elapses | HELLO.

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HELLO.

SO I LEFT CLASS EARLY TODAY TO DRIVE MY DAD TO THE DMV, only to discover (in an ironic twist, seeing as I had his car) he was gone. I called him and he said something about "having two meetings" and he's going tomorrow instead, but he didn't want to bother me in class. WHICH, WHATEVER, but isn't telling your daughter not to come get you so she doesn't ditch her next class for no reason (especially after last week, OH GOD) what text messaging was INVENTED FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE? >:(

WHATEVER, WORLD, I AM GOING TO BE A STUDENT-DELINQUENT AND SIT HERE AND WATCH LAST NIGHT'S FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.

Idk if you remember my purse dilemma, but I ended up buying the blue one from the place and about a week ago I got the package, and inside was NOT, in fact, a strawberry purse, but the ugliest little faux-leather crocodile wallet I have EVER seen in my life. I emailed them about exchanging the thing I got for the thing I bought, but I think the guy misunderstood me, because he was all "well we can process your return for AMICI ACCESSORIES STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE and refund you and then you can buy a new purse!" BUT I DO NOT WANT A NEW PURSE, I want to be free of ugly crocodile wallet, and I want the purse I bought. YOU FUCKED UP, AND YOU SHOULD FIX IT. I really just need to call them, but I keep remembering at odd hours :( Except for now, when it is actually the middle of the day. I have no idea why I am writing a whiny LJ entry instead of calling them right now.

But I actually didn't decide to post so I could be fussy, I wanted to make a poll about the pimping of new fandoms (and pretend, for the sake of argument, that the new fandom in question is not something you have seen everywhere already and have whatever preconcieved notions about-- it is new, relatively fresh, and you do not):

[Poll #1300985]

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The other thing you mentioned was the exclamation points-- I'm so wishy washy about them too, because coming from certain people I find them exciting and an indication of how much I might love something, but coming from others they're... tacky.

Yeah, it's not sometimes for me either, BUT I FEEL LIKE SUCH A CRABBY ASSHOLE FOR EVEN THINKING IT, because who am I to dictate who gets to appreciate a wonderful show?, BUT STILL. Actually, though, that kind of thinking is pretty much why I can't imagine throwing out the show I love in a pimptastic picspammy post for the world-- my show is not for everyone, IT IS FOR DESIGNATED INDIVIDUALS I THINK WOULD LOVE IT IN THE CORRECT WAY.

BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME, PRETTY MUCH.

OHMYGOD THE PALACE. Claire and Jenn (

peopleareshapes) were both head over heels in love with that show and talked about it so eloquently. As soon as Claire posted her picspam I was like OKAY GIMME EPISODE ONE NOW. I fell so fast for that show. I'm still depressed they never got a second season! I think I need to upload my Palace icon.

FOR THE RECORD: last time you recc'd something to me, I DID END UP WATCHING IT.

YOU KNOW I'M ALL ABOUT THE CAPSLOCKY ENTHUSIASM TOO FARAH, SO I COULD NEVER BEGRUDGE YOU THAT. But -- and I could be making this up out of a bizarre need to justify my own inability to quit the capslock key -- that there are different breeds behind it, you know? If you're capslocky because the substance of something is JUST THAT LOVELY THAT YOU CAN'T HELP YOURSELF, it's awesome, but there are also weirdos who don't even post anything but OMG SO GOOD U GUYS WUT UP SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I have really never found you to belong in that second category.

I don't know, man, the whole pimping thing is really difficult to gauge, which is kiiiiiind of why I did this poll in the first place. I mean, I can be a total twat about not watching things for NO REAL REASON (which is, by the way, what went on with me and Friday Night Lights) and apparently so can everyone else, but at the same time, there are always always always certain people I want to love certain things. I just wish I knew a way to say "LOOK, YOU WOULD LOVE THIS BECAUSE IT IS AMAZING" without unequivocally turning them off from it.

It's especially hard with XF, because MULDER AND SCULLY are that good and it DOES change you, and sometimes I do want to tell people that they're missing out on life, but if I didn't know it for myself I wouldn't watch it because someone said that to me.

But then, I also feel weird with the XF and the West Wing-- WHICH ARE TWO OF MY FAVORITES EVER-- because telling someone that show that started last season is great is totally different from telling someone they should watch, like, two hundred incredible hours of television.

Edited 2008-11-20 21:58 (UTC)

I MISS IT A LOT, IT WAS THE PERFECT STRIKE DISTRACTION, thank god for pretty British people. BUT SERIOUSLY, Claire has a magic touch with the pimping picspams.

OH MY GOD, I'M CRASHING AGAIN. STOP BEING SO DANG ENGAGING, YOU GUYS.

