This Twatlighter is (mildly) impressed

Okay, guardian_kysra, you asked for it. And atlantian_magic, I owe you an apology: (Sorry about railing on you for Twilight. But there's a qualifier to this apology, so read on.)

( I LOL'd )

Spring has sprung (the classes, that is)

Okay, got my classes. Even though everything went as expected, for the most part, there were a few hitches. See, I'm paranoid about trying to enroll in a class and it being full. Turns out the reason why I couldn't get into two of my classes wasn't that-- it was one class needing department permission (which I'd forgotten about), and one having a boatload more prerequisites than I remember when I originally looked it up.

I'm actually kind of bummed about that last one, because it was a Web Design class that was a prereq in itself for ANOTHER Web Design class-- in other words, I could have fun this semester and next semester. But it has a prereq of ART 200, which has prereqs of either ART 124B, 140, or 141. All of these are basic classes if you're an Art major, but I'm not. Not to mention, the vast majority of those classes are a) lower division (meaning they fill up quickly and usually be filled with freshmen) and b) not all that interesting sounding. Oh, and c) they don't count for credit in the Journalism major because they're all part of the College of Arts, Media, and Communication.

So, *sigh* no web design classes for credit for Mer. It would have been nice to either reinforce what I already know or learn some new tools, but CSUN sure as heck makes it hard to take classes involving computers without a bunch of lousy prerequisites in unrelated subjects like drawing. -_- (The same thing applies to the Photoshop classes... argh! I wish CSUN had programs like my high school did with Digital Horizon and the Richmond Beacon.)

Anyway, Spring 2009 is slated like so:
* Mondays:
4:20pm-6:45pm Shakespeare Plays (3)
* Tuesdays:
9am-12:45pm Contemporary Issues in Food and Nutrition (with Lab) (2/1)
1pm-2:40pm Yoga (1)
* Wednesdays:
11am-1:50pm Introduction to Biology Lab (1)
2pm-4:50pm Principles of Public Relations (3)
* Thursdays:
1pm-3:45pm Environmental Geology Lab (1)
* Fridays:
Off - all day at work, probably

Because of the crappy new class search tool, along with budget cuts (most likely), all the other classes I found had qualifications, i.e. If this class, NOT that class. So given that I got all my necessary classes, I had to choose the "fluff" classes based on other factors. I'm grateful that I got what I did, but not proud that I spaced at the last minute and didn't count out all my units. I added the Yoga class simply to get to 12 units easily. Of all the above classes, I don't need (to graduate, that is) Yoga or the Foods Lab. The others are all necessary in some way or another, either for GEs, my major elective, or my minor.

So... yay? Hopefully my books won't cost too much money this semester. At least for Biology and Geology, I'll still have my books from THIS semester, though I do think my Biology book (which is an eBook) might "expire." In which case, I have awesome notes and have been downloading all the lectures offline. :P

Twilight means never having to say you're kidding.

Not that I will, but IF I DID, any "Twilight" series fics I write would have the following plots (or answer the following questions):

* Why Bella is in love with Edward

* Bella acts more like a normal teenager: when she decides she might like Edward (note: not "irrevocably in love with" yet), she opts to try some very teenage ways of "getting his attention" as well as testing his limits around her (once she discovers the truth about him, but maybe before she confronts him about it/he tells her), including trying to seduce him.
- Does Bella even know she's doing it? Ohhh yes, especially when (by accident -er, happy chance- or some actual THOUGHT), she discovers he's stalking her in her bedroom at night.
- She also teases, which may end up answering the question "How do vampires get hard-ons?" My ideas of tease are not like fandom's, I would think, but then again, venturing too far into that fandom is like walking into the Jaws of Death, so....

* Bella had dreams of a career once... and watching [cable] TV reminds her of them. What does Bella consider being -despite being a vampire, or before, or...? (This one would obviously depend on which book/movie it took place in or between.) Bella as a CSI? A chef? A therapist? (If Carlisle can be a doctor, why couldn't Bella feasibly find a job? Or would her youthful appearance be her downfall in getting one and keeping one -at least, a live, in-person job where she DIDN'T travel, MIGHT be out in daylight, etc.?)

Fic, in this case, is not to show what wasn't seen in canon, nor does it exist to take some fascinating characters and put them in another universe (whether that's another canon or another universe altogether). It's to answer questions or explore characters in ways that SHOULD have been done in canon.

( Twilight, thematic messages, and Meyer's injections of LDS lore into the books )

You know what would be awesome? If there was a site (or if FFnet did it) where people had their fics and you could add your real-time commentary as an overlay-- a'la Nico Nico video.

Because seriously, the commentary I'd be leaving on the FFnet section of "Twilight"? So much more worth my time than an actual well-thought out REVIEW in that fandom. I'd get lambasted if I even tried to give what I consider true concrit (which, in my mind, is not a synonym for "endless praise,") and I know it's not worth the effort. But quick-play commentary with full anonymity? I'd tap that. Somebody, make it happen!
Such an idea might come back to bite me in the ass, but I think overall it would help people improve and give those readers who never review a chance to say just WHY they don't usually bother, whether or not they've got more than the usual "LOL UPDATE PLZ" one-liners.