redbrunja | Meme Monday!

Harry Potter, ship of choice

I feel like this is a cheap shot, but I really don't buy Harry/Ginny. It never occurred to me that Ginny was going to be the love interest until my mother told me so (I was... thirteen? fourteen?) and as soon as she said that I knew it was going to be Ginny. Pre-book five, I thought Ginny was too much of a damsel to be a good match for Harry and then I felt that her character development came out of nowhere.

For you: rant about the Glee pairing of your choice.

And I'm answering this question a wee bit late, cause of holiday travels. :3

I don't mind the Harry/Ginny rant. :3 Yeah, the explanation of her development didn't make sense. Suddenly, one can turn off awkward feelings. Good to know, lol. I liked the idea, she just started too late. I heard even this theory from someone about the books being parallel. Like 1-7, 2-6, 3-5, and then the fourth. I think it does kind of match because suddenly 6 is Ginny and Harry's....too strong romance. I wish she had given more direct interaction.

The rant: I guess I dislike several characters lately. Like I think Artie has a pretty poor attitude but I think the kick all is Finn/Rachel. I didn't mind them in season 1, but season 2 makes this kind of 'healthy, growing' soulmate match a little on the unhealthy side. I feel like Finn never shows true comfort and acceptance of Rachel, and yeah, I hope Rachel finds that someday.

Suddenly, one can turn off awkward feelings. Good to know, lol.

See, that, on it's own, I liked. I'm analytic enough to relate, and I hate the idea that if you have feelings for someone (love, hate, whatever) you're totally under the sway of them and can't do anything about it. (Witness Martha's epic walk-out on the Doctor.)

I feel like Finn never shows true comfort and acceptance of Rachel, and yeah, I hope Rachel finds that someday.

Agreed. He's too conscious of his reputation. And it's not like Rachel isn't, but she's lower on the social rung than she is, and as you said, she deserves someone who isn't always slightly ashamed of her.

*nods* I haven't seen the epic walk out. :3 I should watch Doctor Who to catch the references. I admire that. I usually am pretty...under the sway, unfortunately.

Yeah, exactly. There will always be a part of him that is made uncomfortable by her. No one deserves that kind of relationship. :/ I hate that this is kind of the show's endgame...though I hope a curve ball happens.

No one deserves that kind of relationship. :/ I hate that this is kind of the show's endgame...though I hope a curve ball happens.

Same here, although I really, really doubt it.

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The single thing I love most about Summer Glau's acting choices with regards to Cameron is the way that she walk. You know Cameron is a robot simply from the way she raised her knees just a shade too high and brings her feet down too hard.

Plus her boots are all kickass.

For you: Rant about the SCC character of your choice.

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I also totally covet Sarah's boots; the ones with the triple buckles and straps.

Booth/Brennan!

I actually stopped watching Bones because of how frustrated I was with the handling of Booth/Brennan (also, the show stopped being as good). But still, one of the major things that frustrated me is that I felt that they had enough time to tell any kind of story with Booth/Brennan that they wanted, and instead they choose to waste whole seasons in limbo, and now Booth is in love with someone else and if they write his love interest off (either by killing her or having them break up) it's going to feel super-cheap.

For you: squee about The Hunger Games.

Oooh, fun!

The Hunger Games.

Have you read Mockingjay yet?

Er... no. I've got the next two books after the first one, but I haven't read them yet. They're kind of how I'm bribing myself to write more novel stuff right now, because I know if I pick it up I won't be able to put it down.

My youngest sister's been reading them too and she's on the second book. All I can hear is her growling, and at one point last night she almost chucked the book across the room -- which is a good thing, believe it or not. If it gets her of all people riled up like that, then it is a very, very good book indeed. *nods*

You're being very virtuous.

Okay, here is my one complaint about the Hunger Games: Rue's death.

This is the one place where Collins went with the easiest possible outcome for Katniss. Now, I know Rue had to die for the entire Peeta/Katniss plot to take place and I know that Katniss would never have killed Rue. But. It was the one example of the author being unduly kind to her main character, imho.

For you: squee about..... New Year's Eve.

I was waiting until New Years Eve to squee about it.

Okay. New Years. I love trying to force myself to stay awake for the ball drop over Times Square. And I love how stupid and sappy everyone gets. I think it's really cute how my parents will give each other a quick kiss to ring in the fresh start and how we go around and give ridiculous toasts.

Like, my sister for example? Her toast was, "May the Interrupting Cow be plentiful and disruptive in its mooing."

Yeah. THAT kind of ridiculousness.

We usually go out to dinner, maybe some dancing, then hang out at the house and play boardgames right up until the minute before the ball drop because we all find Dick Clark very sad and depressing and don't like any of the other New Years parties on TV.

So, that is my squee about New Years. And I totally agree with you about Rue's death, though I will add that it DID provide for Katniss to make her first human kill. I'll also point out that between her and Peeta, she is the ONLY one to deliberately and with full intention kill someone.

Like, my sister for example? Her toast was, "May the Interrupting Cow be plentiful and disruptive in its mooing."

