The End of an Era

Welcome to post #400. It seems appropriate as, at post #300, I had received kudos for one of my Avatar fanfics, that I am now writing about the end of the series that started it all for me.

In a word: Wow.

It's taken me a couple of days to get it together and recover from the finale of Avatar: The Last Airbender. After three phenomenal seasons, the show I have faithfully worshipped and converted others to is at an end.


I feel profoundly bereft. After watching the breathtaking four-episode finale arch with a group of friends, I went to bed and slept fitfully. I felt as though I'd lost a dear friend, and all I could picture in my mind were the characters walking into the sunset, waving back at me, smiling and wishing me well.

Some people sorta tilt their heads and say, "but...isn't it a kids' anime cartoon? What are you all broken up about?"

I could fly into a homicidal fan-rage worthy of a Star Wars nerd who has just spoken to someone who confuses it with Star Trek, but one thing the show has instilled in me is the power of patience and forgiveness.

There isn't any one thing I can claim to be the "thing" that "makes" Avatar. Everything about it is good, from the timeless writing to characterizations to the animation and art. People of all ages can appreciate the show, and I can safely say that parents can sit through this one with their nine-year-olds and not lose any more precious brain cells to a talking sponge (not that there's anything wrong with anthropomorphic sea creatures).

But above and beyond everything that makes this TV series great, I mourn its loss because it has played a very personal role in my own life.

Avatar got me through some of my darkest moments. When I was deathly ill with the flu and didn't think I'd make it, I watched much of the first season on my computer in my bedroom. After seeing the first half of the first season, I forced myself to live another day to see the rest.

Later, when I was suffering through a very deep depression, Avatar fandom saved my sanity and gave me a creative outlet through which I worked out a lot of sadness, pain and anger. I connected with a widespread group of fans online, wrote fanfiction, learned a whole new skill set, and with encouragement and support from dozens of other fans around the world who I'd never even met, found purpose and reapplied myself to writing original fiction.

That's right. Kung Fu Action Jesus saved my life.

So this is my love letter to all the wonderful people who worked on the show and made my experience an enlightening one.

To creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and the team of brilliant writers: you guys put together one of the richest mythologies I have ever seen. You created a cast of individuals who mesh in ways that are realistic. You snuck in life lessons without being preachy or over-dramatic, and you painted the world in appropriate moral greys. You penned a timeless tale of good versus evil, and you did it without too much cliche. You made us laugh, cry, angst and hold our collective breaths. Thank you for knowing how smart your viewers are, and for giving everyone something worth every minute.

To the hardworking artists, story boarders and animators; yours is the hand that brought the show to life. From the fabulous backdrops of unforgettable terrain and locales like Ba Seng Se and the Fire Nation Capitol, to the crazy crossbred animals, the beautiful costumes, the architecture, weaponry, props, and of course, the mosaic of wonderful characters, you made the fantasy a technicolor reality.

To all the cultural consultants, including the fabulous Sifu Kisu; thank you all for giving the Avatar universe a foundation in reality, and one that has made my Chinese heritage one to be proud of and infinitely cooler.

To the Track Team and the sound effects people: Avatar has THE BEST soundtrack around. My heart always picks up whenever I hear Zuko and Zhao's Agni Kai music chant. And who can shake the haunting "Four Seasons" melody from their minds? Or the melancholy "Soldier Boy", which never fails to make me tear up? Iroh's sungi horn soundbyte has become one of the most resonant bars of music in my mind, as have so many of the tunes and pieces that weaved the story and seasons together. You outdid yourself in the finale with the final Agni Kai. Bravo.

To the voice actors and all the guest voice actors who I know have busy schedules but made the appearance anyhow--you rock. Thank you for bringing the characters to vivid life.

To the producers and Nickelodeon corporate big-wigs, and everyone who made Avatar the force it is: thank you for giving this show a chance and for seeing the beauty of the tale and pimping it out.

Lastly, to the fandom and all the wonderful people I met along this journey: thank you for your humor, your wisdom, your crack, and all the support and dedication to the show you've dished out over three seasons. My experience of Avatar--and my life--would not be the same without all of you and everything you brought to it.

