In which I am too much affected by fan fiction.
My parents, like any two people in a long-term relationship, have had some terrible fights. The ones that I have been present for were some of the most agonising experiences of my life. Seeing two people fight--two people who love one another deeply--makes me feel sick inside. It's that sensation that says something terrible could happen at any moment, but you just don't know what.
My tendency to become immersed in what I'm reading or watching can even make fictional accounts of such things affect me in the same way.
Arkaidy updated her "Across Time" (actually, she's updated it a couple times since my last decent rundown--but I've been sorely neglecting this blog, though I write often enough [about not much of anything sometimes] in my primary LJ).
The beginning of this new chapter sees Ares freed (in, roughly, the present--1999) from the caves where he was imprisoned during the archaeological episode of Xena (set in the 1920s, I think), courtesy Vega's new goddess powers. I think this is my favourite part of the chapter, mainly because of Ares and Strife's reunion.
Ares' reaction (or Kevin Smith's portrayal of that reaction) to Strife's murder always touches me whenever I watch it; because it exhibits the fact that, even though Ares is always giving Strife a hard time, he really does love his nephew. He does value him. And I think that this chapter, following that line of their relationship, illustrates that fact with decent poignancy (but not too much, because this is the GoW, after all).
Another clever tie-in, and still without changing anything canon: "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Hercules." Though, this brings me to my initial feelings of distress.
In that particular episode Hercules, we find the setting in present day (at that time--again, 1999) California and many bad things are happening--and Kevin Sorbo is missing. We don't find out until the end of the episode, but Ares and Strife are the ones wreaking havoc on the world; oh yeah, and Kevin Sorbo really is Hercules.
It's one of my favourite episodes in the series because it blurs the lines of reality and the show that way, and the actors are clearly having a blast lamb-basting the crew and production team with their characterizations (Bruce Campbell as Rob Tapert is just perfect). It is, however, worth mentioning that it's also one of the more infuriating episodes of the season, because it's mainly built on flashbacks to previous episodes.
Anyway, Vega witnesses the terrible things that Strife is doing with Ares and--rightly--gives it to him. So why the dread? Because of the obvious feelings of betrayal about Strife's siding with Ares, and because of Strife's initial callous reaction to those feelings: "That was two thousand years ago! Get over it!"
That got me to wondering about Strife's death experience; obviously, he would know that two thousand years have passed, but has he really felt that passage of time? Through Vega, he's been pulled out of Asphodel--because Callisto killed him in mumblemumble B.C.E.--but would he have sensed all the time he spent there? Was he aware?
For Vega, the two thousand years have passed in relative heart-beat, so the argument doesn't especially apply to her. So then, if Strife didn't feel his death-time and Vega obviously wouldn't have felt it either, the only person for whom this argument works is Ares.
That's not to say that the line is out of place really. It's certainly fitting with Strife's character and past. He clearly loves Vega, but he's been fiercely loyal to Ares--forever, quite literally. Ideally, he would be able to have both of them without one relationship getting in the way of the other. It's just that maybe he's trying to get to that point too quickly.
But the strain passes when Strife realises what he's been doing with Ares, and he and Vega sort of resolve the argument. I still had to sigh some mixture of distress and tentative relief when the chapter ended on that precarious note.
On a less distressed, more delighted note, the scene following "Yes, Virginia" where Vega "wakes up" in the lecture hall, curses, sets the prof straight, and stalks out in a huff--I wish I'd had such a good excuse for the few times I'd actually fallen asleep in lecture. Alas, I think I can only chalk it up to bad sleeping habits. All the same, it was a great moment in the chapter.
Showing posts with label fan fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fan fiction. Show all posts
27 March 2007
terrible sinking feeling
26 March 2007
foiled again
In regards to my intentions to post a decent entry, but also this:
As Manuela was assuring me a moment ago, if something can go wrong, it probably will.
I went down to the school's Human Resources last Friday after work to try to get my employee ID, but once I got there at around quarter after three, I was told that the only possible person who could administer my ID was in a meeting. This meeting would be running for an indefinite amount of time, so I should just go and call on Monday (today) before dropping in.
