shadowkat: (Default)
2025-04-22 08:20 pm

Fandom Bits and Pieces...among other things

1. Everything We Learned at the Star Wars Celebration 2025

Takeaways?

I really want to see Andor S2.

excerpt )

Also, apparently the new Star Wars movie starring Ryan Gosling, and directed by Shawn Levy, entitled Star Wars: Star Fighter - takes place post Rise of Skywalker, and with all new characters. (Smart move. The better films pull away from the Skywalker story arcs.)

Also, I may try Ashoska again.

2. Not a fandom bit - but R.I.P Pope Francis. I'm saddened by this news.
Also he accomplished a lot in short period of time - shifting the course of the Catholic Church, promoting kindness and humility. (I also hope he talked some sense into devout Catholic and wannabee Fascist, Vance, who saw Francis before he died.)

3. Buffy Redux

So, I've been rewatching Buffy episodes intermittently. Picked up on a few things that I hadn't previously picked up on? Read more... )

4. Daredevil Born Again

I liked the season finale, and for the most part the series. It's similar yet different than Netflix's Daredevil, which had defter writing. However both are fairly uneven.

Fisk is clearly Marvel's commentary on the Fascist asshole in the White House or the Hitler Wannabee. Fisk even kind of looks like him, without hair. And that makes watching this - an odd experience.

The message at the end is Daredevil can't take on Fisk alone, which sets up S2 to be more of a group effort. People are speculating already on who will be joining the cast. Already slotted are Karen and Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) aka The Punisher. Also Lily Taylor, and Mathew Lillard in a recurring role.
shadowkat: (Looking Outwards - Tessa)
2025-03-26 08:27 pm
Entry tags:

Fannish Pop Culture News on the MCU

Avengers Doomsday Cast includes...

The Avengers are assembling again for Avengers: Doomsday, and Marvel is confirming the actors and superheroes appearing in the next installment.
cast announcements below the cut )

And.. Doomsday Casting News

" The biggest news is that the announcement made it certain that stars from 20th Century Fox/Marvel’s X-Men part of the franchise are coming back, read Patrick Stewart aka Charles Xavier (didn’t he die in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?), Ian McKellen aka Magneto, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, James Marsden aka Cyclops and Kelsey Grammer as Beast from the Fox Marvel movies. Oh, and Gambit himself, meaning Channing Tatum, also is in for the fun. We saw him last in Deadpool & Wolverine.

These names today are just confirmations.

Among those confirmed already are Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Kelsey Grammer, Florence Pugh, Lewis Pullman, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Winston Duke and the list keeps going.

The Russo Brothers who were behind Infinity War and Endgame are reuniting and doing Secret Wars and Doomsday.

James Marsden Returns as Cyclops

Also.. Go Here -they unveiled at the Comic Con.

"Marvel Studios has revealed the star-studded cast of Avengers: Doomsday. The film, directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, is slated to premiere on May 1, 2026, with its sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, following on May 7, 2027.
The star-studded cast of Avengers: Doomsday was announced on Wednesday.

The highly anticipated cast was unveiled during a livestream event on Wednesday, showcasing a lineup that unites iconic stars from previous Avengers and X-Men films, as well as standout performers from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the forthcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Robert Downey Jr. appeared towards the end of Marvel’s livestream, confirming his return to the MCU—not as Iron Man, but as the infamous Victor Von Doom, better known as Doctor Doom.

However, the announcement left fans buzzing about notable absences, including Tom Holland (Spider-Man) and Chris Evans (Captain America), who were not mentioned in the lineup.

Cast Unveiled on Wednesday )

Big Names Absent from Wednesday’s Announcement )

Russo Brothers Explain Why They Came Back and Tease New Avengers Films

article excerpt beneath the cut )


I'm excited. The Russos did an excellent job integrating multiple character stories across multiple films - that's hard to do well.

It's nice to have something to look forward to. Even if it's just a comic book movie. ;-) [These movies and the comics are my comfort food, which I need more than ever these days.]
shadowkat: (Default)
2024-12-31 10:13 pm
Entry tags:

End of Year Fandom Memage

1. Your main fandom this year?

Books: Illona Andrews novels - been reading all of them on audio or e-books or graphic audio dramatization. (I get her blog). Television: General Hospital (soap) and the X-men. Also, to a lesser degree Bridgerton, Doctor Who, and Lord of the Rings.

2. Your favorite film watched this year?

Thelma. Thelma would be my favorite, considering it's the only one I really remember. Thelma is streaming on Hulu and is about an old woman who takes out the people who scammed her - not at all what you'd think.
Read more... )
shadowkat: (Default)
2024-12-02 09:29 pm

This and that and the other thing

1. I may be cancelling my cable soon - I can't get NY1 unless I upgrade to the $120 a month option, and seriously? Not sure it's worth it.

Optimum appears to have fixed the problem - the DVR is working finally, as is the internet. Read more... )

2. I listened to several podcasts at work - because I was bored and gone were the days in which I had to entertain myself by doodling or listening to music or surfing the net... now, when I'm bored, I can entertain myself with podcasts on my mobile phone via youtube. Gotta love technology.

* Joss Whedon, His Life, His Work, He's Here via Connecticut Public Radio. Read more... )

* Willow, a podcaster, feels the need to talk about Neil Gaiman, prefacing it with the fact that she's been a huge fan of his works and now has to figure out how to deal with the fact that well...maybe she shouldn't continue to support him in any way The bulk of this - is the podcaster explaining why she's going to put her collection of Neil Gaiman books in a cabinet with the collection of Harry Potter books, out of sight and out of mind. And will no longer support him financially in any way - ie. by buying his books, etc.
But if people want to do something other than that - that's up to them and on them, and no judgement. (Actually there's lots of judgement, but she's trying very hard not to convey it.)

I also briefly listened to this Felicia Day Speaks to the Joss Whedon issue - basically she states: "I'm not going talk about Joss because I don't want my experience to negate someone else's experience with someone. He was an amazing friend and mentor to me, but at the end of the day, I can only represent me, and I definitely can't negate other people's experiences, so I'm not going to say anymore."

To wit, Michael Rosenbaum relates that he can identify - he knew Kevin Spacey, and never had any bad experiences. He did two movies with him, and never had any issues. But Day refuses to say more than, yes, that's the same thing she had with Whedon.

I give Day credit for that.
my two cents such as it is )

3. Dancing with the Stars

Mother informed me that the people on this show were getting paid upwards to $650,000, and the winner got $50,000 on top of the signing fee of $100,000 or more.

I was shocked. I thought the contestants did it for free. They don't. They are paid for every episode they are in.

Mother got this information off of instagram or FB, she can't remember.

Also, apparently there was a huge controversy about Chandler (the Disney Star).

* I was apparently right, the audience didn't vote for her because they saw her as a professional dancer who hadn't improved.

* they resented that the race card was raised at all - since the audience didn't care about the race of the dancers. And considered it irrelevant.

* The husband of the choreographer, who did the final tennis ball dance number with the Bachelor and winner, was furious with Carrie Anne - the judge - for critiquing and ripping apart his wife's choreography, which he thought was fantastic. Carrie Anne wanted Chandler (Disney Star) to win not the Bachelor.

I looked it up. How Much Do they Make on Dancing with the Stars
blurb )
Mother said the gymnast made about $650,000. The rugby player was up there as well, with at least $650,000 or more.

