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H.P. Shivcraft posted:I won't really get into this too deeply because my research was a few years ago and I'm rusty, but the short answer is no. JS Le Fanu and Bram Stoker, with Carmilla and Dracula, basically double-teamed the vampires-are-sex thing into the modern mind. It's definitely a part of our mythology (mostly Stoker, but he was using Le Fanu as a springboard). In its original state (Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and so on) vampires are stranger. Relating to folklore there were also revenants, zombie/vampires going back to the Middle Ages in Western Europe.
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| # ? Oct 12, 2009 09:24 |
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| # ? Feb 09, 2010 15:50 |
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H.P. Shivcraft posted:For me the quintessential "book to read in high school" has always been Lord of the Flies. I'm not sure how teenage girls who like Stephenie Meyer would respond to that, exactly, because there are no female characters at all and even if there were they probably wouldn't have crippling self-esteem issues. What I did find, while at school, and to a lesser extent now is that I have trouble switching gears. If I read a sci-fi book, I like to read another similar book after it. If I try going from one genre straight to another I just don't get into the book easily. I try to take a week off reading when switching genres or styles and that seems to help. I also recently read the Twilight Saga books - which I felt were incredibly badly written. But I enjoyed parts of the story overall. I found the draft of Midnight Sun (I think it's called?) to be the most interesting of the lot as it went into a bit more detail about what the Edward character was thinking (as opposed to the dialogue-driven earlier books).
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| # ? Oct 13, 2009 03:13 |
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having finally finished breaking dawn the other night, i thought i'd type up a little review. honestly, i'm not as up-in-arms about edward's abusive behavior as i was before. yes, he can be a jerk in book one and two and then peaks at his assholeness in three, but after that Smeyer seems to realize he's loving creepy and tones it way, way down. he makes speeches about how he respects bella's decisions... and uh, then jacob mysteriously becomes the creepy rapist. really, they do some stuff i wouldn't want my daughter thinking is sexy, but these instances are few and far between. i can't hate jacob or edward as characters because they just ARENT characters; their personalities fluctuate wildly because stephenie meyer can't write. what i think is much scarier is bella's being entirely dependent on edward for her sense of personal validation. bella remarks several times on how her life revolves around him, and outside of her magical werewolf and vampire pals, she literally has no friends she isn't dismissive of and no hobbies (i don't count "cooking for dad" and "cleaning house" as hobbies, nor do i think her love of literature counts when she's mentioned doing it less than five times). she constantly references her cripplingly low self esteem, how she just isn't worthy, even how she doesn't even value her own goddamn life compared to his. but as long as this perfect man is paying attention to her -and only as long as he's paying attention to her- all of her self-esteem problems are solved and she gets to live happily ever after. the book is basically preaching "hey got a low sense of self-worth?? why don't you find a hot guy to shack up with!!" she never has to do anything for herself. i think it's really hosed up to be pumping this idea into kids' heads, and a delusion that too many people entertain. just the opposite is actually true. if you enter into a relationship while hating yourself, i don't care if your boyfriend is republican jesus; he can't fix your emotional problems for you. you are going to drag him down and you'll crash and burn together. this might not be terrible enough for me to care about if bella ever tried to take care of herself, but whenever edward looks away it's "oh my life is meaningness i am going to jump off some cliffs and try to get raped." you don't have to be a feminist to think that's hosed up.
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| # ? Oct 15, 2009 01:27 |
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raptorred posted:having finally finished breaking dawn the other night, i thought i'd type up a little review. honestly, i'm not as up-in-arms about edward's abusive behavior as i was before. yes, he can be a jerk in book one and two and then peaks at his assholeness in three, but after that Smeyer seems to realize he's loving creepy and tones it way, way down. he makes speeches about how he respects bella's decisions... and uh, then jacob mysteriously becomes the creepy rapist. really, they do some stuff i wouldn't want my daughter thinking is sexy, but these instances are few and far between. i can't hate jacob or edward as characters because they just ARENT characters; their personalities fluctuate wildly because stephenie meyer can't write. Fans told Meyer after the first 2 books were released that Jacob was so much better for Bella than Edward was. She couldn't have that poo poo.
