SPEW Babble #44

Ah, Bollywood. I really liked it when I first got here--it was fun and colourful and they danced and sang (I've always been a fan of musicals...). But now, ugh. It's lost it's charm. Two of the biggest movies of last year (that is, 2010) were movies I just could not get into. The main point of them seemed to be to have the characters get into as many fights as possible and this was supposed to be ~hilarious and I was just like, No. And the two biggest songs were really annoying and the dances were supposed to be sexy but in fact were just ridiculous. >.>

*sigh*

But there is this one movie my little brother watches like every month that I absolutely adore. :)

*skips off to do the survey*

Oh, also, Jess--your post in the April review thread made me giggle. :D

--Mere

I'm not double posting, Soyara post jumped. >.> I am spamming the babble, though, because LJ is down, boo. Not that I really have much to say, haha.

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Originally Posted by Soraya

Which one? I'm pretty well-versed with Bollywood movies. My favourite's probably Main Hoo Na. It's so funny!

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hmm...let's see if I can get the name right. It's Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani. Somewhat recent, but old enough that they show in on tv all the time. I also like Sholay. Lagaan was predictable, but pretty good and it taught me a lot about cricket just in time for the cricket world cup. :D 3 Idiots is a bit cliche, but I like it as well--especially since I despise the Indian education system and it shows how messed up it is. ^_^

I've never read anything by Jodi Piccoult, though I've heard she's good. I intend to, but I just have so much else to read...

Danielle, you make me miss French class. :[ The other night some friends of mine were talking in French and just. ♥ I think that language will always be my ~one true language love.

Do you read HP fanfiction (or any other kind of fanfiction) on sites other than MNFF? Which are your favorites?

I've read some stuff on HPFF, but honestly, I find that site so confusing. >.> I think I've been on FF.net once or twice, but never found anything interesting. I've never really had the desire to read non-HP fanfic, though. Some of my friends have fiction journals on LJ, so I read the stuff they post there, which usually just means it's a bit smuttier than the stuff on here. ;D

--Mere

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Originally Posted by Mere

Oh, also, Jess--your post in the April review thread made me giggle

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Hehe, I felt it necessary to link something else besides one review. :)


Do you read HP fanfiction (or any other kind of fanfiction) on sites other than MNFF? Which are your favorites?

I agree that HPFF is scary. I went there once, read a brain melting fic with no plot and abominable characterisation, and never went back. I've never been to any other Potter fan fic sites, although I have had some run-ins with ff.net. That place is just bloody scary. I just... I don't even know what to say. For every one readable story, there are ten absolutely abominable ones. It makes me scurry back here in a hurry where it's nice and safe and moderated.

Mere: Yes, I understand exactly why you watch that movie (can't be bothered to write the title again) so many times. It's lovely. :)

However, my favourite Indian film -- I doubt it classifies as Bollywood -- is Slumdog Millionaire. Yeah, that film had me in tears. Beautiful and it deserved every award it got, especially considering the budget.

READ JODI PICCOULT. I am telling you, you will be in tears once you're done with Mercy. I'm in the middle of A Change Of Heart and I think it's amazing. Still, each to their own. *coughAlexyoushouldgiveheragoagaincough*

Jess:

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I agree that HPFF is scary.

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Too right, Jess! It's unbelievable how many times they rejected chapters from me and just because there was kissing, I needed a "Scenes of a Mild Sexual Nature" in it, which made no sense at all.

Paige:

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As long as it's readable, and doesn't label a couple making out on a sofa "scenes of a mild sexual nature" instead of "scenes of a sexual nature" (although said couple is dressed and keeping hands from roaming naughty places--yes, I'm using a personal example) it's approved. Very frustrating.

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I think a lot of us have got stories about HPFF. Just the other day, another MNFF author (Northumbrian) said that he had overrated their story and that he's still in HPFF mode. Haha. Still, I post on there because I do get some reviews -- albeit not as many and not even half as thorough as the ones on MNFF.

Even so, I can't remember even one time I've ever come across a decent story on HPFF. It's unbelievable -- they're so picky in some ways but in others, they really don't care. It wouldn't be that much of a problem if they were as prudish and picky as they were if their strictness extended to grammar and punctuation.

I reckon on MNFF we have a very good mix. Not too prudish and lots of correct-spelling-and-grammar-ness -- everything in moderation is the key, if you ask me.

EDIT: Gah, the Nargles have attacked again. This is after Paige's post.

Do you read HP fanfiction (or any other kind of fanfiction) on sites other than MNFF? Which are your favorites?

I post on a few other sites, which makes me look for stories to read so I can give reviews as well as receive. FF.net is my favorite because it's like a mega chain bookstore with a wide variety of genres available. It's self post, so although there are guidelines stating spelling check and proofreading for grammar errors is expected, there's no real quality control. I pick through the stories the same way I'd pick through the bargain books in Barnes and Noble.

At least there are specific pairings in specific categories on FF. HPFF is misleading because you click on Rose/Scorpius under "popular pairings", for instance, and see 2008 stories listed, but it's a false number because they allow up to three story genres and five story pairings and then post your story in all those categories! Also, their "validations" are only based on ToS compliance . . . and grammar and spelling aren't part of that. As long as it's readable, and doesn't label a couple making out on a sofa "scenes of a mild sexual nature" instead of "scenes of a sexual nature" (although said couple is dressed and keeping hands from roaming naughty places--yes, I'm using a personal example) it's approved. Very frustrating.

