i’m happy that my FL is happy, but all i can say is EEEEEWWWWWWW

January 8th, 2008 12:50am by rusty-halo | 29 Comments »

My god, John Barrowman is hot.

I feel bad for him for having to kiss that icky Marsters bloke, though.

(Sorry, sorry.)

[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]

Yay! Marsters Wank!

December 4th, 2006 1:32pm by rusty-halo | 17 Comments »

Christmas has come early! It’s Marsters wank! Here, here, here, and here.

I’m at least as amused by all the fangirls jumping to defend poor, misunderstood James as I am by the king of pretentious cluelessness, Marsters himself.

***

Last night’s Sean Bean movie was A Woman’s Guide to Adultery. I got through a half hour, then I had to fast forward and just watch the Sean Bean scenes. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a more annoying movie. My understanding of the plot is that a whole bunch of self-absorbed morons ramble on incessantly. Also, they cheat on their spouses and get punished for being awful people. But not even in a fun way, in a endless talky boring way.

On the plus side, Sean Bean was naked, and a major plot point was a photo of his ass that they kept showing. Yay! Also he was young and gorgeous and arrogant, which makes him extra hot. On the minus side, his haircut made my eyes burn. Mullets are not attractive. Ever. On anyone.

I should probably just stop on this Sean Bean marathon and watch “Extremely Dangerous,” “Stormy Monday,” and “Sharpe” a few more times instead. What’s next in my Netflix queue? “Troy”? “North Country”? “Black Beauty”?? “Scarlett”??? Gaah!!! Help!!!!

***

I did take a break from Sean Bean movies and rented The Living Daylights, the first Timothy Dalton Bond movie. I actually liked this better than expected. Timothy Dalton was ahead of his time with a harder-edged Bond. He was pretty hot, too, but weird looking. The movie itself was okay, a product of its time with an AIDS-inspired monogamous Bond. It felt really dated, though, particularly with its Russian villains and Afghan heroes. But it was entertaining enough.

ick!

October 30th, 2006 10:12pm by rusty-halo | 16 Comments »

Ahhhh! What the hell is he doing in my neighborhood? Seriously, I could lean out my window and see him from here.

Fan mail to Spike (Not Marsters. Spike.)

June 30th, 2006 1:29pm by rusty-halo | 13 Comments »

Seriously. I get at least one of these a month.

Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
[name removed to protect the innocent] on Friday, June 30, 2006 at 12:22:42
—————————————————————————

comments: Hello Spike.
My name is Celena, i am 13 years old and i wondering if you could send a autografh to me? I lives in Sweden and i have write a book
abot you and Angel, you see that i am in love with a guy i think is VERY sexiii and the book´ name is: Love?? Vampirelife?? It its
come out to the world you maby could read it??
You will reconice it, i promes…. And i love when you are a vampire!! Yeah thats it´s i hope you will read my book!
And my adress is:
[name and address removed]
63343 Eskilstuna
Sweden
Thanxx!

In other news: JetBlue, I hate you.

(no subject)

May 4th, 2005 4:37pm by rusty-halo | 20 Comments »

So for the past hour, we’ve been looking out our office windows watching people set up a gigantic red blow-up float thingy of Santa Claus riding a huge lobster. Anyone have any idea what this means? We figure they’re selling something–lobsters? Christmas decorations:? Is it some kind of early cinco de mayo celebration? Are they promoting bestiality between fat men and lobsters?

Also. Every day the mail guy comes and he calls me “princess.” I hate it. It’s not funny. And everyone laughs about it and I feel obligated to smile and be nice, but really I just find it terribly condescending and not funny and irritating and I wish it would just stop, and I wish I was a great big intimidating man so that no one would ever call me “princess.”

We ordered Indian food today, and they completely screwed up our orders, and then they were assholes on the phone and wouldn’t send us the right food. And my female coworker freaked out and got really upset, so she gave the phone to my male coworker and he convinced them to send replacement food. This also upsets me.

