actourdreams

from kuzujuk.

1. Comment to this post with "I surrender!" "please, may I have one?" or something like that and I'll assign you the basis of some tv show idea. (Science fiction show, medical drama, criminal procedure, etc...)
2. Create a cast of characters, including the actors who'd play them
3. Add in any actor photos, character bios and show synopsis that you want.
4. Post to your own journal.

For the record, here's my reply to hers. ( She wanted me to write an urban fantasy police drama. I named it Emerald Necklace. )

From the dreams to leaves to the cracks in the pavement
To the roaches and rats and the amoured cars pacing
To the spies and the thieves and the cross-eyed complainers
To the – ain't that long when you count out the paces

Taking an Internet-atus. I love you all, but will be away for a bit.

<3

So, I am writing something that involves a genderqueer character. And I have some problems I hope y'all can solve.

( Cut for politics and genitalia. )

Now, you will have noticed that I have used the pronoun "they" when talking about Nico! That's because I'm not sure what pronoun set to use. I started out with sie/hir just because it's the one I'm most familiar with, but it didn't seem quite right and kuzujuk agreed. So, dear readers, will you vote on which of the choices you prefer? If it helps, the gender-neutral honorific is Mir (both in the sense of "Mir Krushic" and "Please come this way, Mir.").

Poll #1511389 What pronoun set sounds best?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

What pronoun set sounds best?

So, I can be an unsympathetic asshole. I also don't feel like I have much to lose in terms of family relationships, right now.

That said? This just makes me want to point and yell "Bullshit." At least, if they're trying to imply that this is what has/will happen.

OY WITH THE HANDWRINGING ALREADY, FOLKS. Also, Wincest IS weird. So is my angel porn. We can all accept that, or we can stop reading, mmkay?

(If someone feels the need to post a video of Penn and Teller pointing at the camera and yelling "And then there's THIS asshole!"... well, you might not be unjustified. But I'd still be vaguely honored).

All other subjects I wish to talk about are either bitchy, whiny, NSFW or traumatizing. Fortunately, Great Big Sea is here to make everyone happy!

John Simm has a very long neck.

Futzing around on DeviantArt is a good thing to do when you're down and need distraction. I revamped my main page.

It occurred to me that Anna might have been Put On A Bus, as opposed to being sent off to do something terribly plot-significant, as I had previously assumed, and this made me deeply disappointed. And sorta pessimistic.

I reeeeaaally want a .gif or an icon of Cenk doing the pointy thing between Ana and the camera (at about 3:00). Because TYT is, apparently, my biggest fandom. ^^; And randomly, I'm really disappointed they got BOTH the sub hosts I dislike to fill in over New Year's instead of giving the show to Ana and Jayar (which is a special I would love to see). OTOH, they all deserved actual vacation.

Speaking of Australia, Hardison's fake Australian accent? Is the WORST I have ever heard. I know most of Hardison's disguises involve him looking furrin and doing a funny accent (while most of Sophie's disguises involve her looking furrin and doing a sexy accent), but still, what idiot falls for that?

Every time Parker comes on screen, I pretty much flail and go "PAAAAAARKERRRR! <3 <3 <3". Favorite sociopathic catburgler cutie ever.

When cleaning, I found a Japanese worksheet with a bunch of clothing on it. (I suppose we were supposed to buy the clothing or something?). There was an arrow pointing at a pair of very high, open toed high heeled shoes with the following text (in Japanese): "These are Jackson-san's drag shoes. Jackson-san is a very pretty woman. His most famous number is "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Everybody loves it." There was also a Cthulhu eating the town we were supposed to give directions around.

In light of all the Supernatural squee, I feel the need to share a lovely, lovely video from my other apocalyptic Midwestern mystic tv show (that would be Carnivále).


In conclusion, when I grow up, I wanna be as fabulous as Ana Kasparian. Only not wrong about the things she's wrong about, and with top billing. :P

Note to self: stop using "Ha siktir!" before you do it in public where Actual Turkish Speakers may hear.

I'm so glad I got this window open before midnight! Though it will doubtless be done after the New Year, I wanted to post on the 31st.

