Assassin’s Creed is very cathartic right now

[erastes]

I remember after watching The Da Vinci Code thinking that it made a better film than a book – now having seen Angels and Demons, I can’t say the same.  the script was LAUGHABLE. Surely someone as experienced as Howard must have seen that?  But then… why should he care? He’d have known it would make a fortune however crap it was.  Sadly though, there was no Hanks throwing himself out of a helicopter with no parachute. I was actually looking forward to that.

Also – Vampire Diaries. How dull is that?  I’m sure the Twiglet lovers are lapping it up, but sheesh, it’s like watching paint dry.  It’s probably just me, but I find the idea of a vampire who is old-enough looking to go and get a job but hangs around college instead for 50 years or so incredibly unsettling.

I’ve just had another piece of hate mail, from a reader – who says that she’ll not be buying my books any more.  I find it amazing that people can be so nasty.  I don’t think I’ve attacked anyone personally in this whole debate, in fact I’ve let people say what they like without engaging with them – they are as entitled to their own opinion as anyone else, but this Anita Buchan called me a racist, a liar, privileged and entitled.  I completely fail to see how being an (often prejudiced against) minority within a minority can be privileged OR entitled.  These two words have been bandied around a lot in the last few days and I really don’t know what they mean.  In what way am I acting as if I’m entitled?  I AM ENTITLED – if by that word it means “i feel i should be able to enter the Lambdas.”  I CAN enter the Lambdas, and if my publisher puts my book in, I will.  In what way am I privileged?  This – I don’t get.

I’ve often disagreed strongly with the ethics, opinions, religion, and views of many authors – however I consider myself intelligent enough to be able to separate the views of an author from what they write and take the writing only on merit. Shame that others can’t do the same.  i’d certainly not write to them and tell them that their views/religion/opinion disappoints me and I wouldn’t buy their books!! 

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Comments

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Well, obviously, if you're not part of THE GROUP--as defined by whatever member of THE GROUP feels s/he is speaking for THE GROUP, you must be an enemy of THE GROUP.

It's discouraging to see the George Bush mentality embraced by people who ought to know better. Personally, I don't see a whole lot of benefit from dividing people into smaller and smaller sub-groups and fostering enmity between them.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

The net seems to be rife with "rent a mob" - what startled me what that nearly every post on my view on the process was someone I'd never heard of - and no-one said where they were from. I'm unused to being invaded by angry strangers. Ms Buchan said that she was sorry about that, but "Netiquette was different all over the net." er. No, it isn't - that's why it's called Netiquette. Not forum-a-quette.

I think I know where the transphobic accusation came from, and that was a pure mistke on my part, a matter of semantics which I think should be forgiveable. but sod it - I'm finished with the entire business.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

I wish that little self-appointed nebbish who links to posts had the courtesy to ask if a poster wanted to be linked.

As for the Lambdas... I don't much care what they do, and I never really did. "Lambda-nominated" only sounds impressive if you don't know it costs $20 and 4 copies of a book... like being in 'who's who.'

[chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Lots. Just thank you.

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

If I boycotted all the books by authors whose "ethics, opinions, religion, and views" I disagreed with, my library would be very small indeed.

This self-righteous attitude of some is most annoying. That's my opinion and I'm sticking with it no matter what they call me. ;)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I would certainly not own any Heinlein or GRRM. (I hate american football)

Or Christie, or ... just about anyone actually!!!

[chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com]

and if i call you a member of "the lost tribe of beautiful sane people?" /book reference!

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

As far as I can see, a lot of the people who are coming here via linkspam are seeing straight cis-gendered privilege because they haven't bothered even going as far back in your journal as what? last week? where you were celebrating bisexuality day as a bisexual person yourself. You get linked in a linkspam about entitled straight people and people assume you are an entitled straight person.

From what I've seen, the anti LLF posts posted by authors in this genre have been largely posted by GBLT people. But unless you have a great big sign on your LJ proclaiming your sexuality, these strangers are coming in, already fired up with righteous fury, and just not taking the time to find out.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

I'm getting tired of seeing posts that start out with a person's sexuality ID before they say a word. Honest to God, the only person whose sexuality is my business is my wife.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

That's very much what I am getting - I don't understand what is privileged or entitled about me. Nor would anyone else who took the trouble to learn a little about me before accusing me of god knows what.

It amuses me that gay men like Victor J Banis and Teddypig are saying a LOT worse, calling Lambda sherry guzzling queens and the like - and no-one's hating on them, when I'm posting a perfectly sane commentary and get such vitriol.

[leatherdykeuk.livejournal.com]

The same reader probably adores Disney films despite Walt being anti-semetic

[penguinfaery.livejournal.com]

I like twiglet a lot better then some of the other twilight nick names I have heard.

And as someone who you sorta argued with, although I know where the "Privileged" label is coming from, I also think it's utter BS. Although there are some authors who's views cause me not to want to put money in their pocket (Stephenie Meyer comes to mind, although that's hardly the only reason), I really don't think that this justifies being one of them. I t sounds like the kind of reaction to you saying something like "I hate gay people and only write them because I need the check." or something.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Still not getting it. I am bisexual, and if i wanted to make money by writing, I wouldn't be writing gay books.

[crawling-angel.livejournal.com]

Cuz they heard about your secret knighthood ;p

'Arise, Sir Erastes!"




