I'm finally starting to feel excited about HBP. Mainly because of THIS picture:





It's my Slytherins!! Pansy! Draco! Blaise! Crabbe 'n Goyle! PANSY!

As far as I'm concerned, the movie is all about them and Draco and Pansy lived happily ever after. The end.

So You Think You Can Dance...

( Cut for weepy spoileryness... )

This has gotta be my favorite reality show, if only because it demands unbelievable talent and creativity from the contestants several times over every week. And I can watch it without getting that rancid, reality t.v. aftertaste in my mouth afterwords.

God, fandom, so much drama.

I was going to write a response to the current kerfluffle over triggers and fic warnings, but I got distracted by this thread about authors not responding to the reviews they get for their fics.

I'm really disheartened by all the comments from people insisting that they have no obligation whatsoever to respond to reviews to their fics. There are writers begging people for reviews to their work, and these people can't take a moment to say "thank you"? Wow. I understand why BNFs wouldn't respond to every review because they get pages and pages for anything and everything they do. But if there's only a handful of reviews, then there's really no excuse. People on the thread keep saying, "I'm too busy to respond" or "I don't have anything to say to them." Emails don't magically disappear after you read them once, and it takes two seconds to send back a "thanks!" Reviews are a gift, not a privilege. If you "have nothing to say" to someone who took the time to give you positive feedback, then you don't deserve the review in the first place. I know I don't leave reviews after I see a list of comments with no responses. Why bother if the author doesn't seem to care? Call it reader entitlement if you want, but I call it common courtesy.

A lot of ugliness has been surfacing lately in fandom. Just wow. It seems like it's one thing after the other these days. If it's not about race!fail, gender!fail, or sensitivity-to-rape-survivors!fail, then it's something else. Why is fandom so determined to self-implode these days? Guys, we read and write PORN. We should be relaxed and having a good time, not offending each other left and right. I've been having to use the "serious face" icon way too often!

Oh, God, it's TRUE!! Why, oh why, did I reenact the comic by Googling those letters??? Joyce's letters to his wife are so filthy and lewd, I can't even quote them. I can only link them so that you-- like I-- can never, ever unread those words. Try as you might. Those horrible, horrible words. D: D: D:

Maggie, this is all your fault for turning me onto Hark! A Vagrant comics! *Shakes fist*

Oh, I've hit a summer vacation LOW, my friends.

My little sister, young teen that she is, loves the Canadian, teen-drama show Degrassi. I've mocked her mercilessly for this, as is my way, but this past weekend found me planted in front of the television with her during a marathon for lack of anything better to do. It was presumably to mock, but you know you've hit rock bottom when you turn to ask your 'lil sis a question only to realize that you've been watching Degrassi ALONE for ages. And worse? You actually know all the little scamp's names and have a vague idea of their storylines and relationships. Palm, meet face.

I'm feeling fairly burnt out on everything at the moment. Burnt out on school, burnt out on fandoms, burnt out on summer vacation (all three days of it), burnt out in general. Star Trek Reboot was fun while it lasted, but I've already managed to burn myself out on that one, too. As is, again, my way.

I've also taken the time to work on my novel-in-progress and the second-to-last chapter of Forgivable Expectations. Both are frustrating me. The former because, much as I want to shoot for the YA market, my story is defying me and going in directions that are going to make it a bitch to market at a time when only "sure thing," marketable books are getting published. The latter because writing FE is just plain frustrating all around. The story is pretty much defined by "teenage angst," which makes my skin crawl right now. But I'm plowing ahead because I owe my readers for their patience and loyalty. Though, a good many of them are probably going to be REALLY annoyed with me when they see how I'm ending things. Hopefully not!

Speaking of unsatisfactory endings... The Honeydew Syndrome webcomic ended on a completely unsatisfactory note. And by "unsatisfactory," I mean "absolute suck." Too bad.

Oh, yeah, and this news: Bryan Fuller Exits Heroes. This is pretty much the death knell.

I have one final left to go, but I ended up getting sucked into Phantom of the Opera: Behind the Mask on t.v. *Nostalgic sigh*

I love Phantom of the Opera. It's one of my absolute favorite things in the world and definitely my favorite musical of all time. Seeing the play performed at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, where the play first premiered, is one of the highlights of my life. My mother loves the play, too, so I grew up with it. One of my earliest memories as a child is of hiding under some pillows while the speakers were blaring the scene where Carlotta croaks like a frog. For some reason, that part scared the beegeebies out of me.

Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman are my idols, put so high up on pedestals that I can't bear to hear a single word against them. They are the only Phantom and Christine. A friend of mine had the audacity to tell me that Gerard Butler made a better Phantom than Crawford, and I very nearly disowned her. Just thinking about that makes my blood boil to this day, and my opinion of the value of her taste has never recovered. I'm still struggling over a CERTAIN PERSON, who shall remain nameless-- MAGGIE-- calling Sarah's voice "strung-out." Her voice has no equal. *Pets collection of her CDs* I don't know what to do with people who fail to see/hear the brilliance of Andrew Lloyd Webber. I grew up in a musical bubble, alone with my soundtracks, so I didn't even know that he had detractors until probably college. I'm still getting over the shock.

I do my best not to think of that horrible movie masquerading as my beloved play. I have nothing kind to say about it. The end.


P.S: It's hilarious to see all of these women being interviewed talking about how Christine should have picked Phantom over Raoul. I used to think there was something wrong with me that I always hated Raoul and loved Phantom. I still do, but at least I'm not alone in my padded cell.

P.S.S: Yes, I'm aware that I sound like a raving loon, but I can't help it. *LOVES*

Zachary Quinto, what the fuck is you doing???





No, really. W...T...F????

It's been a busy handful of weeks, man.

I'm wrapping up the quarter and all the projects and papers that entails. There's been a lot of stress over summer classes and my attempt to add on a second Master's degree. There was a trip to Disneyland in there somewhere. Everyone in the world is getting married next month or graduating from somewhere this month, and they all want to have parties to celebrate. Imagine the audacity of these people inconveniencing me. ;)

I had to go on a mad search with graycloud for the supposedly universal "little black dress" that could double as my bridesmaid dress. To make a long story short, that little black dress was freaking hard to find under the bride's criteria, and I'm dieting like hell during these last few weeks before the wedding to make sure it looks good. The refrigerator is currently filled with every kind of stir-fry known to man.

The bridal shower was lovely, and I got to see friends I hadn't seen in a long time. There was one tangle in an otherwise lovely day when the aforementioned graycloud's hubbie decided to wax poetic over William Shatner. I felt compelled to remind him that admiring Shatner when Nimoy is standing right next to him is illogical. Boy is lucky he is otherwise awesome because no one is allowed to love on Shatner when I'm around!

Oh! And Maggie came all the way from California's northern wilderness (a.k.a Santa Rosa) to visit! I got a little teary seeing her reunited with our beloved Stanzi, who clearly remembered her from those wacky days in Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, she introduced me to the British cult classic Withnail and I, which was otherwise completely awesome except for when Uncle Vernon (Monty) tried to rape Marwood. Ahhhh, the nightmares!

And now I have to take Sophie in to the vet because she is either ambiguously pregnant (via Stanzi rape) or sick.

ZOMG, Salinger, you is alive!

Ninety-years-old, but still kicking enough to file a lawsuit against Catcher in the Rye published fan fiction. I wish Margaret Mitchell had done the same thing to prevent that horrible Gone with the Wind sequel Scarlett from being published. Or any of those horrible Pride and Prejudice "sequels." Blech. Save it for ff.net, people. No one should be allowed to profit from killing off Elizabeth Bennett to insert themselves-- oh, I mean an original character, yeah-- as Darcy's next wife. Yes, I've seen that.

So, keep on kicking, Salinger, you crazy, secretive, hermit bastard.

Geez, Trek Reboot is the most prolific fandom ever! I don't have time to read the billions of fics that cross my flist every day, so they just keep building and building up in my bookmarks. Since there are way too many good fics to rec, I decided to limit it to my favorite crack pieces. I think my favorite thing about Reboot fandom is that they've decided to write Jim Kirk as a hilariously huge ditz. As is most logical, my recs reflect this amusement.


Title: Cut and Fucking Paste and its sequel Edit.
Author: crimsonclad.
Rating: PG-13.
Pairings: Kirk-->Spock, Spock/Uhura.
Summary: The mindmeld is messing with Kirk's head. Absolute best crack in the world.

