All art is at once surface and symbol

How your favorite authors feel about fan-fiction.

I'm just going to leave my response riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight here.

Meanwhile, I learned something new today; If an author can write "Twilight" fanfiction, swap out the names and become published (Ex. 50 Shades of Gray, which has a friggin' movie deal), my writing has a chance of making it out there too.

Hey guys? You know David Hopkins, aka the creator of a really awful webcomic called "Jack"? In a nutshell, he's an entitled misogynistic creep who draws a fursona to rape women with increasingly shitty art and lazy storywriting. Some more disturbing information about Hopkins has recently come to light...

( tw: rape and domestic violence )

All I can do is spread awareness. Fuck you, David Hopkins. I hope you get fucking arrested. Preferably before you get the chance to act out any of your "fantasies" on an undeserving victim.

"Ugh, what a day I had! I'm so mad at this idiot at work who--"
"ABLEIIIIIIST!!1!1"
"What?"
"You used the word 'mad', and that means crazy, so you're insulting the mentally ill. And you called a person an 'idiot', and that is a slur against the mentally disabled!"

Gods, the Internet is giving me such a headache. Apparently, it's a fad now to be offended by EVERYTHING. Someone says something you don't agree with? It "triggers" you. You're offended by what a person has said? Call them "ableist."

To the people who throw around "ableist", "trigger", and "oppressive" like free candy, remember what dear old Inigo Montoya once said: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

( In a sort of related note, a small rant about homophobia. )

Meanwhile, I've been replaying SA2B and raising Chao.

- I've forgotten how tsundere half the cast is, especially Shadow. <.<;;;
- Security Hall still needs to die in a fire.
- Something funny happened while I was at Egg Quarters. You know how Omao-Chao makes these pained cries and lectures you when you beat him up? I think I pulled a glitch or something, because while I was trying to find a key, I kept hearing Omao-Chao screaming every few seconds. Now that is something that doesn't happen everyday. 8)

Originally posted by mountain_hiker at Wikipeda

Dad and I caught up a lot in Maurice, and next time we're starting Part 4~ You know that feeling you get while you read a chapter that's got you excited and you're thinking, "...Whoa. I liked you before, book, and now this is reeeeeeally getting good! :o" That kind of... profoundness. That's Chapter 37 for me. (Me: "Wow, Maurice should've taken hypnotism earlier! :o He's way less of a jerk than he was earlier!") Dad seems to feel the same as I do, and oh boy oh boy oh boy~ ♥

Sara Jaye and I watched most of the Jirachi movie despite technical issues. We'll finish next time~

Meanwhile... I think I found my new favorite tumblr. (Magicastuck: a Homestuck AU in the Puella Magi Madoka Magica universe)

I'm in love with Rose's design from the banner, gdjksghskjdg.

Watch Dave's transformation sequence. Oh my god. Oh my fucking god. (Like/Reblog the original post here)

brb going to library

I found my new favorite blog: Homotography. (NSFW)

I'm using the photos there as figure and anatomy practice, nom. Plus there's a ton of adorable and sweet snapshots, such as here, here, and here. So many lovely men in love. ;;

I still haven't quite gotten the hang of tumblr (since I use Firefox, my browser insists on saving certain pictures as unworkable Firefox documents, which is a pain in the ass), but here's mine if you want to follow me. I'll mostly be reblogging fanart and memes, haha. XD I won't be abandoning my LJ by any means, so no worries.

I wonder if I ought to start an AO3 account. Apparently it's "FF.net but better" or something. Except I feel a lot of my old stuff is crap and I'll feel like I'm contaminating the site or something. XDD;;;

But guh. I've been so busy hating myself since who knows how long and I'm sick of it. I want to revel in this high I'm getting from RPing with Jean again. I thought I'd bomb humongously playing Tavros, but even though I'm fumbling around trying to keep in touch with his character and general Homestuck universe, I'm having so much fun playing as him. And Jean makes a wonderful Dave to bounce off of~ ♥ My god, Tavros is adorable. I want to give him hugs all over again.

I'm also reading The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann. I don't think I've ever seen the ballet, though I'm familiar with the music and the story. The original story though? Damn, I'm amazing how dark and full of Nightmare Fuel it is. So far, we're introduced to the Mouse King, which is a giant hideous rat with seven heads (Based off this, which I suggest you don't click if you're squeamish) Then Marie falls back and pushes her arm through glass, and was found passed out in front of the toy cabinet bleeding heavily. Grim stuff! Now this is the inspiration I'm looking for in regards to my novel. Stories about toys and dolls tend to have a lot in common with fairy-tales. You think they're all sugar and spice on the surface, then... holy shit. YOU KNOW, FOR KIDS.

