More Enjoyment of Media

[jedishampoo]

** I'm through episode 10 of Tiger and Bunny, and of course it was a cliffhanger, eee! We would have watched more episodes last night but I was having trouble burning a DVD. (I never watch stuff on the computer - I am fussy and must have a nice DVD to put into my player so I can see them on the nice, big TV.) I am still avoiding everyone's spoilers, but it's difficult, I tell you, because I am a spoiler whore.

** Speaking of anime, did anyone ever fansub the Saiyuki Gaiden OVA, and I just missed a download somewhere?

** I'm about a third of the way through the first George RR Martin Game of Thrones book (A Sword of Ice and Fire? or is that the series name?). Anyway, overuse of epithets by the author aside, almost NOTHING GOOD has happened in this book yet. So far it's bad happening followed by dark, confusing intrigue followed by bad happening. When something halfway decent does happen, there's so much Dark Intrigue that I can't trust it to be truly good. Um... does good stuff start happening in these books at all?

** In other reading good, I have a set of Bleach 1-27 thanks to conjure_lass, and I'm already through volume 1. I'm totally enjoying that so far.

Happy Labor Day Holiday to all of those in the US! Whee, cookout today. EDIT: and to Canadians, too, for I learn that y'all have "Labour Day."

Comments

[athena8.livejournal.com]

To be honest with you, I think the first book is the lightest of the bunch. Things keep going further and further into the deep and dark as the books progress. If I had a main complaint of the books (which I did generally like), it would be that there's no balance. He doesn't let us come up for air, so to speak. I personally think he's one of those obnoxious (and mistaken) writers who think only angst and darkness can be considered "real" or "serious" literature. It gets a little tired.

Happy Labor Day to you too! Have fun at the cookout. :)

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

The lightest? Urm... huh. I have several characters that I like, but all those characters seem destined for a Bad End. I think I shall stop where I am and cut my losses. Or just watch the show, eventually.

Thank you for your thoughts on that! I really don't mind dark, terrible angst, as long as there is a light at the end of the tunnel, such as in the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. Her characters get taken to some horrible, horrible places, but when the light comes again, it's always completely awesome. :)

[conjure-lass.livejournal.com]

I really don't mind dark, terrible angst, as long as there is a light at the end of the tunnel...

This. I have no problem with angst as long as I get some sort of decent ending. Even a bittersweet, hopeful ending. I don't like gratuitous angst. It's lame.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear! So, have you ever read Bujold? ::blinky eyelashes::

[conjure-lass.livejournal.com]

This is the "Shards of Honor" Bujold, correct? If so, than that is the only one i've read. And to be honest, I read it so long ago I barely remember it!

Whyyyyy? *curious*

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Oooh, yeah. The one chronologically after Shards of Honor, "Barrayar," is amazing like that... in that things look their darkest, but THEN it's overcome in a way that makes me toss the book down and throw my fists in the air and cheer aloud. Her characterizations always do that to me; adversity makes the characters stronger and when something else terrible happens they're all "this is nothing, bitch, just you watch out" and OMG I love those books.

[conjure-lass.livejournal.com]

Can I come visit you someday? Because you're so awesome sometimes that I find myself just smiling and smiling.

LOL.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Get on out here! Ha, I'm having an "Octoberfiesta" party on October 15 to officially "open" my new house. Come for a nomsome margarita and some veggie burritos. Oh, I do fantastic mojitos, too. ♥

[conjure-lass.livejournal.com]

*giggle*

Well, sadly I don't have enough vacation to get out there anytime soon, but just you wait til NEXT year! *DIES* I finally get three weeks of vacation! *DAYDREEEEAMMMSS*

You know...i've never had a mojito. I hear they're lovely though.

[whymzycal.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the OVA, but I can tell you that the GRRM series is all about intrigue and backstabbing and political maneuvering. There's not much good stuff, no. I mean, a few good things happen, but then crap happens again, and the characters have to struggle and scrabble their way out of it. Edit: Or, what athena8 said.

Yay for Bleach! And yay for a cookout! I hope you get to eat something nomsome.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

I can't take the constant intrigue and backstabbing and political maneuvering. There's a reason I couldn't watch the last season of Babylon 5. :)

I really am a weenie. I gotta know who I can trust implicitly and really don't enjoy a constant off-balance. I think I'll leave that for others who enjoy it. Thank ya, baby!

(And wheeeee, 'pine has given a link to the first OVA below!)

[whymzycal.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea. I haven't started reading the new book because he keeps piling on new twists and questions and doesn't answer any of the previous ones. I find that to be extremely irritating. It's why I stopped watching Lost after the middle of the second season. It always makes me think the writer doesn't have a plan, and not having a plan means the ending is going to suck.

I hate it when the ending sucks.

Ooh, yay for links!

[samsarapine.livejournal.com]

Um... does good stuff start happening in these books at all?

Nada. Zip. Zilch. I think he's great with characterization, which is the only reason I ended up getting as far with his books as I did, but I have no interest in re-reading anything, and frankly haven't bothered to get a copy of the new one because I'm tired of his relentless negativity.

On the other hand... Woo hoo! T&B!!

The first Gaiden OVA has been subbed. Let me look around - I can't recall exactly where I found the download, but I'll look for it again.

[samsarapine.livejournal.com]

Here's a download link for the first OVA. (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=E44FKEVO) ()

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Sweeeeeeet~! Thank you so much. ♥

[samsarapine.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! *g*

[kansouame.livejournal.com]

Thank you from me too!!! ♥

[samsarapine.livejournal.com]

Anytime, babe! *hugs*

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, yeah, some of the characters are good, but the ones I like seem to be side characters that are gonna get it someday. It's probably not going to be worth it for me to continue-- I have too much other stuff to read! (What's the phrase? So little time, so many books!) ♥ Thank you!

[kansouame.livejournal.com]

Hey bb,

I got through the 2nd book and just... well yeah... I need to have some happy too so I haven't read any further. But it was good. Just too dark.. all the time.

The holiday has been fun so far - went to see a sneak peek of the movie Warrior. I highly recommend it. HIGHLY. AND YES, we will be bbqing today - ribs even. mmmmmmmmm

Hope you and your family have a relaxing and fun day!

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Thank you - you too! BBQ! Hee, I am bringing my veggie chick'n patty to go into the oven so I can avail myself of the buns and condiments and whatnot, but everyone else is having steak or burgers, I hear. :)

And thank you-- it seems your opinion on these books (and mine so far) is shared by many.... heh.

[caeseria.livejournal.com]

Happy labour day!! ♥

Yay for T&B! And lucky you for snagging many volumes of Bleach. I haven't read the manga, just wading through the anime ;) (Which is very pretty, I must say).

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

You guys get a Labour Day (complete with U) up there in 'Eh-Land? YAY! Then happy Labour Day to all the Canadians on my list. ♥

Oh, and the Bleach manga is fun-- though I'll probably watch the anime some day, too. :)

[caeseria.livejournal.com]

Yes! We rock because we have an extra U in Labour!! ♥

If the manga is any good I might have to look into snagging it cheaply somewhere..

[lawless523.livejournal.com]

Heh, you and I think the same when it comes to watching stuff on the computer. I'll watch a half hour ep or two on the computer -- I don't download -- but not more than that if I can help it. I'd rather be comfy. It's become a problem now that Mr. L is around more, though, as he monopolizes the TV.

Everything I've read about it has convinced me to stay as far from Song of Fire and Ice as possible.

I was going to tell you that to my knowledge, only the first Gaiden OVA has been subbed, but 'pine beat me to it.

Enjoy your cookout!

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Well, for a year I lived in my parents' house with them and my brother, none of whom were working, and so talk about monopolizing! I never, ever got the TV. It's been wonderful having my own place and my own TV to watch.

Yay, I look forward to watching the OVA.

[rachel-reicheru.livejournal.com]

Sorry if someone has already pointed you in the write driection but;

My raw was used to get the first one subbed by ensui_fan, and then i gave them the second raw but havent seen a sub of it yet :( I believe it was sarene that helped translate it the first time round. I am not sure whats happening with the second.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Thanks to you and everyone then for the work getting that one up!

[rachel-reicheru.livejournal.com]

Do u need a link?

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Thank you, but someone already gave me one above! :)

[conjure-lass.livejournal.com]

In regards to Game of Thrones? No. Nothing good ever happens, and that is precisely why I stopped reading them. I dislike authors that can't seem to get over the "angst=good writing" bullshit. As though writing something good happening takes away their street cred or something.

*waves that off*

My brother surprised me and made me RED BEANS AND RICE for our labor day supper! *EXCITED* We have bbq pretty much ALL FREAKIN' SUMMER, so anything other than roasted meat is ALL GOOD WITH ME.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

You know, I've seen some fanfic writers like that, too. I used to be frustrated when I'd finally find a fic in ::name that fandom:: that was long, plotty and well-written... except for the constant weeping and death and awful stuff that happened every chapter. I was feeling entitled once and wrote an author asking why she couldn't tell a story without relying on forced angst to evoke emotion and I got the reply that "life was suffering" and she was reflecting true life. Er.

Anyway, I learned my entitlement lesson but avoid that shit LIKE THE PLAGUE.

[conjure-lass.livejournal.com]

Well, no shit, life is suffering. But life is also sunsets and birthdays and joy and sleeping in on Sundays and having your favorite food and going out for ice cream.

Do good things just not exist in "true life"?

UGH...emo bullshit.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

OMG, that's sucha great way to put it. I wish I'd known you then so I could steal your words and share them back with her.

Haha I just have to share; that one was in Lord of the Rings and seriously, someone different was getting raped and maimed in every chapter and some other Fellowship member had to come upon them and begin weeping copiously before nursing them back to life... only to be raped and maimed again. But hey, lots of people seemed to love it. And... I've seen it in Hetalia/US/UK fandom, too. I just sniff it out and stay away. Yannow? Sad stuff that happens naturally in a story, rather than being forced on the characters, is so much more organic and believable. IMHO, let me caveat.

[conjure-lass.livejournal.com]

Sad things are natural and fine. They happen. But they are not the be-all, end-all of the world. One's life is not constant sadness anymore than it's constant happiness.

Like I said, when you write happy things, people tend to find it less "believable" than the angsty crap. Drama is "good writing" to people.

OH GOD. USxUK is just ripe full of angst, isn't it? I mean, their natural relationship is ALREADY angsty, why add more with the rape and drugs and prostitution?? Does it really NEED that?? LOL

[helliongoddess.livejournal.com]

I have to horn in just a bit here... One of the biggest things I adore about Saiyuki is how Minekura manages to convey how tragic the boys' lives have all been, and how they are going through all this horrific shit, and yet still have there be so much love and SO much humor woven all throughout the story. My favorite writer, William Styron, wrote very graphically about the holocaust in Sophie's Choice and ended the book (sorry if this spoilers anyone - the book is OLD) with the suicides of the two main principles, and STILL manages to find gracenotes of hope and redemption, and inserts bits of humor and irony here and there pretty liberally.

People who write relentlessly angsty tragic shit are just expressing and venting their own issues, IMHO, and not creating a real artistic reflection of life in their works. Even in my darkest times (and at almost 55 y/o, I've been through some), I've managed to find some humor and love and hope somehow, somewhere. That's just the way life is. To fail to do that in one's writing is just lazy and narrow. (And like both of you, I tend to avoid those fanfics like the plague. I had a parting of the ways with a good friend in the Saiyuki fandom because she couldn't see anything beyond relentless hopeless darkness in either life or her own fics, and I just frankly got tired of it. Especially since she was less than 20 years old.)

Sorry. Clearly a pet peeve! Rant over. ^________^

[conjure-lass.livejournal.com]

I...I think I love you.

