A few letters

[sour_idealist]

Dear whoever designed Windows 7:

If I wanted a Mac, I would... actually, I still have this computer because it's what I could get, but if most people wanted a Mac they would buy one, and I don't want one. You know the main reason I didn't want a Mac? Because I hated the interface. Why did you think it would be a good idea to rip off that interface?

Also. In... what used to be My Documents before you got a hold of it... CTRL+N now opens a copy of the current window rather than creating a new folder. In what universe does this make sense?

What are these extra folders?

What is all this ugly hovering BS? What, in short, possessed you?

Your eternal nemesis,
Em.

Dear sort-of-new computer:

Despite the failings of your designers, I love you. I am incredibly pleased with your performance, your ability to hold a battery charge, your ability to run multiple programs at once, and your tolerance with all my iTunes-related shenanigans. You seem to be blameless in almost all of this evening's issues, and I thank you for that.

Love,
Em.

Dear Em:

What possessed you to try and re-align your LJ tags while waiting for the other things to load? No, really?

Also, these letters are getting slightly batty now. And you realize, first world problems, right?

Dubiously,
Em.

Comments

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Remind me not to get Windows 7 until/if I have absolutely no choice. I don't like how Macs operate either and having to deal with the Cobol computers in my journalism classes is enough. (I named my computer and a few other electronics, and then decided the Macs in the journalism departmenr were collectively Cobol. I was bored...)

[sour-idealist.livejournal.com]

BWAHAHAHA. That would most certainly keep me amused. Must... resist.. urge to make horrible puns about Mal-ware...

Ahem. Yeah, I agree with that analysis. What are you using at the moment, Vista?

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Mal-ware. *snickers* My computer's name is Arthur. My Kindle is Tris (book character), my iPod is Mark Smeaton (which is probably why it died, I did name it after a man who got his head whacked off...), and my coffee pot is Ianto.

Vista, yeah. I like it, so I'm sticking with it. :)

[sour-idealist.livejournal.com]

...wait, Tris as in Trisana Chandler? BAMF with lightning, can fly?

Arthur is a remarkably good name for a computer, even without the influence of the point man. Mine would probably get the name, except everything I anthropomorphize ends up feminine. I blame boats.

I was running Happy Caveman XP, so I am so far behind the times it's ridiculous. On the other hand, NEW AND SHINY.

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

You mean, she harnesses whirlwinds so she doesn't have to climb lots of tower steps, and keeps weather in her braids? ;) Someone else who reads Tamora Pierce, you don't even know how hard I am grinning right now. I love Tris, and she is such the bookworm, who else would I name my Kindle for? :D

Well, now, I think of both the point man and England (bloody Hetalia) and for different reasons both associations work.

New and shiny is good.

[sour-idealist.livejournal.com]

Tris is flat-out awesome. And she's pretty much the perfect namesake for an e-reader, you're right! That or Lirael.

How come England works as an association? And with the country, or the specific characteristics of the Hetalia version?

(New-to-me, technically, but HEY.)

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

First, that icon. Fantastic. Second, yes, Tris is awesome and a great namesake, there's no - Wait. Lirael? You've read the Abhorsen Trilogy too? O_O :D :D :D <3

The character from Hetalia, since he's into magic and such and some of the things I write on the computer have a lot to do with magic. And of course, my Tudor fics are set in England. :) (England/Arthur is my favorite character from the show.)

(Hey, it's still new and shiny.)

[sour-idealist.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The text is from somewhere waaaay back on metaquotes. And yes, I have read the Abhorsen Trilogy! Scared the living hell out of me when I first read it, too. :D

That makes sense! And somehow, I'm not surprised. ;)

(Indeed!)

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

I loved the Abhorsen Trilogy from the get-go, I have to admit.

Metaquotes. Hmm. Not familiar with it, but perhaps I should check it out.

LOL. Do you watch the show or just know about it? And he's a deadpan snarker with a British accent (obviously) in the English dub. Resistance was futile.

(I'm tempted to call you Teal'c now.)

[sour-idealist.livejournal.com]

Oh, I definitely loved it, I just kept all the lights on for ages afterwards.

There's some good stuff there, but not a lot anymore; I think it's kind of dying.

I'm familiar with it, only watched a couple episodes - subbed, if there was a dub I didn't know about it.

(Stargate? That one called for Google.)

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

:D I was too busy trying to figure out who the Eighth Bright Shiner was to be scared. I felt so vindicated when Abhorsen proved me right.

Pity. I still might poke around.

