Calling all Shippers:

I just had me a thought. (after reading a fanfic about a couple from the Squire's Tales book series, wherein the daughter enjoys watching her parents just be together)
Ooh, this thought may require my explaining the word ship. (as pertains to fandom/romance/etc)

A 'shipper--contraction of relationshipper--is someone who supports the idea of two characters being in a romantic relationship. Mostly, this 'shipping' business involves grinning like a madwoman any time your chosen pair interact in any mushy-type bits. You know the characters, you like the characters, and you know that these two characters are just perfect for each other. (Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett, Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, River and the Doctor, Guinevere and Arthur)

Sometimes you ship two characters not in an established relationship (*cough MollyxSherlock, MerlinxMorgana, cough*) and construct very elaborate headcanons which explain their being together. sometimes you can grasp at straws for proof (*"look," she shrieks, pointing at them smiling at each other, "they like each other! I knew it!"*) and sometimes it makes sense, but the bottom line is that you know they would make a good couple and you like the idea of it.

I hope that explained it...because it's one of those irritatingly hard things to explain. Like Doctor Who. Anyway.

My thought:

My parents are in a relationship. And they are canon. And, as their daughter and a self-aware shipper, it is my duty, nay, my privilege, to support said relationship. I'm, uh, kind of blanking on ideas, but knowing all the fic ideas and fandom jargon including Shipper On Deck and what have you, I'm...hereby swearing to support Mom/Dad (oh stars. I've just thought of a perfect ship name...) in whatever means possible.

And also asking for ideas because how on earth does one even...I'm thinking doing dishes and paying for dinners or whatever. Someone get Mary Watson to exist, since I'm sure she'd be perfect at this. Anyway. Who's with me?

*walks away, still pondering ship name and any and all ways in which to get two people fluffily happy*

Peanut Butter Oreo Mini Cheesecake

Salute me; I have discovered, through that most honorable method of following one's stomach and taste, a recipe--nay, a dessert, a perfection--full worthy of the ingredients it be composed of, namely Oreos and cream cheese.

Hush, ye inner voice which whispers that my recipe was in truth invented long before I stumbled upon it. Hush, and allow me to relay it.

Okay, Shakespearean talk over. I discovered a single serving cheesecake recipe by scrounging around the kitchen while craving cream cheese, oreos, and thinking that probably peanut butter would go well with them. I love it. It's creamy, takes twenty minutes or so, and I'm of the opinion that it epitomizes comfort food and would be good for the heartbreaking plot twist which would usually occur at the twenty minute mark. I'm currently planning on making one before I watch the Christmas special, so it's ready when I need it.

Anyway. The first time I made this, I wasn't measuring anything and was tasting after each addition, and upon gaining Mom's approval and concurrence of its deliciousness, I decided to make it again (half because she wasn't feeling good and I kind of let her eat it so I needed to make one again anyway) and write down the recipe. So. here it is.

Separate 3 Oreos, placing the cookies in a sandwich bag and the filling in a bowl. Using a rolling pin, finely crush the cookies. Melt 1 Tbsp butter in one ramekin (or whatever dish you'll use to hold your mini cheesecake). Stir the cookies into the butter until completely blended, press into the bottom and put in the freezer. Take the filling and, using a butterknife, crumble the filling. Set aside. (I hate doing more dishes than I need to, so at this step I pour it back into the bag I used to crush the Oreos, leaving the bowl open for the next step.) Microwave 2 oz cream cheese in the bowl for 10 seconds. Stir until smooth. (It doesn't need to be completely softened, just smoother) Put 1 Tbsp peanut butter in the same bowl as the cream cheese, but do not stir. Microwave both the cream cheese and the peanut butter for another 10 seconds. Stir together until completely blended and smooth. Add 1 Tbsp sugar to the cream cheese mixture and stir. Remove ramekin from the freezer and spoon the cream cheese mixture onto the cookie crust. Take Oreo filling and sprinkle over the top. Put back in the freezer.

I haven't actually conclusively measured this last bit; I think 10 minutes would be fine, but I usually end up forgetting about it until 20 minutes later. When I take it out it's firm and cheesecake-y and perfect. And it only makes one so you don't really have to share anything more than a bite. :) It is rather rich, though, but I just ate half of it, saved it and then ate the rest. It works perfectly.

So there you go. Happy eating, and feel free to wiggle around with the recipe, since I think the first one used more cream cheese and was better. Also may need more butter. not sure.

Enjoy!

Fairytales Reviews Announcement

Fairytales.

Odd things, they are. If you were to open a book and begin to read about a kind, hardworking girl with great beauty, her two awful sisters, their scheming mother, a wonderful handsome prince who does nothing other than search out the beautiful girl and marry her, thus making her a princess...it sounds like a Mary Sue fanfiction, doesn't it?

Yet Cinderella has always been well loved.

It makes me wonder if there is a difference between opening a book that you know is a fairytale and one that isn't. In fairytales, such things as true love and virtuous heroes and heroines can happen and do happen and are looked upon as nothing strange. And I’ll admit, the second part of that is fine. Heroes are supposed to be good. The fairytales tell morals, more often than not (for instance, you are greatly rewarded for continually having a cheerful attitude despite being forced to work as basically a slave in your own home). But why do we love them? What is it about magic and true love and spells and breaking of spells that just...settles something within us? You finish one and the adult part of you is saying, "Yeah, that really didn't make much sense and the characters--" and the childish wonder in you is just sighing in contentment at the world, because the girl worked hard and was rewarded for it. Even if it had a 'bad' ending, it was usually for a reason. The girl was selfish or vain and was punished for it.

Perhaps that's it. The fairytale world has its rules, and they are followed. You know it will happen, you expect it to happen, and when it does you are content.

However, the adult part of you that has gone through courses on Literature and knows terms like 'characterization' and 'plot' and 'suspension of disbelief' doesn't quite like the simplistic nature of fairytales and the blind faith you sometimes have to have. (The twelve dancing princesses danced every night because they did, okay? No other reason is needed.) Childish you still loves them, but adult you realizes they could be better stories.

And lo and behold, you find these wonderful books called 'fairytale retellings'.

Ah.

Oh, joy. They are the fairytales we know and love, but they make sense! The characters are believable! The plot advances in the way it should! And best of all, (as I've already said) it's still the story you love that you grew up with and the guy gets the girl or vice versa and good triumphs in the end and everything.

Suffice it to say, dear readers, that I have discovered the wonderful realm of fairytale retellings. I have already read a couple books within said genre and am endeavoring to figure out how to write a review about them, which will appear shortly. New Year and regular posts and all that. :) Sides, my blog is becoming a book review platform...I'll add a couple movies later. (Also I might try reviewing a soundtrack? *clears throat* I’m not saying I’m obsessed or anything, but I’ve found that the soundtrack for Thor: The Dark World tells a story too. And other movies, like—eh. Yeah, I’ll probably do that.)

Anyway. Expect to see Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, also by Jessica Day George, Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis, and any others I manage to get my hands on. Speaking of, any recommendations? Hey-please-read-this-and-tell-me-if-it's-any-good requests? Starflower-involved-a-kiss-by-a-prince-and-therefore-counts nudges? It’s-a-whole-new-fairytale-so-do-it-anyway logic? Seriously, anything.

Feed me the books, dearies.

Book Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Okay. I agonized over this review for a long time, and this is the only way I could figure out how to do it. Herein is contained a review for the book Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. It is written from the point of view of myself, at this current time, to a past me wondering whether or not she should read the book.

Dearest Past Me:

I know you’re ramping up for another NaNoWrimo. You’ve set an impressive goal for yourself (and sh, spoilers, but you’ll make it. Did you think you wouldn’t, with a reward like that?) and you’re just waiting for the clock to turn to November.

And you’re reading the pep talks, excitedly soaking in their knowledge and wisdom. And you found one from Rainbow Rowell. You remember that name, sort of. Last year, didn’t she write a pep talk? Something about her book… ooh. You see the title, and…

Fangirl.

It was about an introverted girl going to college, moving out of her comfort zone, and learning how to get on without her fandom. You were already sort of invested by that time, and just knowing that it was written by a fellow Wrimo— you had to read it.

You look it up, of course. After all, we read very well, and we remember almost everything we read, so it wouldn’t make sense to read something we don’t want to remember, right? And not just having a badly worded, awkward string of words in your brain, but even if it were the best novel ever written, if it upheld values that you do not, you would regret it.

So, you were somewhat disappointed to learn that Fangirl was about a slash writer. ‘Ah well’, you said. ‘I didn’t need to read it anyway.’ But you’d wanted to.

You moved on, achieved your goal (and if it was harder than it should have been, it was entirely your own fault for procrastinating). Then you piddled around in December, and somehow or another again found Fangirl.

You sighed and ordered it from the library, knowing you’d regret it if you didn’t. You were also probably procrastinating on editing your novel, come to think of it.

So you settled in to read it, and found that you should have anticipated the language right of the bat. Honestly, you should have seen it coming. College, I-want-to-be-cool, it should have been apparent. But it wasn’t too bad, so you continued. You found that, as expected, you quickly identified with Cath, the main character, as she set up her desk and fandom posters and laptop, and sitting there was relaxed in this new environment. You’d done much the same thing when you house-sat, several months ago.

You loved the little inserts of the (fictional) Simon Snow books. You smiled at Cath’s rather extensive introversion. You wanted her to succeed, to break out of her shell. You loved the little excerpts of the fics she was writing (though, of course, you felt awkward when it was even just a little bit slashy). You really wanted her to succeed in her Fiction Writing class.

You didn’t really like the one character, but you knew she had to be there to forcibly break Cath out of her shell if need be. Ah, she needed it, so it happened. And then you began to worry, when it seemed the focus of Cath’s growing up and into herself was going to involve boys. ‘Should have known’, you said to yourself, eyeing the modern setting with distrust. But really, what do you know about it? You’d never been in love or dated (we find the concept too much like preparation for divorce to even want to), so maybe this was normal. This whole thing was like an entirely different culture.

You settled in, and found yourself cheering on Cath. You felt for these characters, and you lived along with them, and you only wished they did not make the mistakes they made. You knew it made them more realistic, but still… During one scene, you grinned like a madwoman and whispered, ‘Never let a shipper write’, but then took a look at yourself and your huge smile and amended your statement. “Always let a shipper write.’

And then… ah, but you should have seen it coming, and maybe you did. You realized college was famous for several things. Partying and… land, we’re still too shy to say it. “You know”. Not that it was explicit or anything, but there was still the fact that it was there, and that Cath and her friends viewed it as normal and not anything to get worked up over. You didn’t like that. You especially didn’t like how they—and it hurt to think that maybe most of your peers— viewed virginity as something to lose. Ah, we still don’t like that.

No, and by the time the ending rolled around, you were incredibly conflicted. On the one hand, the ‘just-viewing-as-a-fellow-author’ hand, the book was wonderful. It was well-written, the character arcs were believable and more importantly gripping, the plot moved forward just as it should, and everything in this vein made Fangirl a wonderful book.

But on the other hand, the Christian hand, the one where we review books and movies with regard to the morals they uphold— ah, on that hand, Fangirl falls short. And we’ve spent over a week thinking about it and Pointedly Not Writing a Review About It, and just spent most of the free time this day held hashing out several versions of a review, until we hit upon the brilliant idea to write a letter to our past self. And all we can say, really, is—

Write your own.

You don’t need to read it, and you probably shouldn’t. It’s not a bad book, but it’s so maddeningly gray and the line is so infuriatingly blurred that you’ll still be able to say, with a mind on Paul’s verse and the guidelines there (true, pure, lovely, honorable, of good report, etc), that… oh, we can’t even tell you to look it up on Wikipedia. This book is driving you crazy right now, and reading the above review it occurs to me that you’ll still want to read it. You’ll have to, by now. It’s so…accurate, in how it portrays a fangirl. But it’s just the whole dating thing that you still can’t get over. The fact that she didn’t wait, even though he seemed to be one to wait for. He was there for her when she needed him to be, and…

I still don’t know.

But, past me…

Know that it is going to be a small culture shock. Know that she holds a different worldview than you. Know that you and she are similar. Know that you don’t need to read it. Know that, if you do read it, the smiling moments where the author understands the fandom, understands fanfiction like you don’t, the moments where Cath and Spoiler are interacting and setting off your shipping detector and everything is fluffiness, know that those moments are barely making up for the moments where she makes poor decisions on the spur of the moment, and where that is left open to interpretation by the author as good or bad (though she does let Cath’s mind tell her that her logic is miserably flawed). Know that you still don’t know what to think about this. Again.

Write your own.

Really. A Christian fangirl’s struggles…your struggles…come on. Next November, you should give that back to your fandoms. Get to know yourself a bit more.

But regarding Fangirl… aha. I’ve got it.

I wish I could recommend it to you. I really do. But I can’t, not wholeheartedly, even though I still want to. Land, but how she understands us… I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it. For better or for worse, only part of me (a strong part, the one that has a fanfiction.net account and wants to learn how to play I Am the Doctor on piano and discovered writing motivation from Hebrews) recommends it.

