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wMar 9, 2009 | |
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Rather than many coherent posts, I make one fragmented one instead For those going for the Minimalist RaceFail experience.... I found sparkymonster's RaceFail, Silence, and Words quite valuable and link-rich. miriam-heddy's Where is your home? is intense and true. I don't think it's difficult to become informed about RaceFail. Also love tablesaw's O HAI RACEFAILZ: Notes on Reading an Internet Conflict. Does the wording of any of the WisCon panels make you cringe? I found one! Emphasis added by me. The freakish antics of true believers, the willful naivete of not-so-true-believers, and on the other side "Society Without God", the president of the United States acknowledging "non-believers", Darwin's 200th birthday, and the possible discovery of simple life on Mars. Are we finally going to shake off the institutionalized fears of our ancestors? What will we replace it with? Is "replacing it" even a valid point of discussion? :[ is what I have to say. I have yet to attend a WisCon panel about religion. I do not think that it would go....well....for me. I finished reading Tamora Pierce's Trickster's Choice and have Things to Say before I go on to the next book in the duology. Cut contains spoilers, but also thoughts on narrative choice and cultural appropriation. I think I really would have liked these books without the POV character of Aly. I love the court intrigue, the inability to trust everyone, even the trickster god. I really really love the Tudor-esque royal stuff going on. LOVE. It's what keeps me reading. Why couldn't Dove have been the POV character? Dove is so intelligent and so central to the plot - being the younger sister of Sarai, the woman who might become queen? What a great POV character! Alternatively, I would have loved a girl who actually was the servant Aly was pretending to be. If a Trickster god is picking someone for their potential/skills in eavesdropping and planning and stuff, I think a servant could have been a very workable a choice. The fact that Aly's constantly hiding her noble birth and true parentage seems unnecessary to me. Instead we get Aly, a white woman from a different country, who's captured as a slave, chosen by a god, and ends up being the honky who comes to sort out this mess of court-rule, entangled by race and centuries of in-fighting. To begin with, she arrives fully formed, with an arsenal of skills at her disposal. I really liked the Lioness Quartet and the Protector of the Small Quartet a lot more, because we get to see the protagonists working hard, sweating, learning, getting better, getting stronger. Aly's already learned everything from her father, and she does everything perfectly, especially in the first 150 pages or so. Also, maybe it was just me, but her thought process was spelled out almost ad nauseum. Judging people's character as related to court drama is cool, but EVERY TIME she got on a horse, Pierce reminded readers that she was pretending to be a bad rider so that she could play a role. I found Aly to be extremely conceited, and she kind of ruined the books for me. To me that's a flaw, but not really a self-acknowledged one. I think Kel was very self-aware of all her failings, but she also had a fear of heights that was pretty spelled out. Ditto to Alanna's issues with intimacy and trusting people. Anyway, I found her presence problematic for other reasons, too. The book is basically a version of What These People Need is a Honky, which is part of why I would have vastly preferred Dove or a raka [ie, person of color] servant as the POV character.
