I'm a slayer, ask me how.

Welp, we finished Season 4 of Veronica Mars tonight and I have feelings.



( obviously SPOILERS for the entire series )

In short: I watched Veronica Mars because I liked Kristen Bell. But Thomas' lazy writing was just too much and I don't think I will revisit the series any time soon (and I know some of this is on me, I had similar complaints about iZombie. I guess I hoped that perhaps the weakness of that finale was the distraction of Veronica Mars).

It's not Game of Thrones bad, just more disappointing. It would have been so much easier to fix these problems and make a better show, a quality show. It didn't need to have a happy ending and a tidy bow, but it could have had something that felt less manipulative and cheap.

This is a bit of a mini-rant but I was finally able to put my finger on one of my angry!fangirl triggers and it is entitlement.

For example: I wasn't a big fan of the finale of Game of Thrones. We've discussed it on here, my coworkers and I have discussed it, the whole world has discussed it.

THAT IS GOOD. That is what entertainment should do - start discussions. Even something as frustrating as the finale of a series, the one good thing it brings is discussion. Yeah, we were upset, angry, frustrated, and we all talked about it and it was great.

But then things got mean. People started petitions to re-write and re-film the show. First, it is insulting to everyone that worked on this show (I think rhoda_rants might have been the one to tweet this) - these people spent years writing, filming, editing, and more to create this show for us. They were paid to do their job and they did. HBO is NOT going to pay them to do it over. The show is over, the series is done.

Second, it is just so entitled and immature to demand that the artist remake THEIR story in YOUR vision. Yeah, their vision might have been poorly thrown together, a mess, not beta-tested, but it was their story. The end. Don't like it? That's fine. Tell people not to watch the show. Lament the mistakes. But how RUDE to demand such a thing.

One of the people I follow in Twitter (a random Star Wars fan that I'm still not 100% sure how I ended up following) has turned in to one of the whiny fanboys about the latest trilogy and it drives me crazy, but he mentioned GoT and Last Jedi in the same tweet and it made me realize something - one man's trash is another woman's really enjoyed Star Wars movie. How do we know there are not fans out there who liked GoTs ending? They might exist, but the constant screams of other fans have drowned them out. But should we make them feel bad about it?

I really enjoyed TFA and TLJ. Yeah TLJ has flaws, but I really enjoyed watching the story unfold. He tweeted something the other day about how the 'Rise of Skywalker' trailer looked like they would "apologize to fans" for what they did in TLJ and, again, that entitlement, that taking it personally. Star Wars is a franchise enjoyed by millions of people. For you to claim that your experience with the series is THE defining experience and therefore if you did not like the latest movie, the artists owe YOU an apology for not enjoying THEIR story...it's childish.

He's gone on some other tangent now about corporations owning the intellectual property and hiring "mercenary artists" to do their work and I feel like I might be done because that phrase is just very nasty sounding and sounds like he is done talking now. This happened before when we tried to discuss TLJ because he hit a ridiculous level and I decided not to follow.

*phew* sorry. It has just been bothering me and I keep responding. We're debating and it is a civil conversation but for some reason it just annoys me no end. Maybe it is because of the internet and that we have access to show creators in a way we didn't before and people abuse that power.

okay, done now. I think I'll play Monster Prom and clear my head a bit :P

I think I'm going to put a personal ban on books/movies/tv shows about robots/clones for awhile because I feel like I have experienced SO MANY of these "humans create robots/clones, they are better than humans, they question their place in human world, they rebel/run away/attack" stories that I'm just finding myself bored with them. After watching the 'Westworld' finale this past week, I happened to pick up Descender volume 2, which is about a robot rebellion, and after I finished that I picked up Lauren Oliver's Replica not realizing it was about genetically engineered people.

It was like a perfect storm of "humans always suck so bad" stories in a row and I need some more positive tales right now!

Just a random rant from someone who takes in far too much pop culture apparently LOL.

16: Rant about anything book related



Two trends that I cannot stand right now in publishing:
1. Making books into comic books. Just to cash in. GUESS WHAT - Percy Jackson sold FINE in book form! They made a movie out of it! We don't need THE EXACT SAME STORY told in comic book form. I mean, if it was like the WARRIORS series where the comics were separate stories, I could deal with it, but just taking books and making them comics, with no real style, just an obvious cash-in, blah.

