allyndra

I’ve been following RaceFail 2009, but I haven't said much. I do have something to say. I lock most of my posts, but that kind of defeats the purpose here, so I'll leave this unlocked.

( How representation in the media impacts my family )

I was telling dancinbutterfly that I don't really want to see He's Just Not That Into You, but I'm tempted by the cast. Then I saw this video "Ten Chick Flick Cliches That Aren't In He's Just Not That Into You," and now I think I'm going to have to see it. Kevin Connolly, Justin Long, and Bradley Cooper, being adorable.

So, it has come to my attention that I am really quite shallow. Watching Stargate: Atlantis on Friday, my overwhelming reaction had nothing to do with the plot or acting, but with David Hewlett's appearance. Is it just me, or is he actually getting hotter? Seriously, the haircut, the arms, the pissed-off yelling ... it all worked for me. Instance #2 of recent shallowness: I watched the Unaired Pilot for Buffy the Vampire Slayer on YouTube (mainly to see the original Willow), and I got completely sidetracked by Xander. Nicky was adorable on that pilot, even with the baggy plaid shirt. Cordelia had a line about Xander's face being the reason why girls didn't talk to him, and I laughed out loud. (I haven't been this taken with actors and musicians since I was 14; I don't know what's happened to my supposed maturity.)

On a (very slightly) deeper note, I finally got to see the Doctor Who season finale when it aired on Friday. Reassure me that other people cried, because I really, really did. I got a little emotional in the season 2 and 3 finales, sympathizing with the Doctor's loneliness, but this time there were actual tears, and they were all for Donna. I don't want to get into any Companion wars, but Donna is my favorite EVER.

Despite being raised by me, my son is super-cool. He saw Little Shop of Horrors for the first time yesterday, and he is completely enamored of Audrey II. He wants to play the role on stage, and he made a puppet of it at camp today. And he's got most of Seymour's part in Skid Row memorized. (You might need to know that we dressed him as Audrey II for his first Halloween, when he was three and a half months old, to see the extreme coolness of this development.)

He also has excellent taste in cartoons. He discovered Freakazoid on YouTube while searching Animaniacs clips, and when the first season came out on DVD last week, he asked us to get it. How did I miss this show? It's hilarious and insane and awesome. I wish I had Freakazoid back when I was teaching undergrads about post-modernism, because it would have been so much more fun to show in class than Blade Runner.

Fireworks are awesome. That is all.

Title: Five Things Albus Loves about the Beach [Seashells]
Author: Allyndra
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Albus Severus Potter/Scorpius Malfoy
Length: 1,222
Rating: G
Disclaimer All across the land, from sea to shining sea and in the places in between, people know who wrote Harry Potter, and it wasn't me.
Summary: Scorpius comes on holiday with Albus’ family, and Albus discovers new things to love about the beach.

[Seashells]

Saturday was Can't Stop the Serenity here in the Phoenix area, so my husband and I trekked out to the theater and watched with a couple hundred of our fellow fans. I am so, so happy that this event is still happening. It's been three years now, and each time, I'm amazed at the turn-out. When I talk to my friends at work, and they haven't even heard of Firefly or Serenity, I start to wonder if interest in them is waning, if maybe the fandom won't survive much longer. (I know, it's foolish to take the disinterest of non-fans as a bad sign for fandom, but sometimes it worries me.) So when we show up to the theater and see people in costumes, in tee shirts bearing quotes and pictures from the show and movie, in hand-made cunning hats ... it's awesome and reassuring.

A truly fabulous Jayne costume won the costume contests, with a six year-old Mal coming in second. There were belly dancers in the lobby, horrible, off key filkers playing before the show, and a brief Once More With Feeling shadow-cast-and-sing-along. Then we watched the movie. This was my seventh time seeing Serenity on the big screen, and I've seen it on DVD tons more, and it still makes me laugh and cry. There are two sections where the dialogue feels oddly artificial, but so many sections are brilliant that I forgive it. And the moment when Mal gathers them all at the table and gives the "I aim to misbehave" speech ... those words and that delivery and the light pouring into the room make that one of my favorite bits of film ever.

Anyway, the Arizona Browncoats were estimating $5,000 raised for charity at the Phoenix screenings, which makes it a pretty great day to be a geek. Go, Browncoats! *waves flag*

So, my husband and I took a trip to Las Vegas for our anniversary. It was a big deal, because usually we just go out to dinner and buy each other small gifts. (Actually, he still got me a small gift: the Foxboro Hot Tubs CD. Yay!)

( Click for the riveting description of my vacation. (At least it's not a slideshow.) )

Hey, all! I know I haven't posted in a million years, and now that I am, it's to say I'll be out of touch. I suck. But the reason for going incommunicado is a good one: My husband and I are going to Vegas for a week to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We have tickets to Spamalot!, Zumanity, Star Trek: The Experience, and the dinner thing at Excalibur. And we're child-free, as my son is with his grandparents. I'm excited! So have a good week, and I'll try to be less of a hermit when I get back!

This is all grouching. Feel free to skip.

Okay, this may seem petty, but I'm growing increasingly annoyed when I see bad writing or poor quality art being gushed over. I don't think it's sour grapes, because I get nice comments that I truly appreciate when I post. But I'm having to resist the strong urge to leave anonymous comments saying, "No, it's not amazing. It's poorly characterized and badly in need of a beta, so stop encouraging the author with chants of 'Sequel PLZ!'" Aren't they supposed to keep that kind of stuff over in the Pit of Voles? In some of my fandoms, it's no problem at all, but Torchwood has quality appreciation issues. There are some fabulous authors, but those aren't the ones who are bugging me. Does anyone else feel the same desire to chastize the readers who can't tell the difference between good fic and bad? Or is it just me?

Also, the John Paul/Craig Dean shippers (known as McDeaners) are starting to frustrate me. I loved John Paul and Craig. Their storyline was emotional and sexy and riveting. But Craig left and John Paul didn't, and the John Paul/Father Keiron storyline is pretty darn emotional and sexy, too. Saying, "Bring Craig back!" every two seconds or demanding a sunset ending is not going to make the writers more likely to give us good plots and emotional arcs for our favorite characters, especially if Guy Burnet really doesn't want to play Craig anymore. Write good fanfic where John Paul and Craig get back together, put together vids of them, make art and icons. But stop grumbling about the lack of Craig on every clip from the current episodes.

And finally, kink fic is not hot to me if the characters seem like cardboard cutouts, I don't care how many ropes they're tied up with or what position they're in. I mean "Gil is a Master and Nick and Greg are his slaves" is a stretch to start with, but if you don't make any attempt to tie them back to the characters I know, it's poorly thought out OC erotica, not fanfic. And next time I see the word "cum" in a story, I'm clicking the back button immediately.

/rant