*runs away and becomes a piece of the wallpaper*

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Darn!! And the seven mansions?

And the slave boys?
And the salve boys?

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Isn't that "Dame" Erastes? There is nothing like a Dame...

[anderyn.livejournal.com]

Hmmm.

I saw some posts excoriating your attitude, alas, and just ... well, okay, I'm sorry, but I can't stand all this grandstanding by people who say "X is privileged AND has stepped on my feet by saying ....". It was annoying during RaceFail, even more annoying during MammothFail, and continues annoying with LambdaFail. I refuse to choose my reading material by what the writer thinks, believes, or advocates in his or her non-writing life (though of course I do choose my friends that way :-) because I read for other things than the author's personal beliefs (well, okay, Gor novels are RIGHT OUT, but they are also badly written and not all that interesting anyway, so I wouldn't have read any except in the interests of reading Bad Fic anyway...) -- things like story, character, lovely prose, you know, things that make a book worth reading.

I realize that other people have other ideas, and other priorities, but I am so tired of people yelling at others over the internet when they really do not know thing one about the person they are yelling at.

[beckyblack]

Oh and I don't see how a script for Angels and Demons could be anything BUT laughable. I mean I laughed solidly through the entire last third of that book and wondered whether Dan Brown had taken up smoking crack before his writing sessions. Funniest book I've read in years.

[rwday.livejournal.com]

I was bored at work last night and made the mistake of going to read through some of those posts linked from the linkspam thing. Some of what I read was worse than the worst fandom wank I can remember. How on earth anyone thinks that they can fight hate by hating is beyond me.

Too many unwarranted assumptions, too many generalizations, too much discounting of anyone who disagreed, even of GLBT people whose opinions didn't fit with the commenter's philosophy. And so much political correctness I thought I was going to vomit.

I'm sorry you had to take Tracey's post down - I bet it would have been well worth reading.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

I'd be happy to send it to you, if you like.

[maximvanziel.livejournal.com]

Without the heli scene? What a disappointment!


I'm really curious what made the lady to send you a hate mail. There are some writes I decided not to buy their books again, but don't send them emails :D

Well, I always believe that as long as we receive sweet words, we are not good enough yet. I'd like to see my Erastes rise to her full height against hate mails and criticism. (Like the ending of the film "Hero"? I'll treat you as a hero, too, then.)

Glad that you're enjoying "Assassin's creed". I'm looking forward to playing its sequel :)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I suppose the book is so awful it's almost impossible to make a decent film of it. I will never take away the fact that the man writes a great page turner, I've read four of his now and read them to the end, wanting to know what happened next, but the info dumping makes them twice the size they need to be. The film consisted of breath-taking racing around type action, with poor Tom Hanks puffing and blowing as he tried to run around while shouting out the info dumping that was necessary to explain the bizarre chain of events.

Assassin's Creed is wonderful. I'm actually "not bad" at it, which helps. The only quests I really can't do are the Informer Assassinations where I kill people for others - as I always get spotted, there must be a trick to it that I haven't learned yet. But when it comes to pickpocketing, eavesdropping, beating up interrogants, and a sneaky wrist knife through the back of the neck - I rock! (which makes a big change as usually I'm not great at games other than stealth ones.)

The sequel looks FABULOUS but is going to be £45 when it comes out here - I'm NEVER going to spend that kind of money on a game, that's obscene. So I'll have to be patient...

[aphephobia.livejournal.com]

I own a copy of The Fountainhead. And it's one of my favourite books ever.

And Ayn Rand's politics, and her hypocritical (because she writes more homoeroticism than your average fangirl) homophobia utterly repulses me. But I loved the story.

If I really can't handle someone because of their politics/attitude towards human beings (I think I John C. Wright's recent homophobic rage, also his weird creepy anti-women issues, too) I'll just not buy the book. If I have a compelling need to read it; that's what libraries are for.

How come this woman boycotted you? Evidently, I've missed something, I think...

[erastes.livejournal.com]

She objected to me saying that the Lambdas had changed their rules - called me a liar, and i doubt I'll get an apology now I've been proved right. She said she was disappointed that I agreed with racist comments (I wasn't aware I had, and would apologise if I had done so inadvertently) and said I was transphobic. I can see where I might have made a mistake in semantics regarding trans male to female, but it certainly wasn't meant maliciously, it was written without enough thought. But apparently that makes me phobic. *rolls eyes *

As you say, anyone with a brain is either capable of boycotting someone for their views (without the attention seeking hatemail) or is able to dissociate the authors VIEWS weighed against their writing. It's rather like when Alex Beecroft was accused of condoning slavery because she wrote about the slave trade and didn't denounce it.

As Lee said, I would never buy a book written by Phelps or Palin, but I'd not bother to write to them explaining why, I'm sure they couldn't care less.

[joannesopercook.livejournal.com]

a racist, a liar, privileged and entitled

I find that people like to throw around terms like that because it makes them seem Educated - like they've taken a Queer Theory course or three - when all it really proves is that they are either internet lemmings or sheeple. I always get the ones who try to engage me in long, drawn-out debates wherein they will attempt to prove how Wrong I am and how Right and Enlightened they are, when really, we both know it's just an opportunity for them to wank in public.

It's almost like they think that, because they have an opinion and an open forum in which to air said opinion, they are obligated to use it to browbeat anyone who exudes even a whiff of disagreement. It's such bullshit.