green tea in the morning

1. artillie reintroduced me to A.S. Byatt. Words that evoke heady visceral reactions are the kind that I'd like to write easily, and don't. (They were useful in my drabble days, too)

2. Speaking of writing: Don't go to workshops expecting praise for your writing. I feel what the post says about wanting validation.

3. There's a saying in wuxia that a hero is surrounded by beautiful women. (Which is a topic for another day) Liang Yusheng seems to think that a heroine tends to be surrounded by men whose personalities aren't as forceful as hers, and, sometimes, whose martial skills aren't as flawless. And said men do often admire the heroine for being knowledgeable, experienced, etc.

4. Thanks to spammers and more than 100 comments on my domain blog per day, Wordpress deleted previous comments, and no one can leave new comments either. The AddThis widget has also gone missing. I'm thinking of uninstalling Wordpress and start everything anew. Unless my dwcircle has a better suggestion? Tried signing up for Akismet but it won't get past the sign-up page.

5. RL-ish. ( And some silliness )

1. Writing lesson of the week: Two women in a story should both know at least one other woman, so they could talk about her instead of the men they're acquainted with. I'm talking about women who are close but not comfortable enough with each other to discuss persoal issues.

2. This poll wants to know what you'd like to read in your romance novels, other than white, middle-class, het couples. Open to anyone, not just romance readers.

3. . My posting schedule for polybigbang is December 2! Phew. That means time to go over the story one or two more times.
. imaginarybeasts could use more submissions for the historical Asia issue! Submission rules here.
. Notes on this year's NaNo + excerpt.

& A poem to practice your English pronounciation with.

& Looper: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a killer who dispatches of people sent from the future. When he fails to eliminate Bruce Willis, aka the older version of himself, the movie tries to point out alternate possibilities and offers red herrings that are too obvious.
Tbqh, for many minutes I couldn't stop noticing JGL's make-up and how it's supposed to make him resemble a young Bruce Willis. To me it makes him look like a leaner Hugh Jackman, lol idek. I find JGL's acting understated as usual and Bruce Willis looking more tired than he should.
Though it came as no surprise, it still aggravated me that the casting director only needed a pretty 40-something Chinese lady for manpain and exoticization purposes. Xu Qing's acting skills are totally wasted.
Emily Blunt is a single mother raising a young son. This is a trope I've often seen ever since I started watching US TV series and movies. Is there a single mother with young son character, where she doesn't get threatened and rescued by men for a change? Though I like how the mother and son are written in this movie - she's believably tough and he's not, as the saying goes, Disneyfied.
And via snowynight: Why time travel stories should be messy.

& Writing updates:
Finished and submitted the draft for polybigbang. No one is likely to make a graphic for it, so I'll probably make one myself.
I still haven't decided what to write for NaNo. (Okay, so this is not an update) Anyone I haven't friended yet on the site? My username is eve15.

1. Kuroko no Basket: Always curious about this one - Why does none of the bespectacled characters wear goggles on the court? Is it no longer trendy, or are there health concerns now?

2. In one of the current WIPs, the character set as the villain is attractive-looking. That means he should die. Characters shouldn't be spared death just because of their looks.
I read the brainstorming notes for this particular WIP and they're more exciting than the current plot. Time for some restructuring.

3. Saint Seiya Omega 22: ( Comments )

Idols:
Indonesian - The making of JKT48's Heavy Rotation PV. That PV seems very (Indonesian) family friendly compared to the original.
Korean - Teen Top's CAP apologizes for his shocking comment. TW for mention of child abuse in his comment, quoted in the article.

Writing:
. Browsing through my WIPs and abandoned ideas, I discovered that I once started a wuxia story which also has kids with superpowers. In retrospect, that feels redundant, since this is wuxia where people can be on the move for days on end or fly across rooftops.
. Turns out there are only two kinds of villains I can write: the cool, calculating one and the revenge-driven one. Nooo.

Saint Seiya: Am rewatching the Dead Boyfriends Asgard Arc. Expect ranting in the near future. What's funny is that, anime filler though this arc may be, it has a scene that passes the Bechdel test (Saori and Freya talking about Hilda). Can't remember any scene in canon for which I can say the same.
Manigoldo Gaiden ch 5: ( Tsk, tsk. )