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| # ? Oct 15, 2009 01:44 |
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Obligatory Toast posted:You know the reasoning behind Jacob become a massive creepy rear end in a top hat, right? So why couldn't she just have transferred Eddie's Sue-ness to Jacob? Or is realizing that perhaps your first love might not be your true love too DEEP for Meyer?
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| # ? Oct 15, 2009 06:16 |
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artichoke posted:Any other suggestions? These are seniors, but many are at a lower reading level. Not all, though; one just borrowed my Cloud Atlas and is slogging through the first story. I tell him to press on, and that it gets more lively. Echoing The Good Earth, it's one of my all-time favorites. I hated it the first time I read it, though, so be careful there. For girls, there's ALWAYS Pride and Prejudice. I'd recommend Jane Eyre first just because I love Rochester so much more than Darcy, but Pride and Prejudice is easier to read. Anne of Green Gables is always delightful for anyone, any age. For seniors, I'd go for the Emily series by the same author, they're a little more intense. And as far as Madeleine L'Engle goes, skip A Wrinkle in Time (more middle school level) and go straight for the hard stuff -- chicks reading Twilight will totally dig A Ring of Endless Light, Troubling A Star, and The Arm of the Starfish.
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| # ? Oct 15, 2009 06:38 |
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CommissarMega posted:So why couldn't she just have transferred Eddie's Sue-ness to Jacob? Or is realizing that perhaps your first love might not be your true love too DEEP for Meyer? Because Jacob isn't the white and delightsome Mormon, Edward is. That's really all there is to it.
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| # ? Oct 17, 2009 19:17 |
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Yeah, he's a Lamanite.
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| # ? Oct 17, 2009 20:47 |
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I really want to read these books out of morbid curiosity, but I really can't get into the first book. Question: Are audiobook versions easier to deal with? Normally I am not a fan of listening to books, but actually reading Twilight kind of puts me to sleep. I may press on but I just don't know. There are far better modern vampire/romance/whatever series that I have enjoyed much more. Many people have brought up the Sookie Stackhouse books, which I find to be very fun reading, albeit easy. I got through the entire series in under a week. I couldn't put them down, unlike Twilight, which I want to throw at someone, anyone, really hard. I think my main hangup is that Meyer obviously knows little to nothing about the lore in which she is writing, where I think Harris actually made a conscious effort to learn about what she was writing. That and Sookie is a pretty good main character. There is actually action in her books, and Harris has no problems with actually putting her character in harm's way. Things are not glossed over, as I have found the case with Meyer to be, based on my meager readings of her work. Also, all of my 5th grade female students were completely obsessed with the series. I am not sure how I feel about that, but some how I don't think it was appropriate material for them. e: minor grammar stuff.
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| # ? Oct 18, 2009 22:13 |
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The Sookie Stackhouse books make me roll my eyes sometimes at how silly they are, but the characters are pretty fleshed out and there's always a larger plot/community for things to happen in. For example, I can really picture Sookie (without the help of True Blood) whereas I could never really picture Bella, except as a sort of mopey clear area with a wig on it. When I "read" Twilight I really just read about 1/2 of the first and second books, and then skimmed the rest. If you really want to "get" the phenomenon, that's really all it takes, Smeyer is really repetitive. You won't miss much if you skim, in other words.
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| # ? Oct 18, 2009 22:40 |
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i miss new wave posted:I really want to read these books out of morbid curiosity, but I really can't get into the first book. Question: Are audiobook versions easier to deal with? Normally I am not a fan of listening to books, but actually reading Twilight kind of puts me to sleep. I may press on but I just don't know.
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| # ? Oct 18, 2009 22:41 |
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The reader's voice made me want to stab myself in the ear drum.
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| # ? Oct 19, 2009 21:10 |
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I'm surprised (and gladly so) that the Twilight-craze seems to be at only a mild simmer instead of a full-out rolling boil lately, especially with New Moon being released soon (I think? I don't really know the release date). Of course, there's always the myriad of other vampire-themed things in its wake to deal with. Although Petrilude (awesome makeup artist who has tons of neat tutorials) did a joke "Cullen" video that considerably brightened my day.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huCDDwX9-vg Lisa Frank factory explosion!