"Mr. Scott. What is the one thing I hate more than anything else in the entire universe?"

Cringing, Scotty's eyes turn even more apologetic than before. "Having your pain and personal life being made into fodder for the shipwide gossip mill, sir?"

Jim feels his expression turn baffled. "Dude, have we met? No, fuck, I hate being left out of the loop, you know that! Look, I get that the crew wants to gossip about their senior officers. That's cool-- fun tradition. But Scotty! I thought we were Delta Vega bros forever! We almost got tattoos together! Forward me all the good stuff, okay? No one's going to get in trouble, jeez. Unless they say racist shit about Vulcans, because, you know, fuck that noise."

Scotty frowns. "You-- want to be in the loop. Of gossip. About you."



Title: The Fistbump is Non-Optional.
Author: mekosuchinae.
Rating: PG.
Summary: This was why he was captain, and also awesome.

"In brief, Mr Spock," Kirk said. "Can you bust us out?"

Spock sighed. "Correct," he said. "I am capable of 'busting us out.'"

"Dude," Kirk said, hefting his fist. "Fistbump."

"I apologize, Captain, but I must refrain," said Spock. "I have seen where your hands have been and until you have sterilized the effected areas, preferably on a subdermal level, I do not wish to be in contact with any portion of your anatomy."

Kirk's fist wavered, as did his face, but he only straightened his elbow and held his fist out with even greater resolve. This was why he was captain, and also awesome.


Title: Four Consequences of the Unexpected and Unlikely Friendship Between James T. Kirk and Nyota Uhura.
Author: Tris B.
Characters/Pairing: Jim & Nyota, Spock/Uhura, Kirk/McCoy implied.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Jim and Nyota become BFFs. God help the rest of them.

"Did you ask him?"

Nyota's horrified look spoke volumes. Jim flapped his hands above the table excitedly. "Pon farr pon farr pon farr pon farr!" he chanted intelligently, tapping out a rhythm with his feet.

Nyota buried her face in her hands. "It's really special when you manage to upset a Vulcan. Jim. They don't talk about it. EVER. I didn't know anything could be that awkward."

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god!" he exulted, now fairly wriggling with glee. "I love Vulcans the most! Oh my god."


Title: Salute.
Author: evrymemry.
Characters/Pairings: Spock/Uhura, Kirk, McCoy.
Rating: PG.
Summary: Most kid!fic is inevitably going to suck (not that I don't want more of it, mind you), but this was so hilarious and adorable a look at Kirk interfering with Spock and Uhura's parenting that I couldn't resist. Uncle Jim! D'aww.

Five-year-old Sochya regarded Uncle Jim seriously. "I think you're lying."

Uncle Jim clutched his heart in mock agony. "Sochie! Would I do that to you?"

"You have done so in the past."

"Sochie, the Tooth Fairy wasn't a lie," he replied patiently. "Well, not exactly."


Title: And None of the Benefits.
Author: mekosuchinae.
Pairing: Spock/Uhura.
Rating: G.
Summary: "She should have known better than to involve herself with a teacher." Recced because Spock/Uhura is geek!love, and the idea of him torturing her with crossword puzzles warms my cold, bitter heart.

My first writing workshop went very well, but it was awkward as hell sitting there quietly while everyone discussed my work. I received a high compliment from my professor, who suggested that I should switch over to the MFA program (of which he is the head). I didn't tell him that I'm already trying to get into the Social Work Master's program. ^^; Nor did I know what to say when he said, "This can't be your first short story." You could say that I lied when I said it was, but I wasn't sure if a long history of writing fan fiction counts in his view. Should it? Don't know. In many ways, the fan fiction community has been one long, continuous writing workshop. I've learned and grown by leaps and bounds compared to when I started. Granted, that was when I was fifteen so one would hope that I would have grown by now, but whatever.

However, the most interesting things I've learned from my classmates in the writing workshop have nothing to do with writing. Their stories have unveiled criminal pasts, romantic intrigues, and sexual preferences-- all of which prove that they are much more interesting than I originally gave them credit for. I discovered that my class BFF is gay, which was awesome, because we proceeded to talk about Tori Spelling, Zachary Quinto, and Pride. Though, I have to ask myself why the only males I seem to attract in any capacity these days seem to be gay. Hmn.

This has been the longest week of my graduate career so far, full of papers, presentations, visitations, critiques, writing workshops, class debates, etc. Glad to have survived it. Moving on.

I sometimes wonder what it's like being my LJ friend, watching as I go through these manic phases where I'm obsessed with one fandom for a while only to randomly switch to something new, possibly to never mention the previous fandom again! I have fandom ADD! Huh.

ANYWAY, back to my current obsession.

A quote taken from this interview by Leonard Nimoy regarding the Spock/Uhura relationship: "Frankly, I was extremely jealous of his scenes with Zoe Saldana, and I think it's totally unfair that I never got to do that. I will never forgive the writers and the director, for having put me in this position, to have to be watching that, rather than participating."

I think I would give just about anything to actually hear (with my own ears) Nimoy say the words "totally unfair." Also, after watching a handful of the original Trek episodes, I must say that I am in agreement with him. The fact that he never got to mack on Nicelle Nichols (as far as we know) is a travesty. I will never forgive Shatner for commandeering the Original Flavor Sphura kiss that almost but never was. Bastard.

OH, and did you know that there are Star Trek cups being sold at Burger King right now? I didn't! WHY DON'T I HAVE A SPOCK CUP YET??? It has ZQ and Nimoy on it!

Have I mentioned how much I heart Leonard Nimoy? Oh, I have? Just checking.

How the bloody friggin hell did I manage to watch-- courtesy of my shiny new bootleg-- Star Trek a dozen or so times without realizing that Nero is freaking Eric Bana???

Eric. Freaking. Bana.

It's not like I wasn't paying attention to him. I was entirely intrigued by this "new" actor. *FacePalm* How did I not only not realize I was staring directly at him but also miss every single media mention of this? You don't just not mention Eric Bana.

Seriously. W.T.F.

And now for something that has nothing to do with Star Trek! For reals! While I was desperately trying to finish my short story for my class workshop, I managed to finish watching season one of both Damages and Skins, and they are both fantastic.

Damages: After months of watching WTF?bullshit on Heroes (yes, I've reached the angry, lashing out phase of my stages of grief), the superb writing on Damages just blows my mind. Glenn Close is so fierce that I can barely stand it. This show is just so smart and fun and twisty with an assortment of intriguing characters that I've never seen all together in one show before.

Skins: I don't usually go for British shows for a whole slew of reasons that probably make me a horrible person, but I love this one. This is how cast diversity is done, Hollywood. I want to simultaneously hug and slap all of the characters. With the single exception of a random "the gang all goes to Russia!" episode, the show feels as close to reality as any show about a group of teenagers could be, hence the desire to hug and slap. Crazy Cassie is pretty much my favorite character ever, and I'm torn on whether I ship Sid/Cassie or Sid/Tony more.

I want my own personal Maxxie to carry around with me in my pocket. It's refreshing to see a young gay character who's accepted and loved by pretty much everyone without all of the obligatory homophobia angst.

P.S: I'm so glad that I saw Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire before watching him play Anwar on this show, because I never would have been able to take him seriously. XD

I was going to compile a list of Spock/Uhura fic recs and articles, but then the fandom just EXPLODED! So much fic! Too much to keep up with! It's fantastic. :D I love this pairing so much, and it's marvelous fun seeing so many people loving on them, too, particularly at spock_uhura.

On the downside, I've already come across fics that swiftly remove Uhura from the picture so that Kirk and Spock can live happily ever after, and that does not sparkle with me. Does not sparkle at all. It's a little surreal being on the other side of the "canon het pairing" vs. "fanon slash OTP" battle. I don't think that's ever happened before... Oh, wait, never mind, Torchwood. Still, it's rare for me to prefer the canon het pairing because "the love interest" is usually written so poorly, so transparently, or so offensively that it's almost a mercy to take her out of the picture. Yeah, I'm still lookin' at you, Padme Amidala. I won't even look at you, Ginny Weasley. Did I say that it was a mercy for her? I meant me.

