#beyondthedreamline

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

No. 18 end of year books?

hello! thanks for asking!! referencing this post:

18. How many books did you buy?

.,,.,.okay i have Disclaimers for this, which are primarily (1) i have NO shelf control, and (2) i partook in subscription boxes this year (which i've never done before but was fun), and (3) i was curious from LAST year when someone asked me this so i kept very good track this year and (4) THERE WAS A SALE where a little going-out-of-business press was selling their entire remaining inventory for Very Cheap (read: i got 14 weird books from across the pond for $80) and that nerfed the shit out of my total lol

so what i'm saying is this number is Significantly Higher Than Usual and i spiders georg'd myself several times about it but please don't judge me too harshly lmaooo

anyway i have Acquired* Ninety-Five (95) books so far this year

*(please note that Acquired does include books that were gifted to me or that i won in giveaways or ARCs that my fave indie sent me because they're awesome. it's like at least 10 free books, which helps!)

mostly i sourced these from one of three (3) of my fave bookstores--Downbound Books in Cincinnati, Prologue Bookshop in Columbus, or Brilliant Books in Traverse City. honorable mentions also to Joseph-Beth in Cincinnati, Bookshop.org, and HPB!!

ALSO also please note that of these 95 (and yeah i'm going for an even 100 so we'll see how that shakes out), i have already read 33! these are the hazards of most of one's current library being boxed up and thus out of reach--i've been reading lots of new acquisitions by necessity (and i plan to read several more before the end of the year!)

[ghostcat3000]

📷beyondthedreamline said: Same for me! The sense of what Veronica had lost was so powerful.

Thank you, @beyondthedreamline!

I appreciate the love for that one since it was a hard sell and difficult to explain content-wise.

from this meme, ask away. I’m on AO3 here.

[ghostcat3000]

Our fandoms don't really overlap right now but I always love your writing so spoiler me on something!

for this meme 

This Rest Easy aka SKAM Insomnia AU spoiler isn’t very vague (did I mention how bad I am at this meme?) but Sleeping Beauty figures quite prominently. A detective investigates a crime in a city where the sun never sets and can’t sleep. He meets someone and it feels as if they were waiting for him to wake up. There’s a slight dreamlike element that creeps in and it’s partly the insomnia, partly love, and partly a curse. Or maybe it just feels that way. Someone’s a movie buff anyway.

thank you for asking me for spoilers, @beyondthedreamline!

*

ask me for fic spoilers! I have many work-in-progress fics in various fandoms and I am very bad at this clearly.

[ghostcat3000]

For the honesty hour, what about describing your dream house? I watch too much of House Hunters and now people's opinions on architecture fascinate me.

My dream house would probably be a 1930′s wide brick two-story monstrosity.A little mock tudor. With a yard in the back.

On the one hand, it would be totes ugly on the outside. On the other, the commitment to ventilation is outstanding, so much good airflow. Also, good distribution, big rooms. Not too art deco ornate but still keeping some of those touches. So less fancy cruise ship, duller, but also practical without losing all those rounded archways and corners.

LOADS of light.

Room that can double as a dance studio for whenever I want to practice my Fosse moves.

I love Victorians but I think they’re too tough to heat.

Failing that I’d take a saltbox.

But I’d love a secret room. Because I’m a nervous wreck with PTSD and would love to have somewhere I know I can hide in.

[ghostcat3000]

beyondthedreamline replied to your post “Ghostcat Update: Fandom Bizness has not turned into a SKAM tumblr, so...”

Very best wishes with all things medical. I have no idea what SKAM is about but your commentary is, as always, enough to get me curious!

OKAY SO. SKAM is about a bunch of high schoolers in Norway navigating the complexities of the emerging self and other fun stuff like first love and heartbreak and friendship. It is not condescending in the slightest towards its characters and does a lovely job of giving real weight to the stuff they’re going through.

There are only four seasons and each season is devoted to a different lead character (that we have already met in other seasons as supporting characters). Episodes are short and often funny and the acting is pretty terrific and in some cases, truly outstanding. It can be watched for free with subtitles on Dailymotion.