AWESOME TOAST IS AWESOME!

nd I totally agree with you about Rue's death, though I will add that it DID provide for Katniss to make her first human kill. I'll also point out that between her and Peeta, she is the ONLY one to deliberately and with full intention kill someone.

Didn't Peeta also kill someone while he was with the careers? Oh, no, must reread!

Gah, someone snatched the Hunger Games. Uh, Simon's character arc in second season?

Okay, here is my biggest problem with Simon (and also, Simon/Alisha) which is that, it feels really mandated by future!Simon. Why are Simon and Alisha together? Because future!Simon said so. Why is Simon training in parkour? Because future!Simon said so. Why did Simon give up his powers? Because Alisha said future!Simon said so! (That last is fucked up enough that I liked it.) Still, I really, really would have liked some of those things to have developed more organically, instead of having them happen because the characters knew that they were "supposed" to happen.

Squee about Kelly and/or Kelly x Nathan, please!

Yes, I agree! Also, him going back to forcibly catalyze the relationship seems to imply that it would never have happened organically, which says bad things about the couple. I like Simon/Alisha, but I don't know. I feel like it's really one-sided atm.

Okay, SQUEEING ABOUT KELLY. I love how fierce this girl is. I've spoken before about how awesome the ladies are in not being able to take any shit, from Kelly right on down to Nathan's mum, but it's awesome how she can always be counted on to put her foot down, get angry, and plain up stand up for herself. Even when she was kidnapped she seemed more irritated by the whole thing than shrieking victim, which was refreshing.

I also like how empathetic she is about people, and it's never played as her being sensitive despite being tough, she's sensitive AND tough. So she reaches out to Simon and tells him not to listen when Nathan's making fun of him and she threatens to kick Curtis's balls in if he hits him again. So much love. I think I love big sis characters, actually.

Another thing I like about her character is that she isn't given a typically female-coded power. Telepathy is gender-neutral as far as powers go, neither defensive nor offensive, and she isn't kept a prisoner of it like Alisha is. It actually comes in handy as often as Curtis's time-winding powers and has saved people's butts.

I like Simon/Alisha, but I don't know. I feel like it's really one-sided atm.

Unstable, is how I think of it. It's interesting, because I have another time-travel romance in another show, in which the girl and the guy dated in the future, both came back to the same time in the past (for separate reasons, at different points in their personal timeline), restarted their relationship, and then realized when they compared notes about their memories that they came from different alternative futures. That is a relationship that has some gravitas to it.

Another thing I like about her character is that she isn't given a typically female-coded power. Telepathy is gender-neutral as far as powers go, neither defensive nor offensive, and she isn't kept a prisoner of it like Alisha is. It actually comes in handy as often as Curtis's time-winding powers and has saved people's butts.

*nods* One of the many things I love about Kelly and the way that they write her is how useful her telepathy is. I'm beginning to realize that its a power that is totally underused in most comics, given how much awesomeness Kelly was able to get from it.

Rapunzel's frying pan from Tangled

The fry pan -especially a cast-iron one - is very, very, VERY strongly coded as female. Even in modern Western society, women (especially married women) are still expected to do all the cooking.

In Tangled, the heroine a.) used her frying pan to successfully defend her home and herself from some strange dude who just wanted in, as well as gain the upper hand. Then the frying pan is ADOPTED by said strange dude who holds it up as a superior weapon. THEN it's adopted by the organized military of this kingdom.

The subtext: girls and things related to girls are awesome and strong and worth adopting.

For you: rant on The Vampire Diaries.

Clone of the tenth doctor (the human/time lord meta-whatever)

Here is the problem with the clone of the 10th Doctor and the implication that Rose going off with the clone is a happy ending: Doctor Who is a sci-fi show, and sci-fi has a fifty + history with the idea that a clone is not the same thing as it's progenitor. So basically, Rose gets something that looks like the Doctor and might act like him (sometimes) but isn't.

Additionally, there is this bullshit implication that the "real" doctor could never be happy in a relationship, IDEK.

For you: squee about Yuletide!

The idea of identity in Dr. Who always interests me, both because of the regeneration ( I mean, shred memory aside...are they or aren't they the same man?) and this clone/paralell world business. Even before the tenth doctor's clone, with Pete and Jackie or Mickey/Ricky, I sort of wondered what sort of messages were trying to be sent. (Um, I may have been reading fics addressing this recently....)

Yuletide! YAY! I was so pleasantly surprised with not one but TWO Yuletide gifts. A Scarlet Pimpernel story, "Helpmeet" and a Nutcracker one. Both were very excellent. (I'm going to be doing a rec post as soon as I can get onto AO3 without getting error signs.) I love Yuletide because I love that it gives people a chance to squee and get excited about things they normally can't really. I love the work it produces too- for some reason Yuletide seems to have a much higher quality than average- but I love the joy people expeirnce even more. I like that idea that people can connect and make new friends through this... On a personal level, I enjoy trying to make something for someone else too.

How's your Yuletide experience this year?

I sort of wondered what sort of messages were trying to be sent.

Yeah, wasn't Ricky gay? Which sends a clear 'not the same person' vibe.