I started a Kingdom Hearts game, which means I'm now in the middle of Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy XII, and this game. I recognized something extremely familiar as soon as I heard I find a lot of the interface stuff super annoying, like the fact that I can't be moving my character while simultaneously controlling the camera angle. Also found myself longing for the ever-present Final Fantasy XII map. Maybe I should just play FFXII some more. I love it, but I remember last saving in a place where my characters were in a bit of a pickle. Hopefully I have another save point close to that one. Lots of people have blogged about Kaori Yuki manga before BUT I DID NOT BELIEVE THEM. I have now read 1.5 volumes of Cain Saga. OMG!!! Tortured soul Earl Cain Hargreaves lives in Victorian England. He keeps a collection of poisons handed down in his family for generations. He solves mysteries! He has a curse to never have anyone love him.....BUT HIS HOT BUTLER RIFF CARES FOR HIM AND HIS MAN-PAIN. I loved the sidebar in which Kaori Yuki was like, "Lots of people say they like Riff, and I think it's funny, because I don't get it." And I was like, OH YOU ARE SO SILLY, YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING, HAVING THOSE HOT MEN KEEP HOUSE TOGETHER. I am so excited to read more! Heinous Victorian gothic manga is apparently exactly what I need right now. Labels: a: pierce tamora, a: yuki kaori, manga, manga: cain saga, manga: shoujo, racefail 9000, wiscon 33 scribbled mystickeeper at 11:34 PM 
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wFeb 26, 2009 | |
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Protector of the Small I read Song of the Lioness in fragments spread out over a few months, and I'd have to read it again for style, but I think that Protector of the Small was better written. I definitely liked Kel better as a protagonist. I like how hard Pierce makes Kel work. I feel like I'm there for every blow, every muscle strain, of her training to become a knight. I remember this being true in the Song of the Lioness Quartet, too. I like that Kel had to deal with bullying/hazing. She didn't tattle, but got stronger and made sure it didn't happen to others. I have so much respect for her strength and personal code of honor. I think these will be comfort books for me in the future! I like how Kel ages throughout the four books, both physically and emotionally. Everyone around her changes, too, even the way characters view each other and the world. Pierce is really good with her viewpoint characters - while some characters appear in many of her books, they are viewed differently by the people telling the story. I like her consistency, and the obvious thought she gives to viewpoint and the backgrounds people are coming from. I like that it seems Pierce realized how "easy" Alanna had it in Song of the Lioness - and so Kel has no magic. I found this quartet less annoying than SotL. Kel doesn't have magical powers, a magical pendant, a magic Goddess-voiced cat, a magic horse, or whatever else. The Prince of Tortall is not her best friend. I like that Kel has to do without the Gift, that some things don't come naturally to her. As much as Alanna's life sucked sometimes, I feel like Knighthood/etc. came a bit too easily/naturally for the protagonist, like it was ordained. I found it a lot easier to relate to Keladry. I found the death of Joren of Stone Mountain in the Chamber of Ordeal to be a little WTF. I mean, it was angsty and sort of neat, but it seemed almost too simple of a way for her nemesis to be taken care of. While Alanna's Uber Destiny with Duke Roger made me roll my eyes a little bit, this interaction was a little bit too far at the other end of the spectrum for me. The ending of the series was a bit of a let-down for me. Kel killed both of the Evil Dudes, just as expected, and none of her friends died. I know they're chidrens' books, but come on...a main character died in Animorphs, and I think those books are a little less involved than Pierce's Tortall books, although they're probably equally violent. It was a bit too cut-and-dry for me. I liked the middle of Lady Knight much better. I really did not expect Haven to get razed like that. Although, finding out that not everybody was killed was sort of sucky. I really liked the emotional impact of Kel realizing they had been hit hard, and I think it almost would have been cooler if everyone in Haven had died, and Kel had to live with it. Like that Kel ends up with nobody. While I appreciate Pierce's discussion of bodies and birth control, I also think it's nice that Kel doesn't have sex, and even moreso that it's Cleon, the dude, who wants to wait until marriage. Kel is miffed, but respects the decision. It seems like whenever feminist YA authors present women with a choice about sex, the girls always end up having it, so it was refreshing to see Kel having frank conversations with her mother (in which her mother said, be on birth control, and then decide) that are mature, and then having to wait anyway. I also really like that she didn't end up engaged