Okay, so I have this epic fic planned wherein I use like a dozen different prompts from the
be_compromised promptathon. I have an outline planned out and everything. But it's SO big and daunting that I don't know if I can actually write it -- at least with any kind of speed. And I kind of feel like speed is important, because I don't really want to use a prompt that's been done (and probably very well) before. >< I mean, given the amount of time and effort that would be involved to tell the story I want to tell, seriously, I don't want to produce something that's just a retread of someone else's work. But I can't stop thinking about the story. For this I blame
allisnow, whose "friends with benefits" prompt got the muse whispering in my ear. I wrote a big old "friends with benefits" story in my XF days, and I have always loved the concept and would love to apply it to Clint/Natasha, but... yeah. Start from the beginning of this paragraph and go in an endless circle.
And before even tackling that, I'd really like to get this other story I have written edited and posted, but Jade has been super busy lately so hasn't had time to beta it. And I just can't post a story (not a drabble) without that; everything in me rebels at the thought. No posting unbetaed stories. Period.
Last night I indulged in a spending spree, buying an
Avengers-related t-shirt that I've been wanting for awhile (what kept stopping me is the idea of paying $20 for a t-shirt. No t-shirt should cost more than $5 imho, lol). Once I get it, a photo will be forthcoming. Then I bought a gazillion Blu-rays/DVDs, basically to round out my Jeremy Renner collection. I'm still missing
Take, Fish in a Barrel, Thor, and
The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, but I have most of the others now. A photo of all of them will also be forthcoming. I also preordered
The Avengers. The end of September is soooooo far awaaaaay.
For
Mortal Instruments fans... this is something worth reading, imho. Cassie recently made (or rather, re-made)
this post on Tumblr, regarding "Magnus and whitewashing."
( Going to copy the full text here, because I think it's important. )She's completely right, and after reading it I felt vaguely ashamed for ever wanting Robert Sheehan to play Magnus. I even said, not too many posts ago, that I thought he was perfect "other than the fact that he isn't Asian." I guess it's because there are so few Asian American actors being given work, period, especially in that age group, that not one single appropriate actor occurred to me. And yes,
other than not being Asian, Robert Sheehan did fit my idea of what Magnus would be like: tall, thin, fabulous.
But I shouldn't have lessened the importance of his ethnicity, given that I am Asian American myself, and should be supporting minority characters, given how few of them there are. And especially because it would seem, just like from the Rue situation from
Hunger Games, that some faction of people are
confused as to why they would hire an Asian actor (or in Rue's case, a black actress). Never mind that BOTH OF THOSE CHARACTERS are fully described by the author as being Asian and black, respectively. Do those people just not know how to read, or is it just so ingrained in them to think of all people/characters being white that they can't imagine any differently, despite being outright told so, and multiple times in the books? It boggles the mind.
Anyway, this was the bit that got to me most:
Technically, Magnus is biracial. I would be perfectly happy with a biracial actor playing him — but otherwise the option is an Asian actor, not a white actor. It doesn't matter if any of Magnus' background is white. Casting him white would erase that part of his background that is Asian. And important. There are plenty of roles out there for white actors. Most roles are for white actors. This is not one of them. There is very little I have control over as regards casting. I cannot pick an actor for Magnus. I don't have that ability. But I can say, and say strongly, that I want them to cast an Asian or half-Asian actor, and I did. It is pretty much the one ironclad demand as regards casting that I have made, i.e.: if you don't cast an Asian actor, I'll never talk about this movie again, nor will I see it.I should've felt that strongly about it myself from the get go, but sadly I'm also somewhat cynical when it comes to Hollywood, been let down countless of times before, so rather than take up my pitchfork about something I figured was probably inevitable (that they'd just cast however they wanted to, with no regard to "how it's supposed to be"), I just let it slide. But I am super glad that she made a stand about it -- any kind of stand, really, because hardly anyone ever does, and the fact that it's just accepted (by myself included) is disappointing and sad.