It Started with a Journal

Hello LJ chums! I find myself in a very good mood because it's FRIDAY and I'm looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow adelagia and I are going to Boiling Point, and then there will be gameage. Last week we ROCKED the game of Pandemic that we played. That's right, we saved the whole world from disease and no one even realized it... it's like we're real superheroes.

I lost to the esteemed carrie_leigh in the last round of the Hump Bracket Challenge, so here are the drabbles I wrote. It was really fun to participate, and I got to stretch a bit and practice writing outside my comfort zone. Great experience.

( Round One: 'Keeping Promises' | Marcus Flint, Katie Bell, Draco Malfoy, Adrian Pucey | PG-13 )

( Round Two: 'More Than This' | Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, Seamus Finnigan | NC-17 )

For the third round, I actually have three drabbles to share with you. >.> The first is the one I actually submitted. The second is the one I wrote first. And the third is the one I wrote second. Clear as mud? See, what happened is that the first drabble I wrote, jade_okelani and I both had qualms about whether it really spoke to the prompt I was given. So then I wrote another one. I sent it over to Jade to beta almost at exactly the same time that she sent me her story to beta, which which I resisted reading until I'd finished my story. The second I started reading her story my heart sank -- WE HAD CHOSEN THE EXACT SAME PAIRING! And not only that, approached it in a nearly identical way. Guys, for the most part it's great to share a brain with someone, but at times it can be a trial. :)) So it was back to the drawing board once more, to write the story I actually submitted. There's no reason for me to hold any of them back, so here's all three of them. :P

( Round Three (submitted): 'Just Once' | Sirius Black, Lily Evans | PG-13 )

( Round Three: 'Fueling the Flames' | Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley | NC-17 )

( Round Three: 'He Remembers' | Severus Snape, Lily Evans | PG-13 )

I finally watched the last episode of S4 of The Wire. Even though I knew what was coming, I still cried. I didn't even cry when this happened! Though I was still super bummed. I ended up really enjoying the season -- I really liked the kiddie crew. I also watched the first season of S5, and it's always tough at the beginning to get used to a whole new host of characters again.

Every now and then I get a bee in my bonnet about ASoIaF theories, particularly my two favorite: Who are Jon Snow's parents and Who is Azor Ahai? I wish people would update their essays with ADWD text/proof. Le sigh.

This is a "Who are Jon Snow's parents?" essay that I haven't read before. It gets more in depth than this one about all the potential mothers and fathers, but the latter essay provides more actual book references. Both are good reads.

I loved reading this about what exactly happened during Robert's Rebellion. We get our info in such bits and pieces from various characters that it's hard to put together a clear picture of what happened when. This essay provides a great timeline of events.

Teeheeheehee:



Have a faboo weekend everyone!

I finished S3 of The Wire. ( Major spoilers. )

In other news, I saw Titanic 3D today. I have an embarrassing confession to make. I saw that movie like 5 times when it was in the theater the first time around. I was in my 3rd year of college and I just loved it to pieces. It was my Twilight, I guess. Anyway, I've watched it a couple of times on DVD since then and felt pretty meh about it. I just figured it'd been overexposed, I knew it too well, etc. But I still felt compelled to watch it in 3D, because of the memory of what it had once meant to me.

The 3D itself was... whatever. I barely noticed, but to be honest that's how I feel about pretty much every 3D movie. What I realized while watching it, though, is that it works on the big screen the way it just doesn't on TV. And while I could still recite all the lines (yes, some of them being very bad indeed), I could feel all those emotions I felt watching it the first time come back. The music was a huge part of that. I'm convinced now that James Horner's score, which I've always loved, actually makes half the movie. Without it, the emotional resonance just wouldn't have been there. By the end, I had myself a good cry. <g> And I wasn't the only one! I doubt many people in the theater were seeing it for the first time, but there were several people sniffling. I left the theater exhausted, but in a good way. <3

Also, ROSE'S DRESSES. I want that girl's wardrobe. Every single one is gorgeous!

Thank you sooooooooooo much to lanai for the DVDs. They arrived yesterday and I'm so excited to watch them!

I think I'm getting the hang of Tumblr. It's, as akscully says, a "superficial way to interact with fandom." I can't imagine building friendships or having meaningful conversations over there the way you can on LJ, but it's a great way to consume and share amusing things. ( Two GoT 'The Night Lands' examples. )

I'm such a loser that I didn't step foot outside my house all day yesterday, so I didn't even know that it had reached 70°F. !!! But I'm not going to let Seattle fool me this year, as it has every spring. There are a couple of warm days and I think, "Yay, spring is really here!" forgetting that spring does not come to Seattle until July. In ASoIaF terms, THIS IS THE TIME OF THE FALSE SPRING. It'll get us all excited then turn into winter again. -.- Mark my words.

The reason I was such a shut-in yesterday was because a) I was mainlining The Wire; and b) making delicious things to eat, like the Best Biscuits Ever and a veggie burrito that's so good, I don't even notice or care that there's no meat in it.

OK, The Wire. IT'S SO GOOD. I mean, that should come as no surprise, because every critic ever says that it's a great show, but after The Sopranos I'm a bit wary of such claims. Not that The Sopranos isn't a good show, but after watching 4+ seasons of it I didn't feel like it was the best show that's ever been on television, which is something that's commonly said. It's also said of The Wire, but while Breaking Bad still has my vote on that score, I can at least understand why people say that of The Wire. It's just so fucking real, and has heart, and tells a good damn story. It's inspirational at the same time that it successfully conveys the gray areas of life. I like the characters, even the bad ones, because I can understand where they're coming from. That is totally juxtaposed with the characters on The Sopranos, who I pretty much hated all the time. They all seemed like selfish assholes, whereas The Wire's characters are about living the life you've been given or have chosen, but it's real life and you do what you have to to survive. I guess that's supposed to be what The Sopranos is about too, but it's just different.

( Slightly spoilery thoughts from S1. )

I also watched a British movie called Exam, which had a fantastic premise but didn't actually deliver on it. I had many issues while watching it (though it was entertaining enough), and even more after talking about it with jade_okelani. Premise: The film is set in present-time United Kingdom in an alternate history, where a disease called The Virus has made a large part of the population dependent on medication that must be taken every few hours to prevent falling into a coma followed by death. Most of the film takes place in a single room, where eight candidates take an exam for an important job as the Personal Assistant to the CEO of a mysterious bio-tech company that is said to work on a cure for The Virus.