![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
1. Pardon me, while I whine briefly about two problems I have with the information age/tech revolution:
* Disposable software and gadgets, plus the constant necessity of having to up grade everything. I can't quite decide if the constant up-grading causing the gadgets to fail quicker or they were just made that way.
* As time progresses, people become lazier and lazier in regards to writing and communication skills. Also information is starting to feel more like misinformation or in some cases gibberish. Was attempting to read a Good Reads discussion thread today and got a headache from the people texting from iphones: "it lok ike tis. omg. so funny. u r cool. lol. yes. great. tis teh book. no no cant wait por sequl. " [Imagine trying to read paragraphs of that?] Meanwhile they are saying: "riter cant write bad writing ould ike better if had editor u know at story fine lol & yes i don't write well not doing it money moar idek bamf writer."[I truly feel sorry for anyone who has English as second or third language.] [ETC: Shorthand and internet shorthand or text speak is really hard for anyone who has a type of dyslexia to interpret. You are constantly re-reading the words. There's no breaks. No commas. No capitalization. And the words are abbreviations. If you aren't a native English speaker, it's difficult to translate. This is why Tumblr and many discussion forums annoy me. I see it less on livejournal, for some reason.]
Sigh. Instead of handwriting they need to teach people how to type legibly on smartphones with their thumbs.
Was very tempted to ask...if I can't understand what you've written is there any point in you writing it? Sort of like - if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound.
2. Buffy fandom ponderings.
* Buffy fandom pondering Part I:
This plot-line bothers me: ( Buffy and Angel tv series and comic book spoilers )
* Buffy fandom pondering part II:
I'm trying to remember what I thought during Buffy S6. I know I figured out that Spike was not trying to get his chip removed - because it made no logical sense that he'd do that.
So I became convinced he was going to become human - mainly because I felt the vampire with a soul routine had been done to death. Also I knew they couldn't redeem Spike without giving him a soul. I admittedly was disappointed when I found out he got a soul and didn't become human. I got spoiled - someone on Buffy Cross and Stake spoiled me. I don't know who it was - they sent me an email with cloaked spoilers, and I got curious.
At any rate, it bewilders me that other's couldn't see that. In retrospect, I find Willow's story less interesting and more cliche ridden than I had at the time. I also see more and more parallels to the Celluiod Closet or Angry Lesbian Cliche, mainly because I'm more educated on the trope now than I was back then. (Thank you, Internet). Can a fandom change how you view a tv series? Yes, fortunately or unfortunately depending on your pov it can. Which is why I have mixed feelings about it. Did I enjoy Buffy more without the fandom? I can't remember. Did the fandom make me more obsessed? Definitely. And for far longer. I think I would have lost interest faster and saw more flaws sooner if it weren't for the fandom. The fandom in some respects was more interesting, far more intelligent, and definitely more creative than any of the writers, actors, etc associated with the series - time has certainly proven this to be true, if nothing else. In some respects, now, years later, I appreciate the Buffy fandom or rather the people I've met through it far more than the series it spawned.
The fandom has been supportive and caring community by and large. Just avoid certain crazy sub-factions, and you're fine.
Of the characters...the only one that has stuck to me, like glue, is Spike.Not sure why. Possibly because the character was a trope or archetype that I'd been playing with in my own writing. He is. Long before the tv series aired, I had written similar characters myself. The male hooker with the heart of gold or the male rogue with the heart of gold who on the face appears to be evil or the villain and turns out to be more complicated.
The character plays with my mind. Part of the reason for this is I don't like one dimensional villains. I don't find them real. People aren't all one thing. We can be heroes one day, sadistic creeps the next. Both possibilities/poles exist. So black and white characters tend to bore me. The Master I found incredibly dull, actually all the villains in Buffy S1 bored me, they were all somewhat one dimensional. It wasn't until S3 that we got complex villains. Sure you could S2 ...started down that path...and yes, I see the metaphor, as one gets older the villains become more complex and less black and white, as do the rules. That's why Lie to Me is such a great episode.
At any rate...I liked the characters who were complicated. With few exceptions. Acting prowess did have an effect.
