(no subject)

[rusty_halo]

Yesterday was good. After work, I met up with a woman named Marlaine, who posts on various boards as "soul mate." I met her through my site; she's a big Spike/Angel fan although she also reads S/X. We had gone to the Common Rotation show at the Bitter End together so I'd met her once before. So yesterday after work we went to a restaurant nearby and chatted for about four hours. It was so cool to talk about fanfic in person with someone really knowledgeable about it. We had a debate about Ars Moriendi (we both loved Modus Vivendi and talked about that for a while too). She thought AM was out of character but I thought the characterizations fit the situation so it ended up being a really interesting discussion. She also tried to talk me into reading "Reposession," though, which ... no. And then we gossiped about cons and fandom and how incredibly cool [the AtS casting spoiler] is going to be, especially for fanfic.

(I'm trying to be all spoiler conscious because someone complained that I spoiled them in my con report. Which I'm still not sure how I did, but whatever.)

Anyway, I'm really exhausted today because I've only gotten about 3 hours of sleep each of the past three nights. I know this isn't healthy; maybe I'll just be able to crash after BtVS tonight. I spent today (in between, y'know, working) babbling incoherently in various LiveJournals and message boards. I really shouldn't post so much when I'm all tired and my brain is running slooooowww, because I say stupid things and then I get all embarrassed later.

Last night I was awake updating my website (damn website is driving me insane with its database problems; I'm going to have to rewrite all the scripts again and will probably end up moving to a new server) and reading BAPS. I've gotten the impression that on LiveJournal it's not cool to like BAPS or something, but I'll just come out and say it: I adore BAPS. I know that some of the people on there are slightly insane, and sometimes the mood of the list gets a bit ... tense, but I've never found a list with such thought-provoking and interesting discussions. There's such a variety of people and perspectives, and I love the sense of community that the list fosters. Plus, Alane gave me a free "I've loved an evil, soulless thing" T-shirt, and Laurie invited me (and a bunch of other people) to her house to watch her gigantic TV and even had vegan food for me, so I just can't say anything negative about them. Also, I met elizard100 (my con roomie) and jaydk (who has watched almost every BtVS episode with me this year) both through BAPS. I became a dedicated "online fan" only when I discovered BAPS. It's a great place, and I forgive its occasional faults.

This is an interesting article about Alpha, Beta and Gamma heroes. It's somewhat biased, especially near the end, but it raises some cool ideas. It's interesting to think of Spike as the Gamma hero and Angel as the Alpha (which probably explains part of the reason I could never stand Angel on BtVS and always preferred Spike). The idea that our perception of these heroes is often based on gender is interesting because I've observed the same thing (men tend to gravitate toward Xander or Angel while women gravitate toward Spike) but I wish that the author of this article wouldn't speak in such gender absolute terms.

I'm still really giddy about the whole JM on AtS thing. I keep thinking it's a dream, and I'm going to wake up and be like "I had this really cool dream where JM was on AtS, and there was an AtS poster and JM was on it!" And then I realize that it's not a dream; the poster is on the WB website. So cool.

Too many acronyms in that last paragraph.

Now I'm going to go home, watch BtVS, update my website, and take a nap. (Mmmmm ... sleep).

Comments

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I've gotten the impression that on LiveJournal it's not cool to like BAPS or something, but I'll just come out and say it: I adore BAPS.

Oddness: you beat me to the punch. I read this just as I was about to type the exact same thing on my LJ. Yes, BAPS has its nuts (as do all the boards and all other fandoms too) but it was my first list and still the one I read every digest of.

You sound like you had a terrific time, I'm jealous!

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's weird! You should post it too, though. :)

[spikewriter]

I've gotten the impression that on LiveJournal it's not cool to like BAPS or something

It's not that I don't like BAPS -- it was my first Buffy list as well -- but as you say, the mood gets...tense from time to time. It simply reached a point where so many of the most frequent and loudest posters were making reading the list unpleasant for me. I tried kill filing the e-mail addresses of the people who were driving me nuts, but then many of the posts that came through were in response to those people I'd kill filed.

I'm not saying that I wasn't allowed to have a different opinion from the crowd; I am saying that it felt like that sometimes. There were times I felt attacked and ridiculed for attempting to have a positive spin on some things...or at the very least, not a "the sky is falling" mentality.

There were people I wanted to ask, "If it pisses you off that much, why are you still watching?" And when I realized that aspect of the list was seriously aggravating me, I decided to take my own advice and leave. It wasn't an easy decision and I miss a number of people, but it was best for my sanity. Maybe with Spike moving to AtS, the rhetoric might tone down enough that I can come back.

And I still wear my "I've loved a evil souless thing" shirt proudly -- in fact, if I'd been well enough to make it to the con here in LA where DB was appearing a week ago, I was planning on wearing it.

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

It's unfortunate that a lot of positive people feel uncomfortable on BAPS. I'm on both positive and negative lists and it doesn't really bother me when I read differing opinions; that's the interesting part. I guess it brings you down to read too much negative stuff, but for me, if I don't agree with it, I just kind of examine it intellectually without letting it get to me emotionally. I honestly don't understand why other people can't do that, but I respect your decision to leave if you're uncomfortable.

Hee, that is a great t-shirt slogan isn't it? :)

[witling.livejournal.com]

but I wish that the author of this article wouldn't speak in such gender absolute terms.

Yeah. Or use words like "humanness."

Though the picture of Spike is great for clearly delineating what Indri so memorably referred ti as his "parakeet profile." Yay, Indri! Boy looks poised for seed.

Have a good nap. And chica, don't get into any scraps over Ars. It ain't worth it. ;)

[snoopygirll.livejournal.com]

I thought Repossession was good.

Interesting article too, thanks!