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| # ? Oct 25, 2009 01:51 |
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So did anyone else actually do a "Bella Swan with hellchild" costume? I'm almost done with mine, I've just got to wait til it stops raining to add blood and glitter.
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| # ? Oct 26, 2009 23:01 |
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Devious Vacuum posted:So did anyone else actually do a "Bella Swan with hellchild" costume? I'm almost done with mine, I've just got to wait til it stops raining to add blood and glitter. I tried, toby refused to go along with it. 
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| # ? Oct 26, 2009 23:26 |
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Bizarro Toby
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I don't remember who wrote it, but I read an article in the Washington Post a while back claiming that the Twilight/vampire fanaticism is linked to an anti-feminist backlash among women. It kind of makes sense - if you buy into the belief that feminism has made men less manly by confusing them about how they should treat women, etc, then I could see a backlash from women who want to be treated like equals in the workplace, but still like women romantically. It sort of speaks to a yearning for more defined gender roles that maybe young women haven't experienced in the same way as they did thirty years ago. Twilight would then be taking this belief to its extreme, which is unhealthy, but all the vampire stories out right now, True Blood, Anita Blake, you could argue that they speak to that same feeling. Could that explain it?
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| # ? Oct 27, 2009 03:54 |
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Devious Vacuum posted:I don't remember who wrote it, but I read an article in the Washington Post a while back claiming that the Twilight/vampire fanaticism is linked to an anti-feminist backlash among women. It kind of makes sense - if you buy into the belief that feminism has made men less manly by confusing them about how they should treat women, etc, then I could see a backlash from women who want to be treated like equals in the workplace, but still like women romantically. It sort of speaks to a yearning for more defined gender roles that maybe young women haven't experienced in the same way as they did thirty years ago. As far as I know, True Blood isn't really about anti-feminist thought so much as it is about being seduced by mysterious men, which has been sort of a staple of romance for ages. Sookie Stackhouse, though, is supposed to be a pretty independent woman who simply knows what she likes. Twilight is basically the opposite, isn't it? A girl who desperately wants to be told what to do all the time. Anita Blake...well, hell, I'm really not sure what a woman who is compelled to have threesomes with werewolves and vampires is really trying to say.
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| # ? Oct 27, 2009 07:12 |
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 Things went too far a long time ago, god is dead.
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| # ? Oct 27, 2009 09:04 |
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Look out, that link plays music too. Also, UGH.
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| # ? Oct 27, 2009 15:27 |
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Devious Vacuum posted:I don't remember who wrote it, but I read an article in the Washington Post a while back claiming that the Twilight/vampire fanaticism is linked to an anti-feminist backlash among women. It kind of makes sense - if you buy into the belief that feminism has made men less manly by confusing them about how they should treat women, etc, then I could see a backlash from women who want to be treated like equals in the workplace, but still like women romantically. It sort of speaks to a yearning for more defined gender roles that maybe young women haven't experienced in the same way as they did thirty years ago. I definitely feel this way. I also feel like vampires are filling a niche in romance fiction that has basically been erased in modern society. Girls want a man who is their "superior" to fall in love with them - whether from some anti-feminist leaning or because that makes them "special" - and the social classes that usually provided those men have kind of melted together. Honestly I think it comes less from a place of backlash than from a place of Mary Sue wishfulness. You're boring and normal, but this supernatural, all powerful being is in love with you, so that must mean you're way more special than all your boring and normal friends.
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| # ? Oct 27, 2009 15:41 |
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I WANT ONE! That is the most hilarious thing I've ever seen; far funnier than the sparkly dildo. In fact, this could only be more awesome if it, too, sparkled. Seriously, I can't stop laughing. I bought a Fleshlight (for  ) a few months ago, and I sorely wish I had waited so I could get this.Oh my god I'm practically crying with laughter over here. HAH!