Every year brings unexpected things that knock us down, that we can't foresee or prepare for, but I can't remember a year as long or as hard as this one has been. Sometimes, when I reflect on 2009, it seems like a whole year of deterioration and desperation, and I want to forget segments of it wholesale.

But it wasn't nearly all that. I know it sounds cliché, but this has been the kind of year when you learn who your friends really are. And I never imagined I would have so many, or so staunch. It amazes me how many people have stayed by me through the year, how many people have reached out to me despite the mess I've been, and the ones I've reformed bonds with in the midst of everything. If I name names, it would sound as long and gushing and harried as an Oscar acceptance speech, and it would still be incomplete. All I want to say is that you all astound me. You floor me with your compassion and love and loyalty and generosity. I have gotten through some damn dark times with you, in the figurative sense, in the literal sense, and I owe you all so much. Things are going to get better – so I hope and strive and believe. I know I've been distant and self-absorbed most of this year, but I want to get to know you better, in better times. And just as you've gone through the bad with me, we are going to go through the good together.

Here's to 2010, to something better, and to all of us.


And those who chose the twisted road, prefer it to the straight
Let joy beat out old misery as love will conquer hate.
--Richard Thompson

Tonight, the Internet has given to me Katee Sackhoff being deliciously trashy, being mostly naked, being on a motorcycle, perving on an unconscious Misha Collins, and practically propositioning another female character.

The Internet has proven that it is a beneficent god. Either that, or my sacrifices of baby squirrels upon a basalt alter at midnight have finally worked.

Every time I see a retrospective 2009 meme, all I can think of is how much this year has been dominated by mental health comma-deterioration-of, hospitalization and the fear thereof.

But anyway, here's the "post the first sentence of the first post of each month" meme. I've removed the first sentence if it was of a meme, though, and have imported January and February from otoselkie, since I only started this journal in March.

January

.....DID SHAUNA AND POREK JUST HAVE THE CONVERSATION I THOUGHT THEY HAD?!?


February

My state of mind is probably best summed up in the image of me sitting in the corner of my closet, shouting "I won't!"

March

(from actourdreams)
All the talk lately is of sending me away.

April

My august person shall grace the grounds of Smith College, Northampton, from some time between 8 and 10 AM 10:35 Saturday to as-late-as-I-can-make-it either 5:15 or 8 PM Sunday.

May

Last night I went on an epic Facebook defriending spree, and deleted everyone who I had never had a conversation with, online or IRL.

June

I'm O_Saya at Dreamwidth, if anybody is interested in adding me.

July

Yeah, so, me this week? =me being a total fucking wreck.

August

So, here I am, up late trying to study and not wake up A, feeling happy and anxious and worried and content, listening to loud music to keep myself sharp.

September
[the first post of September was In The Heights lyrics, and I don't think that counts]

Finally got my hands on Witchfinder, which I didn't really like enough to keep buying, but it did inform me that B.P.R.D. is doing another 1947 run.

October

You can say shit about me – 'cause I have no sense of self-preservation and am messed up enough that, heck, whatever negative thing it is I'll probably believe I deserve it.

November

At break, I was wandering around on Yelp.com looking for somewhere nice to go out dancing – something I don't really think will happen as long as I live at home, but sounds fun anyway – and someone's review of a place said it was perfectly good, but the liquor was cheap (not an issue for me), and the "trannies" "thought they could" use the women's room when there was a "perfectly good men's room."

December

I know this will pass, I'll get through it and go on in the morning.


Right now, I am baking up a storm. Because, really, what are the holidays but an excuse to make as much as possible? People better be eating. We have four kinds of cookies in the house, and there are only going to be more. I miss having lots and lots of friends to feed. Taking care of people makes me feel good.

Uh. If I posted a tl;dr entry on sexuality, would anybody read it? Or would I just squick y'all out?