Other sites make me appreciate MNFF, especially from a SPEW point of view. While I've had a response to a review now and then that showed the author wished I'd limited myself to praise and left out concrit, :D, I've never, EVER been told "I don't care about that. I'm writing 4 fun."

I used to read on FF, but the quality is so much better on MNFF it's kind of pointless going anywhere else. And since I started putting stories up on MNFF my formatting/ knowledge of grammar has got so much better that I get annoyed with poor grammar even more than I already did before my grammar was up to scratch. If that makes sense.

And Soraya, whilst I don't think I'm going to give Jodi Piccoult another chance (oddly was just talking to a friend about her- he,very unfairly I think, said he thought Spenser was as bad to her (that is the Spenser who wrote the epic Elizabethan poem "Faerie Queene" ) I do agree with you about Slumdog Millionaire. That was a brilliant film- I watched it again the other day and it's fantastic.

When I was in India (yes, I know I was incredibly lucky to be there- I'm desperate to go back) I watched, I think "Houseful" and thought it was funny in a light-hearted way. Though there was one scene which was supposed to be in Italy which was very obviously Kensington Park Gardens (I've babysat too many children there/ been babysat there too many times not to know that place well) where a monkey attacked him.

And there was another film I saw on a bus about a guy with schizophrenia. But they still burst into song at random moments, which I started to find weird. Can't remember then name.

Do you read HP fanfiction (or any other kind of fanfiction) on sites other than MNFF? Which are your favorites?

I have accounts on both FF.net and HPFF, but on both sites you have to wade through all the crap to find anything good. There are a couple of fics on both sites that I’ve really liked, but I spend most of the time I’m on fanfiction on MNFF, because they seem to have a much better overall quality.

We've mentioned one-liner reviews and duplicate reviews. Would you prefer not to get them?

I like getting one line reviews. Obviously, I prefer to get long ones, but I don’t object to being told that fabulous. Duplicate reviews are kind of annoying, but they’re usually an accident, so it’s not a big deal.

On Jodi Picoult

I’ve read several of her books, and they didn’t really impress me. She really seems to write with a formula, so they just get boring. The plot of each book was so similar; it just got very very repetitive. All her books are about a murder, always touching upon a controversial topic, then pick a random person, who towards the end it’s suddenly revealed that they had a major part in said murder, and don’t forget that at least one woman and man, who aren’t a couple, but will be later, have to randomly jump in bed together and have sex. (Oh and it’s preferable if the man and woman probably shouldn’t be in bed together (i.e. the attorney and the defendant’s mother or the judge who was previously in charge of the murder trial and one of the investigators, the list goes on and on…)) I enjoyed her books in fifth grade (don’t ask why I was reading them then), but now I find them a bit to formulaic for my taste.

-Meg

Meg summarised my opinion of Jodi Piccoult pretty well, except in a far more concise and less angry way than I would have. One thing I'd also add is that, at least in "My Sister's Keeper" she had a bit of a cop out ending. Given I think I may have just ended one of my stories with a cop out ending this may be mildly hypocritical, but I'm spotting the flaw in both so that isn't hypocritical?

And i thought of the title to the sequel to Thin Red Lines, but it was just as I was about to go to sleep so I did not write it down. I've spent all day trying to remember what it was, and completely failing. However during my third last lecture of term I thought of the title for my OF, which made the forty minute walk there and back into college for just an hour lecture completely worth it. And actually remembering my glasses and therefore seeing what the lecturer looked like properly for the first time.

I'm iffy about Slumdog Millionaire. It is a really beautiful film, but it only captures a tiny, tiny part of India. I've only seen it twice. The first time right before I left because my parents insisted. Then everything was really surreal and I was unable to properly focus on anything. The second time was like a month or so ago while I was here. That was weird. I laughed at all the things they Americanized. >.>

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Originally Posted by Alex

I watched, I think "Houseful" and thought it was funny in a light-hearted way.

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My favourite part of that film was the dad who kept walking around talking to everyone in Gujarati. :D (I'm in Gujarat)

Wow, I've had this tab open for a long time and can't think of anything else to say. Apparently, I'm all babbled out. So...I leave you with a TQ:

How did you get started reading fanfiction? Reviewing it?

--Mere

All right, it seems I'm fighting a losing battle here. *buries head into Jodi Picoult book* But, in the case of My Sister's Keeper, the film is better than the book and, more importantly, has a different ending. This ending, I think, is more plausible than the book's one, and it works better as it's true to all of the storyline except the ending.

/end rant

Ah, Alex, titles. They are such a pain in the backside, honestly. But yeah, I'm like you -- I think of them at the weirdest of moments. My first OF novel, I thought of the title as I was coming out of the loo. I just had the "aha!" moment while washing my hands, LOL. But that was one title I was never fully happy with, but I was being pestered for a title so had to stick to the one I chose. In fact, the only titles I'm fully happy with are my fanfiction ones, like Checkmate and A Different Kind Of Magic and, my favourite one, Excruciatingly Painful (poems are way easier to name than stories/novels).

Which brings me to my next question:

When you've just discovered a chaptered fic and start reading it, do you review each chapter as you read it or do you wait until the end? Does this irritate you if someone does that with your own chaptered fics?

On an extremely random note, the weather is gorgoeus here. What's it like down your neck of the woods?