3. My biggest frustration with writing is people don't read carefully enough. Myself included. ( Read more... )
* Disposable software and gadgets, plus the constant necessity of having to up grade everything. I can't quite decide if the constant up-grading causing the gadgets to fail quicker or they were just made that way.
* As time progresses, people become lazier and lazier in regards to writing and communication skills. Also information is starting to feel more like misinformation or in some cases gibberish. Was attempting to read a Good Reads discussion thread today and got a headache from the people texting from iphones: "it lok ike tis. omg. so funny. u r cool. lol. yes. great. tis teh book. no no cant wait por sequl. " [Imagine trying to read paragraphs of that?] Meanwhile they are saying: "riter cant write bad writing ould ike better if had editor u know at story fine lol & yes i don't write well not doing it money moar idek bamf writer."[I truly feel sorry for anyone who has English as second or third language.] [ETC: Shorthand and internet shorthand or text speak is really hard for anyone who has a type of dyslexia to interpret. You are constantly re-reading the words. There's no breaks. No commas. No capitalization. And the words are abbreviations. If you aren't a native English speaker, it's difficult to translate. This is why Tumblr and many discussion forums annoy me. I see it less on livejournal, for some reason.]
Sigh. Instead of handwriting they need to teach people how to type legibly on smartphones with their thumbs.
Was very tempted to ask...if I can't understand what you've written is there any point in you writing it? Sort of like - if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound.
2. Buffy fandom ponderings.
* Buffy fandom pondering Part I:
This plot-line bothers me: ( Buffy and Angel tv series and comic book spoilers )
* Buffy fandom pondering part II:
I'm trying to remember what I thought during Buffy S6. I know I figured out that Spike was not trying to get his chip removed - because it made no logical sense that he'd do that.
So I became convinced he was going to become human - mainly because I felt the vampire with a soul routine had been done to death. Also I knew they couldn't redeem Spike without giving him a soul. I admittedly was disappointed when I found out he got a soul and didn't become human. I got spoiled - someone on Buffy Cross and Stake spoiled me. I don't know who it was - they sent me an email with cloaked spoilers, and I got curious.
At any rate, it bewilders me that other's couldn't see that. In retrospect, I find Willow's story less interesting and more cliche ridden than I had at the time. I also see more and more parallels to the Celluiod Closet or Angry Lesbian Cliche, mainly because I'm more educated on the trope now than I was back then. (Thank you, Internet). Can a fandom change how you view a tv series? Yes, fortunately or unfortunately depending on your pov it can. Which is why I have mixed feelings about it. Did I enjoy Buffy more without the fandom? I can't remember. Did the fandom make me more obsessed? Definitely. And for far longer. I think I would have lost interest faster and saw more flaws sooner if it weren't for the fandom. The fandom in some respects was more interesting, far more intelligent, and definitely more creative than any of the writers, actors, etc associated with the series - time has certainly proven this to be true, if nothing else. In some respects, now, years later, I appreciate the Buffy fandom or rather the people I've met through it far more than the series it spawned.
The fandom has been supportive and caring community by and large. Just avoid certain crazy sub-factions, and you're fine.
Of the characters...the only one that has stuck to me, like glue, is Spike.Not sure why. Possibly because the character was a trope or archetype that I'd been playing with in my own writing. He is. Long before the tv series aired, I had written similar characters myself. The male hooker with the heart of gold or the male rogue with the heart of gold who on the face appears to be evil or the villain and turns out to be more complicated.
The character plays with my mind. Part of the reason for this is I don't like one dimensional villains. I don't find them real. People aren't all one thing. We can be heroes one day, sadistic creeps the next. Both possibilities/poles exist. So black and white characters tend to bore me. The Master I found incredibly dull, actually all the villains in Buffy S1 bored me, they were all somewhat one dimensional. It wasn't until S3 that we got complex villains. Sure you could S2 ...started down that path...and yes, I see the metaphor, as one gets older the villains become more complex and less black and white, as do the rules. That's why Lie to Me is such a great episode.
At any rate...I liked the characters who were complicated. With few exceptions. Acting prowess did have an effect.
3. My biggest frustration with writing is people don't read carefully enough. Myself included. ( Read more... )