Apparently, the ballet was originally choreographed Lev Ivanov and *dundundun* Marius Petipa. brb, geeking out and feeling awesome for giving a major character in my novel a relevant Meaningful Name. X3

From sonicstuff:

"Its sonic 1 but with omochao as your stalker. if you do the following he will annoy the hell out of you:

• Collecting Rings


• Item Monitors (doubly bad, as each individual item inside will also bring up a message)


• Invincibility Running Out


• Power Sneakers Running Out


• Extra Lives


• Destroying Badniks


• Bouncing on Springs


• Stepping on or Pushing Objects on Buttons


• Getting Hit


• Getting Killed


• Drowning


• Getting Game Over (will also eject you from the level and reset your saved Emerald Count)


• Getting Time Over (will also eject you from the level)


• Touching Lamp Posts


• Getting the Giant Ring (without a protection shield)


• Finishing the Act (without a protection shield)


• Finishing the Zone (without a protection shield)


• Hitting the Boss (without a protection shield)


• Defeating the Boss (without a protection shield)


• Getting in that Last Hit (without a protection shield)


• Collecting a Chaos Emerald


• Touching a GOAL Sign

Now heres where it gets worse. Each time you do any of the following above, the jingle (which is the 1-up theme) gets longer and longer until you can't take it anymore. The goal of this game is simple: Beat Sonic 1 without making the little bastard talk at all!

Already people are posting their perfect runs which i haven't been able to do yet.

If you are interested, hit up the Hack's wiki page and download it:
http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_OmoChao_Edition"

Creators of Adventure Time: What do you think of Bubblegum/Marceline?

I don't watch much television anymore (except MLP, and even then on YouTube), let alone Adventure Time, but the idea of a lesbian couple in a kid's cartoon being portrayed positively instead of freaky/weird? YES PLZ. Hell, the song Marceline sings is damned awesome.

Unfortunately, they've gotten a lot of flack from a ton of people about this and Cartoon Network had to take down the Behind the Scenes thing from its site. The homophobia splurged all over tumblr? Hoo boy.

Like watching television, I don't go out of my way to make phonecalls. But I called 917-408-3733 right away and gave my full support. That's not something I can ignore. It's friggin' 2011. It's time we recognized LGBT relationships, especially in kids' shows. I BELIEVE IN YOU, FLIST.

It's interesting visiting other people's journals, really. I hopped on Zar's journal regarding an entry to a movie she shared that's become one of my favorites this year ("You Are Umasou") and clicked on one of her friends. Browsing through their tags, I discovered an entry where they talked about Unico. I thought, "Hey, I liked Unico!" and agreed with all the sentiments the poster shared regarding the two movies and the TV pilot. Then a different film was brought up in the comments: Ringing Bell. Curious, I searched for it on YouTube, since the original link was dead. Lo and behold, both the English dub and the Japanese version. :o Since the movie was short, I took the time to watch both, nom.

Ringing Bell(known as CHIRIN NO SUZU in Japan) is a Legendary Shock Movie which was controversially marketed towards very young children in the USA. It is most notable for being a G-rated Children movie which halfway through makes a sharp and sudden turn into a violent, morbidly-depressing dark story.

Because this cartoon was marketed towards very young children, the "Shock Effect" that this movie presented created controversy when it was first brought to America. Many parents were outraged at the G-rating of this film and complained to Sanrio that the film had caused their children emotional trauma and nightmares. The English Version of this film(which is featured on this channel)was modified to be more age appropriate for young children. The dialogue was changed, and many "childish" noises and sound effects were added. Yet, the scenarios and the outcome of this film was still seen as age-inappropriate and Ringing Bell was pulled off of shelves in the mid 1980s and never again released in America.

In Japan this film is remembered as being a cautionary tale which symbolized the post WW2 society. It deals with issues such as non-conformity, self hate, depression, revenge, discrimination, and coping with death, loss, and disappointment. It is still distributed in Japan, yet impossible to find in the USA.

It reminded me something of when Zar mentioned Chimecho back when Gen III was still new. ( Spoiler alert ) Hence why the ringing Pokemon Chimecho was such a rare Pokemon on top of Mt. Pyre...

For the longest time, I thought it was a Japanese folk tale (and I completely forgotten that it was a Revenge is Bad story; the lamb went to the mountains so he could kill the wolf who murdered his mother), but I couldn't remember the name of it (or the sheep, for that matter). I even checked Chimecho's Bulbapedia entry and there was no mention of the "legend." So I brace myself as I start to watch Ringing Bell, and I'm thinking, "Something about this seems familiar." Sure enough, it was the same story. The pieces came together and I realized what was going to happen, which didn't make it any less powerful or horrifying to watch.

I appreciate the silences in the Japanese version more, but it was spooky in the dub that Chirin had the same voice as Unico's. Compare Unico, this pure and innocent being no matter how tragic his fate, to Chirin, a lamb consumed with hate and rage until it's the only life he knows. Talk about discordant.

Usually I don't like depressing films, but I think Ringing Bell is a very important film to see. You'd be hard-pressed as hell to find anything like this being made today, especially marketed as a kid's film. Not in a "DUR HUR HUR LAMBS AND BUTTERFLIES KIDS WILL LOVE THIS" way, but as an intentionally frightening fable about revenge, nonconformity, and even the horrors of war. I remember watching one of my Beatrix Potter tapes and refusing to watch the Aunt Jemima one again because there was a scene where her eggs got smashed and it left her in sobbing hysterics. How would I have reacted to the egg-smashing scene in Ringing Bell as a kid? Hoo boy.

I know it's Banned Book Week, but considering this movie's been yanked off shelves into obscurity in the US, it feels oddly appropriate to have watched this. :o

It's one thing to be unable to listen to Huey Lewis & the News the same way again after watching American Psycho. But this?





Oh. My. God. /DED of laughter