Elayna's ramblings

I think I've talked about this before... I love going to arts and crafts festivals this time of year. Support very small businesses, admire beautiful or tasty products, usually with my sis and we have a good time chatting while looking.

A couple of years ago, I started thinking about a McShep AU, where they worked as vendors, not necessarily as competitors, except in the sense that the customers may buy more from one than the other. And it would drive Rodney crazy, because he would have such a well-polished patter, he'd be high energy, engaged, calling out to people as they walked by, working to make those precious sales. But John would just be lounging in his booth, giving a flirty smile and saying a casual, "Hi" and be doing just as well as Rodney.

I was at a festival this weekend and started thinking about them as the producers as much as the salesmen. There was a painter, which is an infrequent but not unknown type of artist, and I could imagine John as a very big brush stroke impressionist type painter, swirls of paint and different colors, the kind of art that one can stare at and see all kinds of meanings within. Like staring at the clouds in the sky, and falling into the universe.

And it would drive Rodney crazy (poor Rodney, I like him agitated) because he would look down a bit on art that he sees as just throwing paint at a canvas. Rodney's art would be much more precise and detailed and take a ton of time. Though then I thought, maybe he'd be one of those artists who would do portraits of people's pets, and they'd be absolutely adorable paintings which people would love, but Rodney would feel a bit insecure that even though he made a very good living, it wasn't really 'good' art. It would drive Rodney crazy that though his work was much more technically difficult, John's would be just as popular from the number of people buying from him.

Then one time, the festival would be in John's town, and something would go wrong, Rodney's car breaks down as he's packing up. John would be nearby and offer that he could stay overnight. Festivals always end Sunday night, it's a crap time to get auto service. Rodney would appreciate the offer and they both would have sold a lot, so could fit all their gear in John's car. They'd have dinner at a restaurant or maybe John would offer he's got food waiting at home. Conversation would be surprisingly companionable, and John would end up talking about his process. Rodney would be more impressed than he anticipated.

Events would proceed from there. :-)

What can I say? Thinking about fictional characters amuses me.

There was an article in my local paper a few weeks ago (so paywalled) though from USA Today, "'Goated,' 'love bomb' among Dictionary.com's new words."

Among the new words added to Dictionary.com this year are:

Fanon (noun): The interpretations of and beliefs about a fictional world, held collectively by a fan community; headcanon.

Padawan (noun): inexperienced person, particularly one being taught by someone more experienced.

I'm happy to see padawan get its due as a 'real' word (though 27 years seems a long time, I wonder if that's normal?), but fanon is not headcanon. Fanon is indeed a collectively held belief, but headcanon is an individual interpretation. Maybe the definition was truncated for the newspaper article?

And yes! Looking up fanon on Dictionary.com reveals that headcanon is highlighted as a link, and the definition of headcanon includes that it's a personal opinion. Whew! I was going to be annoyed at the sloppy definitional writing but basic follow-up shows that the fault was the newspaper's, not Dictionary.com's. Presumably headcanon was also added this year, but the website doesn't include that info.

Fandom does seem to be getting more mainstream, I'm not entirely sure that thrills me. But at least if you use padawan and someone questions whether that's a valid word, you can refer them to Dictionary.com.

(There are 12 1/2 weeks left in this year and I have 18 FF posts to go. I will not be doing the bulk of them in December. Expect chattiness for a few weeks.)

During ConStrict, we chatted about the con's history, and I think Sian said it started in Vegas in 2001. I should remember, I was there! Me, Gloriana, Emu, Commodore Marie, her friend, and Sian around a conference table in a hotel (maybe Embassy Suites?), who would have thought I'd still be going 25 years later?

Sometimes I have a hard time explaining to people what ConStrict is. The whole 'we get together and talk' seems confusing to non-fannish people. But it is true, we get together with fellow fans and chat about meta or specific fandom topics, it's an annual injection of fannish togetherness and participation for me.

ConStrict is smaller than Escapade, so more informal. People suggest meta topics or what shows they'd like to talk about, Sian compiles a suggested panel list, asks for input, and makes a few tweaks from comments. There's a vid show on Friday, which Sian used to be solely responsible for compiling, though the last few years, people have been making suggestions so the burden is not all on her.

Saturday night used to be for group outings to dinner and a movie, though some years, the movies aren't appealing, and people get together to play games.

The hotel lets us into the pool early, for those of us who like a chat/swim before breakfast, and also allows us to stay late for the night owls.

The con used to be off-strip in Vegas, though in recent years has moved to Henderson, which is more reasonably priced, but still close to the Strip for anyone who wishes to do some touristing. This year five of us went on Sunday night to the burlesque show The Empire Strips Back at the Rio, which was a lot of fun.