Well, that explains a lot. I wondered why some of these folks did this. I thought it was for exposure. Nope. Money.
shadowkat: (Default)
2024-08-18 09:49 am

Don't Look at the Person Behind the Curtain...

[On the COVID front? I think I'm getting better? Last night ran a slight fever - at 100.11 or thereabouts. But headache meds (acetametphine/Asprin (NASAI)/Caffeine) and water reduced it quickly enough. I also think the fact that I had the latest COVID Booster in January, along with the Flu Shot is why it's milder than some folks cases have been.

I'll probably call in sick Monday, take another test, and if it is negative, see how I'm feeling on Tuesday and/or Wed - to determine whether I go in to work.]

So, I've become a little fascinated with the topic of worshipping writers and the negative impact that has on well everyone concerned. Former Minister had a sermon on the topic once - in which she stated "you are going to worship something, just be careful what it is." (She was talking about money, politics, etc. But it applies to humans as well.)

Although I do think there is a difference between being obsessed/fannish about something, and worshiping someone. Picking apart a writer's work, being fannish about their work - isn't quite the same thing as idolizing. Or defending a writer - who may or may not have done something terrible isn't idolizing, depending on why? I question allegations, because I have a criminal defense background and was taught to question everything. And let's face it? The internet isn't reliable.

There's an excellent thread on Reddit about it.

Someone states that's why they only idolize fictional characters because they will never let them down. To which someone responds: "Didn't read Go
Set the Watchman, I take it?" (OR the Watchmen, I thought.)

And then in regards to Gaiman** - there's a thread that compares him to another famous and beloved British writer, Charles Dickens, who was also a bit of a mess. (I'm hesitant to call either terrible people, because I know people are more than one thing, and our actions don't necessarily define who we are. And never have. Our actions vary from day to day, one situation to the next, and we have different choices to make each time. That said, I admittedly am uncomfortable watching a couple of actors, and it may be a while before I read a few writers works.)

"This bit "I don’t think anyone should idolize anyone, ever. It’s not great for them, and it’s not great for you, they probably didn’t ask to be idolized (and if they did, holy shit, fucking run)". I've read a lot of Neil Gaiman and I particularly loved American Gods and the graveyard book. So when Neil Gaiman did an event at the Barbican with the BBC symphony orchestra in 2019, I got tickets. I came away disturbed. I didn't see any predatory behaviour or anything like that, but there was such an unhealthy atmosphere of basking in adoration."
Read more... )

Two statements to highlight:

* I don’t think anyone should idolize anyone, ever. It’s not great for them, and it’s not great for you, they probably didn’t ask to be idolized (and if they did, holy shit, fucking run)

*I'm certain that idolization is one of the most reliable ways to bring out the absolute worst in somebody

I agree with both. From everything I've read about famous folks - who do horrible things - it's usually the result of "idolization". They all fall into that trap. And idolization or adoration can be mistaken for love, it's not love. It's a false or empty kind of love that often destroys the object of it. There's parables, fables, fairy tells, and Greek Myths/stories that describe why this is a bad thing.

I've been watching "The Magicians" adapted from Lev Grossman's books. It's a story about a bunch of magic users who find a gateway into a world that was fictionalized in a bunch of beloved children's books. Halfway through the first season - it's revealed that the writer of the books is in reality a pedophile, with his sister's help, drugged, and molested the children in his charge. When he discovers that they can escape him into a fictional world, a world where he can do whatever he wants - he practices black magic to change himself in order to enter that world. The Writer is portrayed as a charming British writer, with graying hair, and tweed. Looks a bit like Neil Gaiman by way of CS Lewis.
Read more... )
Coincidentally this morning, the lay-worship sermon at my church, via FB, was on how humans, writers or AI creators, create things and then wish to assert control over them. And at what point does the creation become its own entity, with it's own free will, and desires? No longer an extension of the creator? And how do we interact with these creations? As separate from the creator of part of them.

The sermon argues that while all things are ecologically connected and we are indefinably a part of each other, at the same time we are separate entities and once the creation is released into the world - it becomes its own entity.

This furthers the view that yes, you can love Harry Potter and it's world, without supporting JK Rowling's views, or you can love A Tale of Two Cities or a Christmas Carol without supporting or loving Dickens (he's long dead anyhow and I think he's works are in the public domain), or you can adore the works of folks like Gaiman or Whedon without condoning their actions or worshiping them. The creation can survive outside of the creator, and in some cases expand and become more - based on every interaction others have with it.

In short? It is safer (well for the most part - not to the extent you get lost inside of it) to love the fictional work than the creator of the work. Or? Ignore the person behind the curtain, they are but a shyster and a conman, hardly a wizard worth worshiping. But their creation can be loved and adores separately.

** A side note about Gaiman? Unlike Whedon and Munroe, the allegations aren't being reported by any reliable news sources. Doesn't mean they are false, but doesn't mean they are true either. Read more... ) So at this point, I really don't know if Gaiman did anything.

What unnerves me about social media is how many people assume that if XYZ publication reports it is true. Or if someone says it in a publication - than it is true without any fact checking whatsoever. A reputable source fact checks. [I had a massage therapist who fully believed that vaccines were tainted and caused autism because...wait for it...she read it on an internet discussion board???] This is why people died of COVID. How do you know if something is true? There has to be reliable and primary sources, preponderance of the evidence, and a level of accountability. And even then, we don't necessarily know for certain. My father was on the jury of a child molestation case, he and the jury found the defendant guilty, only for the judge to throw out the case because it was determined that the therapists had manipulated the child's testimony to support the ends of whomever wanted custody. And this is easy to do.

That Reddit thread is weirdly disturbing - in how many people misread Scalzi's piece, and how many are quick to judgement based solely on something they read on the internet. And are insanely self-righteous about it.
shadowkat: (Default)
2024-03-23 10:04 am
Entry tags:

Anti-Shipping and Online Discourse in and outside fandoms

Rather loved this Post - entitled Anti-Shipping as Hate.

Actually all of it. I think most people should probably read it. It kind of underlines the issues that I've had in various fandoms with the "anti-shippers" or morally holier-than-thous, who felt the need to attack myself and others for either shipping or loving fictional storylines or character that they despised or felt were morally repugnant.

I think some of the difficulty is a lot of people tend to take a morally superior attitude, or feel they are taking the moral higher ground and need to "educate" someone else to see things their way. But the difficulty with that - is we're all flawed, with various quirks. And whose to say what the moral higher ground actually is? It's a sliding scale and often the lines are blurred. And in assuming it - the individual could easily be falling into the role of cyberbully without realizing it? Just because someone loves a messy fictional relationship or character or television series, does not mean they support or like that behavior in actuality. I met someone who loved The Bachelor (which I find morally repugnant) because they liked watching people who were worse off than they were. (They stated at least I'm not like that.) We may love to watch or read abusive relationships in fiction, but steer clear of those in reality and be lucky enough to never have experienced them. While others may have or have had abusive relationships in reality and steer clear of them in fiction, often that's why they steer clear, it triggers them.

Example? I steered clear of the television comedy series The Office, because I'd experienced something similar in reality. While someone else loved it and the lead, because they either never had or experienced it very differently than I had.

