mist_shadow

It's officially been four years since I started making graphics, and five years since I started at HPFF!

I can't say that time has flown because it feels like a long time for both of these events. A lot has happened both at TDA and HPFF over the years, and I've become a different (better? maybe) person because of those places.

Thanks to both sites for being such a big influence! I feel like a nerd for admitting this, but it is very true. :P I'd be very boring otherwise, and certainly would be as artistically inclined without these outlets. ^_^

I had told myself that I wouldn't watch Bones anymore. The last season was a bit of a disappointment, especially in how the were dealing with the whole shipping thing, then the finale...? It was amusing, but less than satisfying, not as dramatic as I like finales to be.

Then I get home last night and Mum tells me to watch it because it was good.

And it was, dammit.

Booth was too cute, the psychic thing was done really well, and the lawyer lady is way too awesome. It was funny, but also very serious like the older episodes used to be - the perfect mix for me.

So instead of cutting back on shows, I'm sticking with last year's list: House, Lie to Me, Bones, CSI: NY, CSI, and the Mentalist. I'll see how the premiere of NCIS goes - I still miss Jenny, and Tuesdays are a late night with my nightmarish French class.

And then there's Merlin. *squees* Now there's a show that knows the meaning of epic. ^_^

I made an Alice in Wonderland signature last week as a gift, and I've been using the graphic myself on TDA. It's been complimented, which is nice. Right?

Now what do I suddenly see a lot more of? Alice in Wonderland signatures. Very much like mine, too. Yes, there aren't that many promo pics from the movie yet, but really, these graphics are bloody obvious copies. It's like I can't be original for a moment without people copying my graphics. It's the only reason my "style" keeps changing - it has to or else my work will look like everyone else's.

Add to this the following, members who:
- are unable to fill in simple forms
- don't bother reading rules
- have egos larger than their talent
- are too popular for their own good
- don't bother learning the basics before doing fancy stuff

*is not happy admin*

In lieu of my disappointment over the HPFF Dobby awards, for which all my hopes have been dashed, and my very strangely swollen ankles - which came for no known reason and have left massive bruises up and down my legs (my excuse is that I was attacked by an octopus), I will think about things that, lately, have made me happy:

1. Receiving an 88% (A) on my final research paper for my MA in English. That means I pass that program with an 85%, which, as my professors kindly tell me, should definitely get me into PhD school this year (as long as I can come up with a good dissertation topic, of course).

2. My laptop is now back to normal and more. Windows was corrupted and so I'd sent it in. It came back with Microsoft Word, which I didn't have before, and now I've gotten an extra 0.5 GB of memory. So running Photoshop on it will no longer require closing down every other program and waiting some minutes for it to load and save properly.

3. I've gotten two extra seminars to teach this year! One of the other TAs, an American, wasn't able to get a work order due to the economic downturn (Canadian protectionism, just like in the 1930's), so I took two of the classes he was due to teach. So I'll be working with one of my favourite professors in Early Romantic Literature *crosses fingers for some Austen* in addition to my other two teaching assignments - the 18th Century Novel and the Gothic Novel.

The only thing I'm worried about with the Romantics class is the poetry - I'm not the greatest at interpreting poetry, but I suppose as the seminar leader, I'm instead supposed to make the students do it while I sit by and nod appreciatively. If we do Wordsworth's daffodil poem, I will not be able to contain my mirth.

And if anyone in my Gothic class mentions Twilight, I will go into a fit and give them a D. Well... only if they express a passion for Edward. If they're critical about it's comparison to Stoker, I'm happy.

Though it'll mean reading Frankenstein yet again. This will mean I'll have read it more often than half the Harry Potter books. Not good.

4. I have a greater appreciation for the Charles Dicken's BBC adaptations than for the books themselves. Little Dorrit and Bleak House are keeping me amused. However, I did prefer North and South, and not only because of Richard Armitage (though he probably had a lot to do with it XD).

5. Three people dedicated fanfics to me within a single day. I was very WTF when I saw it, not expecting so much love in a single day, but it was a lovely thing to see them. They were good stories too, which only adds to my appreciation. ^_^

6. There is no six. I'm trying too hard to think of something, and it's not coming. I should just stop procrastinating and get working. I've two things to write - a set of notes for my presentation at the upcoming MA orientation (where I'm playing the role of "survivor" providing the newbies with advise without scaring their pants off), and also a Tom/Minerva story that combines Yeat's "Second Coming", the song "Four Winds", and an awkward real-life event.

Twilight takes a lot of inspiration from the great vampire stories, but the romance side of the novel also comes straight out of literature. One of the first major novels in English was Pamela by Samuel Richardson, written in the mid-1700's. It was a huge success in its own time, but now its readership is pretty much limited to 18th century scholars.