All of this, of course, was preceded by a myriad of questions about why I didn't already have an employee ID, and why wasn't I given one at orientation? Why do I need one now? Etc. Not that it was really anyone's business but my own, but I answered all of these questions with frank honesty. I don't have an ID, because I haven't needed one until now; and they didn't give me one at orientation, because they weren't sure of my ID number (which is the exact same number as my student number--a fact that I was well aware of ahead of time, but that they doubted at this orientation); I want one now, because I'd like to join the University's gym, and you need a valid University ID in order to swipe through.
So I called this morning, and--after being put on hold, and then having to leave a call-back, and then being called ten minutes later--was told that any time between nine and four would be convenient. I left my office almost immediately, because I wanted to get this over with, once and for all!
Between 11:45 and 12:00, I was sitting and waiting in the HR waiting area--and then I actually made it into the picture-taking room! But then I was left to sit there alone for another fifteen minutes or so ... and when the woman, all too willing to give me an ID came back, the camera was upside down. Why they can't rotate the image in the application they have, I don't know--but they can't.
And they couldn't fix it either. All they could do was giggle about my upside-down state, and assure me that it's never done that before. After fiddling with the programme and poking the camera a few times, they asked me to call them again at three and see if the problem was fixed. So I'm going to call them after work, and maybe--just maybe--go get my ID.
However, after all this nonsense, I'm nearly convinced that the universe is conspiring against my efforts to get an employee ID. Or maybe it's just a case of its being Monday. Whatever the case, I'm hoping for the best, while having the good (and, yes, pessimistic) sense to expect the worst.
What's been entertaining me lately? Netflix is doing a good job, and fan fiction too. Arkaidy updated a 19th chapter some time last night, and I started reading it this morning, but then I had to go to work--and this ID madness has kept me from taking full advantage of the internet today (and so what am I doing right now, then? oh, yes--public venting, that's right). I'm interested to see how the gods-battery is going to work out. I'll probably just re-read the beginning and then the whole chapter whenever I get home tonight.
Lately with Netflix I've been watching Beauty and the Beast (a show that first aired in 1987, staring Ron Pearlman and Linda Hamilton [Nemesis, nya-ha-ha--no, really]). I only vaguely remembered watching it with my mom when I was younger, but I did recall that we both enjoyed it, so I decided to rent it.
It's a little saccharine, and more than a little melodramatic--leading me to the conclusion that it was best taken in small, hour-long, weekly doses. You know, rather than three hours in one shot. Watching four episodes, one after the other, the dialog becomes repetitive; and Linda Hamilton's behaviour is noticeably wishy-washy. I keep expecting her to do something bad-ass and Terminator-ish, so the softer-side-of-Sears attitude of Catherine just seems fake and annoying.
Even after all of these criticisms, I still enjoy the show. There's something distinctly nostalgic that I get from watching it. I remember sitting on the foot-end of the bed in my parents' bedroom, eating popcorn, and being allowed to stay up late and watch this show. I always thought that Vincent and Catherine should get together--in spite of his being a mutant cat-faced man.
And I still think that 'Vincent' is better looking than Ron Pearlman. ****
I feel like I should say something about The River King as well, since that was the last actual movie that I received from Netflix. I can't think of anything clever at the moment, though; only that it's weird to hear 'Elizabeth Bennet' (Jennifer Ehle) with an American (or maybe it was supposed to be Canadian?--I know that she is actually from one of the Carolinas) accent and to see her with straight blond hair (though, for all I know, that may be her real colour).
It's a hazy, gray film, and the surprises are more like depressing disappointments; but its brooding quality is also what makes it a beautiful piece. ***1/2
20 February 2007
weekend in a bottle
John and Rodney came up to Boston from New Jersey for the long weekend; I hadn't seen either of them since ... October (ouch), and it was good to catch up and hang out.
On Friday night, we (Rohnia, Michelle, and Ian) piled into Ian's car and drove to the Atrium mall. Our original intention was to go to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, because it's awesome and Michelle has never been there before, but when we arrived they were very busy. 75-minute-wait busy.
So we went back downstairs to Bertucci's instead--not a bad second choice for food, and no waiting line to speak of.
On Saturday morning I woke up early, as I usually do when company is around--not because the company wakes up early, but really just because I get excited about the possibilities for the day. And it was also sunny, and I don't sleep well in a well-lit room.
...
I checked my e-mail and found that Arkaidy had updated a fifteenth chapter to her "Across Time" work. So I went there and started reading...