The bulk of the attendees are still from the Master_Apprentice email list formed in 1999 after the premiere of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, but we have a lot of different fannish interests now, which makes for excellent conversation. It's great that so many people have been able to attend so regularly, it's lovely to catch up with them.

If you've ever thought about attending a slash con, ConStrict is small compared to Escapade, but very enjoyable to me and I find it easier to participate there. Two thumbs up from me.

I read Head Over Feet as a Reylo fanfic by ever-so-reylo, and enjoyed it. Fake dating trope with a Rey and Ben who were both at Stanford, Rey as the doctoral student, Ben as the higher level post-doc (IIRC, I never did much science).

The fanfic was taken down and published as The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood and I read that version. There were changes and I think overall I decided I preferred the fanfic (though I couldn't reliably list the differences now).

Sis and I watched it last night as The Love Hypothesis, a new romcom from Prime Video. I laughed quite a bit (appropriately), it's lovely to watch a romcom where the leads are charming and actually funny. Some plot points have changed once again, though the main highlights of the Reylo romance remain. I love that there are multiple women in science at Stanford and though there's one reference to men being uncomfortable, that's all. Women are smart! In science! Yay! But also the lead character has flaws and very human struggles while persevering in her academic studies.

Amusingly enough, the lead male actor in the Kylo-Ben role is played by Daisy Ridley's husband.

As far as I know, it's the first fanfic made into a movie. If anyone knows others, I'd love to hear them! I understand Red, White, and Royal Blue was written by a slasher but never published as a fanfic. Anyway, two thumbs up from us.

Happy Star Trek 60th Anniversary!

A thing I've always thought odd, when I'm meeting new people and it comes up in conversation that I like SF, and the first question is always: Oh, are you a Star Trek or a Star Wars person?

Like...why is this a competition? It's not a sports league, where only one team can win the final match. In fact, I don't think there's ever been a time when both opened a movie in the same year, much less on the same weekend, or each had a show on the TV at the same time. There's no need to choose. I usually just say I like both.

Which is true, I do! Though if it came down to it and I could only watch one... it would be Star Trek. Don't get me wrong, I love Star Wars, and Qui/Obi are the reason I'm a slash writer. I value the Star Wars universe deeply, but primarily it is space adventure with good vs. evil. The heroes against the fascists.

When Star Trek is good, it really delves into moral issues, how we are as people, how we interact with each other, what we value, etc. Mind you, not all the time. Sometimes Trek eps are just space adventure, or actively betray the humanistic values at the core of its creation.

But when it's good, Star Trek holds a mirror up to ourselves and our society and makes us think about who we are and how we want to be, and I love that SO MUCH.

Happy 60th anniversary and hoping for many more TV shows and movies!

#14: I'm watching Lanterns, an episode a week, old school! I don't know the Green Lantern universe (beyond the Ryan Reynolds movie and Nathan Fillion in the Superman movie) so I'm curious if Hal Jordan is really such a dick in canon, and if John Stewart's backstory is the same. But I'm content to wait to discuss until I'm done. It has been making me think some about being a superhero because of an object/suit/etc., or having actual powers. Being reliant on a ring that needs regular recharging seems oddly vulnerable.

#24: I finished Ride or Die and enjoyed it very much. So much friendship, female friendship, between two strong women who were very competent and skilled in their very different areas. I like to see female relationships being so important, it's a nice change from so much of our media being focused on romantic relationships.

#25: I finished Starfleet Academy. It grew on me and I enjoyed it. I was relieved it had a satisfactory ending and not a cliffhanger since I know it's only got one more season. Possibly my new favorite Trek quote: "What are we drinking?" "Something with a proof." Nahla Ake and Jett Reno.

(It's the end of August and I'm only at 25. I will not be scrambling in December to finish 50, I will not.)

I've started watching Starfleet Academy, though I'm only thru ep 4. So spoilers! Rambly thoughts.

It's growing on me a bit, though I don't want to get too attached since I know it's been cancelled after 2 seasons. It's taken me a little time to get adjusted. It starts after there has been some sort of catastrophic event called The Burn, which hasn't been well explained, except there was a very tough period for the Federation, apparently even worse for the Klingon Empire, the Betazoid walled themselves off from the rest of the galaxy, and who knows what else will unfold. I gotta admit I find this starting strange. On one hand, it does give the main authority figure, the Admiral, a chance to regularly talk about how Star Fleet is coming back and its values and what it needs to stands for. But also, it's like... the city view of San Francisco looked full of tall buildings, only two of the cadets seemed to have a backstory touched by this devastation, I'm just... feeling adrift in the historical setting.