I have a link to where you can find the dub if you're interested.

(LOL. Yes, that would be correct.)

[sour-idealist.livejournal.com]

Hit me completely out of left field, myself. I don't recall the Shiners really registering as a huge thing until the end of Lirael or start of Abhorsen, and Sabriel was the one that scared me the most. (Up until the existence of Orannis. My #2 fear: apocalypses.)

There's definitely some funny stuff back in the archives; it's probably worth a look.

And my To Watch list is already a little too long, but maybe at some point?

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

I read Lirael and then Sabriel, which probably was part of why. Sabriel is definitely the scariest, good God. Except for Orannis. (Though in some ways Hedge is scarier than Orannis is. Destruction is Orannis' nature, but to be someone who is willing to go along with that...)

Orannis and the Dog talking about the Shiners drew my attention. :)

I understand completely. But if/when said list gets shorter, just let me know. :)

[sour-idealist.livejournal.com]

KERRIGOR, the MORDICANT, that damn cover art... augh. And the sheer malignant power of Orannis got under my skin, although I definitely see your point about Hedge. That is one frightening guy.

And I guess that makes sense. Are the Shiners borrowed from any particular mythology, do you know?

And thanks!

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Oh God, yeah, those two things... and the Stilken in Lirael. Jesus. Although, extra level of creepy for me with Kerrigor when it was revealed his human name was Rogirek or Rogir. All I could think of was another royal named Roger who came back from the dead, although I admit Roger of Conte was not a creepy undead thing. He just came back totally fucking nuts. And with a creepy kind of crush-thing on Alanna. What. But the similar names had me going "eep".

I don't think so, no. It was funny, I guessed Mogget, but the Dog being Kibeth threw me for a loop.

No problem. :) Hetalia has staked out a little corner of my mind, I'm now writing fic. Sigh.

[sour-idealist.livejournal.com]

AUGH, with the claws. Although after Sabriel I had the sense to read that one strictly during the day.

I never actually put the two together in my head before, so, um, thanks for that?! I think the Duke was pretty damn creepy himself, actually. (And I'd totally forgotten the crush thing - it sort of flew over my head the first time I read it, I am sort of amazed by how much I missed in those books - and now I want to write fic. Greeaat.)

The Dog being Kibeth startled me too, and also made me wonder what remnants of the others would have looked like. Terrifying, perhaps.

From what I've heard, it kind of does that.

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

And Lirael being, y'know, fourteen with not much training since she skived off her fighting classes (and even if she hadn't she only had a little dagger). At least Sabriel had powerful magic and a sword, even if she wasn't as competent with them as she'd have liked she was better off.

And am I the only one desperately, desperately wants a short story that just has the two of them bonding? It can be on a Dead hunt for the required action, but good God. I also kinda want Sabriel to bitch-slap Lirael's aunt for being so harsh on her, but that's another story. :)

Sorry? It only really came to me because of a game I was playing with a friend at the time in which we crossed way too many fantasy worlds, including those two. Roger was damn creepy in his way, yes, but he didn't have the creepy look part. And apparently, when the Alanna books were first conceived, Tamora Pierce wanted it to be an adult novel. Among the differences were Alanna ending up with Jonathan (really glad that didn't work out, I don't think they were good for each other) and a thing between Roger and Thom. I figure that is where the vague Roger/Alanna came from because at the time, homoerotic undertones would have been bad in a YA novel.

I haven't written Tamora Pierce fic in years, and the majority of it is not great. :/

I'm not sure if I want to know about the remnants (and we saw Astarael, talk about freaky) and as for Hetalia... Yeah. They didn't personify the other nations of the U.K. or Ireland yet, my head began turning. Not good. ;)

[sour-idealist.livejournal.com]

Very true! Lirael was just flailing around desperately, and Sabriel had been trained beforehand even if she'd never done anything so major. She had a clue.

YES YES YES THAT. That needs to happen. Not even a Dead hunt needed, just - GO.

You're right, the lack of moldering and fiery eyes would work. And that sounds like changes I am glad were made - I think Alanna and Jon were very good for each other while they lasted, but she would have hated being queen, he would have been upset because she would have been dreadful at it, cue resentment, cue BOOM. Glad it didn't happen, and very glad that she now has the freedom to write Daja and things like that.

And Roger/Thom? Ohhhhhh please tell me someone took that tidbit and ran with it.

Always time to try again, eh?

I kind of do and kind of don't, depending... the Sleeper probably wouldn't be scary?

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Sabriel had to have a WTF moment or two upon realizing that she has a sister who is approximately her daughter's age, and Lirael, despite how far she is come, I suspect is still painfully shy on a personal level. I'd love to see them working through that. You kind of wish their dad had left a note or something, though. "Yeah, so, there's a chance I might have a younger daughter out there, look up Arielle of the Clayr in a year."

Note. There is a line in Sabriel where she thinks something along the lines of "finding sisters in the Clayr." She meant close friends in Sanar and Ryelle, but in hindsight, the irony... Which is why I remember the line.

Oh, for a while A/J was great, I won't deny that. But as a permanent thing they would have been a disaster. Also I am a huge fan of George.

I haven't actually seen it, but I'm sure someone did. Mind Screw Ship much?

LOL. Perhaps. I have a couple of stories that are potentially salvageable. Maybe.

I now have this image of Lirael and or Sabriel arming up to face the Sleeper Remnant... and it's a teddy bear or something. I don't know.

[sour-idealist.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that would freak me out a bit too! And come to think of it, that is an excellent question in regards to Abhorsen Senior. You didn't think this might save a lot of people a lot of trouble, sir?

And wooow, that is either a brilliant coincidence or some very clever foreshadowing. (I suspect the second, just because the way Lirael and Abhorsen fit together make me suspect Sabriel was originally a standalone.)

Oh, I love George to pieces too, he's just so damn charming. (And I'm now very curious as to who's going to be his many-times-great-grandfather! I'm not sure if I'm going to be entertained more if it is Rosto or isn't.)

Ohh, definitely. Now I actually want to reread them and write it as Roger and Thom and Alan and Alanna and his complicated relationships with all of them, and whether Roger perceives Alan and Alanna as different people or the same. Could be cool.

Hee! In all seriousness, I think the Sleeper Remnant would still be a bit eerie, but less... EVERYTHING DIES.

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

At a guess, Arielle told him to say nothing, since she herself seems to have thought keeping the secret was key to making the future work. Why I don't quite know, as you'd think there would still be a way to trigger Lirael becoming a Remembrancer (that being the key power that enabled her to know how to stop Orannis) since the Clayr can, y'know, see the future and the only time they ever saw her had to do with that.

Who knows, but it was just a very odd line to read after having read Lirael.

I love Beka/Rosto but part of me wonders if Rosto as George's many-times-great-grandfather is too obvious. Though if he is, you can bet Rosto would be proud of his descendant having his throne. :) Beka would be irritated that her descendant is a thief, but then happy enough when he goes legit. They'd both just be O_O about him becoming a noble, though.

I hope you do write that, that would be absolutely brilliant, oh my God.

Well, yes, but the image is still a funny one. :D

[sour-idealist.livejournal.com]

That makes sense, seeing as Abhorsen Sr. seemed like a pretty responsible guy. I'm guessing Arielle didn't want Lirael being known to be the new Abhorsen and therefore put in danger? Seemed like a pretty dangerous thing to be at that particular point in history.

Multiple Rogues in a family line is a little too much of a coincidence, but so is an ancestor of one rogue repeatedly not sleeping with another one. Sort of like the universe announcing "Beka, there is going to be a Rogue in your family no matter what you do about it!"

For the list of fic you have made me want tonight: Beka and Rosto and Faithful/Pounce snarking at Alanna and George from the Peaceful Realms.

And maybe I will write it! Mmmm, creepiness...

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

I figured she was just very focused on making the future come out exactly as she had Seen it, and Abhorsen (Terciel, I believe was the name Mogget used once to refer to him) just went along with it.

The universe has it out for Beka. :D Poor thing.

Um, well... Hmm. It's not snarking, but I wrote a little thing with Faithful reminiscing on Beka and Alanna, and the connection. (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2464728/6/Reflections) But God, that snarking would be fun.

Creepiness is good.

[sour-idealist.livejournal.com]

That might work. I think when the Clayr get stubborn about something, most people go along with it. And Terciel rings a bell, yeah.

I don't know. She's doing okay for herself so far.

Hmm, interesting! I'll go look, dust off my old Pit account.

It is way too fun, isn't it?

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Also, he had enough problems without fighting with Arielle. :)

True. She's managed to avoid direct contact with gods, for one thing, which I think is almost a first for Tortall heroines. Kel had the Chamber, which wasn't a god but was just as unnerving.

LOL. I still use mine, mostly for Tudors fic these days, as there's not a strong LJ following for that fandom.

God yes.