2. "Young Reader Editions" that are the same damn size as the adult book. Look, if you're in middle/high school and want to read 'Unbroken', just read 'Unbroken'. If you're interested in Malala, read her autobiography, not the "sanitized" version that is the "young reader's edition". Either your kid is ready for this, interested in this, or they are not.

The ABSOLUTE WORST is when they make a young reader's edition, a picture book edition and then a comic book. (okay that last one hasn't happened yet, but give it time!)

Anyone else have any book/publishing trends that are pet peeves at the moment?

Disney announced Indiana Jones 5 for 2019.

There was also a Blade Runner sequel announcement that I either missed or blocked out.

After the awful, painful mess that was Crystal Skull, I had really hoped that Spielberg would just let Indy ride off into the sunset (which was the way Last Crusade ended...and should have been the end of the franchise. You don't ride off into the sunset only to show up again!)

And a Blade Runner sequel? With a 70 year old Harrison Ford? So it will have to be set 30 years from the end of the original...wait, which VERSION of Blade Runner is this a sequel to anyway?? Aren't there like 30 director's cuts?

I mean, who knows, maybe they will surprise me! Maybe I will watch these movies and it will be like 'Force Awakens', capturing the magic of the original films and bringing them to a new generation....

...'Force Awakens' was really an anomaly though. For every 10 reboot/sequel of a classic franchise, we get one good one.

After sitting and cooling down a bit, I was about to post a redaction of the "this makes me rage" post because of the issue with the quotes being taken out of context in the magazine, the images itself out of context from the magazine, the issue of public shaming etc..

Then my friend pointed out that the clips were from J-14 Magazine and I changed my mind. Because I didn't really care if they were from a magazine for adults, adults who have already made up their minds about feminism so who cares, but the fact that the "I'm not a feminist" quotes were from a magazine targeted towards 14 year old girls makes me upset. Unless there is a page opposite that says "I am a feminist" and has out of context quotes from Emma Watson and Taylor Swift. I mean, maybe this was a full spread on the issues...in J-14...yeah I'm doubting that but MAYBE!

Equal opportunity labeling.

As I think everyone on the internet knows, the big news this week was the Star Wars VII casting.

Honestly, I'm having a hard time getting excited about any new Star Wars movies. My expectations are pretty low, thanks to the prequels.

I'm also not excited about seeing "the gang" back together. I love and adore the original trilogy. It was what I grew up watching, every day. I read the Timothy Zahn novels and more so I've already been on adventures with the older group so that desire has long since vanished.

And I've seen enough reunion specials to know that it's usually not a good idea to get the gang back together 30+ years later. I already have an idea in my mind of what old Luke, Han, and Leia look like and it doesn't necessarily jive with how Mark Hamil, Harrison Ford, or Carrie Fisher aged in this galaxy. I'm worried it's going to be Crystal Skull all over again, more embarrassing than enjoyable.

What worries me even more is that Harrison Ford has always been disappointed they didn't bump off Han Solo at the end of Return of the Jedi. And it sounds like this is a one-last-adventure kind of movie and I would not put it past Ford to try to get his death scene in.

I also think the one two punch of Disney/Abrams telling the fandom that they were ignoring the EU, therefore making Mara Jade, Jaina Solo and other female characters no longer part of the story of this world and THEN having the single new female cast member in the line-up was probably unwise. There was going to be outrage anyway, but that bonus was just a bit hurtful. Even if the one female cast member is the lead of the show, it's still very unbalanced. (And also very white and European looking, though I don't feel like I've seen as much outrage about that? What gives? The IMDB page is almost laughable with the entirely white male cast and then the one black guy and one white chick at the very bottoms.).

I'm going to assume the inclusion of Andy Serkis means there will be another 100% CGI character.

Oh, and I trust J.J. Abrams about as far as I can throw him. He lied to me about LOST, he lied to me about Star Trek:Into Darkness -- I just don't trust him.

It's weird, and kind of sad, to not be excited about Star Wars. I still love the original trilogy and Luke, Han, and Leia are my childhood heroes. But I don't think we can recapture that magic again in 2015. Star Wars was a cultural phenomenon, it CHANGED the movies. But these movies will not change anything.

Oh how I would love to be proven wrong.