Reading LJ. People are still kerfuffling over Marsters? God, that’s like, so two years ago. :P

Actually, I rediscovered this last night. Ah, the good old days–I sort of miss being able to start a kerfuffle with just a bitchy JM post. It was pretty funny. (Though I’m also somewhat embarrassed by my devotion to something I now find so completely… irrelevant.) I think that post got on fandom_wank, and was the inspiration for me leaving some snooty elitist yahoo list in a huff because they were bitching about me without realizing I was on the list, and then witling started writing that boglescatverse story for me because I was all upset…. although maybe I’m confusing things; I think I had multiple kerfuffley posts. Way back when. I was such a newbie, I cared so much about this inane social bullshit that I don’t even notice anymore.

It’s weird seeing who I used to talk to back then–some people who ended up becoming close friends, and some who I’ve totally lost touch with. It’s weird that I’ve had a LJ for over two years; it still feels sort of new, like something I’m experimenting with, rather than something I just do. Truthfully, I’d probably have been long gone, except people kept gifting me with paid time, so I felt obligated to stay, and now I’m pretty much stuck with it, because now I maintain some important relationships solely through LJ and I don’t want to lose those.

Yesterday someone linked to this, and I thought I was going to die laughing. I mean, no offense to those who like him, to each his own and all, but, dude. Seriously. Are you kidding?

I miss 10zlaine already. How dare she go to New Zealand and not have internet access for a week?!

monanotlisa asked that I put together a QaF recs list, since I’m reading so much of it lately. That’s my role in fandom, isn’t it? Starting kerfuffles and screening out badfic. (Could be worse; at least I’ve got good taste. ;)

Anyway, I’m mainly going to rec authors rather than stories, because most people who write well tend to do so consistently.

I will be adding to this list whenever I find a new writer or story that I like.

Good writers:
Mint Witch
Valerie
Rachel Anton
Julad
Josselin
Jenn/seperis
Starla
Tinkerbell

herself_nyc’s Brian/Spike fragment and Chase’s wonderful Brian/Michael, Brian/Spike, Brian/Wes WIP The Man Who Wasn’t There.

Anat isn’t a very good writer–I don’t think English is her first language–but her characterizations are excellent, her dialogue is good, and her plots are above average. If you’re looking for fairly realistic Brian/Michael, her stuff satisfies.

Anemone’s You Spin Me Right Round is an incredibly depressing but very well written Brian/Michael fic. The characterizations are some of the best I’ve read, and definitely helped satisfy my desire for good Brian fic. She also captured the Brian/Michael relationship perfectly. Unfortunately the story itself is one of those tearjerkers where the whole plot is basically one character getting sick and dying. If you can tolerate that, though, it’s worth it for the characterizations and relationships. (And, warning: the end made me cry. I’m such a pussy sometimes.)

Anemone is also the author of Two Halves. It’s similar to You Spin Me Right Round–she’s got a major h/c kink, and not in a good way–both of her stories revolve around characters becoming deathly ill in unpleasantly realistic ways. Think hospitals, and way TMI on various diseases. This one is a bit better than the previous, though–she maintains the excellent Brian and Michael characterizations, continues to treat the supporting characters fairly, and adds a bit more action and plot. She also throws in a bit of supernatural–Brian and Michael are psychically connected–but it’s subtle, not the point of the story, and builds well on canon. I appreciated the extra intruiging element. The story is more exciting and fun than You Spin Me Right Round. It’s also a bit sappy, but the happier ending was appreciated after her previous story made me cry.

One thing I’ve found terrifically annoying, though, is her tendency to fade to black during very important sex scenes–Brian and Michael have sex for the first time, and all we hear is “Afterwards…” I’m not asking for PWP, but she’s leaving out important scenes, either because she’s afraid to write sex or she’s a prude, and the stories suffer for it.

Though I do like that these two stories aren’t about Brian Realizing It’s Time To Grow Up And Settle Down. They’re more just Brian realizing how much he loves Michael and can’t function without Michael. So it’s more about the characters themselves, their particular connection, than about their need to fit into pre-ordained social roles. I still don’t like the idea of Brian settling down, but this is much better than those preachy “Brian learns a lesson about how erotic love is the ideal form of human relationships and that everyone has to ’settle down’ in order to be happy” nausea-inducing type stories.

Anemone also wrote Books With Gilded Covers, probably my least favorite of her work so far. It starts with (what else?) Michael getting sick, but it’s more about a Mary Sue drag queen who comes in and helps Brian and Michael see the light (that they belong together). It’s also written from the perspective that Brian already knows he’s in love with Michael and wants a relationship, which didn’t work for me at all. I have no interest in Brian and Michael “settling down” and turning monogamous, so mostly I just found the story irritating. The characterizations were good, as usual, but there was less focus on the depth and meaning and connection of their relationship–or less exploration of that, I should say, as it was basically treated as a given.

It’s also a bit bashy in its characterizations of Ben, Linsday, and Melanie–though, as I’m not a fan of those characters, I can’t say it bothered me terribly. It was fun that the ultimate theme was that the only people whose opinions matter about Brian/Michael are Brian and Michael themselves, and it was wonderful to see Melanie and Lindsay get called on their hypocrisy and constant meddling.

Anemone’s stories are also irritating because they’re written from the premise that Brian has to change to accomodate Michael–that Brian has to become monogamous (and that, deep down, what he really wants more than anything in the world is Michael, so once he gets over his fear of failure, he’ll easily go for monogamy). I’d much rather see a story where they meet in the middle, where Michael realizes that Brian isn’t cut out for monogamy, that heteronormative suburban “bliss” isn’t the only path to happiness in life. That alternative relationships can and do work. Ultimately these stories validate the norm and discount the alternative, by default, as if no one ever really thought the alternative could actually be viable. I find this offensive, and rather condescending for a writer who’s supposedly a Brian fan. (But then, that’s what almost every writer I’ve found so far has done–prioritize traditional, heteronormative, suburban, “romantic,” blah blah blah).

Two recs pages: here and here. Most of this is stuff you’d have to like Brian/Justin to appreciate.

I spent a while looking through always-fanfic.net, a big Brian/Michael site, but there’s very little worthwhile fic there. (The best I’ve found so far is this, which isn’t saying much.)

That site is an open archive, pretty much fanfiction.net quality. I’m not a very good shipper. I mean, I like Brian and Michael together and I want to read about them, but I still laugh my ass off at anyone who thinks they were Fated By The Stars To Be Together Forever. And really, I could care less if they have sex. I just want to see them interacting, and angsting, preferably. Part of my problem is generic; I don’t like romance. I like character exploration, preferably with lots of angst and action and violence. Supernatural elements don’t hurt, either. (I’m a genre fan, dammit!)

Someone find me a good, anti-marriage/romance/”settling down”/traditional heteronormativity Brian/Michael writer, please. There’s only so much simperingly sycophantic feedback I can send to Chase before she gets sick of me.

London Vacation/Convention Report

November 3rd, 2004 5:17pm by rusty-halo | 16 Comments »

I don’t know what to say about the election. Bigotry and intolerance and hate and ignorance won. I love New York City, but I’m terrified of America right now.

I met up with saussy for coffee this morning and we hugged and commiserated. She’s such a darling person. I’m glad that I’m here in this city, surrounded mainly by people who believe in freedom and choice and equality. Even if our country is ruled by people who don’t want us to exist.

So anyway, I got back from London late last night. (I voted absentee, of course.) I had a wonderful time, so I’m going to try to write up a con report now. I loved the city, saw a ton of awesome sights including Stonehenge, Bath, Salisbury, the Tower of London, Highgate Cemetery, Hampton Court, etc. I also spent time at both conventions, saw an awesome concert by Christian Kane and band (attended by apparently half the cast of Angel), got up onstage for an hour in front of 800 people with a panel that included Jane Espenson, saw Marsters and Boreanaz together, did my first shot ever (of Jagermeister, oh my god) and actually sort of danced…. well, it was neat.

[listening to Kerry's concession speech and I feel like I'm going to vomit.... okay, focus, London....]

( traveling to London )

( Highgate Cemetery, Covent Garden, and the Original Bus Tour )

( Hampton Court, Food for Thought, the Tower of London, the Thames )

I am not really a big Marsters or Boreanaz fan so please don’t read this if you do not want to hear criticism of these actors. I am only sharing my honest personal opinion. It is not meant as any kind of insult to those who do enjoy seeing these actors.

( Saturday at the Marsters/Boreanaz convention, the British Museum, back to the convention )

( Sunday at the Marsters/Boreanaz event; being onstage in front of bright lights and approximately a gazillion people )

( The White Room )

( Stonehenge, Salisbury, Bath )

So we caught the bus and headed back into the city, where we arrived about 7pm. I wanted to make it to the Kane concert in time, so I went with Marlaine to her friend’s place and changed and did my makeup there. (The others hadn’t brought their stuff so they went back to the flat, which was in the opposite direction.) Then I went to the venue.

Unfortunately it was tiny and gross and smoky and we couldn’t take in in there, so we went across the street and ate. Then we headed back in. The others stayed in the back, where they got to hang out around people like Nathan Fillion, Stephanie Romanov, and J. August Richards. I really wanted to be up front, though–I just love being in the front at concerts, I want to see the expression on the lead singer’s face, so I got as close as I could, which was two or three rows back. Not bad, since the club was very small.

I’d never seen the band before, or Christian Kane before for that matter, but I was blown away. Really, they were amazing. It was a full band, and sort of country, but also very heavy and more rock than I expected. Plus they had a violin, which is always good. Christian Kane himself is just one of the most gorgeous men ever to talk the face of the earth. His hair was long and messy and occasionally pulled into the most adorable sort-of ponytail. He was drunk off his ass (he claimed to have been drunk for the past four days and I certainly believed him), but really put his heart into his singing and did an amazing job. After they finished they came out for an encore, then went offstage again. So J. August Richards came out and had us cheer and they came out for another encore. Then J. came out again and got us to cheer more, and went back and begged them to do another encore. So they came out and did “Sweet Home Alabama.” J. sang parts of the chorus with Christian. It was too cool–really just an amazing energy and an amazing show.

Afterwards J. and Christian made their way to the bar, where everyone crowded around them. I watched Froggy go up to Christian–Christian wrapped him in this huge insane hug. Froggy gave him a shot of something, which they did together–I was right near them for this, man it was cool to see Christian up close. My god, he is gorgeous. But he was also so drunk off his ass, and whatever Froggy gave him didn’t help. He was barely standing by this point and soon went off holding onto J.

So we hung out for a while, then spent some time with Froggy, then went back to the flat and slept.

Tuesday was pretty lame–we were all dead tired, slept in, cleaned and did laundry, came home. Airports suck. Homeland Security is scary. Reality is so annoying. Stupid election.

DragonCon Report

September 3rd, 2003 5:30am by rusty-halo | 62 Comments »

Vulkon Tampa!

July 22nd, 2003 3:29pm by rusty-halo | 38 Comments »

( Vulkon Tampa Report )

Oh, and upon arriving home I discovered that we’re in the midst of yet another kerfuffle. I think people start these on purpose because they need more drama in their lives. Maybe fandom needs them to shake things up and keep people excited, but I also regret the ways that they fragment us. Spike and his fans could contribute so much to AtS fandom; why does it always have to be either/or? I love Spike. I love AtS. (In fact I loved AtS about 10 times more than BtVS last season, and I adore Wesley and Lilah.) I know it’s clichéd to say “Why can’t we all just get along,” but really, why is it so hard?

FWIW, my two cents: You want to start a group with no discussion of Spike, go for it. I personally think you’re being rather silly, but you have every right to do so and I’m not going to attack you for it. OTOH, if you’re going to make snide little comments suggesting that Spike fans are stupid, immature 14 year-old fangirls or sex starved housewives, then we’re going to get pissed off. I’m not denying that there are crazy Spike fans, but every fandom of every character has its share of scary creepy weird people. Many of the Spike fans I know are some of the most intelligent, thoughtful, talented, interesting people I’ve ever met. So stop stereotyping us, and get over your elitist attitude. You’re just going to miss out on some cool people who will do nothing but enhance the AtS fandom. (And I really don’t mean this toward anyone specific. But I’m sick of getting attacked and stereotyped for liking Spike. And I’m also sick of those Spike fans who constantly feel the need to apologize and distance themselves from those Spike fans, or who apologize in advance every time they rec a Spike-centric story. Spike is a great, multi-faceted character played by a very talented actor. He has inspired some of the most thoughtful discussion and well-written fanfic out there. No one needs to be embarrassed for liking him.)

(no subject)

June 9th, 2003 11:20pm by rusty-halo | 24 Comments »

I’m really sick of being told that I’m immature just because I had the audacity to express my opinion. If someone else says something that I find offensive, I’m perfectly entitled to post my disagreement in my LiveJournal.

If someone says that homosexuality should be illegal, it’s perfectly within my rights to vehemently disagree with that person’s opinion, and to express my disagreement.

If someone says that my best friend is a jerk, it’s perfectly within my rights to vehemently disagree with that person’s opinion.

If someone says that Spike was always eeeevil and that I was wrong to ever like the character, it’s perfectly within my rights to vehemently disagree with that person’s opinion–even if that person happens to be James Marsters.

It doesn’t mean that I think those people aren’t entitled to their opinions, it just means that I disagree with their opinions. The world would be a seriously fucking boring place if we all just sat back and shrugged whenever someone else said or did something that we found offensive. Debate is a wonderful way to figure out how you feel about something and to share your thoughts with others. And ranting in your own personal livejournal is a perfectly acceptable way to express your frustration when something pisses you off.

I’m really sick of getting called names and told that I’m immature just because I happen to have expressed my opinion.

And I hope this is the last I have to say about this topic, because now I’m really sick of it.

Just to clarify…

June 9th, 2003 7:25pm by rusty-halo | 31 Comments »

I just want to clarify something from my previous post. I don’t dislike James Marsters as a person or anything to that effect. Every interaction I’ve had with him personally has been positive, and every impression I’ve gotten from seeing him at cons is that he is kind, thoughtful, considerate, friendly, and funny. He’s not perfect, but he doesn’t have a giant attitude or anything either, and he seems, basically, like a very cool guy.

While I don’t have a problem with him as a PERSON, I do have a big problem with his attitude toward Spike and toward his female fans, which I explained in this post. I have every right to disagree with his opinions, as he made them abundantly clear, over and over, at the con this weekend. The world would be a very sucky place indeed if no one was allowed to debate or disagree with another person’s point of view.

The fact that I disagree with his opinions does not mean I have a problem with him as an individual. I have NEVER bashed James Marsters.

(And btw, if you want to unfriend me because you think I don’t have the right to disagree with someone else’s OPINION, then fine. Good riddance.)

(no subject)

June 9th, 2003 2:50pm by rusty-halo | 99 Comments »

I’m going to write up a full con report in a bit, but first I have to get this rant off my chest. (I really apologize for the rant. I’m trying to be a more positive person and I don’t want to be known as someone who is always bitching. But this has been upsetting me very badly all weekend and I’m hoping I’ll feel better if I get it all written and posted. I promise to write a con report covering all the positive stuff in just a bit.)

( James Marsters didn’t say a single positive thing about Spike all weekend )

Me and James Marsters

April 29th, 2003 9:33pm by rusty-halo | 18 Comments »

I’m still scanning my photos from Vulkon but I’m so excited about this one that I have to post it now.

Me and James Marsters (very large photo; a normal-sized one will be posted with all my other photos later)

(no subject)

April 29th, 2003 2:59am by rusty-halo | 32 Comments »

( Vulkon Cleveland Con Report )