I just wanted to add one quick thing about how it's weird to recommend some huge show with such history and depth and length to somebody rather than just a quick show that's still going on -- I get that, but at the same time I love watching shows that are already finished. No waiting! No worries! If something truly major and truly horrible happens, it's likely you'll already know about it and then you either don't have to get involved with the show at all or you can brace yourself for the onslaught! I don't know, I kind of equate it to reading fanfiction? I don't ever get involved with WIPs, partly because there's always the chance that the author will drop it and never come back (also known as CANCELATION IN THE TV BIZ, also known as FNL being glorious and still having to fight to keep its head above water), but also because I want it all and I want it now. Of course I love to get involved with new shows so that I can follow things when they're still fresh with everyone else online, but I'm definitely not turned off by the offer of a ten-season show that'll knock my socks off. Y'know? You know.

SOMEDAY SOON I'LL ACTUALLY START A COMMENT OF MY OWN INSTEAD OF ANNOYING EVERYBODY ELSE. PROMISE.

An OH GOD SERIOUSLY, EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH THIS RIGHT NOW YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON EVERYTHING THAT'S GOOD IN LIFE post popping up on your flist
I could not check this box hard enough for what turns me off, GOD, I hate it, and I hate that I did it for The West Wing two summers ago and I will never forgive myself for it. I think it's arrogant to assume that something is "important" for people to watch, or whatever these justifications usually end up being. I mean, I DO think that about The West Wing, but I shouldn't say it, because it's unnecessary and if someone said it to me it would turn me off.

PERSONAL FLAIL ONLY + PICSPAMS, it's the only way I'll start something.

OH GOD ALSO. When someone is like "WHY ARE YOU NOT WATCHING THIS?? HOW???" STFU, let people come to things on their own time, and not everybody is going to love things in the same way you do and at the same time. It's arrogant and it makes it seem like there's a way to "get" the show and when you do you're in a club of people who understand. Which I think is ALSO true, but to imply such in that manner I think is bad form.

ETA: Plus also, I get the instinct to want the people you love to share in this new thing YOU love, so in a way this kind of WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU NEED TO BE WATCHING IT is in spirit kind of a good thing. The tone is just so off, and I wonder why people feel the need to approach it that way. How is it truly affecting you if someone does or does not watch it? So much of my relationship with television is entirely personal and I assume that's true of most of us here...I'm curious as to why that sort of YOU HAVE TO DO THIS attitude develops.

Edited 2008-11-20 22:57 (UTC)

YOU MAKE A REALLY GREAT POINT, there's something really calm and soothing about something old you can curl up and watch in bed and have the next DVD right there waiting for you. I meant to ask a question about what medium people use to get into new tv too but I forgot-- because maybe it's because I'm a nerd or whatev, but I totally think watching something on DVD, downloading it off the internet, streaming it (although I HATE STREAMING), or watching reruns are all totally different experiences.

ANYWAY: you are correct, I should probably feel less weird about recommending long and wonderful things.

I mean, I DO think that about The West Wing, but I shouldn't say it, because it's unnecessary and if someone said it to me it would turn me off.
I think that's the hardest thing about the whole thing, because there's sort of that innate desire to SHARE THAT FEELING YOU GET ABOUT SOMETHING. There's some good spirit behind a "THIS IS AWESOME, SERIOUSLY WATCH IT NOW" but, just, ugh. My pet peeve is being told that something is "the best thing on television", because not only is there no way you watch everything and know it objectively, IT'S A MATTER OF OPINION and when you say something like that unequivocally you're slighting all the shows your target audience holds dear.

So much of my relationship with television is entirely personal and I assume that's true of most of us here...I'm curious as to why that sort of YOU HAVE TO DO THIS attitude develops.
This is spot-on, and I think that misunderstanding of the personal level is where a lot of pimping stuff goes awry. And I think there's something infinitely more persuasive about a picspam you did because you love something and you wanted to talk about it than a picspam you did because you want to persuade a bunch of people to watch it.

THAT SAID, I was still surprised at how many of the "THIS TURNS ME OFF" boxes you checked.

Streaming is only different because it causes extreme and uncontrollable rage.

But otherwise, yeah! I agree. I've gotten into a lot of new things lately by downloading it off the internet, but there are few things that beat snuggling up on the couch and watching episode after episode of some new show on your TV. True story.

THAT SAID, I was still surprised at how many of the "THIS TURNS ME OFF" boxes you checked.
Because I am an asshole and usually like to find things myself, which is why I struggle especially with music recommendations and STILL after six or so years feel genuinely shocked every time someone asks me to recommend music to them or actually downloads something I recommend.

I DO NOT GET THE PEOPLE WHO STREAM, SERIOUSLY, it is the fussiest, most annoying possible way to watch ANYTHING, and all you have to do is accidentally hit a back button and all that loading/buffering/whatever time is GONE. And even if by some miracle you get it to work, half the time there are foreign subtitles scrolling past the whole time.