Pamela[ is the story of a serving girl working in the house of one Mr. B, a wealthy and handsome gentleman who comes to have an obsession with poor little Pamela. The story is told from Pamela's perspective and, until reading Twilight, I had her pegged as the most annoying narrator in the history of literature.

She's whiny. Very whiny. She talks about herself most of the time and also complains about Mr. B, who stalks her, attacks her, and later kidnaps her. Then, lo and behold! once kidnapped, she realises that she's in love with him and they get married. Her virtue is rewarded by becoming wife to the wealthy, handsome gentleman (who happened to creep her out for more than half of the novel).

While Twilight is different in how it plays out (imagine if Edward had kidnapped her, too! that would have been very Gothic), the love between stalker and victim prevails. All that can be said for Edward is that he's more honourable - Mr. B only wants Pamela for one thing (need I say more?).

There are other novels I can remember with a similar theme. It seems to be an archetype, a formulaic plot used by Gothic-y type of novels attempting to scandalise their audiences.

Well, it scandalised readers two hundred years ago (and more). As for modern audiences? Who knows.

For the first time in... well, years, people are actually telling me that it's wrong to put two spaces after a period. That it should be only one space instead.

Where did this come from? I've been told to do two spaces since I learned how to type.

People say it looks funny to have two spaces.

What kind of foolery is this?

Edit: Apparently, I am old school with my typing skills. There is nothing wrong with typewriters!

"Satisfying" is the last word I'd use to describe my favourite Harry Potter books. Why?

Prisoner of Azkaban - Sirius is still on the run. Peter escapes to rejoin Voldemort.
Order of the Phoenix - Sirius dies. Harry's a whiner. Umbridge makes me way too angry.
Half-Blood Prince - Dumbledore dies. Snape's a murderer, possibly evil. The horcrux was a fake.
Deathly Hallows - A lot of my favourite characters die. Harry lives. The Epilogue ends not with "scar" as promised, but with "all was well." Happy endings are not cool.

They're thrilling, addicting, and among my favourite books ever, but not "satisfying" by any means.

But all the same: happy birthday, JKR! ^_^

Sorry, but it was just as good the second time around. Yes, I saw the mistakes more clearly, but they didn't bother me. I was still too caught up in the action and suspense to care that they added this or left out that. The movie was still a complete, if not better version of the book.

The only thing this time was that I more easily resisted the urge to giggle every time Snape had a line. Those pauses between words... so perfect. It seemed that all the actors put far more into their roles than they had in previous movies. What I really don't get is why people hate Ginny. Bonnie seemed very Ginny-ish, but if you already hate her character, then I suppose you wouldn't be able to see past that.

The best scenes are still Felix Felicis and when Harry and Dumbledore are in the cave. I've re-read those parts of the book since seeing the movie the first time, and they're spot on. Since when do the movies do that? :P So overall, I'm just as close-minded against the haters as they are against the movie. It's only fair, right?

And I am more sure now that my love of Snape is not equivalent to a love of Alan Rickman. Watching the movie, I see the character, not the actor. That's the way it should be.

I liked it very much, though I'll need to see it again before being entirely sure if it's my favourite of the HP movies. There are parts of the movie that could have been better or adapted closer to the book, but overall, I thought the movie did a lot of good things with HBP.

Okay, yes I'm biased because there was more Lily than in the book. Lily's relationship with Slughorn was expanded upon with the story of Frances the fish, which showed how much Slughorn cared for her (and she for him). Frances "vanishing" one morning reflected the suddenness of Lily's own death very well. Dumbledore also mentioned Lily as being "extremely kind" and Harry talks more about Lily's sacrifice to Slughorn than he does in the book.

The acting was probably the thing that stands out most in this movie. Draco, Snape, Dumbledore, and Slughorn were so compelling to watch and all very conflicted. The cave scene was spot on and I thought that Gambon played a terrific Dumbledore in that scene. Snape in this movie reminded me of why he's such an awesome character. Draco was just wow. I liked how they added more scenes with him that weren't in the book - it gave a lot more depth to his character, making it so that his inability to kill Dumbledore isn't so much of a surprise as it was in the book (at least, for me it was).

The cinematography was interesting in this movie - different from what I remember in the previous ones. Some of the transitions between scenes included great footage of Hogwarts, and the scene of the empty and smashed up Great Hall was perhaps one of the most powerful images in the movie. Hogwarts without Dumbledore became such a different place - it has lost some of its magic.

But Snape. Snape! He could just stand there without saying anything at all and still own the scene. And it made me happy that he didn't turn out looking so evil at the end. The book was all EVIL!Snape, but the movie makes the conspiracy more obvious (which is problematic in its own way, even if it keeps Snape from looking like the most villainous villain this side of Voldemort).

And a very honourable mention goes to Rupert for playing such an adorable Ron. "Potter, take Weasley with you. He looks far too happy over there." Major lolz.

Though once again, some thunderstormers are raining on the parade and hating on the film already. I can only feel sorry that they can't join in the fun.

This was done for the HPFF United Collaboration on (surprise, surprise) HPFF.

Title: For the Greater Good
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: strong violence, DH spoilers
Word Count: 3688
Summary: Dumbledore makes the choice to duel Grindelwald, no matter what the cost.

( yes, it was a lame summary, but still fairly accurate... )

What do you do with a Trekkie mother on a conveniently cold Mother's Day? Take her to the movies, of course!

Also, I've done a short review of a new book I'm reading.

( for spoilers, because it's too hard to make up euphemisms )

Not dead yet. As much as they may try, I'm still here.

And now I'm of the opinion that HBP is a better book than OotP:
- less annoying overall (ie: no Umbridge)
- less HarryANGST! (though evidence of it still remains, selfish little prat)
- more hilarity (canaries)
- Snape as a genius (one must admit that even his DADA classes were good, as long as you're not associated with a Potter, and even Harry had to admit that part of his knowledge of the bezoar came from Snape's Potions class)
- and Dumbledore being himself. I like him better this time around, not that I know why. He's manipulative, but very polite about it.

I would have enjoyed Reading Week if not for all the stuff that needed to be done for school. It would have been nice to go to the bookstore again, or rather, to go much of anywhere, but both time, school, and my ear infection are against me, leaving me huddled in bed for a week, reading and typing and going insane. Meh.

It's been a while since I last read the books right through, not just to look up a passage here or there. After my class was cancelled due to the snow on Wednesday, I opened my ragged American edition of the first book. Five hours later, I was through the first two books. Then yesterday, I poured through PoA.

My view on them hasn't changed a bit. JKR isn't a posh literary author, but there's something about her books that makes them captivating. I still felt for the characters, still winced at Harry's naive stupidity, and turned through the pages of the exciting parts way too fast (yay for Quidditch!). There are a lot of cliches, particularly the whole wish-fulfilment aspect of Harry's escape from the Durlseys and the stereotypical character roles, but they're part of the magic. We're supposed to think that Snape is evil, Petunia heartless, and Hermione a know-it-all. Yet at the same time, there's something more to them.

The elements that people criticize for being copied from other places are superficial - the school for wizards, the hero rising from an abusive home, the orphan finding his own way in the world.... I'd like to see a fantasy book that isn't in some way cliched or based on the fairy tale or the epic.

It's strange because my favourite chapter so far is still the very first chapter of the first book, with the Dursleys and Dumbledore coming to deliver Harry. There's something perfect about it. And the part in CoS when Dumbledore is suspended from Hogwarts, then says that line about him not needing to be there for his power to remain, made me cry. What foreshadowing!

This series is still on top for me. Whatever people say, I still love these books.

( for more Twilight!hate, and HP paper ideas )
There's no hope for me growing up to have a normal life now. If the PhD thing doesn't work out, I'll start a bookstore.

EDIT: for some reason, the title of the new Kelly Clarkson song "My Life Would Suck Without You" makes me laugh. Surely there are better titles that... suck far less. Where, oh where, is pop music going?

One of FOX's new shows for January, "Lie to Me", is staring Tim Roth.

*stares in wonder*

And unlike Hugh Laurie, he gets to keep his accent for the part. But like Hugh, he gets to be snarky in this role.

New fav show? I think it might just be possible. ^__^

When researching for my "definition of field" paper (don't ask, it's yucky), I kept coming across these critical works about Harry Potter that were very critical indeed. Complaining about how literary phenomenons ruin the greatness of literature and that it's not kids, but crazy adults, who actually like the series (I know a few thousand kids who would disagree, but oh well). They have pretty stats and everything to back them up. They continue to complain about how the HP books shouldn't be popular because they're really regurgitations of older stories and don't have that brilliant spark to set them apart from Tolkien, Lewis, Carroll, or Twain.

These articles are only working with the first four books, so you could say that they're missing out on the later books that became darker and more complex and all that. But you know what I was thinking when reading these things?

"Gosh, they must not have read Twilight yet."

The world needs these guys to come back and write about Twilight and end up saying "and we thought Harry Potter was bad!" It would be highly amusing. If no one else does it, I will happily be the first person to write a scholarly article on Twilight, tearing it to teensy little shreds for my own personal gratification.