As a bonus, SKAM is something of a phenomenon and there are versions of this show from other countries. SKAM Italia is pretty hot stuff right now. The interesting part of the bits I’ve seen is how the characters change subtly from culture to culture. It’s a show with its own AUs.

[ghostcat3000]

I think I've told you this before, but 'The Rotten Ones' is one of the first Veronica Mars fics I read and it's still probably my favourite, though there's tough competition from the other 'All Things Go' stories. It has such a bittersweetness. It made me like Piz for the first time –his POV as the outsider, the one who wasn't there when it all happened, who would inevitably be left in the rearview mirror– and also made me ache for Veronica, who had so many ghosts behind her, some still living.

OH MAN. The Rotten Ones. I have struggled with other fics for longer, worked harder on them but nothing will top the difficulty of writing that one. You know I don’t like Piz, everybody in the Veronica Mars fandom and their mom knows I don’t like Piz* BUT I was determined to write a story where that wasn’t the case.

In fic, it’s super duper easy to write characters you can’t stand as people you can’t stand, it’s the default. It’s SO HARD to write them as decent if flawed people and see them with empathy because you have to overcome your bias and bias is a bitch.

On a related note, that story was a gift to the marvelous @petpluto who is a phenomenal person and happens to write beautifully about people not being their best but somehow still being the people you love the most.

Thank you, @beyondthedreamline. 

*three words: cat food kisses

Tell me what your favorite story of mine is, if you have one! From this meme.  

[ghostcat3000]

beyondthedreamline replied to your link: III. Rondo: Allegretto Moderato - Ghostcat - Call...

I have not read the book, I have not watched the movie, but your writing is so lovely it yanked me in and now I am INVESTED.

Are you seriously reading it without knowing anything about the book or movie???? @beyondthedreamline, I love you. That is some hardcore fic readin' business and I have ASCENDED.

[ghostcat3000]

beyondthedreamline:

I’ve got to say, I wasn’t very interested in Kylo Ren after TFA, but the direction he took in TLJ hooked me in. I’m emotionally invested in his crash and burn life now. If only he knew how much he has in common with his grandfather – not the sleek, polished version produced and directed by the Emperor, but the boy who ached with every terrible decision he made and went on making them. I’m not here for Kylo having a redemption arc, I feel he’s quite thoroughly blown his chances there, but maybe the assumption he’ll get one is part of what’s putting people off? Adam Driver’s doing an amazing job, though.

There’s also a predominant narrative of coolness surrounding movie villains, to the point where I think viewers get confused by a story that bucks the trend. There was a bit of that going around when Loki had a more comedic part in Thor: Ragnarok, which I personally thought did wonders for his characterisation but proved contentious among fans who thought he was being mocked. The thing about Kylo Ren is that he’s TRYING SO HARD. He’s bought all the accessories! He wears black leather and a helmet and a billowing cape! He flies a tie-fighter and yells at his underlings! And he’s still not cool. You get the feeling that everyone in the First Order is gossiping nastily behind his back about his latest meltdown, and Hux is doing deep-breathing exercises before every interaction. These are the wannabes who looked at the tragedies of recent galactic history and decided to take them as an instruction manual. They are terrifying. They are not cool. That’s very good storytelling.

It seems such a waste of time to spend all that energy on hating a character, and I can’t see any reason at all to hate the actor. But this is the same fandom that apparently loathes the three prequels so much that liking those movies is a controversial opinion, so…I don’t know. That’s not the fandom experience I choose to have. Your meta was really interesting, I’d love to hear more of your thoughts about TLJ.

Ha ha ha, totally. No one on Kylo Ren’s side seems to actually like Kylo Ren. Even his own side hates him. Which seems like a very deliberate choice to make? Why make a bad guy that cannot lead or get much accomplished from a tactical standpoint, whose underlings seem genuinely afraid of on account of the constant room-destruction and impulsive decision-making? 

Look, there is no way Kylo Ren can go back to being “Ben Solo” without there being a massive price to pay. No one wakes up from a bad guy coma unscathed. Narrative demands a reckoning. But what will it be? Now that his mother has died? Carrie passed away and they’re not recasting so I’m guessing Leia will be gone by the opening crawl...so WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN???