Damn that was sexy...

I don't know how many people have been keeping up with JK Rowlings' lawsuit against Steve Vander Ark and RDR books, but it's pretty important. In the wide scope of things, and the smaller. The basic fan entitlement in HP fandom has inspired me on more than one occasion to request that some spy come swipe the more egotistical fans (hello, Cassie Claire, Heidi Tandy, and Scribbles) off the internet. Not death. Just...off the internet. Where they'll no longer be allowed to try and pretend being popular online does fuck all in your offline life. Yeah. And HP has got a shit ton because of the size and different divisions. Of course, all fandoms have those divisions, but most don't have the same scope and size. So that's going on, all the time. God the wank and drama could have kept the Titanic floating into harbor.

Okay, back on topic. So, the basic idea is that the Harry Potter Lexicon, a very well-known and supported website, was edited to be written up as a published book. Now, in fandoms, one law is this: don't try to make money off copyrighted material or you'll be eating out of a tube for a couple years after the massive smackdown that will accompany it. When Buffy was still on the air, Fox sent out a lot of cease and desist orders. Though the Fox case was very unfair, since the internet community is what draws in more interest, and Joss Whedon was all for it and even posted on the official forum, but it still holds that talking and exploring the canon is what keeps people interested. Just check out any fandom on LiveJournal. People migrate and take their friendslists with them. How the hell else do you explain Fall Out Boy otherwise?

SVA, because it's shorter than the moron's name, has decided that after JKR said no to his own, or working on one in conjuction, to print it out. And he went to this no name publisher in Michigan. Which all you Michigan people might wanna hide your face in embarrassment. No, seriously. SVA, a middle-aged fanboy in epic portions of Star Wars standards, has been compared to Elvis. Oh, yes. And as one community I'm on says, it only works if it's drugged out, fat Elvis. It sure as hell isn't the cool one. And that's the more tame versions. He's been asked about it in the past and has publicly stated that if he had/did not obtain JKR's permission, one would never arrive. Except that was a total lie apparently.

I'm not a fan on lawyers, just not. Sorry. But I want buy JKR/WB's lawyers enough drinks to float all of JKR's money on a barge around the world. Because they are just that damn awesome. See, I have issues when authors start to get nervous because their fans turn out to be horrible people and try and take away well-earned profits. Can we say hell-to-the-naw on that? Good. We just did. RDR needs to just shut up, let it go, and admit defeat. You can not print an encyclopedia of work without citations, or almost exclusively all JKR's words (be it verbatim or paraphrased) and expect to get away with it. You can't. Sorry. So I'm all for SVA getting 500 lbs of Get-The-Fuck-Out-Of-My-Fandom shoved up his ass and make him walk funny for a long time. It doesn't work in college, and it's not going to work in professional life.

Fandom is my downtime. It's where I can squeal and giggle or rant up a storm about something I happening on a show or in a book series. It's where I can write up what I was missing from the source, or what I think was missed in an effort to condense. There' s also friendships. I've made many a friend through fandom, and several I would consider my best friends that I've met offline as well. It's more a society unto itself. And there are some very basic laws. If you go against them, you're gonna hear about it quite loudly. Self-policing is working wonders for the most part.

JKR is not Anne Rice, meaning she does not belong in the sanitarium with the Riddler from the 3rd Batman movie. She does not beat down anyone that disagrees. Nor does she forget those awesome things called paragraphs. She's given Lexicon an award for the dedication and work. Just like she has six or more others. It has nothing to do with giving them permission to print her copyrighted, non-public domain work as their own and profit. That's actually the number one of fandom behavior, I believe. And the sad part is that SVA has fans. I didn't see it, but remember when Jar Jar Binks came out? Yeah, the frothing people who hated him have more intelligence than these yahoos. Seriously.

I am just amazed at the stupidity of people taking SVA's side, when he's clearly in the wrong. Just because she's extremely rich does not give them permission to profit off of it. Hello, if you want to make money, write your own damn stories. There's a difference from critical analysis and copy/paste. One is fostering discussion, and the other is a reference material.

In case you're interested, here's the Justia link where you can find out all the documents we're allowed to see. I truly can not wait for this royal smackdown. When you're playing in someone else's sandbox, you don't pee in it. And I will positively have this lady's offspring. Because damn that was hot. Almost as hot as JKR saying SVA wasn't a fan. God I love intelligent smackdowns. Especially declarations that basically call SVA a pompous windbag. One should note that he went for quite a while not updating anything, and part of that was through RDR's orders. I know before the 6th book came out, most of the larger sections had barely any information past the fourth. (Poor Ginny had no information for her awesomeness in Book 5.)

Run By Posting

Good:
I passed my math test with a 90. Not bad for me. Woohoo. Must find out Socio test grade. Skipped Wednesday. Vomiting snot will do that to a person. Also am on antibiotics so I'm not death warmed over. More like death slightly reheated.

Bad:
I'm on antibiotics. In case you're wondering why that's on twice, it's because they make me feel like my insides are trying to crawl out of my skin. It's a tad...different. My mom's sick, though. I'm playing her nursemaid now. Not too bad, really.

Ugly:
My stupid history team! Seriously, people, it cannot be that hard to clarify what you mean when you give me a freaking subtopic: "changes in Japanese-Chinese writing until 1500." Yes, because that's helpful! I have no info for them, even though they have mine. Grah. WTF, people? Contact information is essential when the presentation due Feb 7th is 20% of our grade. I want at least a B damn it. THREE hours looking for books in the Georgia university library system, and most of them aren't at my campus. I kinda hate these people now.

Also, I have to read at least 59 pages in Socio by Monday. Read 20 pages for Religion by Tuesday. Make up a stupid brief summary thing using the Chicago style - which, let's side bar and ask who the everloving crap uses that style exactly? And how do you make it function?! - about a book I haven't read yet because the library just got it. So you know, I'll be perusing Google and looking to see what the book is about. Yeah. Dude. I also have to read about 20-30 pages for History for our regular classes and make a freaking summary for extra credit, but I might skip it. Because fuck it, my plate is full.

All that by Tuesday for the most part. Good lord almighty.

I haven't read up on everyone's posts, but I hope Sue's mom is fine, and that everything turns out awesome for the family. Excuse me, I need to go read a ton of work now. I'll be back when the world starts spinning on it's southeastern axis that hasn't been discovered yet.

But! Before I go, I need to do a quick little woohoo for a writer. I've been really impressed with her work, and you'll see the name attached to my sidebar of websites. Eileen Wilks is on Kelley Armstrong level with me. Which, is like, I don't know walking up with the writer gods in my estimation. She's just that good. I could see the worlds meshing in some in-between alt world and working. Because the writing is that detailed and just. Grah. Awesome. Eileen writes werewolves, which, YAY, because I'm not a big vampire fan. I love werewolves more. And she's such a nice writer. She's not pretentious on the 'net, very down to earth and pays attention to what the readers say. That's a very good gift to give readers, because it makes them want to read and absorb everything said. I have Night Season sitting on my nightstand to read Thursday night. Even if it's gonna kill me to wait that long. Just. Yes.

Fly Away

Well, this won't come as a shock to anyone who has spoken more than two words to me before, but I'm a cynical romantic at heart. Ah, I know. They're kinda opposites. Actually, there's no kinda about it. But I am very much someone that wants others to be happy (unless you're stupid enough to land on my 'choke on shit and die' list). I don't mean happy in general. I mean bone-deep, beyond content, looking at the world and feeling like they can do anything...with someone by their side to help when the tumbles and scrapped knees appear. What can I say? Mush McMushy on the inside. But that's not to say everyone needs someone. Just that it's nice to have the chance to share and not bottle stuff up because no one else is around to hear it. After all, friends do have lives that don't revolve around you.

But there's the cynic part. Where I don't think personally I'll find it. I know I've probably discussed this before, but hell if I'll look through the posts to find it. But the thing is that I still cry when I see certain movies, like that Leprechaun one. I also cry at the episode where Will on Fresh Prince meets his father, who ends up tossing him aside for other reasons. I've subtitled the episode "To Hell With Him" after that ending scene. I'm a complete and utter sap. Seriously. Though, I laughed my ass off at Beaches, Terms of Endearment and Titantic (Dear Rose & Jack, you're both dumbasses).

So I get this great big gooey crying fest going on every time I happen to run across certain movies and scenes. I've stayed up the past two nights to see the Leprechaun movie. Which is odd, because I really need to be asleep before 6am, but I can't seem to stop myself. Sometimes you just need that crying fest. And the chance to just enjoy the sappy. And I could quote the scenes to you. It's one of the reasons I can't hate Sci Fi entirely. They give me good mini series to watch (seriously, did anyone else watch Tin Man?).

It's no wonder that I enjoy fandoms, because I can read and enjoy the stories (while ocassionaly scoff at the really bad fic). Kinda like planting myself. Hey, at least I don't write Sue inserts anymore. I consider this progress. But the really good writers can make you feel that you're in the scenes, watching them unfold. The same thing with movies. A really good mushy scene is more than really bad dialogue. It's the emotions. Which is probably why I cheer on Frank Sinatra's character in Young At Heart, even though he's an ass.

Hey I'm not totally shallow girl here. I mean, hot boys (and a few girls) are nice. Really nice. But it's not everything. It doesn't make me connect with the characters, and want them to have a happily ever after. Does make bad movies more enjoyable, I have to admit. If only Jessica Alba didn't look like a bad peroxide job half the time, I might finally put her in that category. Well, her acting isn't what's keeping me interested. Ahem, sorry. Tangent rant.

And now that I'm done babbling, I'll be going to bed. Vacation and Christmas posts coming up in the next couple days. We're finally catching up with everything after Wrinkles. All I'll have left is one load of clothes to dry. We had like six.

Hell In A Handbasket, YAY!

Okay, I know it's been forever since I updated. Like half a month. Sorry! I've been torn between school, writing, taking mom to the doctors, reading urban fantasy like crazy, and trying to stay awake. Oh, and laughing my everloving ass off at the stupid at the Lexicon people. In case you're unaware, the Lexicon is an online encyclopedia for Harry Potter. And the editor and owner, Steve Vander Ark decided to publish this. Yes, he did indeed decide to publish an encyclopedia of copyrighted material, and thought it could pass off as critical essays.

His publisher (and him) decided to ignore a lot of JKR and WB's requests to see the manuscript and if not, than to cease and desist. Let's just say they were slow enough to be left behind at the bus stop, kay? And the publisher, from Michigan (haha, Michigan peoples, you get the crazy this time), has compared someone protecting their intellectual property as a police state, the Japan bombings, David and Voldemort (yes, you read that right), and David and Goliath. You really can't make this stupid up, I promise.

The best part was SVA asked JKR to write an encyclopedia with him, but she refused, so he did it on his own. On her website, she gives out awards and stuff for awesome websites that are informative. Lexicon has been around for something like at least five years. I was in the fandom for awhile and used to occasionally look over if I forgot any info for a Potter story I was writing. Though, it was rarely about Harry himself, because I wanted to kill the little bastard with all his whining. Seriously, dude, your parents aren't bugfuck nuts and can't remember you exist because of them. Shut up already. I swear, I shipped Harry/Buffy (of Vampire Slayer fame) for a damn good reason. He could probably be slashed (same sex) with Peter from Heroes, too.

Anyway, the ironic part is that JKR didn't mind the online version because it was a good resource that even she had used once or twice. And it didn't try and profit off her work. Yeah, boyo missed the Common Sense Boat and fell straight into Entitlement River of Denial.

Ahem, there's a buttload more, but a) I don't think you care and b) it's more time consuming to know than MsScribes was. And that bitch got minor press coverage. All the RDR Books (publisher) vs JKR stuff has been happening since Halloween. I love it when celebrities give me presents on holidays. But he fucks up Fandom (as in all communities about any and every show) I will be forced to run up there and kick someone's ass...using a shovel.

I'll be going to Florida the second week of December to the third. I'll have the computer, but I don't know if the hotel will have wifi. We'll see. I have my final the night before we leave. Next semester I'm taking four classes. Woohoo. Intro to Anthropology (I'm hoping this teacher doesn't harp on evolution like my other attempt at my first college did), World History to 1500, Intermediate Algebra (read: the second semester of my stupid math), and an online Geography class.

I have a lot more, but I'll talk about it later. I need to get to bed. I still have to write about 3500 words tomorrow to catch up, and do some errands.