I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now that the show's over. Fandom lives on and I'll continue to write fanfics as long as I have ideas and time. I'll probably watch Bleach (I've already started, and I don't know what to think yet), but I know it just won't be the same.

I guess all I can do is hold my breath until 2010 (as my manip below demonstrates).

More evidence that NPH belongs on Broadway...

Among the cast of How I Met Your Mother, NPH vs. Jason Segel (Marshall) in a singoff of epic proportions:

Because I'm too lazy to repost here...

...a link to my LJ post about my thoughts on the conclusion to Dr. Horrible.

Spoiler warnings in effect.

Go watch Dr. Horrible while it's still online.!

More Muppets...

Thank the gods for YouTube--the Muppets are such fantastic characters to watch in action.

Elmo giving a pretty hilarious interview on an Australian late night talk show:




Beaker singing Beethoven's Ode to Joy (he always was one of my favorite Muppets):




R.E.M. and Furry, Happy Monsters:




James Blunt can't get over his hypotenuse:

Sunny day/Sweepin' the/Clouds away....

If you had a North American upbringing between the 70s and 90s, you know the rest of the lyrics to the opening of Sesame Street, celebrating its 39th season this year.



I got to watching a clip of Feist singing her 1,2,3,4 song rejigged to teach kids how much fun it is to count to 4, which led me to the 39th season highlights reel (distributed as part of a media package). And suddenly, I was 6 again, parked in front of the ol' Radiation King, singing along with Captain Vegetable.

More than two decades after I was deemed too old to watch the show (okay, so I still stop on PBS whenever I see an Ernie and Bert skit) I continue to be amazed by writers' abilities to transform trends, popular culture, movies and TV shows into child-friendly lessons pushing a wholesome educational curriculum all while keeping adults stimulated.

Take the highlight reel's brief clip of the SS version of 30 Rock, 30 Rocks, starring Liz Lemon, aptly portrayed by a frazzled Muppet of a lemon who sounds exactly like Tina Fey, shouting "The rocks are late! I need 30 rocks for the rock sketch..." (Blame the child in me--I snorted out loud.) Or the classic Indiana Jones references as acted by Telly, or the hilariously lampooned Pre-School Musical, a not-too-gentle jab at Disney's candy-coated tween/teen tripe phenom.

On top of that, I'm always impressed by the number of celebrities who will recite the alphabet, sing a song, count, and interact with waist-high foam and felt characters with hands shoved up their...backs.

There's something to be said about one's fame once you land a spot on Sesame Street. Forget about stars on the Walk of Fame--if you make it to the Street, you're made.

Especially squeeful this season: cameos by Neil Patrick Harris (who seems to be singing a song in a white coat and tails plus fairy wings--I'm sure the writers added those in for the parents' enjoyment); David Beckham, Jack Black, Kim Catrall, Sandra Oh, Dirty Jobs' Mike Rowe (climbing out of Oscar the Grouch's trash can, no less) and more.

Thirty-nine and still going strong. Someone needs to tell me how to get to Sesame Street.

WIN FREE BOOKS!!!!

I wouldn't be a good blogger/author/member of the Toronto Romance Writers if I didn't pass this on to my small but loyal readership.

Book Giveaway!

In a few short words, the TRW's published members got together and launched this wonderful contest. If you like books, and you want fun stuff to read, enter the contest!

Enter this contest for a chance to win 24 books!

Dr. Horrible's Pure Mad Genius

Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly: If you haven't seen Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, you've been living in a cave.

Go watch it now.

Joss Whedon has managed to pull together his signature quirk and drama for this 3-part, one-off, web-only series about Dr. Horrible (played to a diabolical T by the wry yet sweet-voiced Neil Patrick Harris) who is seeking fame and glory as a supervillain and membership into the Evil League of Evil. As he schemes and plots, he is constantly distracted by his laundromat crush, Penny, a veteran of BTVS, and thwarted by his nemesis, Captain Hammer, played by Firefly's Nathan Fillion.

Harris, who has remade himself almost two decades after the launch of Doogie Howser, M.D., never ceases to amaze, not only with his acting skills--he plays a socially awkward douchebag evil genius like no one else can--but with his surprising vocal talent, too. There's a quality of agelessness around him, one that is reminiscent of Buffy-ite James Marsters (i.e. Spike), and his acting ability really stands out in this musical satire. With a tilt of his chin, he goes from looking like a lost, innocent freshman intent on not ogling his crush's freshly laundered panties to a jaded madman bent on revenge against the world.

Similarily, Fillion's ability to swing from rogue hero (Firefly's Captain Mal Reynolds) to dastardly devil (Buffy's Caleb) gives him a wonderful range to work from in his role as Captain Hammer, who I can only describe as a construction worker on steroids. The jock to Dr. Horrible's nerd, one can't help but melt at the twinkle in Hammer's eye while wanting to punch the sexy smirk from his face.

This is an amazing series, which launched this week to a phenomenal response that crashed the web site on opening day. Parts one and two are up, and the third act will be available July 19th.
The musical numbers are fantastic, the production values on par with Buffy episodes. I hope to see a soundtrack (and DVD) soon!

w00t!

"Fanboy" has been entered into the Merriam-Websters dictionary.

Vice City

It's taken me a week or so to recover from my trip, which was fabulous and strange and full of crazy hijinks...okay, not really, but it felt that way at times.

Miami: it was bloody hot, with an average in the 90s (35C for us Canucks) every day. The cab ride into the South Beach strip felt like something straight out of playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Minus the big hair of the 80's, it looked exactly like the video game, right down to the half-naked people strolling up and down the strip.

It was surreal. Pastel-colored buildings dominate the strip, with Art Deco facades that came straight out of the 50s/80s. Most of these buildings house hotels/restaurants/bars/lounges on the front, with rooms above. We stayed at the Whitelaw Hotel, one street up from the strip. Even with the "quietest" (i.e. farthest from the lobby) room, it was a noisy, drunken Saturday night. (For everyone else, not us. We like sleep and my traveling companions, curse you all, like to wake up at 6:30 a.m. to run--like this chick in Vice City screenshot below.)

ALL of these hotels/restaurants play dance music. Every. Freakin'. Hour. Of. The. Day. I tell ya, I've never had eggs and sausage to the gut-bouncing rhythm of techno until now.

We spent some time shopping--okay, we spent LOTS of time shopping--at which point I realized my comfy leather flipflops were in fact my torturous flesh-rending flipflops. I have two lovely chunks of flesh missing now from the tops of my feet and a new pair of flipflops now.

The best day spent was on the beach, where we rented chairs ($10 apiece) and an umbrella ($12) and lay in the sun and soaked in the salty surf. Saltwater is rather painful in fresh wounds, I've learned. I was kinda waiting for a shark to swim up over the sandbar to start nibbling on my gooey feet, but all I ended up with was sand in my bikini bottom (mmm, gritty).

The South Beach strip is really a party strip where guys go to ogle the pretty ladies in their boobtastic finery, while the girls go to ogle the tanned beach bums displaying their carefully airbrushed abs. It's not a family place, so don't bother staying on the strip unless your intention is to drink your face off and wake up next to some guy named Chad or Chet or Gage.

Said bimbos, both of the male and female persuasion, seem intent on cruising in stealtacular Hummers, convertibles, and fancy-schmancy vehicles along Ocean Avenue. Though it makes for a good spectacle, all I could think was a) how can anyone possibly afford the gas to go cruising these days? and b) how did anyone ever manage to hijack anything in GTA:VC with all the traffic and cops around?

(Obviously, I was distracted by the the realism of Vice City. They really got it down to a T, though. I will never doubt the video game makers at Rockstar again.)

I'm snipping this post and will write more about the cruise later.

STOP! Grammartime.

I just wanted to share this little grammar bit I encountered on my Miami trip because I thought it was hilarious.

We were at a Sephora store on South Beach, and I saw a product with this label:

Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover.

I thought to myself, "Huh, now why would I want makeup remover that's waterproof? How am I going to get that off my face when I go to shower?"