But Nyota Uhura is no Padme or Ginny. Hells no. As evidenced by this quote from Zoe Saldana from here:

And Saldana herself figures that for serious, career-minded Uhura, Spock is more her type than an on-the-prowl guy like Kirk. "I'm pretty sure that Uhura would choose a night in and studying 10 times over going out and partying it up and hooking up with a boy," Saldana said. "Who other than Spock to come in and sort of possess all the qualities that she sees in herself, that she would like to continue to obtain, and that she would want to see in a man? I almost feel like Kirk would be the opposite and be someone she just wouldn't go for."

YES. Similar comments from the people behind the movie reveal creators actually taking the time to THINK about a heroine before shoving her into a corset, a contrived relationship, and a useless story line (in that order). And now I'm lookin' at you, Elizabeth Swan. A girl like Uhura wouldn't go for a guy like Kirk, but how many times have we seen the amorous frat boy seduce the smart girl by showing her that she needs to "have fun"? Too many times, my friends. The novelization reveals that a lot of "Uhura being a genius and great at her job" stuff was unfortunately cut from the film, but the fact that these aspects of her still came through in the movie is testament to how freaking cool she is. Yes, I think I have something of a girl-crush on Uhura. What?

Courtesy of the lovely baggyeyes, I now have a Dreamwidth account here:

http://starvinbohemian.dreamwidth.org/

It's still bare bones, but I'm sloooowly working on it. To be honest, I'm still not entirely certain if I have any real need for a Dreamwidth account, considering that livejournal still houses all of my needs and everyone seems to be cross-posting anyway. But why not?

I know a bunch of you have accounts over there, but I can't remember who everybody is so friend me unless you're thinking to yourselves, "I think lj gives me just the right amount of Kellie and no more, no less." I would understand. ;)

I'm giving myself a crash course in Star Trek by watching the original series with my loathed nemesis, Shatner, and the delightful Nimoy. The show's pretty hilarious, but I don't know if I could stomach watching everything Trek. I guess as long as Spock is there, I want to be, too.

Speaking of Spock/Uhura-- yes, I was-- there is total canon basis here for the pairing. First episode in, and she's flirting with him. Second episode in, and she's singing the most flirtatious song EVER to/about him while he accompanies her on his lyre, while they both exchange knowing smirks. And Nichelle Nichols creating her own personal Spock/Uhura canon is canon enough for me.

ZOMG, the episode titled "The Naked Time"-- aptly titled-- had me rolling in stitches on the floor. Half-naked, surprisingly toned, George Takei prancing around the ship while fencing everyone he encounters and having some phallic fun with his sword? WIN! Bizarre, disturbing, yet infinitely hilarious win. Not to mention that he tried to get that other dude to go with him to the gym to "take the edge off." How anyone could have not known that George Takei was gay, I will never know. XD

Star Trek was amazing.

I took my father and had a hilarious time of it when he revealed his sordid past as a Trekkie. I knew he watched and enjoyed the show back in the day, but it soon became clear that my father was one fan convention away from owning a pair of Vulcan ears. He liked the movie except for the breaches in continuity with the original series. When I prodded him, it all came spilling out. Suddenly, it was, "In episode so and so Kirk said this and Spock did that and therefore the movie was wrong." I was having such a great time making fun of him, giggling, "What else was wrong, Dad?"

For once, I got to be the uncaring noob, and somebody else was the overly invested nerd. Awesome.

In terms of shipping, I went in expecting to come out a convert of Kirk/Spock, the Original Slash Pairing, the fathers of slash fiction, etc. etc. But I ended up falling in absolute LOVE with a het OTP. Go figure?

( Cut for spoilery movie squees... )

The Scrubs season/possibly series finale was so beautiful and perfect that I hope the show really is canceled so that it can go off on a high note before another season can come along and ruin it. Besides, Scrubs without J.D. is no Scrubs at all.

But ZOMG, Supernatural. After the Heroes season finale, I cannot take any more angst from you. Nor can I handle the death of my favorite she-demon, you hear me?


I am really excited to see Star Trek tomorrow! In the spirit of anticipation, have yourself a freaking hilarious Fake News Report from The Onion on how Star Trek fans are disappointed by the movie because it's fun, exciting, and understandable. Unlike the original show.