A Scarlet Pimpernel story, "Helpmeet" and a Nutcracker one. Both were very excellent.

Nice! And I was actually pleasantly surprised! My recipient liked their fic, I got an AWESOME assigned fic, plus about four treats, all of them really entertaining.

I...didn't think Ricky was gay. Actually, I didn't think they'd mentioned it one way or another....

YAY that your recipient liked your fic. Mine hasn't commented yet....though I did get around to writing one treat and that person liked it. Yuletide has such an interesting culture between the mystery-writer-ness and the recs and the weirdness of what is and isn't huge "small fandoms" It always surprises and delights me what there's fic for.

Wait, what were your story and your treats?

http://archiveofourown.org/users/redbrunja/gifts

Where's Our Girlfriend? was the fic that was assigned to me and the other TVD gifts I got were treats.

I...didn't think Ricky was gay. Actually, I didn't think they'd mentioned it one way or another....

Okay, I got bad information on that, then.

That's a great icon, btw. What is it from?

Very fun Yuletide it looks like. Wish I had time to pick up TVD; it looks really, really good....

Sadly, I'm not exactly sure where this is from. The person I got it from didn't have an iconmaker and didn't mention if its from fanart or a comic. (I'm leaning towards comic though cause I've seen several comic like icons...)

Edited 2011-01-02 20:37 (UTC)

TVD is a really fun show.

And if you ever learn what comic this is from, let me know.

Eleven/Amy and/or Amy Pond in general.

I can express my I love Amy Pond no better than this exchange:

The Doctor: Course you're not, you're not scared of anything! Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of a box, man eats fish custard! And look at you... just sitting there. So you know what I think?
Young Amy: What?
The Doctor: Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall.

For you: rant about character of your choice from Misfits.

I feel like Nathan is the only character on the show who doesn't seem to develop and if he DOES develop a little in any given episode, he's right back to where he started by the end of it. I mean, I get it. He serves a certain purpose in terms of the group dynamic by being the resident inappropriate douche. It's his "thing" and it would be weird if that suddenly disappeared and he in essence will always remain very....him. That's fine, but We've had a lot of nice insights and changes going on with everyone else (even Kelly who barely had anything to do this season), but Nathan.....is he always going to be the way he is now?

The Marnie arc definitely helped, but still.

Couldn't agree more. I would argue that Nathan is an example of a trend in pop culture right now, which is that pop culture and writers over-rate how entertaining a jackass really is.

Nikita would be great, if you feel like it!

I am really annoyed they killed off Thom. Not just THAT they killed him off but when and how. Frankly, I think Thom had a lot of potential for storylines and interactions with Alex that we're now never going to see.

For you: squee about Dollhouse.

I really hated how Thom died! Especially since it really didn't accomplish anything-- it didn't even give Alex agency, since it was a total accident. Grrrr.

I lovelovelove all the aesthetic/background choices they made-- the naming scheme (Alpha especially!), the way the Dollhouse looks with all the plants and the showers and whatnot, the ATTIC-- and the potential of the story, which could have been really really interesting. Also the world of Epitaph was SO NEAT! Such an interesting post-apocalypse, and I loved Mag and Zone and all the dynamics of Echo and Sierra and Victor in that universe. (Also Sierra/Victor is so adorable my teeth hurt, and I have never loved a sociopath like I love Alpha, he is super fascinating to me.)

I really hated how Thom died! Especially since it really didn't accomplish anything-- it didn't even give Alex agency, since it was a total accident. Grrrr.

Yeah, as soon as episodes start airing again I am just going to be tapping my fingers waiting for her first real kill.

Word to all your thoughts on Dollhouse.

squee or rant on the last book you read

This book is too long and I connected to very few of the HUGE cast of characters and the story is basically like blah blah blah rape rape blah rape blah blah.

For you: squee about The Queen of Attolia (either the book or the character).

well that is a little disappointing because that's one of the books on my list to read next year, though I've mostly heard mixed things about it--I bought the book for like a dollar from Goodwill, so no big loss.

ANYWAY THE QUEEN OF ATTOLIA so I read it for the first time when I was thirteen and I enjoyed it and then six months later I picked it up again because I liked it and it's just--the book I want to write. It's got political intrigue and really delves into what it means to be royalty and rulers and the responsibilities and prices you pay for doing it, while still being people, and it has understated romance and the language is subtle and plot points hinge around the placement of commas and even its imperfections are familiar to me, because I love this book. (And it plays around with names and naming! And gods! And and and. MWT is my hero.)

(a squee on Attolia herself would probably break the length limit for comments.)

*thumbs up*

And I just want to say, none of the other Thief books do I enjoy the way I enjoy QoA. In fact, they are all a little disappointing to me, given the fact that Attolia isn't a main character in any of them.

Meme Monday!

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Rant On Harry/Ginny

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Squee About Cameron

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Rant About Booth/Brennan

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Rant About Simon's Series Two Arc

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Squee About Rapunzel's Frying Pan

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Rant About 10th Doctor Clone

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Squee About The Girl Who Doesn't Make Sense

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Spoilers for Latest Nikita

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Rant On "Game Of Thrones"

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