The internet, specifically some social media platforms - have a tendency to bring out the worst in people. Twitter (Xitter) is set up as a marketing platform - where a negative tweet will be retweeted and quoted across it in seconds. It actually is set up for negative marketing to thrive. It wants controversy and battles. Dreamwidth isn't set up that way - it's more of an interactive correspondence site, and kind of pushes against that behavior, it has monitoring safeguards in place. We can control who and what we see on this platform far better than others. The old Voy users groups were also kind of set against it, since too many posts broke those sites, and they had headings and ways you could avoid the trolls easily. And were well monitored. But, Tumblr, Twitter, Bluesky, and Facebook - don't have those safeguards or not to the same extent. Facebook has gotten better at least.

Bullying others who do not share our opinions or views brings out the worst in all of us, I think. Often, when emotions get involved, instead of being curious, we get into pushing our own view onto someone else, or being right or validating that view or experience. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've certainly been guilty of that in the past. It's a remarkably easy trap to fall into.

I've learned (the hard way) that you cannot control another person's perspective on things or even change it. Why should they listen to me? Or anyone online for that matter? That perspective has been built over timeand was developed by factors outside of my understanding, knowledge or experience, just as mine was outside of theirs. And their experience is as valid as mine. And, as I keep reminding myself, it's actually a miracle when our perspectives agree or are on the same page.
shadowkat: (Default)
2024-01-10 10:14 pm

Snowflake Challenge....

1. Something your favorite character would like

Male fav:



And another favorite character?

Female fav:




2. Something that makes you laugh




Watch on YouTube


3. A fandom place you would like to visit

This is hard, because most of the shows, books, etc that I'm fannish about - have worlds that I do not want to be in.

But I'd like to visit, Star Trek's Earth.

4. A fandom creator (pro or not) you'd like to meet

Neil Gaiman, who I have seen from a distance.

The rest )
shadowkat: (Default)
2023-10-26 09:53 pm

Radical Interpretation of the Text

A post I read on DW last night - haunted me today. Social media does that occasionally, as did letters back in the day.

It was about interpreting text. The reason it haunts me - is well it occurred to me that I've been interpreting and analyzing and arguing over interpretations of text for over forty years, and do it for a living.
I'm a contract specialist - I debate contractual language with contractors daily, and interpret it for them.

Today, for example, we had a meeting in which we basically argued over contractual language with a construction contractor. We've been doing this for weeks now, and going in a circle. It can be very frustrating explaining to someone that their interpretation of the text is a) radical, b) their own isolated interpretation, and c) not proven by anything actually in the text. Not helped by cultural and language barriers. This requires a great deal of patience and stamina.

So if I get a little impatient with folks in fandoms, DW, or other social media regarding interpretations of text - that's probably why - I've been doing it at work all day long. I've had enough. Not always, but often.

Example from meeting?
Read more... )
Sigh. This is unfortunately typical. I had a fight with a contractor once over whether the contract stated that he could only charge 5% on materials, and that bonds and insurance were inclusive of overhead. I underlined the text in the contract and highlighted it. And he kept telling me that this wasn't how he interpreted it. To wit - I stated, "look, you can't interpret it however you wish - the language states it clearly, a judge will not rule in your favor on this - and if you want to rally it up the flag pole, and further delay your payment - we can send it to legal." He caved.

I remember one time, I let the project team and the contractor yell at each other for two hours over lunch, while I ate my lunch (this was during the pandemic and we were working remotely and doing negotiations virtually on our computers via teams). They finally stopped. And I told them they could either go with what we had decided, or we could continue negotiating. They asked if they could have another meeting tomorrow. I said, no, I could go all night. They said - they were hungry, wasn't I hungry. No, I'd eaten my lunch while they were yelling at each other. Settle it at the negotiated amount. They caved. (They were really hungry.)

What haunted me from last night post (which shall remain nameless) is an English Lit Professor informed a student (the poster) that the following interpretation of Pride and Prejudice was a plausible interpretation of the text: "Elizabeth hated Darcy and only married him to save her family." Stating this was plausible, even if we may not like it.

Okay, it has been admittedly twenty years since I've read the book or fifteen years since I watched the film for that matter - but that is not a plausible interpretation of Pride and Prejudice. I'm beginning to wonder about some of these teachers. The former English Lit Major in me had a hissy fit. Pride and Prejudice is several things - a romance, a comedy of manners, and light satire - what is not is a tragedy or Thomas Hardy, Emily Bronte, or for that matter, Richardson, Thackery, etc.

I mentioned this to mother, who has read it far more recently. And has recently rewatched the film. She was appalled.
Read more... )

* The Maine Shooting is horrible, and most likely the result of people twisting facts and information to promote their own perceptions of reality.
shadowkat: (Default)
2023-10-10 06:16 pm

For Buffy and well Angel fans...

For Buffy and Angel fans...or rather Tara, Anya, Spike, Cordelia, Dru and Giles fans, and fans of the actors who portrayed them?

Buffy Cast Reunion on Audible - Slayers by Amber Bensen and Christopher Golden

It's basically an interview with Golden, Benson, Marsters, and Chase.

Extensive Interview with Marsters about Spike for the 20th Anniversary with Radio Times

excerpt )

And..
Inside Joss Whedon’s ‘Cutting’ and ‘Toxic’ World of ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel’ (EXCLUSIVE)


"Interviews that Variety conducted with 11 individuals who worked directly on “Buffy” or “Angel,” or were closely familiar with the productions during their runs on The WB and UPN, painted a portrait of Whedon as a talented, collaborative writer-producer with a pattern of inappropriate, imperious and disparaging behavior toward those who worked for him. Whedon created a “cult of personality” around himself, according to these sources. Those on the inside of Whedon’s circle basked in his attention, praise and friendship; those on the outside got the opposite: scorn, derision and callousness. (Everyone Variety spoke with did so on condition of anonymity, either so they could speak freely or out of concern for their careers.)

Variety also reached out to 40 other actors, writers, producers and directors from “Buffy” and “Angel” — including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michelle Trachtenberg, Amber Benson, Eliza Dushku, David Boreanaz and Alyson Hannigan — all of whom declined to participate in this story."

Which is interesting - the actors declined to participate, but the crew and writers did on the condition of anonymity. Making it difficult to know how much of what they state is true? Except this happens a lot - most of Burn it Down - about similar allegations on various television and film sets in Hollywood - were all done with anonymity. However - if you listened to any of the Q&A's at the cons - the actors did verify most of it over the years.

***

I've only been an obsessed or huge fan of a few things in my lifetime, and not in the same way. And it's often fleeting.

We all have something that just jives with us. Don't we? But it also at some point disappoints - when we find out a touch too much about it. Which is too often the case in this day and age.

I find it interesting how fans and folks who worked on Buffy have reclaimed it as their own. They did it by writing their own fanfic.
shadowkat: (Default)
2023-02-24 09:20 pm

Pitfalls of Being in Fandoms

1. The Pitfall of Being a Fan of a Series of Books or of a writer, only to realize they are a complete asshole.

* I've spent more time this week than I wanted to ...thinking about JKR and the Harry Potter Fandom.

Wales stumbled onto JKR on Twitter via the NY Times. There was a fight with NY Times, who for reasons...had decided to JKR. This erupted into a fight on Twitter. Wales, not reading the article, dove in and said they should pick their battles and defend women's reproductive rights, and well when I tried to explain, she clarified that this including women who no longer had access to their reproductive organs. To which, I had to clarify further.
explaining why JKR is a transphobic bitch to someone who is unfamiliar with her work and the fandom )

* Penguin Puffin is apparently publishing the works of Roald Dahl, who as you may or may not already know is an anti-semitic asshole or was one. Read more... )

* And..I found out Twitter that..Scott Adams the cartoonist/creator of Dilbert is a racist Trump Supporter - and 80 newspapers pulled his cartoon due to racist content.