At which point I realized it should have read thusly:

Waterproof-Eye-Makeup Remover.

Oh, hyphenated compound adjectives. You get me every time....

Going to Miami...

I'm off to Miami and a 4-day Caribbean cruise!

See ya, landlubbers!

P.S. Go see WALL-E. Omigod, it was the Schindler's List of Pixar--bleak and uplifting all at once. Not that I could ever bring myself to watch the whole thing through (Schindler's List, not WALL-E.)

I smell a Best Animated Film Oscar....

Hey...High Concept really does work!

Hancock's initial trailer pitch:
Will Smith plays a feckless, uncouth superhero who must clean up his image to recapture the public's approval.

Hancock's new and improved trailer pitch:
Will Smith plays a feckless, uncouth superhero who must clean up his image to recapture the public's approval, but in his quest to become a kinder, gentler man, he's becoming mortal.

I was at a seminar recently about high concept writing, and realized it really does work. When I saw the first trailer for Hancock, I was all, "Meh, might be good on a matinee at Rainbow Cinema." But when I saw the newest commercial and heard this additional line about becoming mortal, I thought, "Hey, now, THAT'S a movie I want to see. "

Why? CONFLICT.

It's the foundation for all good storytelling, goddamn it. I'm glad Hollywood marketing realized that.

Now to see if the movie is actually any good....

On a separate note, I saw The Incredible Hulk over the weekend. My review's pretty simple: better than the godawful first one. Liv Tyler spends most of the movie whispering "Bruuuuce" and "It's okay, you'll be okay"; Ed Norton is an okay Bruce Banner (but I don't really have a clue as to how he can be played--having never read the comics, I just can't really characterize his alter ego the way I do Peter Parker or Clark Kent); and the scenes filmed in Toronto on U of T campus and along Yonge Street really distracted me from the frenetic, explosive action. Still, fun. But not as good as Iron Man.

The Darkest Pleasure...acknowledgment!

New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter has thanked me and my colleagues in her latest book, The Darkest Pleasure!

That's me in the centre.


Yes, Gena Showalter is the author of the infamous The Nymph King. I've actually read the book previous to this one in the series called The Darkest Kiss, and it was pretty good.

Nothing like hot, sex-crazy immortal guys with paranormal powers and demons possessing their souls. Now go out and buy it.

(Ha! Now John and I are even!)

DO NOT WANT, Part 3

REJECTED AGAIN!!!

Hello!

Thank you so much for your submission to the Tickle My Fantasy anthology. I’m sorry to tell you that your story was not selected. I had a lot of really great submissions, and it was a very, very tough decision. Ultimately, the stories I chose fit better with the direction I wanted to take the anthology.

I’m sorry I don’t have better news, but I thank you for thinking of Samhain, and I wish you the very best of luck with your writing.

Thanks!

Laurie

Laurie M. Rauch, Editor
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.;
"It's all about the story.”
www.samhainpublishing.com

I'm not actually that surprised about this one. I didn't think my submission was up to snuff, though I'd worked pretty diligently on it for three months straight. But it was a fun (read: excruciatingly painful) learning process. And now I know I can write to deadline if need be.

*goes off to drown sorrows in a litre of iced tea*

Someone should make a movie of this starring Ewan McGregor

Just saw the Luminato production of Black Watch.

In a few words: hot Scottish guys in uniform, often stripping down to their skivvies, performing lots of beautiful non-gay choreography. Also, loud explosions, and lots of swearing in sexy Scottish brogue. And a bagpipe.

Oh, and there was some stuff about how crappy the Iraq War is.

P.S. The building got hit by lightning halfway through the show, busting the speakers, so they had to stop the production to reboot the sound equipment.

Good times.

AvatarSQUEEEEEeee....

A rundown of Shyamalan's The Last Airbender according to the big-screen preview (via Reuters):

• A $250-million budget for three movies (mostly to be spent on CGI).
• First movie to be released July 2, 2010.
• Set to be shot in Greenland and Vietnam.
• Shyamalan's having trouble dealing with a PG rating, since he's used to R.
  

More info on the movie here, here and here.

P.S. You'll notice the four elements icon--I'm gonna try to use that for any Avatar-related squeeness from now on, just so those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about can go, hey, there it is again...maybe I should start watching me summa dat dere show, eh?

FullMetal Review

To stave off Avatar withdrawal syndrome, I've been catching up on other series I've been meaning to watch and I finally finished FullMetal Alchemist, plus the movie Conqueror of Shamballa.

Overall thoughts regarding the series:

A great story concept with interesting, fleshed-out characters, both main and side, each of them chock full of flaws. Themes of morality, friendship, brotherhood, loyalty, and the alchemist's concept of "equivalent trade" are woven together to form a cohesive train of thought that steams through the overarching plot.

Edward Elric (blond kid in red and black) is a wonderfully whimsical and equally serious (read as: angsty) teenager scrabbling to become a fully realized avatar alchemist so that he can regain his younger brother's body, and his own arm and leg, lost while trying to perform human transmutation. His brother, Al, is the perfect sidekick, a sweet-voiced empty body of armor Robin to Ed's bionic Batman.

The two travel the world looking for the Philosopher's Stone, a quest that is both a real as well as a metaphorical one for the two youngsters who, at ages 15 and 13, are only just learning to become grown-ups despite their fantastic abilities and wide-ranging experience.

Episode by episode, it seems as if the Elric brothers are simply wandering from town to town and solving everyone's problems on their quest for the stone while catching Pokemon/mastering the four elements. But as the seasons and storyline progress, fate draws the net tight around everyone and everything the two alchemists have touched. The climax to this series is a worthwhile payoff, and the ensuing movie ties up the loose ends very satisfactorily.

For 51 episodes plus a movie, this was a worthwhile jaunt through a well-honed universe.


Okay, now the downside:

As with all anime, the English-subtitled version is usually better than the English dubbed versions. I watched the series with subtitles and the Conqueror of Shamballa in English dub. Still, I'm not sure either translation would have saved the overly introspective dialogue.

It seems the bane of manga storytelling is to explain everything ad nauseum rather than rely on the viewer/reader to figure it out on their own. Ed often launches into the details of how he beat his newest foe...while still fighting him. It's not exactly a convenient time to give a show and tell.

Additionally, given the age and maturity of Ed and his brother, the two do an awful lot of thinking and angsting when they're in the middle of a crisis. Either we're looking at two exceptionally sensitive and insightful young men, or the series is suffering from what I'd like to call "writer's ventriloquism" where a rational adult with greater conscience has to speak for the characters in order to drive the story/theme onwards.

I can happily say that episodes aren't spent powering up with "the last of my strength", though some tete-a-tetes have spanned over more than one episode for dramatic effect. And at least there aren't cards and numbers and glorified cockfights involved.

Actually, the fight scenes are usually good to watch, blending lots of hand-to-hand combat with martial arts and shiny sparkly alchemy. And the skills and powers of each character seem to be fairly consistent throughout.

And there's blood. Lots of blood. And crazy, messed-up monster animals that end up having a lot more soul than you'd think possible.

Still, an editor's hand at these 24-minute episodes (reduced to something like 20 minutes after the extensive opening and closing credits) would have saved us a season or more.


Best thing about the series:

These guys. Ed's cohorts among the military are a great bunch to watch, each with a very particular personality and niche in the storyline. They really make subtlety an art form, compared to Ed and Al's constant begrudging and mewling about the world's problems.

As "dogs of the military," they bring so many themes and issues to the front of the story, and endear themselves to us because, no matter how wrong the things they do are, they absolutely believe in what they do because they think the ends will justify the means. They're heroes and anti-heroes all at once, and we constantly want them to do what's right...but what's "right" gets so muddied, all you can hope for is guidance.

Also, I totally ship Mustang x Hawkeye (black-haired hottie in the centre and the blond chick.)

Psst...Keep your eye on Alex Louis Armstrong (big guy in the back). He's frickin' awesome.


Bottom line:

A great show, and well worth a couple weeks' viewing time. Definitely recommended for ages 14 and up.

What I did on my writing vacation...

Hiatuses are good.

Been spending the last couple of days NOT writing--which is surprisingly difficult, since I have so many projects I'd like to start/continue/complete. Still, I can't deny that treating myself to a brain break is really helping...of course, I'm also dealing with a lovely cough/flu thing, so laying low isn't a bad idea.

It's occurred to me that I don't take enough pleasure in my life, so I've been steadily dosing myself with joy over the past couple of days. Here's what I treated myself to:

• 1 McDonald's Cheeseburger (more than that would be disgusting)
  
• A pretty new ID holder for my Metropass (because I always seem to carry it and my debit card independently of my wallet)
  
• Pizza (from Eglinton Station--they make the best pizza there)
  
• PS2 video game--Avatar: The Burning Earth (on sale for $20 at Toys R Us! I've wanted this for a long time, but didn't want to shell out $50 for it)
• Trendy black tights (because they're trendy)
  

In addition to playing ATLA: TBE until I pass out from not blinking, I've actually sat down to watch FullMetal Alchemist, which I acquired some time ago and haven't been able to sit through. I've entirely forgotten to joy of vegging out in front of the TV, watching episode after episode of something that seems to have no end in sight. (Yeah, yeah, everyone tells me to watch Bleach--I'll get there eventually.)

As I write this, I am eating blueberry pancakes John has made. They're delish.
Oh, the simply joys in life.

Author upchuckdate...

Gahhhh, finally, the end of May has rolled around and I just fired off my submission to Samhain Publishing's Tickle My Fantasy Anthology. Lover at First Bite is a tale of love, betrayal, intrigue and dental hygiene between a vampire and his dentist. I started writing it in March when I heard about the contest. Cross your fingers.

I also sent off my contest entry to the Toronto Romance Writers Golden Opportunity Contest over the weekend. I sent off the first chapter to my second book, Star Attraction, about a rising Hollywood star who falls for a reclusive has-been starlet he idolized in his teenage years.

I'm waiting for the relief to settle in--May has been completely devoted to the process and discipline of writing at the expense of just about everything else. But something I've discovered about writing and submitting--even when I'm posting to Fanfiction.net--is that I end up holding my breath in anticipation for rejection.

It's a strange existence in which I throw my time and energy into the abyss of expected failure--not because I don't think I'm a good writer, but because that is the reality of the publishing business. One day, though, I will return triumphant, and that day will mean a nice lobster dinner for me and John, who has put up with my obsession.

On a brighter note, I met the very lovely Moor (beyondthemoor) over the weekend for lunch. She's been an excellent sounding board and has always given me brutal honesty about everything I write. One day, I will credit her in my acknowledgments page as being the one who was never afraid to tear me a new one. (Hi, Moor! Thanks for everything!)

I'm going to take my time with my next project, a fantasy story, and just take more time to balance my life and actually enjoy what I do rather than stress over my own self-imposed deadlines. I think I've tortured myself enough--best to take Philip Pullman's advice and just write what I want to write.

Grey's Lobotomy

I can write Grey's Anatomy dialogue.
I can start a drawn-out diatribe with an opening statement, then back it up with examples that clarify my position, using run-on sentences to further the urgency and intensity of my emotions.
I can begin every sentence thereafter with the same first two words to develop an established rhythm and pattern so you have no way of interjecting.
I can repeat a phrase and use emphasis on different words to make my point.
I can repeat a phrase and use emphasis on different words to make my point.
I. Can. Repeat a phrase. And use emphasis on different words to make my point.
And I can end my diatribe with the sentence I used at the very beginning.
I can write Grey's Anatomy dialogue.


That said, I don't know why Derek and Meredith keep yo-yoing back and forth in their tired relationship. I'm sick of those two--I only watch the show for everyone else.

Kinda makes me wonder if it'll end up like Dawson's Creek after the title character sorta got pushed out of the picture by the wildly more popular best-friend character.

Not that I ever watched the show or anything.

Taking bets now as to how many episodes it'll take in the next season for Derek and Meredith to break up: I give it five episodes, when a twisty new character will be added to the ensemble and draw Meredith's attention away.

(See what I did there?)