at the end, like Alanna did. Hello, being 18 years old! So, I say all of these good things with a grain of salt. What makes Kel somewhat special in comparison to her peers is that her father was the Tortallan diplomat to the Yamani Islands for 6 years of her childhood. Thus, Kel is not only adept at interacting with people hailing from the Yamani culture, but is also trained in Yamani fighting styles and weapons. After making it through Tortall's training for knighthood, she uses her weapon of choice: a glaive. It's extremely clear that the Yamani Islands are meant to be Japan. Women wear kimonos secured by obis. Kel refers to her weapon with the "Yamani" (see: actually Japanese) word naginata. In the text, Yamani people bow by placing their palms flat on their thighs and bending forward. Honor is taken very seriously by warriors, and death is viewed as preferaable to surrender or capture. But in the first two books especially, Pierce makes a narrative choice that I find pretty weird. Whenever Kel hides her emotions, she is described as acting in a Yamani manner. Not just once, but almost ad nauseum. When she smiles but is actually upset, it is a "Yamani smile." When she struggles to keep her countenance free of emotion, she is keeping it "Yamani-blank." When she defers to cultural manners as a way to interact with others, her face becomes "a Yamani mask of politeness." It might be true that Japanese culture looks less favorably on a selfish outpouring of emotions than, say, U.S. American culture, but it just smacked of painting too broadly with one brush for my tastes. Also, some of the names were a little improbable, such as "Chisakami" and "Shinkokami," and sort of sounded like an anime fangirl writing some AU fanfiction, making up names. Of course, some aspects of it were nicely written, and helped bring the Quartet as a whole into focus.. Women in the Yamani Islands are given much more weapons training than women in Tortall (equivalent of France/England) because men are often away when towns/etc. get attacked by pirates. As a child, Kel is 5 years old and with her mother in a temple when pirates attack. And her mother is bad-ass with a glaive, cutting people down and saving some Yamani relics. Thus, it's fairly natural to both Kel and her family that she would want to train to become a knight. I really want to read Terrier.....I want to see things from a lower-class character. But I've already got Trickster's Choice checked out, and I own the first two of the Immortals Quartet (yeah, I skipped it and went right for Keladry's quartet instead). I'm thinking that I will love Terrier a lot. What are Melting Stones and Will of the Empress about? Labels: a: pierce tamora, books, books: fantasy, books: ya, cultural appropriation, race scribbled mystickeeper at 8:38 AM
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wJun 4, 2008 | |
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Wiscon 32 Panel Report: The Curious Boundaries of YA Fantasy 56 The Curious Boundaries of YA Fantasy Reading, Viewing, & Critiquing Science Fiction and Fantasy ♦ Saturday, 1:00-2:15 P.M. ♦ Senate A What are the limits of what can be discussed in YA fantasy? What themes and issues are considered appropriate, and which are taboo? Who sets these limits and do they mesh with the desires and expectations of YA readers? M: Mary Anne Mohanraj, Sharyn November, Tamora Pierce, Sarah Beth Durst So, somebody else moderated this panel, but I can't remember who it was. My notes are pretty sparse. I'm in it for the book recommendations, :D Sharyn November wanted to begin the panel by defining what Young Adult fiction actually means, as many people don't know (She is an editor for YA fiction, in charge of the Firebird brand, which publishes fantasy stuff - if you look in the teen section of bookstores, you'll see it). There are 3 levels. 14 and up is edgier YA stuff; 12 and up is standard, and 8-12 is the lowest. All readers "read up." So, if a book is for "14 and up," you as the writer should assume that your reader is 12. Sexuality was brought up as the first topic. Tamora Pierce said that the difference between YA and adult fiction is that sex, drugs, etc. must be present in a story for a reason, as opposed to being a background recreational activity. She also noted that nobody (ie, Texas librarians) has ever squeaked about the amount of violence in her novels, only the sex. Mary Anne noted that Tamora Pierce doesn't describe sex in explicit detail, nor do any (?) YA authors. Sharyn November notes that characters age, and become darker in YA fiction (Westmark!). She also praised Tamora Pierce's magical contraception in her novels (To which Tamora Pierce said, "I love it, too!"). She also said that in the books she edits, explicit sex is the only thing she does not allow. It was noted that in the Pern books, you will totally miss the sex references if you aren't ready for them. An audience member was a physician (I think?) and worried about working with 10-14 year-olds who had been traumatized. She said that she would like books to have a warning. Sharyn responded that this was a slippery slope. Also, adding such a warning will make everyone want to read the book! She also noted that if you mark "Ages 10 and up!" on a book, 12-year-olds will skip it. It was brought up a number of times that readers will self-censor if they're not ready for certain kinds of books. Mary Anne noted that it can be good for victims to read books about people going through similar situations to know that they're not alone. Sharyn November noted that the Victorian conceit of the child as a pure and unsullied figure is crap. And here we come to my list of recommendations from the panel! Robin McKinley is really good at writing the day-to-day. Her novel Chalice is coming up. Deerskin and Sunshine are good, but both are considered to be adult novels by the novel. Sharyn November endorsed Tamora Pierce as being very responsible by addressing contraception, puberty, etc. Megan Whalen Turner's books were mentioned, and apparently The Thief is a good place to start. It is hilarious, surprising, and brilliant. Pamela Dean's story "Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary" Cassandra Clare's City of Ashes (Cue the fandom wank on her plagiarism!) Diane Duane's So You Want to Be a Wizard Inside Out (By Ann M Martin??) Ellen Kushner's Privilege of the Sword (Not technicall YA; its prequel was clearly adult) Mercedes Lackey trilogy Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson I think the last broad topic was how to draw the line with violence. Tamora Pierce talked about describing the impact and weight felt on a character's arm. She said a bit of blood is good, but not too much; also dust noise, etc. It's also good to note that the character is in battle-fever, and not registering everything around them. The wounds will hit them later on - sometimes they'll throw up. Deep Wizardry has kids with lots of responsibility. Nina Kiriki Hoffman's A Fistful of Sky is a good place to start a series I missed the name of. It is stand-alone. There are darker themes, the books are funny, and good. Perry Moore's Hero It focuses on being gay, family, father acceptance, etc. Elizabeth Wien's The Winter Prince My personal suggestion is totally the Animorphs series. I wrote them off when I was younger, but then read them in high school (and in college summers, bwahaha!). 6 kids fighting a war, all by themselves. Responsibility, violence, friendships, pacifism, etc. There are some clunkers, but hey, there are about 60 books; what are you going to do? They're so short and with big print! DO IT. Current Music: Antoine laughing at every page as he reads some Yotsuba&! manga Labels: a: pierce tamora, books, books: ya, wiscon, wiscon 32 scribbled mystickeeper at 8:35 PM
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wMay 28, 2008 | |
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We've seen the worst of the Internet; let's show everyone what the best looks like Firstly, if you guys only read my blog, you might be interested in reading the conversation generated by my last post, over on LJ. It has generated over 100 comments. You know what? I look pretty damn cute in the pictures of me that got uploaded to the SASS thread. Indeed, I love what K. Tempest had to say: I was scrolling through the thread and looking at the pictures and, instead of being ashamed that I associate myself with such people (horrors!), I couldn’t help but think of how beautiful all those images are. They are pictures of beautiful women of all sizes smiling, having fun, loving where they are and what they’re doing. These are the poeple I go to WisCon to be around. And nothing those half-brained monkeys on that forum say can make me feel any different. You wanna call me out as a fat loser? You go right ahead. But it’s plainly evident that I not only have more class than you, I also have a better life and better friends. All the evidence I need to support that statement is my lack of time spent on the internet trolling for pictures of people I don’t know in order to make fun of them for arbitrary reasons. Panel 191 Report: Last time, on Battlestar Galactica... Reading, Viewing, & Critiquing Science Fiction and Fantasy ♦ Sunday, 11:30-12:45 A.M. ♦ Senate A We saw the first part of Season Four, let's talk about it. Where is the series going? Let's speculate on the ramifications of the final five Cylons, Roslin's reoccurring cancer, and all the good stuff in the rest of Season Four. M: Ben Burgis, Maddie Greene, JJ Pionke This panel began at 11:30pm. Most of the panelists were drunk, as was most of the audience. This was hands-down the most hilarious panel I attended during the entire convention. I don't even remember what we talked about, and I didn't even drink. Cracktastic Cylon theories and references to Ikea planets were made. It was the just-perfect combination of people making insightful comments while also being drunkenly cheeky. I think my favorite moment (aside from Starbuck's white viper coming from Ikea) was "Heyiya"'s "I have a really complex and insightful theory, but I've had a few beers and I can't complete this thought process!" I had so much fun that I didn't take any notes. I didn't attend the "Is Racism Inherent in Fantasy?" panel, but I have heard a lot about it from friends (whose brains were broken). Liz has video responses from people who attended the panel. My friend Bridget is "Bridget" in three of these videos, and you have the opportunity to see how hilarious she is. Mely has has posted about the "Can Internet Drama Change the World?" panel, posting a mostly-complete transcript of the panel. I attended this panel, and intend to post my own notes later, unless I decide that I don't have anything else to say. The consensus, though, was "Yes, Internet drama can change the world." The Sign-Out I was so excited and gleeful that I completely overcame my shyness/awe of Wiscon people, and was running around cackling and talking excitedly about these authors. I happened to find Maureen F. McHugh in the Dealers' Room. Bridget told her that our book club loved her book China Mountain Zhang, and whatever others might say about the ending of the novel, we loved it and found it appropriate. Then, I asked her to sign my copy of China Mountain Zhang and said, "Also, I think it's totally cool that you referenced Scott Pilgrim in the short story you read out loud Thursday night!" And she totally freaked out with glee, saying, "YAY, I'm so glad that someone caught the reference! I really just wanted to make her [the protagonist] a real person, you know?" I really like Maureen McHugh as both an author and a person, and I look forward to reading her other novels and more short stories. I had Sarah Monette sign Melusine for me. I didn't have much to say because I haven't actually finished it yet, and was chatting a lot with people in line next to me. I had Tamora Pierce sign my copy of In the Hand of the Goddess. She's so down-to-earth, and practical, but well-spoken. I was actually halfway through the second panel with this insightful audience member before I put my hand over my mouth and went, Holy shit, that's Tamora Pierce! We chatted about our mutual awe for my LJ friend, goldjadeocean. I still haven't read Patrick Rothfuss's In the Name of the Wind, but he's friends with Gretchen, and he treated us to dinner on Sunday night. It was pretty hilarious, because I took my copy of the book to him and said, "Not only am the asshole who hasn't even read your book yet, but this copy is also already signed by you. I was just wondering if you could personalize it." He eagerly accepted, but then said that he suffered from "performance anxiety," thinking that because we had eaten dinner together, he should be able to say something exceedingly meaningful or hilarious. Giving up, he instead opened to a blank page and did spirograph. Patrick Rothfuss is funny, intelligent, and ready to mock everything, including Wiscon itself (in a respectful way - please totally have him come back next year!. I really look forward to reading his book. Yesterday was work and grocery shopping, but Sandy and I had time to eat dinner together, and I then showed her the first two episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist. She is pretty new to anime (I think she's only seen Cowboy Bebop?), so I cackle with the glee of corruption. She hopes to reciprocate by getting me to read slash fanfiction. Labels: a: mchugh maureen f, a: pierce tamora, a: rothfuss patrick, friends, racism, tv: battlestar galactica, wiscon, wiscon 32 scribbled mystickeeper at 6:49 AM
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wJan 19, 2008 | |
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I LIVE I haven't had much to say lately, because I've just been at work and reading lots of books. Fooding I baked cookies a few nights ago. They looked like they had been cooked too long, but I did it exactly as long as the recipe told me to, and they're supposed to be a "crispy" recipe. Also, they were really small. Still, Antoine and I thought that they tasted really, really good. I also just made soup on a whim. I was going to boil some Asian dumplings, but the back of the box told me I could cut up vegetables and throw them in too, to make soup. "I can do that!" I thought, and I did! Onions, mushrooms, green onions, some spices, and some chili sauce. It turned out all right, I guess, but I think I'll try and find a soup recipe before I try again, :) Why don't people tell patients about potential side effects? THAT'D BE GREAT, KTHX While I was at my parents' house during break, my dad assured me that Prilosec is meant to be a short-term drug, and I had been taking it for about 6 months. He told me to stop taking it, and if I still had problems, I should see a doctor. So, I stopped taking it for about five days. Every day, I felt terrible, no matter what food I ate. It felt like I was constantly about to throw up, but not in my stomach - more in my chest and throat. Dad told me to start taking the Prilosec again and see a doctor ASAP. So, that's what I did on Thursday. After explaining things to him, his theory is that the acne medication I had been taking since either high school or middle school (minocyclene) has the potential to chemically burn a person's esophagus