Falling Stars

It feels like forever since I last posted. And it seems like even then, I've mostly been posting responses to media I've consumed. I kind of miss all the conversations I used to have with people here. But then again, I haven't been commenting much either, so it's partly my own fault.

I do miss mailing lists and discussion communities. There are a couple of fandoms I've become excited about lately, and it's hard to find somewhere I can go and squee about them. I'm reduced to trying to remember who on my friendslist was squeeing about them several weeks or several months back, and hunting for those posts. It's so decentralised.

So what have I been doing lately? Well. Writing a hell of a lot of Amber fic. Most of which I will eventually post. (I'm hoping people won't be too shocked when they descend on the archives next Yuletide, to find that Brand/Martin has taken over the fandom.) It's been rather lonely though, the fic community being so quiet. It's like the polar opposite of the massive exploding fandoms.

Other things I've gotten into lately:

* The Hunger Games - Read the trilogy: brilliant and devastating and really just that good. Watched the movie: a great adaptation that captures the spirit of the books. I also want to say that, despite the whitewashing issue, I thought Jennifer Lawrence was fantastic. This time last year, she was Raven Darkholme. But now and always, she will be Katniss Everdeen.

* Revenge - It's the best feeling to watch something that everyone has been raving about, and to find that it really does live up to its reputation. It reminds me of Veronica Mars, of course, and like Veronica Mars, I think it would work best as a show that gives us one perfect season: everything laid on the line, and brought to a satisfying conclusion. I just can't stop watching. Smart people! Elaborate plans! The protagonist and the antagonist being women of resource and presence and complexity. Also, *oh, Nolan*.

* The Legend of Korra - Totally worth the wait. Korra is a great heroine, bold and active and determined, with echoes of the Avatar in her, but also clearly her own person. Plus gorgeous steampunk worldbuilding. Welcome to Republic City!

Just a note to let you know that I've been on an unexpected sabbatical from LJ, which has lasted well over a month. I'm sorry if I've missed important things that have happened, and I'll do my best to catch up over the coming days.

Man, it's been a while. I have about a dozen different things to post about. But because I have to get up early:

1. Fishers Ghost Festival in Campbelltown tomorrow! Woo! I grew up with the legend and never realised the reality lay so close to home, let alone that it had been adopted as a community celebration.

2. Yuletide nominations close in a little over twelve hours. Over 2500 rare fandoms have been nominated so far, and it is astonishing and delightful to see some of the names that have come up. Archy and Mehitabel! Prince of Persia! xkcd! And the fact that RPF has about a billion categories, from Film Critics to Heian Era to McCarthyism to Table Tennis.

3. NaNoWriMo is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Even though I've flamed out every time but the one, I am tempted.

Am back home safely. Luggage not so fortunate. Will hopefully see it in two days. Will post about trip when caught up on LJ and sleep.

There used to be a term for it in the old days - 'gafiate', from 'Getting Away From It All'. It was a way to describe the process of growing inactive in fandom, or the decision to leave it entirely.

I seem to have gafiated from fandom completely accidentally. Used to check LJ every day, and read fics, and download vids, and keep up with all the latest news. But somewhere along the line, real life kind of ate my online life. I'm still reading and watching as much as I used to - maybe even more - but I haven't been doing anything particularly fannish for a while now. Kept telling myself I'd catch up soon, but 'soon' is like 'tomorrow'. It will never arrive. There is only now.

So now, I'm here again. And I guess I've got a helluva lot to catch up on.

Not dead, only busy, and procrastinating like hell over my Manifest report. There is, in fact, a huge backlog of stuff I want to write, including reviews of all the things I've been reading/watching/playing lately, not to mention some long overdue War of Emperium reports. Well, I hope to get some of this out of the way over the weekend. Thank you for your patience, and normal programming will resume shortly.