...I HAVE ISSUES.

I really do love the convenience of

ihearttvshows et al, ESPECIALLY since they have made it possible for me to idly watch last night's television while I go through a Chem reading, but you just can't compare it to that marathon feeling.

Huh, I hadn't even considered how this kind of thinking applies to music.

Well that's a relief! I'm always scared that I'm a bit...Too all up in people's faces.

lol oh, the last ticky in the second-to-last question was SO appropriate because Supernatural is one of the fandoms I had in mind when answering this. Sometimes I have a bias but it's not too bad and it can be overcome -- for example, I was biased against Gossip Girl, but eventually shamefully caved and now I like it. But Supernatural, no. I have plenty of fangirls on my flist but I am never ever going to watch Supernatural; I refuse. And if I really hate something and EVERYONE GOES ON AND ON AND ON about it, that's annoying and solidifies my hate.

However, if I am only a tiny bit negative, ambivalent, or somewhat curious about something, anything can work, it just depends. Sometimes a pretty picspam is good enough, if a good number of my flist is talking about it (but not in the aforementioned annoying way), and especially if I see from others' posts or comments that there is something I would really like from the show right off the bat.

FOR THE RECORD: last time you recc'd something to me, I DID END UP WATCHING IT.
FOR REAL? I FIND THIS ASTONISHING.

Ah, I see what you mean about the distinction. If I ever get like that, PLEASE TELL ME RIGHT AWAY! My worst fear is that I secretly alienate people or annoy them with my incessant babbling. Which actually is a notion that, in and of itself, seems really strange to me because why should people even care???? IDK I think I'm just paranoid though and have a tendency to interpret completely normal things as passive aggression. BUT BACK TO THE TOPIC AT HAND! I don't get how people turn something so lovely and fun into something so stressful and antagonizing. Why do you need to pimp your show like a fanatical, scary, WATCH THIS OR I'LL CUT YOU or DON'T WATCH THIS AND YOU'RE DEAD TO ME kind of a way? Yes, you want your friends to watch and love what you watch and love, but nine times out of ten, your obnoxiousness WILL NOT WORK. So just go out and make new friends in your other fandoms!

Speaking of the FNL situation, I was just thinking back, and I think I definitely justified my initial ~rebellion~ with the fact that everyone was telling me that I'd love it so much and it's so amazing and I was all "WTF I HATE ALL THE THINGS ITS ABOUT WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO CONVINCE ME THAT I'LL LOVE IT." Eventually I learned my lesson -- that it was not only amazing and wonderful and perfect, but that I actually could relate to it in ways I never thought I was able to -- but I did that on my own (basically because it was $20 at Target. SO THANKS TARGET, I OWE YA ONE!) Not because of people telling me I'd go apeshit for it. So moral of the story is that...Maybe I do hate that stuff after all! Man, all this psychology behind the fandom is giving me a headache...

And I think that FNL anecdote definitely applies to XF and people who don't watch it because of personal or irrational or completely rational biases against it. (Which some people actually have? WHO KNEW.)

because telling someone that show that started last season is great is totally different from telling someone they should watch, like, two hundred incredible hours of television.
So true! Exceeeeept, there are definitely instances where I love the fact that I have seven seasons ahead of me because I can stretch it out and have that feeling of watching something for the first time go on and on and on. WHICH IS WHY I CAN'T WAIT TIL TWW. And why I'm loving the XF re-watch! (which I increasingly want to end after Requiem. I don't want to leave it with any negativity toward the show or characters D:)

To make this already insanely long comment even longer: did I tell you I started my FNL re-watch with a friend from my program? She hasn't seen it before and our new Thursday night ritual is The Office, 30 Rock, two episodes of FNL. SO. FLIPPIN. GOOD. Always.

Edited 2008-11-21 00:10 (UTC)

ALSO:

BONES BONES BONES BONES BONES BONES BONES BONES BONES BONES BONES BONES BONES BONES BONES BONES BOOOOOOOOOONES!

I agree with everything you said! There's something really intimidating about it for me, but if it's a show that I know for a fact will be amazing, then I actually prefer having a bajillion seasons ahead of me. And on a smaller scale, I just think of my experience watching the first two seasons of 24. OMFG SO MUCH BETTER THAN WATCHING IN REAL TIME (BTW I gave the show up after the fifth season, so this doesn't still apply. But whateva!) And even with Bones! The first season of Bones I watched in real time was three and it was soooooooo not as fun as watching the first two DVDs. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

I have read much too much about misogyny in Supernatural when I should've been doing absolutely anything else to EVER watch to touch it with a ten foot pole.