[ETC: To clarify? He was dropped from newspapers because of a racist rant on Youtube, not because of his satirical cartoon. The racist rant kind of changed how everyone perceived the satire in his cartoon.

Adams rant can be found HERE - if you wish to see it for yourselves.

The majority of newspaper publishers (with the possible exception of the right wing publications) considered it a racist rant and kicked Adams to the curb. Newspapers have dropped dilbert comic strip after a racist rant by its creator.]

Sigh. Remember when Dilbert was cool and innocuous? I've admittedly not been following it since well the early 00s if that. I stopped reading the Sunday funnies sometime around 2008. [ ETC: Not because I disliked Dilbert - I just no longer read print newspapers. I get a digital version of the NY Times. I'm not reading any Sunday comics at the moment - haven't for the last IDK, ten years? ]

2. The Pitfalls of Being in a Long-Running Fandom - Star Wars

Star Wars has always been a dicey fandom to participate in, but that is most likely true of all fandoms? It was even dicey in the 1980s when it more or less began. (The first film came out in 1977, so technically 1977.)

Got into a lengthy discussion/debate on a friend's journal posting about Andor, which I enjoyed. But isn't for everyone. Unlike most of the Star Wars stuff - it's geared towards the over-twenty-five group. Read more... )

Star Wars is a long-running fandom. Roughly doing the math? It's about forty years old? (Let's see I saw it at 11 or 12, I'm fifty-five now, so about forty.) And like most long-running fandoms, there's disagreement over well everything. And so much of it has to do with when you entered the fandom (if you ever truly did?), and the degree to which you invested, why, etc. Also what you watched, what is canon, what is good, what isn't good, what works, what doesn't, what makes a true fan, etc. And people are fannish in different ways - which I keep trying to explain to folks.

Not everyone likes to interact with other fans, some people are private about it. (I know I am.) Nor do you have to see everything or read everything to be a fan of a series. People can pick and choose. Not everyone feels the need to be a completist.

There's this view in fandom that if you're not "fanatical" - you aren't a fan. Not true. There are degrees. For example, you can be a fan of Star Wars and dislike the films. There's enough content out there now, that you could just be a fan of the comic books and be fine.
Read more... )

Comparing other long-running fandoms to Star Wars

The Buffy fandom had two problems, one is an asshole creator. At least George Lucas to date isn't an asshole. Although give it time, he's human, and from what I saw in the Industrial Light and Magic Documentary - could be a beast to work with. It took about twenty some years for all the dirt about Whedon to come out.

The other, like Star Wars, Buffy had content across multiple mediums. While lovely, it does pose issues with a fandom. The fandom fights over what is canon to the fandom - whenever you have multiple mediums. Read more... )

Doctor Who in Comparison to Star Wars

If Star Wars and Buffy are bad in this regard. Try Doctor Who. This is a 60 year old series. Worse, it's a 60 year series with large gaps between content, and different actors playing the lead role, different creators, different writers, and different companions. Read more... )

General Hospital - A Day-Time Soap Opera that is Celebrating it's 60th Anniversary next month, has the same problem.

60 years of a soap opera isn't going to be seen by everyone. It's impossible. Some fans may have seen all of it. Most will have seen sections. Read more... )

***

I can go on and on with examples. Star Trek has this problem, as does Battle Star Galatica (it has two competing versions), as does the Marvel Universe - the films vs the animation vs the comics canons. I am not a fan of the animated canon - the X-men, irritated me. I prefer the comics. But there are those who only saw the animated versions. Or only the movies.
Or only the television shows.

It makes navigating these fandoms dicey at best. And is among the many reasons I've often been leery of joining them.

It's late. Off to bed. [Sorry for the typos and leaving you with a rough draft of this post. I edited, so should be better now.]
shadowkat: (Default)
2023-01-23 08:15 pm

Another Fandom Snowflake Challenge...

#12: In your own space, set yourself some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private.

Not really fannish, since I'm not truly fannish about anything at the moment. Well, maybe Cillian Murphy and Peaky Blinders. (I've given up on Soap Twitter - they got holier than thou on me, and as you may well know, that pisses me off. I don't handle self-righteous fans well. Particularly when they are wrong and threatening to cancel me on social media. But that's another post. Assuming I bother to explain it. Assuming anyone wants to know.)

I miss the Buffy fandom sometimes. I do not miss the kerfuffles.

Anyhow, goals..

1. To start painting again. I need the outlet. Also considering doing other arty projects. But baby steps.

2. Frame and hang on my wall some of the photographs I took. (Saw an add on FB about Picture Tiles, that you can do as a group, and hang up easily without a hammer and nails.)

3. Finish the novel that I've revising, and start working on revising and finishing the other two, so I can start on two more. I've three novels in the works, and two on the back burner. Plus an old novel idea that I'm considering reworking.

Lots of stories to tell and complete, and no time to do it in. These are all original works of fiction. (I'm not good at playing in other people's sandboxes with their rules, I like to play in my own sandbox and make my own rules. Need some semblance of control over the world, and no one telling me that I'm doing it wrong or questioning my take on the characters. Also, as a former copyright specialist - I don't want anyone telling me that I don't have the right to play with my characters as I see fit. ) That's not to say I don't like fanfic - I do. And I have written it. But it's not what I tend to want to write, if that makes sense? (Although I am tempted to write a fanfic about Peaky Blinders...)

4. Make it through the sizable movie, comic book, novel, audible, and television queue. I really shouldn't add any more books to my kindle or digital comic collection - until I read the ones that I already have. Same with the audible collection.

Once, I finish Peaky Blinders - I may jump to The Last Of Us, or
finish the White Lotus (which is incredibly boring and I do not understand the appeal of it at all. It's put me to sleep twice, and my attention always wanders during it.) I also want to re-watch S1 of the Witcher, and see S2 - but am kind of waiting for S3 to drop first. There's also the rest of Interview with the Vampire, New Amsterdam, Nancy Drew, Rosewell, Mayfair Witches, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, Vienna Blood, and All Creatures Great and Small to get through. (Have watched the last two episodes of All Creatures Great and Small, just one episode behind.)

I also need to go back to Kaldeiscope, try Wolf Pack (Paramount +), The Originals,

And, there's the Pale Eye, and various other things. The list is seemingly endless.

I'm dragging out Peaky Blinders - because I'm loving it and don't want it to end. It's harder than it should be to find a television show, book, or movie that captivates me. Considering how many there are now - you'd think it would be easier to find them, but no.

***

Eh, what the hell? Brief Kerfuffle on Soap Twitter - brief in that it lasted no more than five tweets. And most were mine, because I got pissed off. Twitter kerfuffle's don't go on for very long. Well not unless it goes viral or you are popular, I'm not - thank god. Been there, done that, and only on Voy forums, Whedonesque, and live journal, do not want to be popular on Twitter. Twitter is scary.

So...there's this crazy soap that I've been watching with Mother (well, not together - she's in SC and I'm in NYC, but we discuss it every day on the phone - it gives us something to talk about). I discovered I could get spoilers on Twitter, and FB. However - they are vague (dammit) and the people doing it - eh.

The current storyline is a woman dying of leukemia (Willow) needs to find her biological birth mother (Nina), who turns out to be her nemesis, or worst enemy. The woman who has systematically bullied her for years. And even exposed the child she thought was hers to a cult leader. Her adoptive mother was not exactly a saint either, Harmony (but crazily enough? More likable than Nina (combination of acting and writing, I suspect)). Nina's diabolical mother gave Willow to Harmony, because she didn't want the kid taking the money that her husband put in a trust for Nina. Nina was in a coma at the time and Madelyn was executor of the trust. (Madelyn put Nina in the coma.) Nina has done some horrible things herself. Anyhow, Harmony persuaded Willow on her 21st Birthday to do the ritual of getting stoned and sleeping with cult leader. Everyone did this. Including Harmony. The cult was loosely based on NXIUM (a real life one in NY), but Disney pulled the plug on the storyline before it got too far into what NXIUM was doing (*cough*humansextrafficking*cough*). So really just nasty cult hijinks.

On Soap Twitter, I tweeted:
Read more... )
I swear people give me a headache sometimes.

****

In other news...I found this tid-bit amusing at work.

Apparently they are offering courses in "Managing Up" - learn how to manage above yourself and work with your leaders effectively. I kid you not, they are actually offering course entitled "Managing Up".

I was tempted to respond: "okay, aren't you already doing that - you are actually good at that. What you really need is a course in learning how to "manage down" or "supervise" effectively, and resolve conflicts with your subordinates." But I decided I didn't have the bandwidth to get into that battle, so just ignored it. I probably should take the course - I suck at managing up. But it would have been more useful ten-fifteen years ago. Now? I don't care.
shadowkat: (Default)
2022-07-31 05:58 pm
Entry tags:

Me vs. Ao3 Take 3

Ao3's response to my emails:
Ao3's response to my last email )
My response:

My response )

ETA - I went to read their terms of service, and they don't list the content of mine that they want to remove anywhere in there...
Read more... )
Sigh. These idiots give fandom and the legal profession a bad name. Also they are skating a thin line in regards to the legality of their site and interpretation of what a transformative work actually is. They'd be better off limiting some of the fanfic and allowing more fan reviews and commentary. Less likely to get kicked by copyright holders. That's what other sites like DW, Tumblr, and various fanboards did. If fanfic is not permanent, the copyright holder is less likely to get pissed about it.

Discussed this with Wales today, who was highly amused. First I had to explain my history with the site.
Read more... )

Fanfiction considered an infringement of copyright by people )

Hence the reason they have copyright attorneys. Albeit not necessarily good ones. A transformative work - fits critical review, analysis, scholarly analysis, episode reactions, or a fanfiction that falls under meta or commentary on the work (such as parody, satire, or non-commercial sharing of ideas). But apparently they don't have contract attorneys. Note like all professional fields, attorney's are not knowledgeable in everything - they tend to specialize. And contract law and copyright law varies from state to state, province to province and country to country - but one thing remains true - fanfiction isn't legal under intellectual property law, it is allowable under a loop hole known as the "fair use" clause. Also, if you are not precise and clear in your contractual terms of service - your terms could be voided by a court of law for vagueness. Particularly since you have multiple languages and translations.


Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses—such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research—as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use. Section 107 calls for consideration of the following four factors in evaluating a question of fair use:

Purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes: Courts look at how the party claiming fair use is using the copyrighted work, and are more likely to find that nonprofit educational and noncommercial uses are fair. This does not mean, however, that all nonprofit education and noncommercial uses are fair and all commercial uses are not fair; instead, courts will balance the purpose and character of the use against the other factors below. Additionally, “transformative” uses are more likely to be considered fair. Transformative uses are those that add something new, with a further purpose or different character, and do not substitute for the original use of the work.
Nature of the copyrighted work: This factor analyzes the degree to which the work that was used relates to copyright’s purpose of encouraging creative expression. Thus, using a more creative or imaginative work (such as a novel, movie, or song) is less likely to support a claim of a fair use than using a factual work (such as a technical article or news item). In addition, use of an unpublished work is less likely to be considered fair.
Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole: Under this factor, courts look at both the quantity and quality of the copyrighted material that was used. If the use includes a large portion of the copyrighted work, fair use is less likely to be found; if the use employs only a small amount of copyrighted material, fair use is more likely. That said, some courts have found use of an entire work to be fair under certain circumstances. And in other contexts, using even a small amount of a copyrighted work was determined not to be fair because the selection was an important part—or the “heart”—of the work.
Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work: Here, courts review whether, and to what extent, the unlicensed use harms the existing or future market for the copyright owner’s original work. In assessing this factor, courts consider whether the use is hurting the current market for the original work (for example, by displacing sales of the original) and/or whether the use could cause substantial harm if it were to become widespread.

In addition to the above, other factors may also be considered by a court in weighing a fair use question, depending upon the circumstances. Courts evaluate fair use claims on a case-by-case basis, and the outcome of any given case depends on a fact-specific inquiry. This means that there is no formula to ensure that a predetermined percentage or amount of a work—or specific number of words, lines, pages, copies—may be used without permission.


Go HERE for more information. Source US Copyright Office.

I wouldn't have any issues with Ao3 - if they were clear, and honest, and not self-righteous hypocrites. The "transformative non-ephemeral/permanent" bits are highly problematic per the above. Because ephemeral fanfic is more likely to be allowable than non-ephemeral for well obvious reasons.

I'd understand if they were targeting works that could be considered copyright infringement but these are film reviews.

Anyhow, I'm done with that site.
shadowkat: (Default)
2022-04-09 05:56 pm

(no subject)

1. First - found on Twitter:

Maria Alberto (✍🏻 diss & other things!!😅)
[profile] mariakalberto
📊CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS!! 📊

I'm investigating how people see/hear/use "canon" re: pop culture as part of my PhD research. What does this term mean? Does it matter to you?

Info & survey HERE

Please feel free to share - I'd love to hear from you!
.


2. Feeling crappy today - possibly due to weather, digestive issues, stress, frustration, and struggling with my dietary restrictions.

At any rate, cranky. So best not to post.

And got zip done, outside of torturing myself with the very bad television series "The Thing About Pam".

3. Checked out the internet, and apparently there's a lot of places I can retire to that do not require a car now...than previously. So the trend is going against owning a car post 60.

Good to know.

What instigated it?
Read more... )
shadowkat: (Default)
2022-02-04 08:59 pm

Y2/D325 - Rainy Day

We didn't really get much of the storm that hit the rest of the country. It just rained here, and it's most likely icy outside. I wouldn't know, I'm inside and have not ventured out. I'm wearing my "Culture is Ordinary" t-shirt that I stole from my brother thirty odd years ago, and blue joggers (basically light sweat-pants that feel like pajamas.)

Thought about doing the February meme, but got a headache by question five and gave up. I honestly couldn't think of an answer for over half of the questions. I don't know what the last funniest video I saw was.

The first question asks if I think our country will change if more people have access to voting, without restrictions. short answer? No )

After that question, I got tired. Brain fog strikes again. I'm doing that a lot lately. After scrolling through most of my DW correspondence list...I decided that Lee Pace would make an excellent Cyclops - if they ever decided to do a live action movie or series. Read more... )

Other thoughts the scroll inspired?

* Game Shows - my best friend when I was eight, was into Game Shows, Monster Movies, Lost in Space and Science Fiction Movies. Read more... )

* Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Nominees for Induction this Year

It's a weird list. I agree that it looks like a bunch of people's names you'd see on old CD's in a garage sale.

The Complete List of 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominees )

Some of them make sense to me, others..and I'm sorry, Dolly Parton isn't rock n roll, country yes, rock n roll, no. I think she's already in the country music hall of fame, not sure why she needs to be in the rock n roll hall of fame as well. Nothing against Dolly, just seems odd to me.

* More people are deleting their LJ's - now that LJ no longer permits cross-posting. It was only a matter of time before they made that impossible. why people should delete their ljs )

* Heavy Metal aka Metal Hurlant - saw a review on the film. And I remembered that they did a live action remake a few years back. It was called Metal Hurlant Chronicles.
Read more... )

* Read a Review of The Last Duel, which is apparently available on both Disney Plus and HBO Max??? I didn't know it was available on Disney Plus as well. Chidi at work rec'd it, and now so has selenak (who is a history buff and adores historicals - far more than I.Read more... )

* Would I be happy never going to a movie theater again?

No. why )

***

Niece is en route to Portugal. Or so I'm told. And her persistent boyfriend has made plans to travel to England in the spring and take her to Scotland.
Read more... )
There was another question on the meme: what are you doing differently now that you are older.
answer )
***

shadowkat: (Default)
2022-01-26 06:52 pm

Y2/D316... Cold again, just in time to go back to the office tomorrow

I got cold this afternoon, and the heat thankfully flared back on again - I'd begun to worry about it. (Yet, another thing that I've no control over, so most of the time I don't worry. But I know the boiler needed fixing a while back and they need to replace it. I'm just hoping they wait until the Spring or Summer to do so. Preferably the summer. And give me forewarning, so I can plan a vacation elsewhere.)

Me: My crazy work place...
Mother: Oh? Now what?
Me: They sent an email reminding us that we were "returning to the regular office schedule next week" and "were off the telecommute hybrid schedule" and if reasonable accommodation was possible to get our forms into the proper authorities. Then right after that email - about ten-fifteen minutes after it, came a notification - that we should disregard the last email since they'd changed their minds and were extending the Telecommute, WFH hybrid schedule to February 15, with a memo pending.
Mother: They've been doing that all along haven't they?
ME: They can't make up their mind. It's ridiculous. And it's so political.

In March 2020, up until roughly the 16th, I was convinced I was doomed. There was no way I was going to avoid getting sick. I had no access to a mask, couldn't get hand sanitizer to save my life, and I was being forced to come in and out of a crowded transportation hub to go to work each day in a cubicle with lots of folks socializing. Plus I had to take public transportation - and no one had access to any masks at that point, we were making our own.

Then, all of sudden we were yanked out.

My anxiety was through the roof, and so was my blood pressure. It took me three weeks to calm down - basically when I figured out that we were going to stay remote, and how to work remotely off my laptop without having to go back into the office.

The problem with my work and well everything really - is it is all politicized.

***

Got into two debates, somewhat heated on WSA FB Group, making me wonder about folks.

1. Journalistic standards and practices, along with scholarly ones. When reporting on events that are more than 20 years old, isn't it required that you obtain "primary sources" and do not rely on secondary anonymous sources? Read more... )

2. Authorial Intent. I remember having long and rather interesting discussions about this on the ATPOBTVS fan discussion board in 2002-2005.
The consensus was pretty much that it was almost impossible to determine authorial intent in a collaborative work of art, with multiple players who kept changing and jumping in and out of it. You can try, but it's most likely just bringing your own subtext to the proceedings. (And we did try.)

I'm seeing it again now on WSA Board on FB. They are discussing how they can reinterpret Angel, Buffy, Firefly, etc - based on what they now know about Whedon or in light of the recent interview. Read more... )

***

COVID

It's time for the NY Governor's Email Update on the Pandemic, Again )

There, that gives you information on the number of cases in NY, the positivity rate, the hospitalizations, what they are doing about it, how to get test kits, etc. (The only thing they've stopped reporting is the death toll, which is interesting.)

Aunt K told mother she was relieved that she had retired fully before COVID hit. She was a school nurse for the district, and therefore in charge of coordinating the vaccination effort for the H1N1 vaccine. COVID would have been a nightmare. She said the new school nurse, who took over, isn't trained for that sort of thing and doesn't have the higher education my Aunt had, she's just a school nurse - so can't do the checkups and checkins, apparently, the principal has to do them. (I didn't understand it either, not sure mother did.)

***

Mother also told me that niece's grades at the London School of Economics will have no effect on her GPA in the States - because they have a completely different grading system. grading system in UK vs. the States )

Speaking of father, today they discussed the people he worked with in the past. Then towards the end, he wanted to travel - and leave the resort he was apparently in, and go somewhere else, and asked mother where they were going out to dinner. And reminded her that they had to leave early the next morning to get to whatever destination he thought they were heading too.

When he's in his right mind - he doesn't ask these questions. It's always painful. And it feels like it is almost every day. I'm not there to witness it, but I listen. That's all I can do really. My mother stays in contact with everyone in our family - she's not angry at anyone, and seemingly gets along with them all - or is oblivious to any grudges, she hand waves them, much as her own mother did.

***

Random Photo of the Evening...



shadowkat: (Default)
2022-01-20 05:47 pm

Y2/D310...Pop Culture Stuff..mostly

Mainly because I'm bored of writing about myself, COVID, Current Events, family and work. COVID because it's not really the Corona Virus Diaries without it )

I'm inundated by spam mail.

***

1. Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power trailer actually looks good. I liked the first trilogy of films by Jackson, I did not like the second or the Hobbit films. But I do agree that Tolkien's world building is amazingly detailed and ripe with possibilities, also he wrote a lot of short stories and novellas that take place in the world prior to the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.


2. Be wary of what you worship. Lila Shapiro's article/profile on Whedon takes a sharp and not necessarily kind look at the fandom that built up around him. I was in that fandom, albeit not necessarily to that degree. I've never met the man. I've never interacted with him. I never wanted or bought an autograph. I just read all his interviews (mainly to understand the process and how he came up with the world and his intent behind the stories he told), watched what he did and analyzed it for free on the internet. And I was often very critical of it.
fandom and the television show-runner )

[As I was writing this, mother called and felt the need to tell me that my brother read the article -
family interlude )

Anyhow, Shapiro points out how being fannish about a writer or celebrity can make it difficult to accept their failings. And based on the interaction I just wrote about above, she may well have a point. After all my brother was able to hand wave Whedon's failings as if they were nothing, while they bother me.
fandom and Joss Whedon continued )

Oh and As a Former ‘Buffy’ Obsessive, Watching Joss Whedon’s Downfall Feels Crushing — and Inevitable (Column)

excerpt )

family interlude )

I need to get ready for bed, and clear my head. Early wake up call for tomorrow. It occurs to me that Shapiro's article triggered my own PTSD on multiple levels, and that may well be the reason I wish to discuss it?

My writer's block right now - in regards to story-telling or writing my novels is due to a fear of having absolutely no one willing to beta them. I told this to mother who told me that she had a choir director who was eager to read my next book. And loved my writing.


shadowkat: (Default)
2022-01-19 09:43 pm

Y2/D309

Well, I got laundry done today, after being thwarted on Monday. Feel rather accomplished actually. I managed to do the equivalent of seven loads between 6am - 8:30 am. I clocked into work at 7:55 am. (Working remotely today). I was able to finally wash my duvet, duvet cover, throw blanket, pillows, sheets, towels, and assorted clothing. It was actually kind of peaceful and easy doing it at 6 am on a Wednesday morning, no one was done there. This most likely would not have been the case on a Saturday or Sunday. Evenings are often good as well. The trick to doing laundry in an apartment complex is to pick a time no one else wants to do it.

Also went grocery shopping at the health food store after work, and scored gluten free ravoli via Cappelli's made with almond flour. I wanted the Beecher's World's Best gluten-free mac and cheese - but this was by far the healthier option. Apparently they can't have both in at the same time.

My entire immediate family, that isn't in Britain, ordered free At Home COVID Tests from the Federal Government. The one in Britain doesn't need them - the British are ahead of us on this one, and she's well stocked.
She apparently had her first in-person class last week. I wish I was studying Critical Race Theory and Global Economics in London. Well, okay, maybe not - I hated school. But I loved London. Theater in London is far better than theater in NY, granted they are different, but London theater is more affordable and accessible, also there's a greater emphasis on the classics. Helped by the fact that Britain has various State sponsored theaters - such as the National Theater, and the Royal Shakespeare Theater. And a greater wealth of talent. The best theater actors often pop up from Britain. I miss London Theater. Not that I'd be partaking, I'm not exactly partaking in NY. But I've gone a very long time without seeing live theater - the longest I've ever gone. Up until 2020, I was seeing at least one to two shows a year. I was even scheduled to see Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf with a friend when Broadway shut down.

I miss live theater. I truly love it more than any other brand of cultural entertainment.

COVID took my theater away from me. Let's hope it's temporary.

**

Anyhow, worked from home today and will work from home tomorrow, then back in the office. Work was somewhat productive. We'll see if it becomes more so tomorrow. I sometimes feel as if I'm pushing a piece of paper up a cliff at work. They keep adding layers of bureaucracy. It's ironic, but the bureaucracy was added by the private company consultants, not the folks in government.

Out of boredom more than anything else, okay, curiosity, I checked to see the responses to the Whedon article on Twitter - which was vocal but not quite as expected. Also FB on it - far more active, since they made it into the article.

Re-sharing this insightful interview with Claudia Black:

Claudia Black on the Nevers and Breaking Cycles of Trauma

There's also an interesting thread on Twitter...that pointed out things that had never occurred to me or not in that way, before...regarding Buffy:
It's by a young woman who imprinted on Buffy as a teen and is dissecting how she related to the series.

Constance Grady
[profile] constancegrady
·
Jan 17
I often think of Buffy in relation to the Atwood quote, "You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur.” Part of the reason it worked extraordinarily well for me as a kid was that it seemed as though the show understood that … and that, for instance, Angel's morning-after speech to Buffy was so painful because it was exactly what the enemy in her mind was going to say.

Anyway. It's interesting to see these blindspots play out in real life.



This never really occurred to me, but it makes sense. The ingrained misogyny in women is that male voice inside our heads. Whedon doesn't appear to realize the guy inside his head is inside the women's heads too, the poster notes. I find that fascinating.
more of the thread )

Sorry for all of the Whedon crap. I'm just fascinated by it for some reason or other.

***

It's late, must go to bed. Another early wakeup call tomorrow.

It is supposed to snow tomorrow. It's quiet now, and warmer today. So we shall see.

Random Photo of the Night..


shadowkat: (Default)
2022-01-18 09:02 pm

Y2/D308 - Mercury in Retrograde or Definitely Feels like it..



I went into the office today. And, ran into CB and Jay (who are on the A schedule).

CB and Jay: Hello SK
Me: Uh, wait...

I wander about and run into Chidi and Moscow (who are not on my schedule. I'm on the B schedule, they are on the A schedule).

Me: Okay, am I here on the wrong day?
Moscow: Yup.
Chidi: Hi Sk, oh, you came in on the wrong day.
Me: But, last week was Monday, Wed, Friday -
Chidi: The holiday threw everything off.
Moscow: I can give you a print-off of the right schedule? If you want it.

Silly me, I figured if last week was Monday, Wed, & Friday. This week would be Tuesday and Thursday. Apparently I was wrong. I swear everyone in my organization flunked logic 101.

Me in an email to management: So, I didn't get the updated schedule and came in on the wrong day. Not a problem, I can just WFH tomorrow and come in again on Friday.
BYT: Do you need the updated schedule, I can send it to you?
Me: Moscow already did.
BYT sends it anyhow.
Me in followup email: Or maybe I should just come in tomorrow and stay out Thursday and Friday?
BYT: No, stay out Wednesday only.
Me: Okay, now I'm confused. Do I stay out Wed and Thursday or just Wed?
[Also, am I being penalized for an honest mistake?]
BYT: No, I'm not penalizing you, I'm trying to work with you.
I meant to say stay out Wed and Thursday, and go back to the B schedule on Friday.

Chidi was upset at the end of the day for spending the entire day talking to his cubicle wall mate, and not getting work done. Apparently he's suffering from the same cabin fever that I am. I honestly think I came in on the wrong day - because I could not handle being cooped up another day in my apartment. Three was more than enough.

the last half of the January Meme, because I drew a blank on the first half and want to answer it briefly, besides it is the end of January any how.. )

**

Mother called to inform me that she just ordered the free COVID test from the US federal government online. While I informed her that I had purchased about $85 worth of masks and sent them to her.

ME: They are available? (the tests, not the masks - the masks have been available for ages and alas, are not free).
Mother: Yep, just ordered one online. I just called to tell you that.

Mother has finally accepted the fact that she cannot bring my Dad home. She no longer can envision him with her, and the person she does envision is no longer him - it's who he was before COVID began. He's too far gone now. It's as if he's living inside his dreams, with mother, and the rest of us, occasionally jumping in and out of them. Today he was doing a cross-word puzzle in his head, with various old co-workers, and hunting the key to it, so he could win a $1000. It made no sense, and sounded like a dream. It's true in a way, as some of us age the membranes between dreams, memories and reality seem to grow thin. Reality blurs.

The mind is weird.

Anyhow, the US Government has decided to send the highly accurate rapid at home tests to all residences within the US starting the last week in January.

"COVID-19 tests will start shipping in late January. USPS will only send one set of 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests to valid residential addresses."

Go HERE.

This is a savings of $28-60 per box. That's how much they were charging for the things at pharmacies, until they ran out of them.

At work, co-workers advised that most folks had either been exposed to COVID or had it. And that the true number of people who either had it or tested for it or died, wasn't recorded. I agree with that - I know too many people who tested positive that aren't in the system, because they took the at-home test, which is accurate in regards to positive test results.

Wales informed me that she definitely had COVID and tested positive, got it from the Met, most likely. Poor thing. She had herself all revved up, going to opera, delivering food - and wham. Oh, getting the tickets she got for the MET is a sign of the times - normally it's completely sold out.
**

I kind of fell down the rabbit hole on Twitter regarding the Whedon article. There are some true assholes on social media, mainly hanging out on Twitter, hence the reason I'm careful on Twitter. People tend to ignore me on Twitter - I only have 41 followers, and most of them are folks I knew here, or on Soap Twitter. I like being ignored. Being a Big Fan Name is something I do not want ever again. I kind of became that once - in the Buffy fandom, and it was scary.

The Whedon interview was weird. Read more... )

***

Should go to bed. Current game plan is to get up at the same time as today, 5:40 am, and do laundry at 6 am. The laundry room opens between 6 am and 9pm.

Maybe no one will be down there? One can hope.
shadowkat: (Default)
2022-01-17 08:30 pm

Meta on Culpability or Accountability

I've read through the NY Magazine aka Vulture Whedon article now, and ..I find I don't come to the same conclusions as the author does.

conclusion of the article )

Perhaps because I've met people like Whedon in my life time, too many to count, across industries. Narcissists are very charming, and more than one thing. But I don't see Whedon as a victim here - but as someone who is well-off and invested in playing the victim.

He reminds me a great deal of Steve Carroll's character in The Morning Show. Is he mentally ill? Yes, most likely. And as Claudia Black previously stated - I do hope he gets help for it. But the mental illness doesn't excuse his behavior, it doesn't remove culpability or accountability.

Also, I watched Snyder and Whedon's Justice League's back to back, and well, you know there's a problem when the least offensive version and most entertaining was Snyder's. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of Snyder (actually I'm rather ambivalent and I don't tend to seek out his work for the most part, it's very stylistic, with not much emphasis on script, he has a painting background and is into video games), but Snyder's Justice League was not only the better film it was the least offensive.

There's changes Whedon made that underscore an offensive frat boy sexist humor, that I kind of handwaved in the Buffy and Angel series, but was blatantly obvious here.

I also read the Wonder Woman script, and the original Buffy script. So...there you go.

The writer of the article spends more time critiquing Whedon's fandom or the fans of his work - as if they are somehow complicit in his downfall or worse in enabling his actions. I don't agree with that assessment. They were and are fans of the art, they don't know him. They fell in love with their perceptions of his work and the performance he provided. My friend embers_log certainly did not endorse any of these actions, she didn't know about them. She loved the performance or what she perceived.
**

Why does this intrigue me, right now?

I'm discussing this because it fits with a theme of works that I gravitated to this weekend for reasons I'm not quite certain I understand. Except that I've always been fascinated by why we do what we do, the dark underbelly of humanity or those dark impulses.

From Frankenstein to Dexter. In each, the individuals involved are putting on delicate performances. They are brilliant men, some may say genius. And yet, they are also incredibly good liars. I told a friend once, that humans are good liars, particularly at lying to ourselves.
meta narrative on Dexter, Frankenstein, Whedon, Buffy, and Yellowjackets - with major spoilers for Frankenstein and Dexter, vaguer ones for Buffy and Yellowjackets )

**

On Twitter, Michael E Knight's comment at fan event was posted, and I thought it telling in a way...

Last night on the JPS/MEK zoom, MEK said about these times we’re in:

“I don’t know anyone who’s thriving right now. In 10 yrs, we’re gonna look back at now & be like ‘that was really some shit’. You don’t know you’re living through something biblical until it’s over.”


I think this is true. Trauma can take many forms. And affects people differently. But, there's a caveat here, it does not excuse or justify hurting others to benefit one's self. The actor who I quoted, to my knowledge, has always been kind and never hurt a soul.
shadowkat: (Default)
2022-01-17 05:46 pm

Y2/D307...MLK Holiday, Whedon, etc...

Done nothing to celebrate it. It's been a drab, gloomy day, and all attempts to do laundry were thwarted. (Ah, what I wouldn't give some days for my own washer/dryer. When and if I retire - I'm retiring to a place where I have them or at the very least a reliable service.)

Slept poorly, and I've been fending off the January uglies - which seem to be a combination of depression/anxiety or general malaise. Not helped by hot flashes.

Anyhow, bought/ordered KN95 masks for mother. About 50 of them, for about $83 via Amazon. Two boxes worth. I swear - I think I've spent close to $500 on masks in the last two years if not more. I also have lots of the cheap and free useless ones in my desk at work and at home.

Mercury is in retrograde, or so I'm told, so it may be best to take a social media hiatus. (Of course I'm ignoring that advice.) Instead I wandered about in Twitter, and found this...interesting, if mildly disturbing and slightly unsettling one about Joss Whedon, whereupon he responds to the allegations against him by playing the victim. For once, it would be nice for someone to take accountability for it.

Joss Whedon Breaks his Silence on the Allegations Against Him

It's worth reading if you are interested in the history of the Buffy fandom, Whedon's perspective on it, and interacted with it online. Since it delves into that history - and that surprised me. Starts out talking about the Whedon Studies Association - almost as if the writer is making fandom somewhat complicit in Whedon's rise and downfall, and perhaps fandom is? I don't know any longer.

Excerpt 1 - about the scholarly fans and Whedon.. )

There's a bit of a disconnect in these stories...because what you have is a very wealthy, privileged family, who has never had to worry about money. Who lives in splendor. And got work easily. And you have a show that many identified with - but their perception of it wasn't what was inside the creator's head completely. Also there's a kind of disconnect between how fans viewed the cast and crew and creator's relationships on and off screen, and what it actually was.

excerpt 2 - early days of internet fan culture )

I've become increasingly aware of this disconnect between what we want to be real and what actually is. Reality is far more complicated than what most perceive, and yet also far simpler. I think having a father who seems to be slipping in and out of various realities inside his head has made me more aware of this - of how reality in of itself can be little more than a construct of our own minds and perceptions of things.

There's new a game out entitled Wordl. Perhaps you've heard of it? It's all over social media. I tried it. I suck at it. I suck at word games, my father does too - even though we are both wordsmiths. But that's not a requirement of this sort of game. It's a spacial counting game with letter and word configurations. Plays havoc on anyone with dyslexia or spatial issues. I kept getting the number of letters I needed in each word wrong, and the squares confused me, as did the letter set up. Also I kept flipping everything around.

But the internet assumes anyone can do it, and everyone loves it, and it is the game we "all" need right now - emphasis on all. Why do we do this? Assume that what works for a few people or even several hundred, works for everyone? What's up with that?

I think sometimes this is the flaw in all of it. This assumption that we live in a one-size fits all world, and I've become increasingly aware that we don't. We can't be completely communal, no matter how much we may want to be, we are unique organisms, with unique gifts, perceptions, and ways of thinking - we cannot be treated the same.

**

I'm tired. And in a kind of malaise. Mercury is in retrograde or so they say. It's Martin Luther King Day - and depending on your perspective, we've either come a long way towards the kind of world King envisioned or hardly moved at all. Hard to know how King himself would view it. When he died, the world appeared to be in chaos, and yet it is also in chaos now. Is it better or worse than it was in 1968? I honestly do not know. I was one years old and have no memory of it.

I know in some ways we've advanced further than I thought possible, but others, we still seem to be hopelessly stalled. There are too many bigoted fools in the world and I dearly wish there were less - either culled from the population by a virus and natural means, or having changed their minds.
But alas, neither seems to be happening - and that frustrates me. But I'm also not surrounded by them - or near them or really know many, so maybe, I'm wrong about that.

Unlike Whedon, in the excerpts above, the sun is very much my friend. And I wish I could be sitting in his sun drenched house, just a few blocks from the beach. Without him or his artist girlfriend. Just trade abodes for a few minutes. Or hours. Or days. Or weeks. Or months. Where he can work looking out on a gray, drab, colorless world or a cubicle wall in a office with no windows...going to and from work in the dark, with the days slowly getting longer, but no where fast enough, and the sun seems at times to have taken an interminable holiday. And I can work in sun-drenched splendor, in an airy home.

I don't want anything else from his life though, just the home so briefly described in the article. I want the sun. I want to bath in it daily as I did in Hilton Head, for the sun is the enemy of the virus and all that comes with it. But then, I am not a vampire.

Random Photo of the Night...