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| # ? Oct 27, 2009 15:43 |
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Drunk Bettie posted:I WANT ONE! That is the most hilarious thing I've ever seen; far funnier than the sparkly dildo. In fact, this could only be more awesome if it, too, sparkled. Seriously, I can't stop laughing. I bought a Fleshlight (for huh? Hows that working out?EDIT: Oh god, there's a non gay one too. Casimir Radon fucked around with this message at Oct 27, 2009 around 16:29 |
| # ? Oct 27, 2009 16:14 |
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Casimir Radon posted:For Quite well, actually - apparently it's like loving a cantaloupe.
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| # ? Oct 27, 2009 17:28 |
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Casimir Radon posted:
The rightmost picture on the bottom row will haunt my soul. Those eyes... 
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| # ? Oct 28, 2009 06:53 |
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I am going to barf. http://www.dlisted.com/node/34583
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| # ? Oct 29, 2009 20:06 |
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Oh hey, someone in the GBS menses thread was looking for those.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2009 20:25 |
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Bizarro Toby posted:I am going to barf.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2009 21:07 |
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Bizarro Toby posted:http://www.dlisted.com/node/34583 You just know someone is gonna wear those inside out.
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| # ? Oct 29, 2009 21:53 |
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LooseChanj posted:You just know someone is gonna wear those inside out. Why would they have to? The crotch is already his mouth. 
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| # ? Oct 29, 2009 22:17 |
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Someone should really make a Photoshop thread of Twi-products. I'd start it, but I'm absolute poo poo at photoshop.
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| # ? Oct 30, 2009 01:18 |
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Bizarro Toby posted:I am going to barf.  I feel so uncomfortable looking at that.
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| # ? Oct 30, 2009 03:28 |
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Bizarro Toby posted:Why would they have to? The crotch is already his mouth. WAIT A SECOND...that second pic is...is that what...it's ON THE INSIDE??? Where's that huge version of when you need it?
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| # ? Oct 30, 2009 15:51 |
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Hip-Hoptimus Rhyme posted:Someone should really make a Photoshop thread of Twi-products. I'd start it, but I'm absolute poo poo at photoshop. Is it possible to photoshop something worse than what already exists? EDIT: IT IS DONE  (Close up of Renesmesleljeksleseee)  Waiting for it to dry right now, but I'll post pictures of the entire costume (including me) before or after the Halloween party I'm going to tonight. Devious Vacuum fucked around with this message at Oct 30, 2009 around 16:36 |
| # ? Oct 30, 2009 15:54 |
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That is awesome and I love the sparkles! But it needs fangs.... [/nitpick] is a 'Jacob' going with you? He could try to hump your stomach all night. 
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| # ? Oct 30, 2009 16:53 |
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHA Yes! I am applauding so hard right now!
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| # ? Oct 30, 2009 17:38 |
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Hahahaha, you found the perfect Reneseesme doll! That costume is a thing of beauty. Edit: i just noticed that even the font is perfect. You're obviously an artist, but still - just perfect.
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| # ? Oct 30, 2009 18:07 |
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Devious Vacuum posted:Is it possible to photoshop something worse than what already exists? Jesus Christ, I so want this. You should have mass-produced it. You'd be rich!
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| # ? Oct 30, 2009 19:17 |
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That is fantastic.
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| # ? Oct 30, 2009 19:19 |
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100 Years in Iraq posted:Jesus Christ, I so want this. You should have mass-produced it. You'd be rich! If only I knew a way to reproduce this reliably! The do-it-yourself version: It's made of two shirts haphazardly sewn together with a belt (very important: make sure you can adjust the belt) in between, which is tied around one of those curved neck pillows, which has the doll (sans feet) stuck in the middle of it. Everything is sewn to everything, including the doll, which has a string around its neck to hold it upright. The doll is from Walgreen's and used to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast (appropriate??). There's some pink saran wrap in there, blood and glitter, and you're golden. Thanks for all the kudos, guys!
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| # ? Oct 30, 2009 21:30 |
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Devious Vacuum posted:
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| # ? Oct 30, 2009 23:08 |
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Rate Thread:
