Case (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
case) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomsecrets2012-12-28 07:00 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2012-12-28 07:00 pm
[ SECRET POST #2187 ]
⌈ Secret Post #2187 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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03.
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05. [repeat]
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[ ----- SPOILERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]
06. [SPOILERS for Once Upon a Time]
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07. [SPOILERS for amazing spiderman]
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08. [SPOILERS for Nu52 Stormwatch]
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[ ----- TRIGGERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]
09. [WARNING for rape, sexual assault, gore]
[SCP Foundation wiki]
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10. [WARNING for rape]
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11. [WARNING for abuse]
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12. [WARNING for child sexual abuse]
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13. [WARNING for rape]
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14. [WARNING for violence, RL deaths]
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Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #312.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 (not broken, but being reported as malicious?) - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - personal attack ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
no subject
I don't know if it was intentional on the author's part, or whether he became more "enlightened" over the time it took him to write these things, but to me, the first half or so of the series has these undertones to it that made me very sincerely wonder whether GRRM actually was some kind of misogynist pedophile pervert with a lot of very unusual fetishes, while the later books give female and underaged characters a lot more empowerment and make them seen a lot more likable. Cercei especially became pretty much my favourite character in the series, while yet other characters who seemed to have been given a lion's share of dickishness get what's coming to them in a way that makes them not just tolerable, but kind of sympathetic.
Don't know if this was by accident or by design, but that weirdly uncomfortable over-abundance of victimization of women and children does seem to even out a lot.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2012-12-29 07:21 am (UTC)(link)no subject
I can understand feeling there was a lack of payoff for the amount of whatever felt to you like crap to wade through. For that same reason, I've avoided reading any series books at all for... shit... most of my entire teen and adult life, since the few series books I tried to get into in my teens always had that effect on me. NOW I have a job that leaves me with HOURS of time per week during which my options are "dick around on the internet," "sit and listen to the squirrel video loop for the 81,253rd time while staring at the wall," or "read moar." I chose the latter, and thus getting through all 5 books of ASoIaF was an investment of all of maybe a month and a half of time.
I will say... I didn't find the books to be extraordinary in any way. They were, to me, satisfactorily entertaining in a way that was enough to get me through all of them on the sheer force of curiosity if nothing else. I can name about a dozen books I read immediately before or after those that were better. Hell, I can even name one truly AWFUL self-published piece of dystopia that was ultimately just a little better purely by virtue of being so bad it was HILARIOUS (summary of all relevant points: Android with a dick that tastes like stratwberries).
At the same time... I can also name some virtues specific to the later books that made them, to me, very worth reading, and glad I did. If absolutely NOTHING else, without giving anything away, Cercei's evolution as a character due to her devotion as a mother was something I was genuinely touched by, and Theon... well, he becomes just FASCINATING. It's quite magnificent, albeit extremely disturbing, how his character is dealt with.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2012-12-29 08:17 am (UTC)(link)I have to agree with you that the series isn't awful, but it isn't super spectacular (at least what I've read), either. The characters and world are decent, but they're not quite as amazing (in my opinion, anyway) as a lot of people who rec'd the series to me made them out to be. The fact that a lot of people were selling it to me as super duper amazing and something that I'd love skewed my expectations a bit. But I think that was mostly just people wanting to share their enthusiasm and assuming because I generally go in for things with a darker tone that I like all things with a darker tone, and I can't really begrudge people for wanting to share their enthusiasm about things or misjudging my interests. It does still make it a bit more disappointing when you go in wanting to like something and thinking you will and then... not so much. But, such is life! Not the first or last time that will happen, lol.
The talk about Cercei and Theon (and even some of the other characters, like Arya and Sansa and Jaime) has peaked my interest at times. I don't think it's enough to want to pick the series up again, but like I said, I really can understand why other people enjoy it, even if it's not my cup of tea.
... and now I think you should tell me the name of the awful self-published dystopian fic with the android with a dick that tastes like strawberries. I need more hilariously bad things to read in the future.
no subject
^^^This is why it's impossible for other people to buy me books. So many recommendations I get fall so short of interesting to me even if they resemble other things I've read in the past, and I really am at a loss to be able to define WHY a lot of the time. I also think the enthusiasm is probably a big part of why I got through them... it's nice to be able to share a fandom with people occasionally. For me, it's very, very rare that I am able to get into anything that has a large or vocal fanbase.
The shit dystopia novel the the strawberry dickbot is called "the Junker Girl and her Droid" (capitalized exactly like that, which really should have been my first clue) by Merrell Michael. I got it on Kindle, I don't know if there's a paper copy available and kind of doubt it.
If you like darker fiction and like sci-fi that is amazingly dark and creepy without having to resort to Teh Rapings, I would recommend the Hyperion Cantos series by Dan Simmons. I just finished the second book (of 4), and this is AMAZING fiction -- I mean genuinely brilliant stuff, the first book that has given me goosebumps because of OMG CREEPY (in the good way) since I was like 12. It has a lot of themes that deal with "technology is evil" and "poets are cool dudes really" and also it does seem to be kind of defaulting to the Jesus meme... and I HAVE been told that the later books are not as good, but the first two are SO, SO AMAZINGLY GOOD, this author would have to start writing his books by bashing his forehead on the keyboard while drunk and on acid in order to make his writing so bad that I would feel compelled to give up on the series more than half way through. Also, they got a glowing review from my BFF's dad when I posted that I was reading them on Facebook, and that guy has good taste, so I'd say if you wanted a series to get into, go with those. ;)
no subject
(Anonymous) 2012-12-29 09:13 am (UTC)(link)I can understand the enthusiasm helping! There are a few shows that I don't think I'd enjoy as much if there weren't other people around that loved them to be share in said enjoyment with. Fandom definitely has its downsides and annoying moments (... as f!s proves to me pretty regularly), but it can totally improve on something given the right circumstances.
Thanks for that title! I will definitely have to look that one up, along with the other series you recommended. I really, really adore dark fiction and dark, creepy sci-fi is like, the best thing ever. It's been awhile since I read a really good sci-fi series, too, so that one is definitely going on the must-read list! :D
no subject
If dark, creepy sci-fi is your thing, I think I can say with confidence that you will love the Hyperion books. They don't even have the annoying side-effect of being about an intolerably obnoxious protagonist like the Thomas Covenant books are! Hyperion has numerous protagonists so if you don't like one, you'll almost certainly like another. The first book gives you 7 choices. The second book expands on that while having all protagonists' stories told through yet another main character's POV to some degree. That sounds way more complicated than it is -- and sure as hell is about 1/20th less complicated than the number of main characters ASoIaF tries to tell the story with. XD
And to give you a solid idea of what these books are like without spoiling anything -- one of the main characters who ends up having a lot more input on the story than others is an android clone of the poet John Keats. Other primary characters include a Catholic priest, a female private detective, a female politician, a black soldier, and a Jewish scholar trying to save his daughter's life. It's a fantastic novel in its diversity as well as the poignancy of its storytelling and the creepiness of its monsters. It's a very intellectually satisfying series so far in a way that ASoIaF doesn't even come close to. The only warning I would give is that it can get a bit graphic in the gore department (as interstellar wars can tend to be), but it's not gratuitous. It's straight-up good writing.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2012-12-29 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)