It's certainly been a while.

A lot - I mean a lot - of shit happened to me. The majority of it I've moved on from. I've taken steps to improve my physical and mental health, with measurable success. I've taught myself a small measure of self-discipline. I've cut toxic relationships out of my life and cultivated new friendships. I've curbed a few of my more selfish impulses and made efforts to be more considerate of people's feelings. It's not perfect, but it's progress. And I'm happier as a result.

I still have my social media locked down for a very good reason, and I think I'm going to keep it that way. There's not much point to LiveJournal for me anymore - I basically live on Twitter, and I keep a private diary for my longer thoughts. Anyone who follows me on here is probably following me on Twitter anyway. I have no intention whatsoever to acquire a Facebook page or Instagram or Snapchat or whatever newfangled technology the kids use today *shakes cane*. My Tumblr is open, but that's, y'know, just stuff.

That said, this, I think, will be my last LiveJournal post, public or private.

Thanks for reading over the years.

The other day a guy posted a manifesto on YouTube about how he was going to kill a ton of women for constantly rejecting him. He was pissed off that no one was fucking him. He insisted that it wasn't fair and that he was a perfect gentleman and they should all pay for the crime of not giving him the sex that he was owed. And then he killed them.

Welcome to the world of Men's Rights Activists.

MRAs aren't about men's rights, not one whit. They are about the systematic subjugation of women. They want us to serve them, give them sex when they want it, and to shut up. To be less than human.

In response to this, women in social media began pointing out that this killing spree is what women are afraid of men doing to them all the time and, inevitably, the "not all men" contingent began showing up.

Thus began the #YesAllWomen hashtag on Twitter. As in yes, all women know this fear. Yes, all women have had to do this or that to prevent being victimized or marginalized by men.

The prevailing consensus is yes, we know it's not all men doing this. But it's enough men that it's ruined it for all the good ones. It's enough men that we have to be wary of all of them because we don't know what you're thinking.

I've seen so much on Twitter over the last 24 hours. I've read so many stories. I've seen so many things I can relate to. I've seen predatorial trolls infiltrating the hashtag to harass women. I've seen men say "I didn't know this was happening" and beginning to learn from it.

I'm trying to write a coherent blog about how I feel about this, and honestly the best I can do is just throw some kind of narrative structural netting over my own tweets and hope for the best. So this is going to be a bit disjointed.

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Last night I happened to come across this article by MightyGodKing. (Take your time and read it; I'll still be here when you get back.) As a longtime DC Comics reader and fan of Wonder Woman, it raised my hackles.

His main point is that there is no "definitive" Wonder Woman due to all her writers taking different stances on her and discarding everything that had gone before to meet their vision of Diana. Apparently "definitive" means "simple enough for a movie," which, okay, fair enough. I'll get to that in a minute.

MGK also breached the issue of Diana's Rogues' Gallery and supporting cast, citing Steve Trevor and Etta Candy as having no prominent or definitive roles. The thing is, Steve and Etta do have very important roles in Diana's life, something MGK failed to take into consideration. They are her friends. Not co-workers or love interests (well, not Steve post-Crisis anyway [NO I DO NOT COUNT THE REBOOT THAT ENTIRE UNIVERSE WAS A MISSTEP I WILL RANT ABOUT IT LATER]) or police commissioners or cub reporters. Steve and Etta are genuine friends, comrades-in-arms on rare occasions, but they keep Diana grounded. They give her someone to unburden herself to, to share her feelings with, to take joy in Diana's happiness and share in her sorrows, to rejoice in her triumphs and to guide her through her defeats. Steve and Etta are the "relatable everymen," if we must have such a role in a movie or even a comic. Of my 25+ years reading Wonder Woman, the only two writers I've seen acknowledge Steve and Etta in this way are George Perez and Gail Simone. Both times felt right.

As far as the villains, MGK says "I think Ares ends up being Diana’s archenemy by default mostly because he’s always been the most powerful, but there is no definitive Ares/Wonder Woman story" and I very nearly choked on that. Sir, have you read the first six issues of post-Crisis Wonder Woman? That was the definitive Wonder Woman/Ares story. It's even been collected in trade paperback.

And now we get to the potential for a movie. Why not simply translate that first arc to film? Let me pitch this: Ares, God Of War, has become too powerful due to the warring and strife of the modern world. The other gods must select a champion to defeat him without killing him. On Themiscyra, they answer Queen Hippolyta's prayer for a child. Born of clay, gifted with the powers of the Greek Pantheon, Diana is raised on Themiscyra, destined to be the champion of the Gods and her people.

Diana is the finest warrior in the world and will do what must be done when there is no other option available, but in order to truly combat war and the God Of War, she must be first an ambassador of peace. You cannot weaken War Himself without teaching mankind the ways of peace. And THAT is Diana's mission. The immediate threat is of course to turn Ares away from consuming the world in ultimate war. She can do this in the same manner as the comic - bind him in the Lasso of Truth and use its power to show him the end result of his madness: with the world ended, Ares would reign triumphant, but then he too would crumble into nothingness, for there can be no god without his followers. And thus he charges her to save mankind from itself.

HOW IS THAT NOT REALLY FUCKING COOL. Unlike the recent Batman and Superman movies, Wonder Woman can be distilled into an ultimate message of hope. That you don't have to give in to darkness and destruction. That there is a better way of life, to be kind to your brothers and sisters. It's pure paganism on the surface but practically preaching real Christian beliefs. Explore the world, learn about one another, erase our differences, treat others with compassion and there will be no horrors of war.

Maybe that's the real problem. In a world where Batman fights a never-ending battle and Superman kills people and ruins cities, Hollywood doesn't see the need for a call for peace when war is far more profitable.

The world needs a wonder.

tags: comics

So, uh, we need about $3,500 pretty much by the end of the month. It's house/lawyer-related. Legally, I can't say why in public, but it's a bad snarl.

Please help. Anyone.

CURRENT TOTAL: $290.93 07/22/11
$459.25 07/23/11
$500.10 07/24/11

I've been kind of sidetracked this week; sorry. Kari opted to move back up to Illinois with James for financial reasons - he was basically going to pay for all her living expenses while she earned her degree as a veterinary technician. You should see poor Kyle sniffing at the door to her room unable to figure out where Tsuki went. Breaks a kittymommy's heart.

On the other hand, it does mean we have an empty room. And we sure as hell know someone who has been looking to move back to New Orleans for the longest-ass time. So Karl's best friend Chuck and Chuck's boyfriend John will be living with us starting early-mid-May-ish. I've lived with Chuck before; he's fun, and I don't have a problem with John either. (I am wondering where they're going to put all their clothes. Closet space is very limited.)

It's also going to be the first time in 40+ years this house will have to institute a "no smoking/no weed" policy indoors. XD Look, everyone knows I'm of the "drugs are bad, mmmmkay" persuasion, but Chuck's had cancer for a few years and, well...the pain gets bad and he has no healthcare etc. etc., so I'm not in any position to stop him, but I am limiting it to the garage. Regular cigarettes are porch-only.

I loved my father-in-law, but the guy did contribute to the destruction of the walls and curtains in this house, is what I'm saying.

Oh, and I have Portal 2 on pre-order due to the judicious use of gift certificates (thank you, Jason and Sean), and I cannot freaking wait.

So. We caught up? Okay; let's get on to the good stuff.

( My journal cuts itself to feel aliiiiive!Collapse )

Lastly, and this is important, Made Of Fail is holding auctions over the next month to help us pay for, you know, running the show. I've got one delightful novelty gift up so far, and there will be more actual things to come. Also, do check out The Daynapocalypse, won't you? We're really proud of it and watching the ads also gets us paid. :)

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More to come tomorrow!

tags: conventions

So a few days ago, I read this article wherein Kevin Williamson posits that Sidney could become Ghostface in one of the future Scream movies.

NO. THIS IS STUPID.

And here's why: it's the same reason I've been bitching about the decay of horror movies since they recast Nancy Thompson. Because it ruins audience relatability to the Final Girl (WARNING: TV TROPES LINK; TIE OFF A ROPE) and destroys any character growth or potential.

Obviously of course it's possible - hell, it's even somewhat logical - that after all Sidney Prescott's been through in her life, she could easily snap and go crazy, even murderously so. Ghostface has been such a huge part of her life that it's easy to see where she couldn't function without him/her (depending on the installment) to define herself as a heroine, or even as a person. So sure, that's a great idea on paper, but it's still stupid. Why would you want to see that? Why would you pay money to see that? Sidney's been the center of all the Scream movies. I actually can't name a character in a horror franchise who has survived as many sequels as she has intact (feel free to research that, but I bet I'm right).

To take Sidney and break her in any way negates her power, and in doing so, actually hurts the audience. The goal of any film is to engage the viewer, preferably by having them identify with the main character. In horror, you want the audience to empathize with the victims, not the killers. There is a wonderful interview with Heather Langenkamp over at Ain't It Cool News, where she is asked about her thoughts on the NOES *spit* remake, and she answers thusly:

"[A] lot of people - boys and girls - say, 'You know, I looked at Nancy, and that helped me get through things that I was dealing with. She was such a strong heroine, and she faced her fears.' All these great things they say about Nancy. So I juxtaposed those really warm feelings with the marketing and the growth of the 'Freddy Mania' culture, which you see when you're at these conventions...My real thought was 'When did our culture start idolizing boogeymen, and try to sweep under the carpet the role of the hero?' It's not just in A Nightmare On Elm Street.' The role of the hero is actually kind of corny; it's a quaint notion...even in the cover art for [Nightmare Part 1]...it used to have that wonderful poster of Nancy on the front; now, the new editions only have Freddy and the glove. They're very stylized: it's all about Freddy, and the role of the heroic character has really been kind of moved onto the side....the original Nancy Thompson was kind of groundbreaking in that she was female and she was kickass and very resourceful; she really attacked Freddy and went after him. I want to see if that's still her role in the twenty-first century. Or have we switched back to where it's just victim after victim?"

