic people getting down on John will get to be happy. /bitter John Watson supporter

And while I'm on this topic, Leslie Knope >>>>>>>> Hermione Granger. I want to like Hermione because logically I feel like I should like Hermione, but I find her shrill, annoying, and generally detestable. I know that will not win me any fandom friends, but OH WELL. It seems I don't have popular fandom opinions!

In other boring news, I've applied for a new credit card, the CapitalOne Venture Rewards card. CapitalOne is the only U.S. credit card that doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee when you buy something in another currency (say, from Amazon UK). I applied for this particular one because they have a promotion going on right now ("Double Miles") where you show them your 2011 year-end statement from a rewards credit card that you already have, and they'll give you double miles based on that amount, up to 100,000 miles, which can be used for travel or converted to cash or whatever. That's a potential $1,000 for nothing, which is better than any other promotion I've seen. The person I spoke to on the phone says that any rewards credit card (you already have) is eligible, even though the literature all specify "travel rewards card." Anyway. If you happen to be looking for a new credit card and you already have a rewards credit card that you use a lot (which I do), it might be worth exploring this one.

I'm debating whether or not to buy some Head Country Barbecue Sauce. They're based in Oklahoma and buying it online is just about the only way I can get it (short of flying there). It's probably the best barbecue sauce I've ever had. The problem is that a case of 12 costs just as much to ship as the case itself! Also I don't really need 12 bottles of it. O.o However, buying half that amount individually doesn't cost much less, and the shipping costs slightly more. Yeah, I don't know. Then again, I'm trying to remember my mantra that money is only useful if I'm using it to make myself happy, so there's that. Oh, what the hell, I'm doing it. I called and they said that the expiration is 3 years from the date of bottling, so that seems doable enough (assuming I get fresh bottles), and I can also give some away.

It's on my mind because my stovetop smoker arrived and I made ribs this weekend -- THE BEST RIBS EVER. They were infused with hickory smoke and were juicy and tender. Seriously, I can now confirm that even pre-bacon, this stovetop smoker was worth every penny. I love barbecue, but Seattle's not exactly a great place for it, other than like 2 weeks in the summer. Now I can have delicious barbecue all year long! And while the house did smell like a lovely BBQ joint while it was cooking, it didn't last for more than a day. (Not that I personally would have minded if it had.) There was minimal smoke from the smoker during the full two hours the baby back ribs were cooking -- I was amazed! ( Ribalicious! )

Oh, and while I was at H-Mart, they had TV screens up showing a Korean drama, and I saw Ga Eul! Her character was helping her sick mom. It was kind of like seeing an old friend, lol. Except when I was in the parking lot texting akscully about it, some asshole woman slammed her car door into my car! SERIOUSLY, WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT????? You wouldn't believe how many times it's happened where I've been in the car and then the person next to it just opens their door without a SINGLE CARE for my car. I would understand if I was parked like a jerk, over the line and what not -- but I was parked perfectly in the middle of my space!! I mean, I sometimes feel like I am the ONLY person who is careful and considerate when I'm parked next to someone, to keep my door from hitting their car. And of course she didn't speak a lick of English, so all my admonitions of how she should be more careful, etc., basically fell on deaf ears. I was so frustrated. It totally left a little ding on my car, and I probably should have asked for insurance information and what not, but I knew I wasn't going to report it, so I just left in a huff. Still, I probably should have, just to make her sweat for a few days and learn that there are potential consequences for being an asshole.

OK, so I have a guilty confession to make. I read and loooooooooved Outlander years ago. I loved the characters, the universe, the story. Outlander felt epic and magical. But I couldn't get into its sequel, Dragonfly in Amber. It took me AGES to finish, and at the end of it I didn't feel much any desire to go on. I haven't read any of the books after that, because the characters stopped being appealing and the historical intrigue that's present in every novel feels so convoluted that it doesn't much interest me. Yet I still consider myself an Outlander fan, so I've always felt guilty that I haven't actually read the books in the series. I don't have much hope that, left to my own devices, I'll actually ever read the other books, so I hit on the great idea that if I read all the details about them on Wikipedia, it might spark a renewed interest. Unfortunately, other than the two novels I've actually read, the Wikipedia summaries for the other books are totally sparse, really not much better than what might be on the book jackets. All I know is that they end up in crazy places with crazy connections and all the relationships are super complicated (more complicated than I really like; Claire being married to Jamie and Frank while traveling to the past and meeting Frank's ancestor in Outlander was about as complex as I like it). And it's not even that I don't like series that have a billion characters and a complex storyline (A Song of Ice and Fire, anyone?) -- but where Diana Gabaldon has taken Outlander is not as compelling to me as ASoIaF. :/ I guess maybe I have to stop calling myself an Outlander fan.