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!
All the long echoes sing the same delight
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
---"The Shortest Day," Susan Cooper

ALL of it! Even the parts he doesn't know about. :P

Name a fandom, and I'll tell you
01. The first character I fell in love with:
02. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:
03. The character I would shag anytime:
04. The character I'd slap:
05. Who are my 3 favorite characters.
06. What are my 3 favorite pairings.
07. Which character you're most like.
08. The coolest thing about the canon:
09. The lamest thing about the canon:
10. My guiltiest pleasure in this fandom:
11. What story I wish I could read (or art I wish I could see):
12. What story I wish I had written/still want to write (or art, respectively):

Dear IRL friend,

I am disinclined to speak to you ever again until an apology happens. Fuck you and the self-righteous activist horse you rode in on. I do not need this shit.


Uh. Apart from that, Jean and Avery have taken a very... unexpected turn. And Avery is now more main-character-ish than Jean? I feel like he ended up with more story potential than she did, which is surprising. Then again, Jean was a fully-fleshed-out character when I began, but Avery was just some interesting guy she ran into and befriended, so maybe it makes sense that he would have more directions to go in. It was originally supposed to be Jean and Avery having adventures, possibly with a side of Jean dealing with internal family politics. Then I wrote a scene incorporating characters I'd made for a story that never went anywhere – an extremely religious older woman and two homeless teenagers she's pratically adopted, both of whom have had their soul bonded with a ghost's – and Avery and James have chemistry. Which is great, but if they're taking James with them, I really wanna find a way to bring in Catelina (the other teenager), because she was always my favorite.

I showed the very odd alternate Riverbank to someone, who thought that Tom was hitting on Lauren. D: Given that that he was addressing her as "little sister" at the time... No Just No. Then I remember that someone in an old writing group actually shipped Moire/Micah pretty hard. *shrugs* It takes all kinds! The other thing I realized is that that story could have characters in one scene speaking three different languages, easy. Everybody speaks Rahela, to some extent or another. Tom and Emily speak (bad) English, and twins and Koyou speak Kunan. (the Astedas speak a dialect thereof, but I'm not even going to try to communicate that. Too damn complicated!)


Thanks to kuzujuk, I am watching Supernatural, which is far, far better than I had expected. The downside was that there was one episode that freaked me out so much in the first three minutes I skipped it. (For the record, it wasn't the torture episode. That one I didn't think was disturbing enough).

From everybloodybody.

If I came with a warning label, what would it say?

*looks at notebook*

My late Matter of Britain kick has sent me into: modern-day Brothers Orkney. It's about as twisted as one would expect.

On the other hand, the crazy Persian story got a major reorganizing, thanks to me going, "Oh hey, there are some parallels here!" The heroine is still unnamed, but we now have, in addition to the sword which only the rightful king can draw, a shapeshifting magician, talking wolves, a tyrant, Phoenix Kings, and a blessed lamp.

...I think Arcadia just spawned another part. Oh hell no? I'm thinking I may be able to work it in with Segment The Third. (For reference, Segment The First is everything from young!Elaine and Tuathal to the end of Ral Shonan's Rebellion, or Robert's exile, depending on how I'm feeling. Segment The Second, aka Arcadia Proper, is the war for independent Arcadia. Segment The Third is Robert's return to the Old World, and the resolution of any/all arc issues. Robert running around 1953-1995 is not a segment). Anyway! It has Lady Tegan and Lord Alistair in it, and possibly Jane Ruaidh? She came up because Robert's return basically leads to a culmination of a lot of the older subplots, and I could never come up with a satisfactory way to tie up hers. She gets used doubly (first by a man who has an affair with her, then breaks it off when it becomes inconvenient for him, and she takes the fall, and then by her in-laws, who want to use this as leverage against him). But, since aforesaid subplot is about people trying to regulate mortal magic, I don't know what role she would play, not being a sorceress. And I'm definitely not turning her into an antagonist. One of the things that made me deeply sad about the Douglass/Jane/Tuathal triangle is that everyone loses.

In other news, um, I like Hellblazer, and I got a whole bunch for cheap at a used bookstore. :D Although the early art is so damn ugly – I think it's the heavy, heavy lines combined with the washed-out, unblended colors – that I have trouble reading it. None the less! I love it deeply. I think it's the intersection of magic (tradition) and modernity, and the fact that he's not a mystic, not innately talented with anything except a smart mouth, and survival instinct, and grit.

To anybody else who reads it, did Epiphany show up any time before the recent storyarch with the love potions? I really really liked her.

Dad and I went to a campaign rally for the first time on Sunday. Well, I went for about twenty minutes. It was in a bar well over occupancy limit, which very was hot, and some time between the candidate's introduction and the end of his opening remarks I nearly passed out. I think? My vision clouded over until I could hardly see anything, and I was dizzy enough that I couldn't walk straight. (the only prior time I fainted I just stood up, blacked out, and woke up horizontal). I sat on the curb until the world straightened out, and while waiting for Dad got into a discussion with a counterprotester. She was very patronizing and made a lot of fallacious arguments. I'm disappointed that I didn't get to ask him his thoughts on the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 – my reason for attending – on account of having to leave before questions were taken. As it was, I heard platitudes for the introducer, platitudes for the candidate, and a bit of the candidate saying stuff like "I will improve schools!" (a non-statement as far as I'm concerned. No candidate will say they are AGAINST improving schools – it just depends how they say they will), which didn't really make any difference... I was going to vote for the dude before I went, and I still am, I suppose. Remember, Massachusetts voters, state Senate primary is on the 8th!

Aforesaid friend's new interest in Velvet Goldmine lead me to re-watch the film, which lead me to the fandom, which lead me to the following observations:

Firstly, let us have no girl hatin', fandom. It's quite tiresome, especially since you're NINETY-EIGHT PERCENT GIRLS.

Secondly, I can't remember thinking anything about the characters the first time around (except that, as per always, I wanted to hug the sexually confused teenage protagonist). This time, I came out thinking that Brian should take a long walk off a short pier, and being very, very interested in Curt – mostly because he's genuinely damaged (sexual abuse! institutional abuse! drug abuse!), and may not be much better by the end of the film (it depends on how you interpret some things). Whereas Brian just fucks things up for himself and everyone around him.

I was disappointed at how little they play up the magical/mystical angle, and how little it's covered in fandom, ( Spoilers for the film )

Speaking of underutilized things, fandom, and characters I like, I am deeply saddened that I cannot find any "Jack Fairy and Curt Wild in Berlin" stories, because I would let the blood of my nonexistent firstborn to get them. Because, obviously, some very important things happened then, but no. It got skipped in favor of Brian's ennui. *eyeroll*

Lastly, I was tempted earlier tonight to leave someone a nasty review. Not because they wrote badly or trashed my favorite character, but because they didn't realize that they had Arthur doing something that would violate any codes of journalistic ethics.
As it was, I merely loled at myself and hit the back button.

For anyone who hasn't the foggiest what I'm on about, it's a film. I offer you a picspam, because flawed as it may be, one cannot argue that it is not a very, very pretty film.

( Read more... )

Fortunately, this makes me a really good finder of happymaking stuff. For example...


(Animated LoTR will never cease to bring the crack! Nor Tom Smith. :D).

For the three or so people I haven't already shown this to, it's Mama Seal!!!


Elephant seal vs. car. About my favorite thing in the world right now – I can do the voiceover verbatim.


I dug up for a friend (who had watched Velvet Goldmine but had no idea of what it was riffing off of) the live version of Rock 'N Roll Suicide. It's with introduction – music starts at about :50.

Originally this was the only song I was using for my crazy cut-and-paste poem, but Starman and "Keep your 'lectric eye on me" were too good to resist.

Oh, there's this thing called "Seven-page Government paper"! I should get cracking. kuzujuk has invited me over to see Mars Attacks tonight.

Friends! Comrades! And more importantly, readers/watchers/listeners! I have a proposal. I'm looking for books/movies/fanworks/whatever based on the Sherlock Holmes, er, mythos, and Arthuriana. For Holmes, I would prefer something that kept to the spirit/setting of the original books (though I do enjoy the Mary Russel novels, so that's relative), but if you have something that doesn't but is good, come forward! In Arthuriana, I like both straight-up retellings and Magical Girl King Arthur IN SPACE equally. (Actually, that sounds like an awesome novel. Hmm).

In return, I give you my own recs!

Sherlock Holmes

The original stories, needless to say. My favorite is still the Speckled Band.

The Mary Russel novels, by Laurie R. King. They've gotten increasingly Mary Sueish as of the last two books, but are quite good in the beginning and still a really fun read. As the series title implies, they feature an OC, but one who holds water (until about The Game or so). The first book, The Bee-Keeper's Apprentice, has just been released in a snazzy new edition, presumably to capitalize on the coming Holmes movie. My one word of advice is, if you do read them, skip A Letter of Mary. It's a bit crap, unless you like Biblical conspiracy books.

Shadows Over Baker Street, the infamous Holmes/Lovecraft crossover. I kind of assume anyone interested in this has already read it, but if you haven't, I recommend it highly. This is the book that Neil Gaiman wrote A Study In Emerald for, and the authors list is practically star-studded. There's only one story I didn't like – this is one of the books I chose to bring with me to college. The authors make good use of the Holmes minor characters, too – Irene Adler gets a positively kickass role in one story, Mycroft shows up, there's even an H G Wells cameo.

My father also says the Giant Rat of Sumatra is good.

Haven't seen much Holmes on film except the Basil Rathbone TV series, which is considered Word of God by my father. We did, however, subject ourselves to the Young Sherlock Holmes movie a few years ago. All I can say is, if you're going to watch it, get a bunch of friends and some popcorn to throw at the screen.


Arthuriana

My favorite version of the Arthur myth is Rosemary Sutcliff's retelling. It comes in three installments – The Sword and the Circle, The Light in the Forest, and The Road to Camlann. Though they are out of print, they can be found for cheap on Amazon.com, not to mention your local library. And while we're about it, READ ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF.

I Am Mordred and I Am Morgana Le Fay, both by Nancy Springer, were putting a new spin on old villains and a darker cast on well-known stories before Wicked and imitators became popular. I can't review them with much clarity since I read them at about 11, but they blew my mind and seem to be YA library staples, which is a good thing, right?

Michael Morpurgo has a large, illustrated book called Arthur: High King of Britain, which is nicely written and drop-dead gorgeous. Unfortunately, when it comes to illustrated children's versions, everything will lose out to Kingfisher Classics' The Story of King Arthur, which was my first Arthur book. The illustrations are now a little dark and spiky for me, but it still holds a very special place in my heart.

Also, who could forget the Lost Years of Merlin? They're not great literature and in retrospect were a bit WTF, but when I was ten I ate them up with a spoon.

My grandfather would sing me bits of Camelot (along with every other musical he'd been in), and so I give you Lancelot's opening song, C'est Moi.


XD

Maddy Prior has a song cycle album, Arthur The King, which is sadly not available for linkage on YouTube, but is brilliant. It portrays Arthur as a ruler trying first to hold Britain together after the Romans leave, then defending against the Saxon invaders, and the lyrics are fucking gorgeous.

In terms of films, who can could resist Monty Python's Holy Grail? BLOODY PEASANT!

Dear Counseling,

Either you will reverse this batshittery, or I will send Sgt Flippytail to reverse it for you. He will bring a rocket launcher and a rusty spork.

You really don't want to find out what Sgt Flippytail can do with a rusty spork.

Yours,
Jys

( Ranty McRantypants. )

( TMI. )

I got the okay for this weekend! Apparently some combination of "I have no big assignments next week," Bambi eyes, and "And it's almost my birth~day~", Mum actually suggested I leave on Friday, something I hadn't dared to hope for. So, I get to see Lovely People AND avoid dinner at VSGA's. Score! :D

I finally watched "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead," and, you may mock me for this, but I was reduced to a puddle of romantic goo. I'm not even sure why, since I usually want love interests to go their merry way ASAP, and about 60% of Whodom considers River Song to be a flaming Mary Sue (with a farther 30% insisting she's Romana reincarnated, and a final 10% liking/disliking her for sane reasons). Judgment on how good/bad the episodes were shall be reserved until I see how much impact they have on characterization later in the plot. ( Tiny spoilers. )