The main cadet character grew up primarily on his own (thanks to Star Fleet's abandoning their values during the Burn) and has manpain from his mother having disappeared, and one of my friends rolled her eyes and was, oh my god, a series centered around manpain. But he is black so at least it's not a white guy's man pain? And I'm hopeful he'll find his mom, so it's not a dead woman causing the angst? Anyway, I'm starting to like him now that he's settling down and focusing on his studies.

I confess, I'm not keeping everyone straight yet, and the one cadet who can survive in space and the Betazoid cadet look way too much alike. Everyone seems to have complicated backstories, which riff off Star Trek history. The Jem'hadar instructor is half Klingon! The Klingon cadet is a pacifist! One cadet is a hologram! etc. So one hand, it really seems like a show designed for Trek enthusiasts who would appreciate all the twists, except on the other, the Burn. Which changed everything and what exactly that means is going to be slowly pieced out.

But! There are moments that could be really slashy, and that always makes me happy. One pic here: https://www.tumblr.com/m-elayna/826308462241824768/sometimes-i-find-starfleet-academy-very-slashy

The end of the second ep, and the Betazoid is rooming with two other guys, and he's: "We’re roommates bro! Star Fleet for life! I love you bro!"

Then the guy who can survive space starts scolding the manpain guy about making his bed, "What are you doing? Tuck and fold. Tuck and fold." And they start making the bed together.

Which makes the Betazoid happy. "Bros making bros’ beds! I love to see it."

And I'm like... Me too, dude. Me too. Let's have lots of young men doing domestic chores, I can jive with that.

It is a show about the Academy, so that has been a change. I'm used to most Trek eps having the pattern of going down to a planet or meeting another spaceship in space and fixing something. And this is, prank war! Cadets on sports teams! It's a very different rhythm than most Trek shows, which threw me a bit but I'm adjusting.

I've always liked Holly Hunter, I like her Admiral, even the bare feet. (I'm not sure why she's supposed to be over 400 years old though. Is she only half-human or are humans supposed to be living that long?) Robert Picardo back as the Doctor, yay! Canonical lesbian couple, yay! The cadets are growing on me!

Anyway, my plan is chunk thru the remaining episodes and then catch up on Strange New Worlds before ConStrict, so I will be able to discuss all Trek then.

Is it weird that I'm disappointed that only the Kurt Russell movie gets mentioned? Come on, Josh! You had a perfect opportunity to bring in SG:A!



I'm very grateful The Daily Show exists to add some levity to the news, and Josh Johnson has rapidly leaped to become one of my favorite correspondents.

The newspaper had an article on upcoming TV awards (Emmys?, no looks like it must have been the Astra or Dorian Awards, he's been nominated in both), so I scanned through the nominations and the writer's suggestions of who should win, looking to see if there were any shows that I should try to watch. And Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was nominated Best Actor... in a Comedy.

And okay, looking back, I can see some characters that seemed exaggerated or situations that were a bit absurd, I guess those were supposed to be funny? I don't think that series made me laugh.

I know my sense of humor often doesn't mesh with what Hollywood thinks should be funny. Absolutely might be a 'it's a me, not a them' situation. But I'm still... Wonder Man was a comedy?

It has been renewed for a second season, I'll probably give it a try. The end of the first season seemed like it would lead to a somewhat different second season.

I zipped thru finally watching season 3 of "The Mandalorian" this week and yesterday I saw "The Mandalorian and Grogu" with friends. Since "The Mandalorian" began, Barbana and I go back and forth regularly where I say, "I just don't like watching the mask, I want to see his face," and Barbana responds with, "But he is committed to The Way!"

In season 3, a group of Mandalorians have gone on a rescue mission, it's night, dinner is handed out... and then they all separate to hide among the rocks to eat their meal, leaving the leader the honor of sitting by the fire, so no one sees anyone's face. Because that is The Way, no one sees your face once you put on the mask.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry Barb! I think it's freaking stupid and weird. I don't get The Way and I'm not going to. How do they live their whole lives without ever seeing the facial expressions of family or friends? To never know a person's smile, to wipe their tears, to see age lines develop? How do they fall in love? I guess it could be argued that it's a purer love, not influenced by physical attraction? Do they have sex with the masks on?

But watching this 'separate for dinner scene,' I did think: wow, I appreciate the Klingons more. The obvious love that the ST:TNG writers had for the warrior culture and its blatant sexism, to even the point that Picard never cared about the treatment of women in the Empire, was always annoying to me. But you know? At least when the Klingons go on a mission together, they feast together and smile and laugh and glare and boast at each other. They understand the importance of expressing emotions.

So for The Mandalorian, I guess all I have to say is... Grogu is cute.