I don't know if anyone else is following f_march_madness, but I actually got in early enough this year to enter the pool. Unfortunately, while I made some good picks, I also made some bad ones -- namely, I should not have picked Scully. Apparently people are totally over Scully. I have Leslie Knope taking it all, but she's going to face some stiff competition from Donna Noble, who people apparently LOVE. (Since I haven't watched past S1 of Dr. Who, I don't know her at all, but I have to root against her or she is going to bust my bracket.) Even though I picked her myself, I'm surprised that Sansa Stark is so handily beating Buffy in round 2. Apparently poor Buffy is in the same boat as Scully in that they're in fandoms from too long ago.

As for real March Madness, aka, the NCAA men's basketball tourney, our office is doing a pool again this year. Since UCLA's not even IN it (sigh), I won't have to be torn between school loyalty/sentimentality and who I actually think will win. The problem is that I haven't been following college bball at ALL this year, so I have no clue who's good and who's not. Therefore I am once again using Slate's advice on what teams to pick. It didn't work out last year, but it was a very close thing, so I figure, why not.

I've updated my "shipping chart" (as in, what pairings I like). With my recent bout of love for Merlin, it's made me wonder if there was any way to predict beforehand what ship I would have shipped on that show, just from looking at past tendencies. Like, maybe I am totally predictable in what I will like. (I'm also still uncertain what Jade will ship, if anything.) But from what I can tell, my liking a canon ship is actually fairly anomalous. The only thing that seems to be consistent is that my primary ship has never been a slash pairing. I'm not even going to get into why, as that's not the point of this post, but there are various reasons. In any case, for the most part it seems I tend to ship pairings that will ultimately frustrate me, lol.

Edit: I've included info on whether a pairing is canon OTP or not. From that, I can say that there's a 36% chance that I'll ship a canon OTP ship as my OTP. LOL. How nerdy is that!

( The chart. )

On slash: I don't see the point of turning two men into women, and then pairing them together. What you're looking for is called "femmeslash."

Not all slash does this. The vast majority of it, I've found, does. Kind of kicks the theory of "two hot guys together" in the teeth. See, that I can get. The turning one or more of them into women, I do not. If you're going to do that, either actually use female characters, or keep them as men. Doing otherwise is an atrocity that makes me want to laugh and laugh and laugh and gouge my eyes out if they don't first fall out of my head from rolling too hard.

Actually, do what you want. But dude. Call it as it is.

Why I can can hardly read slash anymore: Is fluffy DRECK. About two women with penises.

So. If you have slash recs that don't have the above limitations, rec here so that I might see the attraction once more. Otherwise, I can get fluffy dreck from het fics, which aren't nearly as supercilious, and has the added bonus of actually featuring at least one man.

~~~

To apologize for ranting, but also to kind of prove my point, here is some hot Draco/Ginny/Harry smut that mynuet just posted. Dom!Draco!! Whooooo. And am going to be beta'ing smut that jade_okelani just sent my way. Am v. lucky girl!

Got this link from kstanley. It bothered me so much I had to go to the bathroom and be sick.

And now, please pardon me while I indulge in a little whining. Let me say first that, as a writer, I absolutely appreciate reviewers. You guys are awesome; you motivate us and challenge us, and make the sometimes-arduous task of writing worth every drop of blood that we put into our stories. Without you there would be no reason to post our work; every bit of effort you take in leaving a review for a story is a thousand times appreciated -- no matter if it is praise, critique, or general discussion. Thus, I hope that the following criticism will not be taken the wrong way, that I am someone who doesn't want feedback on her work, which is not the case at all. However, I am at a breaking point and I need to say this. And if this helps someone out there leave a more useful/conscientious review, then that's all I can ask.

I think I can say that 90% of the reviews I've gotten have had a positive impact on myself and/or my writing. That's a fantastic thing. However, the other 10% make me never want to write another word. Again. Ever. Or if I write it, I don't want to post it. Does this have to do with self-esteem? No -- you could probably tell me that you hate my writing, that it's a pile of donkey dung, and I'll laugh and go on unperturbed (unless enough people say it, in which case I ought to evaluate what I'm doing). The reason I wouldn't want to post another word would simply be to spite these people. These people who leave the most baffling, nonsensical, unhelpful reviews known to man. Please bear with me as I give examples of what I feel constitutes such reviews (and please, PLEASE keep in mind that the majority of you out there are WONDERFUL, and I hope this won't discourage you from continuing your good work).

1) Demanding that we write faster. Initially, this didn't bother me; I saw it as an indication that people were genuinely interested in the story and wanted to see it progress. What's wrong with that? But it didn't take long to start getting the feeling that the people who leave these reviews have zero appreciation for the time and effort it takes to write. All they want is immediate gratification. They probably didn't even fully appreciate what they read.

And -- if you think it's that easy to churn out quality fiction amidst real-life considerations and other distractions, you do it. I think most of us try and write as fast as we possibly can, and rushing through it can only be a detriment to the story. To those who would say, "We don't care, we just want to know what happens!" I say this: Ultimately, I write for me, not you, and I'm not going to compromise my story for you. If that sounds haughty or bitchy, I'm sorry, but that's how it goes.

2) Asking for a sequel or continuation of a story clearly marked as complete. This really, really bothers me. Again, initally I saw this as a compliment. A reader enjoyed the story so much that she didn't want to see it end. And I still do consider it a compliment -- somewhat. However, when a review consists of nothing but, "Are you going to write a sequel?" or "When's the next part?" it aggravates me more than anything. First of all, I have already indicated that the story is complete, so there is no next part. If you're not paying attention enough to even realize that, then maybe you should take more care in reading the story instead of giving the impression that you zipped through it without any thought to the work put to it.

Secondly, I do not believe that every ending has to be pat and tie everything up before the story is at an end. The story has ended when the tale the writer wanted to tell has been told. That's it. NOT EVERY STORY HAS TO HAVE A SEQUEL. Gah. I have found the HP fandom to be very frustrating in this regard; short stories are not in the least appreciated. Instead, what people seem to want are WIPs that go pointlessly on and on. I'm sorry -- when I write, I have a purpose, and when that purpose is satisfied, I'm done. One of the hardest things for a writer is to end a story when it should end, rather than when she or readers want it to end. If I write a sequel, it will be because the sequel has its own merit and is deserving to be a continuation of the original, not because I want to go back and revisit that universe. If I did my job correctly the first time, there's no reason to do so, even if I loved it. (See the exceptions noted above.)

3) Leaving a relatively low review score without indicating why. How am I suppose to improve if you don't give me any critique? Or is it that you have no reasons other than an arbitrary nature and/or you think you're really cool?

4) Leaving a low review score because you didn't like certain elements and/or pairings. These are the worst. If I tell you up front that there's going to be D/G in the story and you don't like D/G, then don't read it. Your personal preferences have no place in a critical review of the merits of a story (meaning writing skill, characterization, plot development).

5) Demanding certain developments/elements. Suggestions are always welcome. They may spark ideas and creativity. Demands (often made rudely and without any true understanding of the story) are likely to encourage me to do the exact opposite of what you want. It's my story, and I know what I want from it and what should happen. And just a tip: If your grammar and spelling indicate that you're the last person who should be suggesting anything to a writer, you can be sure that you won't be taken seriously.

Well, that's really all I can think of right now. That's not too many gripes, is it? I hate even risking the idea that I'm unappreciative of reviewers, but I have gotten reviews in the last couple of days that truly made me so irritated that the last thing I wanted to do was write (ironic given that many of them were "OMG plz write more and faster!" reviews).

And thus ends the whining. For today.

Edited to say: This quiz result has fractionally improved my mood. ( Sexually Compatible With ... )