in the long-term, and that that is what happened. Fortunately, a couple weeks before this meeting, my dermatologist had prescribed a different acne medication for me, as minocyclene was doing jack, and I've been very unhappy with my face lately! So now, I have to take Prilosec for 2 months straight (which is scary to me, as both the doctor and my father have explained to me why taking Prilosec long-term is really bad for you!) to get rid of anything bad, and let everything settle down, and allow my body to adjust to the new acne medication. If the pain immediately starts again after I stop taking Prilosec, or while I'm still taking it, then I need to go to the doctor so that they can stick a long thingie down my throat and see if I have a stomach or esophagus ulcer. WTF ULCER. How do people even get ulcers? I don't know. I don't get squeamish about blood or broken bones, but the thought of people sticking cameras down my throat makes me want to throw up. I asked the doctor if they could knock me out, and he said no, because they want my gag reflex in case something goes wrong. THAT MAKES ME FEEL SO MUCH BETTER. Yay! Anyway, the high today is 0 degrees, but Anime Club (well, hopefully, anyway! It better not be just me!) is going to put up some fliers on State Street, and then watch some anime. Hopefully I don't die in the cold. Media Update I hope to write more extensively about these things at a later date, but for now, an update on the things I've been watching and reading: --Volume 1 of Ex Machina comic by Brian K. Vaughan = win, but based on first volumes alone, I prefer Y: The Last Man --I read the Magic Knight Rayearth manga. I have to say, I wasn't very impressed. I don't think that the series does anything that Sailor Moon doesn't do better. Speaking of Sailor Moon, I'd really like to reread it sometime soon. Since I've been going on a manga binge, reading all kinds of stuff, I'd like to see how well it holds up. (Please note that the Sailor Moon manga is much better than the anime!). --I burned through the second Song of the Lioness book by Tamora Pierce - the series is so fun! But, I'm kind of slogging through the second Westmark book by Lloyd Alexander, The Kestrel. I have yet to see any of the dealings with PTSD that everyone was raving about, so I hope the second half pwns the first half. --Buffy and Angel have both been really, really good lately. I wouldn't have thought that vampire flashbacks would be so fun. Bethany, you might want to check out Angel, season 2 (or at least, the first two discs so far!). Lots of stuff about Darla and Angel's past. It's pretty cool. Labels: a: alexander lloyd, a: pierce tamora, a: vaughan brian k, anime club, books, books: ya, manga, manga: clamp, manga: magic knight rayearth, manga: sailor moon, sick, tv: angel, tv: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 2:53 PM
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wJan 16, 2008 | |
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A rare morning post....that was written last night before I fell asleep on my laptop Today was pretty sweet. As difficult as it may be to believe, I never read Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness quartet when I was young. I think that I randomly read the third book, but that was it. I read Alanna: The First Adventure a few weeks ago, and loved it. This morning, In the Hand of the Goddess was waiting for me at the library. The premise of the books is that Alanna and her brother Thom switch places so that Alanna can learn to be a knight in a world that only allows boys to do so by pretending to be "Alan," and Thom can learn to be a sorcerer by pretending to be her. Anyway, the books are adventurous and fun, and the heroine actually works to become a good fighter. I do think that her way of naming things is lame, though. Seriously - a horse named Moonlight, a sword named Lightning, and a cat named Faithful. Could be a little more lame, Alanna?? I've also read the first volume of Bryan Lee O'Malley's "Scott Pilgrim" comics, and holy shit, are they awesome and hilarious. Everyone should read Scott Pilgrim! I recommend it especially to Dave, Steph, and Antoine. DO IT. Anyway, the Senate was in session today. Unfortunately, Wisconsin Eye is getting really good at cutting us pages out of their camera shots. BUT! If you go here, scroll down to "01.15.08 | State Senate Part 2" and click "Watch," you can see me at 18:12 - 18:24. On the left side of the screen, someone comes to get me, and I leave to do an errand. You can tell it's me by the brown curly hair! Then, Antoine and I went out for dinner! And it was really good. I also managed to be productive today by setting up appointments with career advisor people, and got my prescription filled. AND, a random Anime Club member sent me some amazing art to use on a flier. And I tried to make a flier, although my Photoshop skills suck. Still. Flier. Now, if only I could clean my room..... :( Labels: a: pierce tamora, books, books: ya, comics, comics: scott pilgrim, work scribbled mystickeeper at 7:19 AM
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