I just want you to know that.

--Sincerely, Future You

(Still not entirely sure about this, but it's bugging me enough that I need to get it out. Also not sure why my inner editor will only review books in second person or whatever you call that...)

The Royal Ranger

So this is a review, of sorts—no spoilers, promise— of the Ranger’s Apprentice book 12, The Royal Ranger. It… I don’t know if you’ve read them. You should. If you haven’t, go out and get the first one, The Ruins of Gorlan. Then the next eleven. Really. I can whole-heartedly recommend them. Go out. Read them.

If you have— if you’ve read the ten books, you were probably ecstatic when you found out about the eleventh.

And then, you found out John Flanagan was writing a twelfth book.

A twelfth book.

You were probably so excited, so ready to dive back into this world, to reunite with the characters you’d grown to love.

And then you discovered, when he released the first chapter a few months ago, that John Flanagan had apparently taken cues from people like Steven Moffat and Rick Riordan and Bruno Heller and had decided to do something unspeakably evil and horrible to our dear Will (the main character of the series). You were probably furious. You probably wanted to shower Will in coffee and wrap him up in hugs and fluffiness while you fixed everything.

But…

It seemed to fit, really. Ranger’s Apprentice has never been a light, fluffy, happy and bright series. What with Will in Skandia, or Arridi, or Halt in Hibernia… you knew that this was going to be a rather bumpy ride when you picked up the next book.

But they always, always, came through. The Rangers practice until they never get it wrong, and you knew that even if it seemed hopeless, it wasn’t. They never failed. And the books were always all right. Will was unflappably cheerful, even when he was dying, and Halt could be relied upon for snarky humor and hard steely eyes striking terror into the hearts of wrongdoers, and Horace…dear Horace. Oh, they wouldn’t have gotten very far at all without Horace. Or their horses. You knew you could rely on all of them.

You knew you could count on the author who had brought them to life.

So, carefully, desperately, you either bought or ordered the book through the library because you live in a small town and the bookstores didn’t have it because you don’t have a proper bookstore and you waited impatiently until it finally arrived and you bribed your sister with doing dishes so you could read it first, and you sat down to read it.

And it didn’t disappoint. You’d had time to sort of at least kind of come to terms with Chapter One, but it still stabbed at you and you turned the page and hoped to high heaven that Flanagan would make everything all right.

And to your absolute surprise, page 26 made you smile. “Thank you, Jenny,” you thought, and you continued. Page 28, and you laughed. You were laughing, and smiling, and your sister noted this. You stared at the book in amazement, remembering those awful months of having nothing to go on but Chapter One and how everything was very much not okay and yet here you are, with a Ranger’s Apprentice book, grinning at the clever Ranger witticisms and cheering the sarcastic horses on.

(I mean that. Both the sarcastic horses and cheering them on.)

It was exactly what should happen. You tore through the book, and this new apprentice made you smile as you remembered wittle baby Will going through the same things and you cheered everyone on and they surged ahead.

You finished the book, and you were grinning widely and smiling happily and confidently, and you went upstairs and rejoined the world. “It was everything a Ranger’s Apprentice book should be,” you informed your sister.

“Danger?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Halt?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Horses?”

“Definitely!”

And you were beaming, and you thought that it was okay. This ending, this twelfth and final book, it was okay.

…

Because he’s going to start another series, right? Not over? Right? There should be a new series, Rangers Apprentice: The Next Generation or something. He can do that, right? Because this wasn’t quite like Book 10, wrapping everything up, or Book 11, tying loose ends and filling in holes. It was… something new. It felt more like a passing of the torch than anything.

Please, John Flanagan? Pretty please? With coffee?

(so basically, fellow Rangers, don’t be afraid to pick up this book. It’s okay. It’s going to be fine. I’m not spoiling anything, but it’s absolutely all right. Honestly. What did you think, that Will would be permanently struck down by something? Psh. It’s like you don’t even know him.)

A Verse For the Christian Wrimos

I have recently--actually, not that recently at all but I am a procrastinator but I am also doing NaNo so I have an excuse for not getting on here so hush--'recently' come across a verse that I found applied to writing, life in general, and our spiritual walk with God.

I have, in the course of my life, come across this verse, but had never really read it in the all-encompassing 'everything is NaNoWriMo' glasses we wrimos tend to wear in November. so I had never applied it to writing, but it fits. Really well.