So it's easier to understand where these critics of HP are coming from when, eight years later, we've come across a series that purports itself to be better and more popular, but... well, I won't say it. My single attempt to read Twilight failed sometime after the hospital scene, so what do I know? (only that I've read better fanfics in the HPFF queue, which is really saying something, and nothing nice)

I've also read better Victorian melodramas. At least they manage to be hilarious in their horridness.

Rant over. I think I feel better now. ^__^

Not the best week in the world. I went to school yesterday all happy and ready to get some work done (at last!) then I try to turn on my laptop. It works the first time I turn it on, but the speakers weren't working, which happens a lot, so I restarted.

Then it just stopped working. It wouldn't turn on again. After an angry phonecall to my dad for help, I went home and guess what? The damn piece of junk turned on all fine and happy at home. However, it was very slow, so I ended up taking it into Future Shop to get it looked at. Typing on my desktop PC is difficult because I have to hit the keys with greater force - not a good thing since my hands have been getting very sore again. It's a problem in my knuckles; they're all swollen and ugly like an old lady's. So I'm not looking forward to possibly having to write all my big final essays on this computer. Grrrr....

Stupid November. It is the cruelest month, not April.

That aside, I did make an attempt with my NaNo idea. There are just over 1000 words written so far and it's not too bad. I'm a little uncertain of the details, though I know my characters and how I want the narration to work. But instead of writing that, I have to work on my three final papers: 1) readers and readership in Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, 2) rebellious narration in Richard Marsh's The Beetle, and 3) relating T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land to literary theory.

And while doing all of these, I also have to slowly plan out of my final research paper on Harry Potter for next term. *faints* Grad school is fun in some ways, but it is torture!

The madness has already set' in, but meanwhile, various professors have talked to the group of us about how they chose their own research fields, especially concentrating on their enthusiasm for what they did. They said to choose something we really loved to study because of the amount of work we'll have to put into that topic.

I will, then, be going for the children's literature stream. Yes, I want to write my major research paper on the Harry Potter series. Litsnobs will suffer, but I'll be happy. :P There are so many aspects to contemporary children's fantasy to look into, though, and hopefully the profs will help narrow it down some more.

Today I started reading up on what scholars have already said on HP - not always positive, but there was this very cool essay on Remus and Sirius that I know certain individuals would enjoy, as well as others on HP's place in the realm of children's fantasy as a whole. The best article compared the political ideas of the series to those of Mary Shelley and her father William Godwin. It was brilliant. Who knew that one could compare Revolutionary and Romantic writers to something like HP?

It would be interesting to look at recent novels featuring "orphaned" characters (HP, Series of Unfortunate Events, even His Dark Materials) and compare their main character's development to those of the Victorian novels (Great Expectations, Jane Eyre) that fall into the same category. There's also the legacy that parents leave behind and how, even when dead, that parents can help their children overcome the story's problem. I still really like the idea of sacrifice, and to what extent the parents in these stories go to "save" their kids. HP offers a lot of this, but His Dark Materials does too, since I remember how Mrs. Coulter acted when trying to hide Lyra in the mountains.

*gasps for air*

I'll shut up now. I suppose it bodes well that I get so excited thinking about these things.

The professors were kind enough to inform the group of us that we will not have lives until next August. We will read, write (essays longer than a novel!), teach the first years, and try to find time to sleep and eat in between.

Why was I not informed that they required robots, not humans, for this program?

The next problem is that, by November, I need to decide on my "field of study" - ie: what I will probably spend the rest of my life working on. So far, I've avoided such decisions, but now it seems that instead of entering NaNoWriMo, I'll be writing my future. There are two related areas that I'm interested in, but actually describing them is tough.

1 - 19th century novels containing elements of the Gothic and/or fantastical (Dorian Gray, Frankenstein, Turn of the Screw, Jane Eyre, Dracula, The Woman in White...), and the role of women in relation to socio-economic issues of the period. For example, the way that governesses/otherwise innocent young women are placed in situations of extreme horror.

2 - modern children's fantasy (His Dark Materials, Harry Potter, Bartimaeus Trilogy, Lemony Snicket...) - the dream with this is to examine how these books deal with religion and morality, providing strong moral lessons even though they (often) forsake or stray from traditional religious beliefs. Then there's always the freaky idea I have that Lily Potter is some sort of Christ-figure who sacrifices herself to save everyone (and her son, who could represent the "Everyman"). Controversial, indeed. Interesting, definitely.

The very fact of my new existence means an even lesser online life than before. Everything is at a minimum during the weekends, while on Monday-Thursday night, it's nothing that doesn't fit into five minutes. It sucks, but so does growing up.