annapurna_2

Ohmigosh, there IS life outside of work! I’ve really got to get out of the office more. And not bring home work at night. And not go in on the weekends. ::sigh::

On the bright side…no work this weekend! Yay! See? I’m making a concerted effort.

Truthfully, it’s my own fault. I’m really good at what I do, but also really slow. Most of my coworkers seem to fly through their workload, albeit frequently at the expense of quality and/or accuracy. A rare few, however, are both fast and good and I hate them. (Okay, not really. But sometimes I want to hate them. Heh.) So I work on my own time to keep up with deadlines and everybody else.

So…is it bad that I spent the weekend doing absolutely nothing? Just sitting around watching TV or shutting off the TV and enjoying the silence. No chores, though I have so many things I really, really need to cross off the list. I did catch up with Last Resort, which I absolutely LOVE, and Revolution, which I’m also enjoying. And I liked Elementary, too.

I’ve been absent from LJ and Dreamwidth for the last two months, so I have no clue what I’ve missed. I’m sure there’s been quite a bit. I hope to get to play a little bit before I drop off the radar again, which I’m sure will happen. Hopefully later rather than sooner, but we’ll see.

In the meantime, glad to see you guys are still here and I sincerely hope life has been kind. If not, hugs all around.

I didn't join the Buffy fandom online until after the show ended, so I missed those infamous fandom wars. Not at all sorry about that.

I only recently started reading Mark Watches (off and on as I could) and enjoyed it. It was fun re-experiencing the show for the "first" time vicariously through Mark and those commenting. I usually didn't have time to read many of the comments but it seemed like the site had a refreshing tolerance to politely expressed opposing views.

Boy, was I ever wrong.

I checked in after the fact to find Fandom Armageddon had taken place while I wasn't looking. While I didn't agree with everything in his review of "Smashed," I didn’t think he was really anti-Spike or even anti-Spuffy, except for that particular aspect of Spuffy. And even if he had been, he's within his rights to feel that way. But what went down in the comments was something else entirely.

I stayed up late reading through the "Smashed" comments and was absolutely appalled. I saw bullying, gross overreaction and total intolerance in response to very reasonable posts, with Mark unfortunately fanning the flames. All because some people were quite politely expressing an interpretation of events that he and other like-minded posters didn't agree with. I suspect he was coming from a very emotional place, but that's when you need to take a deep breath, count to ten and remind yourself to treat others as you would have them treat you.

I feel disappointed. Which is silly, I guess. I don't know them. And they don't owe me anything except, perhaps, a general attempt at common decency toward fellow human beings, but that concept seems to have left the building during this flare-up. I wonder if it was ever truly there to begin with, considering Mark states at the beginning of his "Wrecked" review that he doesn't feel the need to apologize.

Really? ::shakes head sadly::

Yes, I'm certain there are crazy Spike/Spuffy fans who are reacting just as badly, and maybe those posts were never posted or already deleted when I got there. But the comments I did see were not at all out of line. And yet those with a differing, yet well-reasoned interpretation of Spike or Spuffy were bullied (or, in the case of some who had the courage to share intensely personal stories of past pain and trauma that broke my heart, they were completely ignored). Judging by the posts that Mark responded to, I have to say I find his definition of "extreme" rather…odd…not to mention suspect and more than a tad hypocritical.

Lord knows we can all "lose it" from time to time (hopefully regretting and apologizing for it afterwards). But I'm sorry…being harassed and threatened by a crazy fringe element does not make it okay to then turn around and do the same thing to those who are not harassing or threatening anyone. And then to feel you're justified in not apologizing…?

He's perfectly within his rights to ban anyone he wants to ban from his site for whatever reasons he chooses. But don't pretend that you're creating a "safe" environment for superior-minded people by doing so. Just make it easy and be honest and upfront: Anyone with differing opinions from his are simply not welcome there.

I'm sad to say my opinion of Mark and his more intolerant loyalists has gone down the toilet and seems unlikely to crawl back up the pipes. There's zero enjoyment left and I'm really bummed out about the whole thing. :-/

Ah well. My computer time is so limited, at least now I'll be spending it on more important things.

ETA: In all fairness, there were a couple of posts supporting Spike/Spuffy that I thought were unreasonable. But not horrific or deserving of the extreme response they received. In that case, just take the high road, ignore and move along since neither side is likely to change their views. Life is waaay too short for this.

A while back when I was wrapping up Marking Time, I got stuck on the final part. To help break the block, I switched gears and started writing free-flow. Not sure why, but the first of this angsty fill-in-the-blanks ficlet was the result. Finally finished it, so hope you like…

Ficlet: Till the End (1/1)
Author: annapurna_2
Word Count: 1,281
Rating: An angsty G
Characters: Willow, Spike, Dawn
Setting: Post-Season 5's "The Gift"
Synopsis: A promise is a promise…

Maybe it was the performances, maybe it was the script. Most likely both. But I found myself in the odd position of not caring that much about what happened to the two title characters. I wouldn't call their performances bad, just so-so and not emotionally compelling enough to draw me in. Chris Hemsworth was by far the better of the two, I think, but…I dunno. For some reason, I just wasn't feeling it.

Overall, I'd say the movie was okay to good. Visually, it was very impressive. Loved the Enchanted Forest and the fairies, in particular.

I don't care to see it a second time and had I known in advance what my reaction to it would be, I'd have waited for DVD. Or I would have been okay with not seeing it, too. While I didn't consider it a waste of time or want my money back. I just shrugged and thought, "Eh…could have been worse."

First off, don’t get me wrong…I like my new (-ish) PC, especially since it would’ve taken me a lot longer to get back online if I’d waited till I could save up enough to buy a Mac. (Pets PC.) But I do miss some of the quick-and-easy Mac features like click-and-drag screen shots (that grab only what I want to grab, not the whole screen) and iPhoto and a bunch of other stuff. Using print screen then pasting it into Paint is so cumbersome, and it seems to be an all-or-nothing proposition.

Ah well. Enough with the spoiled, ungrateful whining.

I’d like to sign up for the next round of

seasonal_spuffy

I think, having finally finished “Marking Time”…AFTER SIX FREAKING YEARS…my subconscious mistakenly thinks I need another WIP. It’s probably rubbing its tiny hands together and bwa-ha-ha-ing in evil glee. And speaking of hands…on the one hand, it’s only a two-parter, so it could be worse. On the other hand, that makes it even more ridiculous that I haven't finished it. Ugh.