AND YOU KNOW, I can deal with everyone going on about something if they're chattering amongst themselves, it's when they try and drag me into it I get irrationally pissy. IT'S SUCH A FINE LINE YOU'RE WALKING, and the line is in a different place for absolutely everyone. UGH :(

watching something on DVD, downloading it off the internet, streaming it (although I HATE STREAMING), or watching reruns are all totally different experiences.
I AGREE. DVD ALWAYS. I haaaaate streaming, but there are some shows (I'm looking at you, Grey's) I always miss because of conflicting priorities, and it's so much easier to just watch them streaming than to download them. But streaming from a website that's not the actual station's website? NEVAAAR.

I only really download shows that I really like and want to keep but don't feel like getting the season on DVD. (Like Californication. But! That's actually a weird example because I kind of have a love/hate relationship with that show.)

YIKES, I'M FEELING CHATTY TONIGHT.

That is EXACTLY why I will not watch it. And apparently there's some pretty sketchy race issues too, although it seems it's not as prevalent or at least not discussed as often. Supernatural will forever be about that in my mind, and it doesn't matter how often people go on about how it's not really that bad and we should just give it a chance, etc. etc.

YEAH, I just didn't say anything because I wasn't that into it at the time and it's sort of weird to say like "HEY, YOU KNOW THAT SHOW YOU GUYS ARE INTO? YEAH, I'M NOT FEELING IT". But it was only the first three episodes (of Privileged) and I think I'm going to try again over Thanksgiving break, SO.

IDK I think I'm just paranoid though and have a tendency to interpret completely normal things as passive aggression.
AHHHHHHHH, I totally get the same way! I THINK BECAUSE I FREQUENTLY FIND MYSELF IRRITATING TEN MINUTES AFTER I SAY SOMETHING, but I also think it's my own mental retribution for the fact that I do get passive-aggressive occasionally :( BUT KNOW THIS: I always enjoy your enthusiastic capslocking. TRUST.

I was all "WTF I HATE ALL THE THINGS ITS ABOUT WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO CONVINCE ME THAT I'LL LOVE IT." Eventually I learned my lesson -- that it was not only amazing and wonderful and perfect, but that I actually could relate to it in ways I never thought I was able to -- but I did that on my own
AND SEE, THIS TOTALLY GOES AGAINST MY OWN ~STYLE~ OF RECOMMENDING THINGS, because I am all about the "you will love it" part? When I was fifteen my sis and I totally used to conspire to show our friends XF with these lists of episodes we'd pick out for each friend specifically (I think we only ever tried it out on three people between us, BUT IT WAS STILL FUN). And I also think that's the best way to get me into something-- not trumpeting "OMG THIS SHOW IS GREAT" but rather that aside of "I know what you like, Alex, AND I THINK YOU WILL LIKE THIS."

AND THEREIN LIES THE PROBLEM WITH THIS WHOLE THING-- if you want to make a big, giant pimptastic post, whatever you do, however you get people interested, you're turning a lot of other people off, because everyone has an entirely different set of buttons they don't want pushed. Erg.

RE: XF REWATCH-- I HAVE A SLIGHTLY BRILLIANT IDEA. You should totally totally stop at Requiem, aaaaand if you do eventually want to see 8 & 9 for whatever crazy reason, two years from now when you feel like rewatching from the beginning, start there. That way they can't leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

And you told me you were doing it but not that you'd started! UGH, THAT SOUNDS AWESOME. Did I tell you my mom got super into it? I'm going to have to buy season 2 on DVD so I can lend it to her.

Edited 2008-11-21 00:38 (UTC)

I SERIOUSLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW IT MANAGES TO BE THIS DAMN DELIGHTFUL EVERY WEEK. HE TRIED TO GET HER TO ENACT A LIBRARIAN FANTASY!! And Brennan, thinking they were clapping for her, I LOVE HER SO MUCH SOMETIMES. And everyone thinking they were going to make out, I JUST... GOD, I LOVE BONES SO MUCH.

Yeah I've heard the race thing too, but apparently it takes a backseat to the gross sexism stuff. I don't think a show with thirty times the quality of Supernatural could draw me in despite being squicky on the ~issues~. Just, ick.

I am a HUGE sucker for picspams. Otherwise this poll reveals how lame and gullible I am. I have a very short attention span and am pretty easily swayed into watching a show, though TONS of hype can sometimes push me in the other I-want-to-hate-this-show direction. Someone I trust telling me I need to watch it can eventually cancel that out. It doesn't necessarily mean I will LIKE it though, I do have standards. I guess I just will try anything once is what I mean. And basically, if I hear Kendra going on about how much she likes a show, I want to watch it. I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING. I AM SO LAME. :/

Edited 2008-11-21 01:26 (UTC)

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