No, seriously, all my ranting and you nailed it on the head so much more easily. *laughs*

Truthfully, I think that you have to live a bit of life (not to say i'm all-knowing at 31, but I do know more than at 21) to really realize that life isn't fully of tragedy. It's hard to see through the haze of "woe is me" when you're that age as I recall. *laughs*

[helliongoddess.livejournal.com]

*loves being loved on ^_________^ *

I guess you are right... but I swear, as the Merciful Goddess is my witness, this particular person was... a wallower. Self-pity was her thing. It just got fecking old after a while, you know? Especially after having been through the shit I've been through in my life. After a while, I just wanted to shake her! Not very Buddhist of me, I admit... *lol*

I really hope I wasn't that insufferable at that age. I remember being kind of smug -- I was probably (well, ok, I was) guilty of that. But not that tragic pose, I don't think. But then, life hadn't really started to beat the crap out of me at that point. *lol* But honestly, I think if you can't keep your sense of humor about things, you might as well just pack it in. *shrugs*

[twistedsheets10.livejournal.com]

No. I'd say it gets darker. A Song of Ice and Fire (ASoIaF) is my favorite fantasy series, which probably says a lot about me. :) It's a very dark time in Westeros. :/ GRRM's name pretty much stands for GRIM.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Are you a ho for the sad? :) Hee, just teasing. I know the series is incredibly popular, so I thought I'd give it a chance, but I guess it's not for everyone. ♥

[twistedsheets10.livejournal.com]

Well, my friends do tell me I like uh, torturing my characters. lol But yeah, it's definitely NOT for everyone. The first three books are the best. The fourth and fifth are...good, but not that great. :)

I'd recommend you read works by Ellen Kushner, specifically her Swordspoint novels. They're great. ♥

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Hee! I don't mind some torture, as long as there's an equally high "up" to come along at some point. :)

I have heard good things about Swordspoint! I'll put them on my list. ♥

[despina-moon.livejournal.com]

My favorite thing about the GRRM books? The death count. No really, because if you're going to have intrigue/back-stabbing/political maneuvering of the epic variety, there needs to be death with it and he kept that going. Until he didn't. And now there are too many freaking characters and he's lost control of the story.

There is a battle scene -- I think in the third book? That is so freaking awesome I think the first three books alone were worth it.

But there wasn't anything to make me love the fourth book (when I officially threw in the towel). athena8 is right. Whatever you do, don't get attached to anyone.

I'm current on T&B. I think that's all I can say about it.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

I wonder if I can get the same sense of awesome battle by watching the TV movies? Heh. I just... the book was making me so goddamned nervous that it was starting to get to me. ;)

Oh, you're not feeling T&B? Or is it just that spoilery? I just love Kotetsu so freaking much; so far I kind of want to find him a nice girl. ♥

[despina-moon.livejournal.com]

I've stayed away from the TV show so far because I wanted a pile to watch all at once. I've heard it stays pretty true. But as far as reading the books goes, it just gets more heart-wrenching and dark, and there aren't many characters to love.

Haha! Yes -- a very nice girl for Kotetsu! I totally agree! I like him very much, he's a lovable doofus and rather helpless in a not-over-the-top-endearing way. And I really like some of the secondary characters.

[pillowsofwind.livejournal.com]

l-lol... after perusing the above comments, I feel out of place for saying that I absolutely love Song of Ice and Fire. XD;; I'm about halfway through the third book, and yes, it is sad, but idk... I think there's enough sporadic good things (or what I deem to be good >>) to balance out the things that make me sadface. I know for a fact that both of my favourite characters are alive in the latest book because one of my friends spoiled a couple things for me. :/ But. Hmm. I say go for it if you're considering watching the HBO series, because it's pretty much perfect in regards to following the first book's events, and Sean Bean is a dilf~

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Well, the majority seem to like it anyway, despite the dark, and I know the books are wildly popular. I just... I found myself being more tense than anything when I was reading it, and I wanted to know if the tension was going to have a release anytime soon, heh.

Sean Bean is indeed a Hottie McHotterton. ♥