And then did a little dance at my desk, because my blog and I were mentioned in the Author's Note. I'm a motivator! (Well, after telling him about the Author's Note over coffee a little while later, Rodney said that I am, in fact, an "enabler" because he couldn't leave the positive spin on the situation alone.)
Still, I am so happy that--in spite of the pains of life, family, and school--she didn't drop the plot. I really would've sat around forever waiting for a continuation, no matter where that happened to go.
That being said, I really do like where the plot has been going and how it's been narrated. If you put yourself into the main character's shoes, at the beginning of this fifteenth chapter, you're quite certain that she's not crazy, that she really did travel through time. But as the chapter goes along, you start to doubt. And you feel that she starts to doubt herself too.
And right up until the point where Zeus shows up out of nowhere, I was starting to be afraid that it was going to go that way. A silly fear, in retrospect, considering the Interlude of the fourteenth chapter.
"I watched enough cheesy YTV kid's programs to know that a person could be physically in one place and mentally in another."
That particular line made me think of The Odyssey--a show from Canada about a boy in a coma who goes to another reality, and the events in the alternate reality sort of mirror the events of the reality wherein his body is in a coma.
Though, I had also considered the possibility that the main character was bodily in the past, and, when thrown back to the present, fell into a coma that happened to be the same amount of time. Maybe. The time paradox can be so interesting to think about--even when impossibly infuriating.
And the fact that Strife is still godly in the present, but is unaware of it through his amnesia, also helps the case for Vega's being unaware of godliness up to this point. It stands to reason that the gods (in this telling, at least), don't feel anything particular about their godhood--or don't know that they're feeling anything out of the ordinary, at least.
Vega and Strife are both told that they're normal people, and because they don't know to expect anything else, they don't--and have no way of finding out without another god's intervention. Enter Zeus.
... But I do wonder about Strife; his reaction to Vega is complete disbelief in the fifteenth chapter, but I imagine him with that personality type where he'd try to test the limits. Poof something. Then again, if people have been visiting him and lying to his face, it would probably be very easy to dismiss an apparently crazy girl.
Mmm. Can't wait for the next chapter.
...
Saturday night, we went to India Quality and Cornwall's in Kenmore Square for Michelle's birthday. I'd never been to either one, but they're both pretty fantastic. The food at India Quality is top notch and the staff is very attentive. Cornwall's is pretty low-key; mid scale decor like T's Pub, and a quiet atmosphere like the Dugout (well, when it's not baseball season, at least). I love that they have so many board games available.
Becca, Rodney, and I played Scrabble while the rest of our tables played Chutes and Ladders and Clue. We tried to make it "Adult" Scrabble, but the minute you decide you're going to try to be dirty, the letters aren't going to cooperate with you at all.
Sunday night continued the theme of drinking--but at home. The five of us ordered pizza and played a very long drinking game. Well, the game itself didn't take that long, but we played quite a few rounds. Fun, but very bad for my liver, I feel.
On Monday, we went to First Degree in the band room and then out to lunch with the chapter at Sunset. We also would've gone to Trader Joe's afterward, but the traffic around the market was horrendous, so we just went home instead.
Then, after an afternoon of Stargate and the first episode of Torchwood, the boys gave their farewells and drove back to Highland Park, New Jersey.
I miss them already. Really, I missed them two minutes after they'd gone.
02 January 2007
onward and upward
That’s mean and devious and sick. ... We should totally hang out more.
Holidailies has come to a close, and while I didn't complete the 30 entries they would have liked, I did complete at lest 20 entries they expected. Actually, I had 27 for the month, so I fell nicely into a "Satisfactory" category.
Still, I don't think I'm going to kill this journal now that December is over. I will never post everything here that I post in my LiveJournal, but that's for the best.
The quote is from fan fiction. Strife fan fiction. I joined a Yahoo group dedicated to Joel Tobeck's characters, because I love Joel-sama (his IMDb page now has pictures). The members of this group occasionally e-mail their written work to the list. I know it's old hat, but it's kind of awesome to be able to read fan fiction through e-mail.
I also read that my mom is sending me an AV kit for my iPod--a dock and cables that will allow me to hook the iPod to the television and watch iPod videos on a larger screen. She gave my dad one for Christmas (along with a new 80GB iPod), and we used the TV feature to watch Torchwood on the living room's big-screen television. Yes, it's a wee bit pixilated, but not in any way that makes it an unbearable experience. And besides, I rather like being able to watch Torchwood on something besides my computer or my iPod.
Speaking of Torchwood, I'm in the midst of downloading the final episodes of the season. They're going much slower than the last ones, but hopefully they'll get faster as more people obtain them. I also think that having two episodes released on the same evening didn't help this problem. I think it's much easier for people to seed smaller files released a few days apart. Still, I suppose I'll be happy once they're complete.
Yesterday was fairly relaxing (after I finally got home from traveling, that is). I spent the afternoon watching Forever Knight and Arrested Development. The last episode of Forever Knight is fairly disappointing, I have to say; and the second to last episode is also disappointing--they killed Vachon! How could they kill Vachon?! Yes, he has terrible hair (or, at any rate, a terrible wig); but with a decent hair-cut he would have been so handsome. Ben Bass is damned handsome in his own right.
I'd still like to talk more about my vacation and the kinks of travel ("kinks," here, meaning: "annoying" rather than "unexpectedly bizarre and fun"), but that might need to come later in the day, as I'm rather busy this morning.
For those of you in the same boat, welcome back to work, and Happy New Year!
21 December 2006
binging on life
Eat a live toad the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.Unknown
"Participants must promise that they will try really really hard to update their web sites every day from December 1, 2006, to January 1, 2007. With holiday obligations, this realistically means you might post a minimum of 20 entries for the month." - Holidailies
So, counting this as the twenty-first post of the month, I can at least be proud that I've reached the minimum for Holidailies. Excellent. Though I'll probably end up dropping off the blog-map once I get to North Carolina.
And I'm leaving tomorrow night. I still haven't really packed anything, though most of what I intend to pack is sitting on top of my suitcase on the floor by my bed.
I think I might splurge for a cab from work tomorrow afternoon. It's not that I won't have enough time if I go by T; I just don't feel like dealing with the crowds of people, which are likely to be akin to the ones I encountered at Thanksgiving. It took me two tries to get on the red line, and another two tries to get on the silver line. A maddening human sardine experience. No, thank you. Not again. Not right now.
--------------------
There was another box from Amazon waiting for me in the vestibule when I came home yesterday evening. It was a Christmas present from my friend Sue, the third and final set of DVDs from Forever Knight.
After opening it, I decided to follow my own plan and take pictures around the apartment--of the presents I've received, our decked-out Christmas tree, the weird little ornaments I bought at Target. I was uploading the pictures to my Flickr account when Michelle came home from work.
She went on a hunt in her room for the final episodes of Witch Hunter Robin; because I've had two copies of the final disc sent to me from Netflix, and neither of them has worked (the first was cracked down the center and completely unplayable, and the second could only play the first two episodes on the disc because the remainder was damaged too much). So Michelle burned those to CD for me (remarkably good quality, too), and I watched half of the first episode on the disc--until I decided that I would be clever and save the rest for tomorrow night when I'm sitting around Logan.
I also watched the first three episodes of Forever Knight Season Three, but fell asleep during the fourth one, waking up around 3 A.M. to the glow of the main menu screen. Turning off the television, I went to my laptop and checked my mail.
Arkaidy had posted an additional chapter to "Across Time"--one of the links I have in my "Favourite Fanfiction" in the sidebar--which I then proceeded to read until about 3:45 A.M. It was an interlude to explain the survival of Ares, Hercules, Zeus, and a few of the other gods into the present (because, if we follow a certain element of canon, the gods should fade out and die--but they don't, and Arkaidy has a decent explanation for their continuation).
Actually, the godly come-back makes sense to me because of "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Hercules"--a modern day episode where Ares and Strife show up at the end. So, surely, Ares has to survive in some way; and Strife has to be resurrected after his death-by-hind's-blood ... somehow.
But I shouldn't have read it last night. After I finished reading, getting back to sleep was nearly impossible. And when I did go to sleep, my dreams were vivid and strange and all too real. Actually, I sort of wish one of them had been real. I was enjoying it until my consciousness went, You know this is a dream. This would never happen. Being a conscious dreamer sucks sometimes.
When my alarm went off I didn't really hear it until forty minutes later.
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