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marimo_bloggerJust survived midterms.
Apart from spreading my Hetalia virus (as well as ; I'm so proud of myself, Ning!) to quite a lot of people (well, the definition of 'a lot' may differ, but) and watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, I've been spending my free time (or what was left of it nowadays) doing homework and chipping away at fanarts I owe people. I ought to be shot for not finishing anything at all and being a slowpoke.
Hetalia is quite an old fandom already, huh? I mean, it's been there since 2008? I've always pictured that fandoms come and go as the anime seasons pass (well, the long-running ones obviously have longer-lasting fandoms), as would be indicated by the doujinshi and fanmade goods variety during cons. Over the past two years, I've watched, stalked, and followed many people who produce fanarts and fanfictions; so many that I even made separate folders in my fic and art folders for these people. As the years go by (oh come off of it, now, marimo, it hasn't been that long), some of them left the Hetalia fandom, while some new usernames appeared on my stalking-list.
Truth be told, I'm actually proud of myself for having induced some new fans into the fandom; I'm hoping that they would be like a breath of fresher air to the fandom. I mean, I bookmarked an ff.net link to let me see updates on US/UK fanfics, and I've been checking for quite some time. It's just sad to see the same plot(s) being used all over again, very disturbing OOC -ness (think abusive!Arthur), trollfics, and the lot. I'm sick of reading about idiotic!blonde!America and angsty!self-hating!England, and I'm only skimming the summaries!
I thought of how the fandom has deteriorated a lot. It's true what![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
abarero said some time ago: few seems interested in the canon characters anymore. Sadface.
Well, it has made my resolve to draw more fluffy US/UK art even stronger, I guess.
Now onto Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's pretty awesome :) I love the fast pacing of the story: stuff always happens in every episode that's important somehow, and culminates towards the end, and there are no filler episodes (YAY!). Tales of Ba Sing Se is my favourite episode so far. Also, I like how they incorporate Asian terminology and names in it so fittingly. I always laugh when I get them, like Suki, Yue... Haha. My favourite characters would be Iroh, Toph, and Zuko.
But. I don't really like how they just pair off Aang and Katara, as well as other couples. My initial reaction while watching it was "ಠ_ಠ uh, what? Where's the development in the relationship? How come suddenly Aang just decides he likes Katara in this episode?". I honestly didn't see the chemistry between the pairs! Oh wait, does it even exist? It's like the characters decide, "Oh, in this episode, I'm gonna like him/her, but not in the next one". Toph did, Aang did, Zuko did. The romance sub-plot is seriously lacking in development and realistic-ness.
But the story is good. The animation is, too; the blend between cartoon and anime is smooth, with the cartoon-style comical expressions and anime-style timing.
Now, movies. This was quite some time ago, but I'll just jot it down here. So, one day...
I watched Brokeback Mountain.
The shirts. THE SHIRTS. I was bawling like crazy. I know it's too far-fetched to hope for a happy ending for the two of them, but... ugh ;A; *sniffles* their story really got to me. I didn't even know what to watch after it, or if I want to watch anything, because it'd ruin the whole... thing for me.
And some random afterthoughts: I hate how society works, living and following the set of rules predetermined by somebody else. I hate being a part of it. I always wonder why they can't just mind their own business. They tell us to be what and who we really are, but why do they make it so hard for it to be?
And marriage is a really hard thing. A big step, and you don't know for sure if it's the right way or not. It's always portrayed as something wonderful, rosy, and a sure-fire way of attaining happiness. Me, I think it's an anchor that ties you down and drags you under. Some couples come into mind, and... well, happiness is relative, but I doubt what I see in them is happiness. I do believe that true love exists, but we won't be able to be sure if they're the one or not. (Oh, look at me, a cynic and an idealist. What a joke; I'm an impossibility *scoffs at self*).
So a good few hours (more like half a day) later I watched Pride and Prejudice (2005), Death at a Funeral (2007), Gosford Park (2001), The Hangover (2009), Across the Universe (2007), Accepted (2006). I must say, Across the Universe was EPIC. The editing, the music, the bits of surrealism and imagery that's very fitting... They really captured the intended atmosphere well.
I also watched Freedom Writers, Soul Surfer, and Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (again).
Recently, one of my groupmates talked to me that she found it disgusting that Michelangelo was gay, which she knew about when researching for a summary of Renaissance, and gave me some invalid arguments (which she sadly didn't realise). I almost wanted to tell her that homophobia is gay, but I held back. Oh, the narrow-mindedness of people here. I feel like I could choke at any moment.
Apart from spreading my Hetalia virus (as well as ; I'm so proud of myself, Ning!) to quite a lot of people (well, the definition of 'a lot' may differ, but) and watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, I've been spending my free time (or what was left of it nowadays) doing homework and chipping away at fanarts I owe people. I ought to be shot for not finishing anything at all and being a slowpoke.
Hetalia is quite an old fandom already, huh? I mean, it's been there since 2008? I've always pictured that fandoms come and go as the anime seasons pass (well, the long-running ones obviously have longer-lasting fandoms), as would be indicated by the doujinshi and fanmade goods variety during cons. Over the past two years, I've watched, stalked, and followed many people who produce fanarts and fanfictions; so many that I even made separate folders in my fic and art folders for these people. As the years go by (oh come off of it, now, marimo, it hasn't been that long), some of them left the Hetalia fandom, while some new usernames appeared on my stalking-list.
Truth be told, I'm actually proud of myself for having induced some new fans into the fandom; I'm hoping that they would be like a breath of fresher air to the fandom. I mean, I bookmarked an ff.net link to let me see updates on US/UK fanfics, and I've been checking for quite some time. It's just sad to see the same plot(s) being used all over again, very disturbing OOC -ness (think abusive!Arthur), trollfics, and the lot. I'm sick of reading about idiotic!blonde!America and angsty!self-hating!England, and I'm only skimming the summaries!
I thought of how the fandom has deteriorated a lot. It's true what
abarero said some time ago: few seems interested in the canon characters anymore. Sadface.Well, it has made my resolve to draw more fluffy US/UK art even stronger, I guess.
Now onto Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's pretty awesome :) I love the fast pacing of the story: stuff always happens in every episode that's important somehow, and culminates towards the end, and there are no filler episodes (YAY!). Tales of Ba Sing Se is my favourite episode so far. Also, I like how they incorporate Asian terminology and names in it so fittingly. I always laugh when I get them, like Suki, Yue... Haha. My favourite characters would be Iroh, Toph, and Zuko.
But. I don't really like how they just pair off Aang and Katara, as well as other couples. My initial reaction while watching it was "ಠ_ಠ uh, what? Where's the development in the relationship? How come suddenly Aang just decides he likes Katara in this episode?". I honestly didn't see the chemistry between the pairs! Oh wait, does it even exist? It's like the characters decide, "Oh, in this episode, I'm gonna like him/her, but not in the next one". Toph did, Aang did, Zuko did. The romance sub-plot is seriously lacking in development and realistic-ness.
But the story is good. The animation is, too; the blend between cartoon and anime is smooth, with the cartoon-style comical expressions and anime-style timing.
Now, movies. This was quite some time ago, but I'll just jot it down here. So, one day...
I watched Brokeback Mountain.
The shirts. THE SHIRTS. I was bawling like crazy. I know it's too far-fetched to hope for a happy ending for the two of them, but... ugh ;A; *sniffles* their story really got to me. I didn't even know what to watch after it, or if I want to watch anything, because it'd ruin the whole... thing for me.
And some random afterthoughts: I hate how society works, living and following the set of rules predetermined by somebody else. I hate being a part of it. I always wonder why they can't just mind their own business. They tell us to be what and who we really are, but why do they make it so hard for it to be?
And marriage is a really hard thing. A big step, and you don't know for sure if it's the right way or not. It's always portrayed as something wonderful, rosy, and a sure-fire way of attaining happiness. Me, I think it's an anchor that ties you down and drags you under. Some couples come into mind, and... well, happiness is relative, but I doubt what I see in them is happiness. I do believe that true love exists, but we won't be able to be sure if they're the one or not. (Oh, look at me, a cynic and an idealist. What a joke; I'm an impossibility *scoffs at self*).
So a good few hours (more like half a day) later I watched Pride and Prejudice (2005), Death at a Funeral (2007), Gosford Park (2001), The Hangover (2009), Across the Universe (2007), Accepted (2006). I must say, Across the Universe was EPIC. The editing, the music, the bits of surrealism and imagery that's very fitting... They really captured the intended atmosphere well.
I also watched Freedom Writers, Soul Surfer, and Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (again).
Recently, one of my groupmates talked to me that she found it disgusting that Michelangelo was gay, which she knew about when researching for a summary of Renaissance, and gave me some invalid arguments (which she sadly didn't realise). I almost wanted to tell her that homophobia is gay, but I held back. Oh, the narrow-mindedness of people here. I feel like I could choke at any moment.
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no subject
Date: October 18th, 2011 11:54 (UTC)Do you see a lot of self-hating England? Do you mean like self-harming or something like that? I do feel like England probably does have a bit of self-loathing, and I think he's really insecure (like I don't think he thinks he's very attractive), but I do agree that people can really take it over the top. As for braindead America, the less said the better. I don't really have any tolerance for abusive or yandere characterization for either of them either.
But yeah it's kind of inevitable that a lot of fics are going to have the same plot. Unfortunately it happens with most fandoms. XD
Well, it has made my resolve to draw more fluffy US/UK art even stronger, I guess.
THIS IS VERY GOOD.
no subject
Date: October 18th, 2011 12:39 (UTC)I just watched episodes 10-13 of the third season; and I guess the whole time Katara's been looking at Aang as a little brother (thus the blush after the kiss). Or that's what I managed to infer.
I meant self-hating. Dissatisfaction in life, usually accompanied by family problems, though I guess it leads to self-harming, too. Usually England would be the one having those problems in fics, being the mentally tortured one and all that.
Ahaha, I guess I just have really high standards (I know I do for myself). My friend did once say my cliche-meter is too sensitive XD though I do feel Fantasia!AU and cardverse!AU fics are very scarce compared to gakuen!AU and human!AU *sobs*
ohohoho I'll do my best <3
no subject
Date: October 18th, 2011 12:49 (UTC)I like England having family problems and general dissatisfaction because I think that's how he is in canon a lot of the time? He's a lonely guy. I think him being kind of a lonely failboat is part of his appeal to me, so I'm actually kind of turned off when I read fics where he legitimately thinks he's awesome and has a ton of friends and stuff. Him being kind of an unfortunate guy is a lot of what makes him... England. XD
But I agree that it can be really overkill depending on how it's done, and it can be over the top (I also don't like seeing the UK brothers portrayed as legitimately abusive for the most part). Whereas with someone like America, he might have some insecurities but he's quite confident, and he doesn't really strike me as someone who would be liable to have a troubled background most of the time.
NO I HAVE INSANELY HIGH STANDARDS. One of the reasons I don't usually post fic recs is because I feel bad about how picky I am. Like... I read a TON of fic, but I only like about 10% of it. I'll seriously be thrown out of a fic by one little thing. I feel bad about it, but that's how I've always been. :(
And yeah I love cardverse and fantasia, but there are weirdly few fics for it. Human AU can be fun, but for me personally when writing them I like to throw something unusual in there (like superheroes or merpeople XD). It keeps it exciting for me as a writer.