Exactly. Trust Heather Langenkamp to say in a few sound bites what it takes me to opine on in blog post after blog post. Sure, Freddy looks cool, and he's a big draw and a horror icon, and Freddy is a fantastic villain and I can't praise his creation enough. But Freddy is the villain. Sure, you can identify with Freddy - everyone has that dark part of their psyche - but when you start rooting for him to win, to be the centerpiece of Nightmare, you've got some serious fucking problems. And so do the producers, because then they're doing it wrong.

To be really and truly horrified - it's called the horror genre, people - the viewer should be able to see themselves in the main character. In horror's case, this is more often than not the Final Girl, who embodies vulnerability (what we all probably are in the face of a psycho killer) and resourcefulness/bravery (our wish-fulfillment of what we'd like to be in her stead). She triumphs over impossible odds, even sometimes at the cost of her own life (Dream Warriors). But she's indefatigable (I suppose maybe not so much in Nancy's case, this franchise considered) and inevitably a heroic figure. The Final Girl is an ideal.

So why ruin Sidney Prescott? Why take three films' worth of courage and character development, around four-point-five hours' worth of viewer investment in and identification with this character, and throw it out with yesterday's trash? Because whatever you do to the Final Girl, you do it to us.

And I don't know about you, but I won't put up with being treated like crap by a human being, much less a Hollywood producer.

tags: movies, nightmare on elm street

Okay, DISCLAIMER TIME: I did shoot video, but it was on my cell phone, and LET ME TELL YOU, INTERNETS, that is not a modern cell phone. So the footage was absolutely useless. Any videos under this cut? Not mine. Go favorite 'em on YouTube if you like and tell them Made Of Fail sent you. :)

DISCLAIMER TWO: Any and all videos may be replaced at any time with better quality ones as people come home from Seattle and post them on YouTube, so feel free to bookmark this entry.

LATEST EDIT 3/30/10: Added the photo of me and Wil that the awesome lady from ECCC finally sent me SQUEEEEEE

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tags: conventions, omgwtfwilwheaton, photography, youtube

Hey, you remember that "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" episode of The Simpsons when Mr. Burns woke up from his coma and all he could say was "Homer Simpson! Simpson! Homer Homer! Simpson Homer Homer Simpson! Homer?"

My brain's been sitting here basically going "Wheaton! Wil Wil. Wheaton Wil? Wil Wheaton Wheaton. Wil."

I am flying so high on this and you will never take the sky from me.

But there are, in fact, other stories from ECCC that must be told, for, while they cannot possibly compare to the epic awesome of WIL FUCKING WHEATON and all my interactions with WIL FUCKING WHEATON, there are in fact some pretty sweet awesome things what happened.

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tags: conventions, omgwtfwilwheaton

So I got dragged kicking and screaming to New Moon last night. I would have gone off about this last night, but we didn't get home till three in the morning (at an 11:15 showing, mind you, urgh) and because we had to sit in the second row, I had the worst eyestrain headache ever. Like a jackhammer in the back of my right eye. It made me nauseated and everything. Urgh.

I'm saving the rants and all for the show tomorrow, but I thought I'd share my actual notes. They're pretty much just snark and I'll try to clarify the setups when and where I can.

( Get an Orb of Thesula, fix that right up.Collapse )

tags: movies, stupid twilight

So after waiting around the mailbox for Cleo's friend to send me a copy of This Isn't Twilight: An XXX Parody, I finally ended up getting it from the lovely Jo, who is awesome and I think is trying to secretly break me. Ha! You're dealing with a professional, honey.

I was so disappointed that I didn't even want to write a review. I was hoping for great lulz and I think I ended up just feeling bad for everyone involved. But everyone wants to know how it was, of course, and I promised Cleo something. So, fine. I'll go up as far as the title card. But that's all you get.

DISCLAIMER THE FIRST: This is a public entry because a lot of people are going to be morbidly curious, and I can't friend the whole world. However, I think it's safe to say that this is going to be NOT SAFE FOR WORK OR FOR THAT MATTER MY FAMILY. LOOK AWAY, MOTHER. IF YOU DON'T LOOK IT CAN'T HURT YOU.

DISCLAIMER THE SECOND: I am reproducing every line of dialogue in its entirety, swear to God, can't make this shit up. I also tried desperately to just leave it at that with no commentary, but as you'll see I ended up breaking down.

( SHOULD I be afraid?Collapse )

tags: fuck this shit, stupid twilight, what the hell

So yeah, we need to pay bills and it's time to clench my teeth and sell some of my precious stuff. I really love my stuff, so spread this around to people who may be interested so it can have a good home.

Checks are fine; money orders are better. No cash/no PayPal. Shoot me an email at queenanthai@yahoo.com if you're interested.


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