(Oh look at that I dated it because it was from a Bible study...on the 14th. yeah, procrastination can be blamed for you not having it. especially since I wasn't even writing Part 2 yet so...*shakes head despairingly at self* anyway here we go)

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

(Hebrews 12:1-2)

You see? Totally a writing verse. And I never knew... (though I have thought of God as the infallible, perfectly orchestrating Author before, which was from this verse, I guess)

Let me break it down for you. 'Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses' equals, pretty much, the vast number of people we have told about our ambitious writing endeavor, which is, as some of you might not know though probably do if you saw my older posts, the goal of writing a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. And, as we have told everyone we know, pretty much, that we are doing this, they get turned from the ambiguous 'friends and family' into 'guilt monkeys who will probably stare at you in accusatory glances if you should fail'. yeah. Having the lot of you out there, knowing we are doing this, means a lot to us. Really. Without the threat of embarrassment hanging over us, many of us would never finish.

Not that we're going to let you read it immediately, of course.

anyway. next part. 'let us lay aside every weight'--this translates to 'everything that distracts us from writing', which can be anything from the Internet in general, to movies and tv shows (Behold my impressive self-control: I have not watched the Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary special yet, and not only because my sister would kill me if I watched it without her-- I am writing, and my self-imposed goal is not to watch any of these things while doing so. after all, if you have time to watch an episode, you have time to write, and if you have time to write, you need to write.), to books, to lounging about on the sofa thinking about writing. Doesn't count. Lay aside every weight which ensnares us.

'And let us run with endurance'-- Every day, each of the 30 in November (or the 6 at the beginning and the last 15 if you did what I did which I do not recommend), you sit down at that computer and you write. If you miss a day (I have! I missed one! Entirely my own fault but I needed to be there to add helpful facts that greatly increased the enjoyment of my father when he watched the Hobbit for the first time. but yeah. my own fault. could have gotten up earlier and written.), if you miss a day you make it up. You run with endurance. Keep writing.

(hey, what are you doing here if you should be writing?)

'looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith'-- this stretches the parallels a bit, gets into more of 'the actual intent of the verse', but here we go. When we set out to do something, we find who else has done it, and finished, and use them as examples. For noveling, it's looking at others who have done the same and listening to their advice. (the pep talks given by the folks at NaNo are wonderful, wonderful things of joy and happiness and inspiration and encouragement. shout-out over.) For living the Christian life, it's watching what He did and doing that. The old saying 'what would Jesus do' is still applicable, though it should really be 'what did Jesus do', since... it really seems backwards to think of the Creator of the universe as someone you can pretend to know, in and out, well enough to guess what He would do in any given situation. Sort of. This is confusing. I'm suffering from sleeplessness; it's NaNo. sorry. um...yeah. utilize examples given.

'who for the joy'-- Why are we doing NaNo? We are writing a novel. In 30 days, we want to be able to look at our finished novel and say "I wrote a book." And because we can, we are going to be able to say "I wrote a book in thirty days." This is the goal we are aiming for, the glorious overconfidence given by our egos fueling our fingers as we pound away at our poor keyboards, each word getting us closer to that wonderful 50,000 mark, the treasure at the end of the quest, the goalpost we're running for.

Come November 30th, I will be able to say, and hope you will be able to say with me, "I am a writer. I write books. I wrote a book in thirty days."

For all the Whovians

I don't know how many of you read this or will but in the interest of re-giving the cheer and smiles and giggles and happy flailing I have just indulged in, I bring you:

A preview for the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special.
(co-starring DAVID TENNANT AS THE TENTH DOCTOR)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn9Ss9rZMcU

(sorry, couldn't figure out how to stick the video in the post. but still. ugh spoilers I wish to gush because...

well here. forget spoilers.)

I give you...

Ten in a fez.

I repeat.

The Tenth Doctor in a fez.

David Tennant in a fez.

IT'S THE TENTH DOCTOR IN A FEZ

TEN

FEZ

HE LOOKS RIDICULOUS

I LOOKED MORE RIDICULOUS FLAILING AND GIGGLING

I DON'T CARE

THE TENTH DOCTOR IS WEARING A FEZ!

*clears throat*

Sorry about that. I needed to vent.

*coughs to disguise ear-to-ear grin*

A very, very, special anniversary is coming up. Stay tuned. It's going to be a blast.

*skips away, chanting 'Ten in a fez'*

*posts in the semi-delirious midnight state known to some as 'night-blogging' and doesn't care*