All art is at once surface and symbol

The Lucario movie is quietly celebrating its tenth anniversary.

My bad mood is dissipated.

Happy 10th, Sir Aaron & Lucario. Make this honeymoon especially special! ♥

Zar played a game called Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea, and she wondered if I played it yet. So I told her I'd review it, nom. I've been dying of boredom since my cough, and I was getting burnt out on Story of Seasons. TIME FOR SOME OLD FASHIONED INDIE HORROR. I downloaded a program that let me open .zips, and so far so good, my computer's cooperative. So I zoomed through Wadanohara! Yay!

I thought I'd enjoy it more, tbh. I mean, it's an okay game, there's a lot to like about it, and I came in without much expectations (and I was warned for gratuitous sexual assault, which I'll discuss in a bit). But by the time I finished it, I thought it would have much more than what I got. :o It had potential and a lot of cool concepts, but they never really got expanded upon and it makes the game feel incomplete. It didn't leave me mad in a "Uggggh, how could you waste such a good idea" kind of way like some Pokemon movies did, just... empty and kind of hanging.

( SPOILER ALERT! Also a rant regarding rape and sexual assault. )

I spent way too much time talking about this game. There's probably some points I've forgotten, but eh. I'm not in a rush to play Mogeko's other games any time soon.

I have no sympathy for Cosby apologists, especially when they insist on his innocence (even after he directly admitted he drugged and raped women) because "WEEEEEEEH HE WAS PART OF MY CHILDHOOOOOD!!11!1" Gee, your poor precious childhood is ruined. What about the women who suffered for years because of this dickbag? For all I know, a few of them may have been literally raped by their childhood.

Quick story time: When Jimmy and I were watching LPs of Ao Oni, I commented that the monster himself looked like Bill Cosby. So we called him "Blu(e) Cosby."

Talk about Harsher in Hindsight, huh?

Why the #AskELJames Tag Matters

I think when people comment on what happened yesterday, they see her as an author who is being savaged. Again, if people stick to critiquing the problematic themes and ideas of the book and its terrible writing “style,” then that’s truly fair game. However, I think some of her defenders, like with Vanity Fair, are unaware that E.L. James isn’t being bullied. Instead, she has seemed to behave like a bully for years. She’s been nasty to the Twilight fandom who made her famous. A May 2012 article from Crushable by Natalie Zutter, in its texts and comments, documented the history of Ms. James and her fans during her tenure in Twilight fandom. During that time, she encouraged her “Bunker Babes” or fan army to overrun Goodreads and Amazon forums (against the spirit of the terms of service) to promote her book and shout down detractors. Additionally, she would send nasty emails and publicly mock readers on Twitter who even pointed out typos or expressed genuine confusion by the text. Most appalling of all was her alleged apparent tendency to use her Twitter to post the personal addresses and information of her critics (something the Stop the Goodreads Bullies site has faced massive criticism for in the past). She even allowed her fans to harass a teenage girl in Russia who made the mistake of translating Fifty Shades of Grey, then Master of the Universe, into Russian without James’s express permission.

I’m not saying previous troll-like behavior justifies personal attacks on the #askeljames tag. It does not. Again, the minority of the comments were attacks on her and her fans personally and those weren’t okay. However, those nastier ones don’t negate the real valid comments about abuse and stalking, the retweets of quotes from the actual books that match red flag checklists, or the legitimate questions and expressed hurt of offended survivors.

...

That’s what the bulk of the hashtag was about, and that’s why it matters. In an age when celebrities can throw enough money at problems to make them go away, the Twitter tag is a small relief, a way to get thoughts out there even if they will largely stay ignored. Besides, can anyone really be so ignorant after Bill Cosby’s tar-and-feathering with the #CosbyMeme or Robin Thicke being taken to task for his creepy behavior toward his ex-wife and his terrible views on consent in “Blurred Lines” with his #AskThicke tag, that they truly believe asking Twitter for an honest conversation with a controversial celebrity is going to work well? Again, on Tuesday, Republican hopeful Bobby Jindal’s #AskBobby tag was equally as large a disaster. Oddly, you don’t see nearly as many articles in the mainstream media about it period, and so far I’ve seen none that have called what happened to him “bullying.” James is about as public a figure as Jindal now. Again, you can’t be Publishers Weekly’s “Publishing Person of the Year” in 2012 and not also live under public scrutiny. It’s a trade-off.

Gabriel's Inferno is finished! All that's left is revision and inserting reaction .gifs! :D

Fandom Stuff to Do

- Finish MSTing Gabriel's Inferno and make revisions
- Write letter for Rare Pair Fest
- Brainstorm for Season of Kink (and remember to post your card since you've been keeping it for a while)
- Consider PMMM Non-Canon Ship Challenge as a way to improve art skills (and maybe a few ficlets too)

Gabriel's Inferno takes the highest priority atm. I'm almost done! :D

Zar started a screencap adventure of Mato's translation of Mother 1. I'm so happy! ;;

The lack of people dressing up their pugs as magical girls makes me sad.

I did find this though, so Google Search was totally worth it.

I made a new (and better!) deal with my Dad. Instead of getting a hedgehog after cleaning the house, I earn money to go to Portland. :D Dad felt much more motivated, nom. We worked together today sweeping the floor after we roachbombed the house. We cleared a huge chunk of space and it makes me so happy! *knocks wood* The house may actually get cleaned and be a permanent reality instead of an empty promise! ;;

Speaking of roachbombing, we couldn't find a babysitter for Ryu (Freddie stayed in the backyard to avoid the poison), so we took him with us while we dined at the patio of a Mexican restaurant. Everybody absolutely loves him! Some never heard of chinchillas before and listened quite intently while I talked about them. People cooed over how cute and soft he is, including the manliest men and the waiter. Ryu is so well-behaved! He was so quiet everyone but Dad and I forgotten that he was there. The only bad thing they had to say about him is why his eyes looked so milky ("Are they supposed to look like that?"); I explained to them that he had cataracts and that he's an old chinchilla around 11-13 years old, and then they become fascinated that chinchillas live to be 15-20. :3 The closest he got into trouble was when he tried dipping his nose into the salsa. :P He squirmed a lot and we had to make sure he didn't escape to the floor, so while Dad paid the bill, I took him out to a large rock to romp on and have some space. Then we went on a short trip to Half-Price Books (avoiding the cafe so we wouldn't get in trouble with health regulations), and the cashier and I made up a joke: "You bite it, you buy it!" Aka if Ryu chews any books, I have to pay for it. :P Thankfully, he didn't even try~ Ryu didn't even pee on my lap until we got back home. I have the most well-behaved chinchilla in the world. ;_____; I made sure he got a long dust bath, and a couple more almonds than usual when he got put back in his cage. :3

Freddie's made a new friend with a Shih-Tzu named Abby. Her owner is this really sweet little girl and we've been hanging out a lot lately. Abby loves everybody and Freddie wags his tail when he sees me get dressed, because he knows I'm getting ready to take him to go see her. ;;

I was clearly too optimistic last post. 'Cause now I remember WHY we've never succeeded in making our house look "normal" and clean enough to invite neighbors over.

Me: *dumps a bunch of garbage-looking papers in a bag*
Dad: OMG THOSE PAPERS MIGHT BE IMPORTANT DON'T MIX THEM NOW I HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE ENTIRE BAG
Bag: *sits there and is never checked, so it becomes a part of the house's mess*

And he yells at me if I've already thrown the bag out.

What's the fucking point? Every little scrap of paper is apparently of ~*~enormous significance~*~ and something important will be OMG LOST FOREVER if it's thrown out. So if I'm sorting papers the "wrong way" by mixing what could be "important" papers with "garbage," I'll just get lectured and yelled at by Dad. Mom does the same thing, and her room is the most impossible place to clean in our garbage heap of a home.

No wonder we never get anything fucking finished. No wonder this house will never get clean.

Pimping my friend Sara's novella!

Want some slice-of-life mother/daughter relationships inspired by the likes of Beverly Cleary, Ann M. Martin and Cynthia Voigt? Then this might be for you~ ;D

I want to thank everybody for your kind words regarding Uncle Ricke, including those who responded to my comment on Das Sporking. Your support means a lot to me and my family, and now Ricke is in a better place. He'll always be loved and remembered! ♥♥♥

I've been taking Freddie outside a lot so he could play with this adorable little Shih-Tzu named Abby. She belongs to this cute little girl who lives in the same neighborhood as I do. :o A few days ago, a Maltese named Fifi ran away from home, and Dad and I worked a really long time to snip her mats out. She's so cute and she wouldn't stop kissing us! She's so well-behaved too, she never tried to squirm or run away while we groomed her. Her owner was really happy I took care of the mats for her, and hopes she and Fifi could see me again soon.

After years of boycotting, I finally succumbed and got a Facebook. Bleeeeeeeeeeegh. The good news is I got to reunite with one of my oldest friends, at least! I'm primarily using FB as a way to contact family and animal shelters and posting pictures of pets, so don't expect a whole lot of fandom stuff there, if at all. FB already hates me and has "temporarily blocked" me from liking books/movies/music/etc. Excuse me for being cultured, FB. :P

My sleep schedule's messed up again and I'm tired. Actually interacting with the neighbors makes me want to curl up and hide because I feel so socially awkward. Help. D: