EmeraldArcher

I'm glad you mentioned the trigger warnings. I absolutely cannot read stories about sexual violence and rape, and I started reading an AU once in which Felicity was a runaway teenager with a dark past. I felt uncomfortable almost immediately but pushed forward because there weren't any trigger warnings in the notes or tags. By the time my suspicions were confirmed, I was definitely triggered. I left the author what I thought was a respectful comment letting her know that it can be devastating for a survivor to unexpectedly encounter something harmful when a fic isn't appropriately tagged with the correct warnings, and she lectured me about the meaning of "Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings" and how she didn't want to spoil what was a big plot reveal for her story. As a survivor who has finally achieved hard-won psychological stability, I was really upset that plot would be privileged over people's health. I think she eventually added an author's note or something, but it was too late for me. There's a WIP right now about Adrian raping Oliver when he tortures him--it's in the summary. I can't fathom wanting to read or write that kind of stuff, but I peeked at the comments to see if people were expressing their disgust. To my disgust, the comments were almost all positive and expressing the hope to see more from this story. A million ughs.

But didn't he also

Something like that, @bijoux--he calls it flirting :-)

I just did, and he said "Sara Diggle? She's not real anymore. She doesn't exist." Have I mentioned he knows all my Arrow-related buttons! Quick recovery, indeed!

When you're recovering from your 15th surgery and your husband is trying to coax you into eating the applesauce he's feeding you by asking "which do you want: trains or planes?" You answer decisively: "superheroes." With a maniacal laugh, he plows the spoon into your mouth as he says, "Open up, here comes the Black Canary."

It's a really sweet chapter, but it was just too much for my taste.

I think some people empathized with being easily distracted by their cell phones (without excusing KC), even during meetings, and it snowballed from there. My post upthread was trying to make the point that it isn't the same as a meeting at all. I don't think anybody defended her using the meeting analogy--it just took on a life of its own. ETA: Or what @LeighAn said.

Steve looks like a happy dork!* Willa looks aloof and fabulous. David . . . (happy sigh). JH is wearing a hat that looks like a shark's mouth eating her head! *I think I must look like a happy dork looking at this ADORABLE picture.

I'm almost positive that even a rude boss who plays with his phone during meetings would put it away if he were being interviewed by the media about the company or if he knew he was taking part in a group photo that represented the company. Because even the rude boss who doesn't give a shit about his employees tends to give a shit about his and the company's image. That KC can't even bother to think about how this behavior influences her image/brand in the eyes of fans, the media, and prospective future employers speaks a lot about her self-absorption.

Slight change of subject, but I'm just happy that this group isn't sucking face in every picture. It seemed like JB and EBR were going at it in every group photo and video last year. Clearly, last year's group had more energy and seemed to be having a great time, but the blatant display of tongues between two people* I don't ship got a little old. ;-) But definitely bring on the silly poses and dolphins of love! *By "people," I definitely mean characters--no trash shipping here.

I'd be the opposite--I'd be so excited to be there and be a part of the show, that I'd soak it all up. I can be on my phone any old time, but taking part in SDCC would be enough to keep me focused. I would get distracted by people watching, not by my tech. I say this as someone who is absolutely addicted to my technology. I think it comes across as incredibly unprofessional and self-absorbed of KC.

I totally had the same reaction Run to the Water, @bijoux. I can't remember the point at which I completely dropped out, but I thought it had a sharp decline in plot, characterization, and . . . maturity(?). That last one is hard to explain, but I had the impression that the Felicity and Oliver started behaving like idiots (and not the fun kind!), and the narrative took a nosedive, too. I try not to bash stories/authors too much, as I know that publishing is an act of bravery. Hopefully in the future, that author will focus on recapturing what she did well in the first few chapters.

That's awesome! Does anybody here read books out loud with a partner? Through the years, my husband and I have taken turns reading to each other--we enjoy some of the rompy Brits like P. G. Wodehouse or serialized stories like Dickens's Pickwick Papers. It's a great way to spend a rainy afternoon or a quiet evening in.

Of the YA series you've discussed recently, I loved Harry Potter, consumed Twilight books and films and shared the experiences with my daughter during her tween/teen years (I'm Team Charlie, BTW, 'cause why not?), read Divergent (meh), skipped Hunger Games entirely, and wasn't even mildly curious about 50 Shades. The HP books were timed perfectly for my children, who aged only a few years behind the main characters (they're in their early to mid-20s). Every time a new book would be published, we'd immediately buy a copy and take turns reading it--my son read all day, and I read all night while he slept. Whenever we'd go to a store, he'd flourish his hand toward the automatic door with such perfectly timed theatrics--it was pretty convincing that he was magically opening it instead of simply tripping the sensor. It might sound silly, but I'm so grateful that HP dominated my children's growing up years; those stories and characters meant so much to us all. As for Twilight . . . For years, I kept a copy of it on my bookshelf at work, sandwiched between scholarly books on ethics in computing, AI, technical manuals, and more. It was the only popular book on my shelf, and it was in the middle of the shelf that was at eye level. I meant for it to be a gag, to be a visual surprise when people perused my little scholarly library, but then I began to worry that people thought it was in a place of honor instead of the gag it was meant to be. I recently shoved it in the filing cabinet. It's hard enough to be a woman in STEMM, right? :-)

So HOT! :-). Almost as hot as Oliver being described as a literal love machine! (Gah) But, not nearly as hot as the author who describes "their bodies slapping and making obscene noises" (or whatever; paraphrasing). Such hot sound effects interspersed with the keening, mewling, and the industrial-sex complex that is Oliver Queen! :p

She has said "frack" on the show, but some authors seriously overuse it, especially when they use it as an adverb/adjective instead of a simple, short expletive. They're usually the same authors who will overdo the babbling. My favorite of the misused words for sexy times is "keen." The Oxford English Dictionary provides these definitions for "keen" when used as a verb: 1. Wail in grief for a dead person. 1.1 Make an eerie wailing sound. It's so sexy when Felicity starts to make an eerie wailing sound right before having an orgasm! HEE! To my great surprise, Oliver never stops what he's doing to make sure she's not grieving or to check if she's OK to continue.

Not yet, but it sounds like something I'd enjoy! Thanks for the heads-up. :-) I think SuchAPrettyPoison has Felicity frequently invoking Ada Lovelace in her stories. The first time I read it, I got a good chuckle! Beats the standard "frack" or "Thank Google" that shows up too frequently in fics. Just double-checked before posting--SuchAPrettyPoison is the one who invokes Ada Lovelace, but in "This Is How She's Going to Die," she commits the awfulness that is "Fracking Ada Lovelace!" Eek!

Ouch! That's really mean. I'm glad you can laugh it off; a good sense of humor and a solid sense of self can be a person's best friends in the face of anonymous Internet hate. I don't write fic, but I've gotten some doozy anonymous student evaluations, especially on sites like RateMyProfessor.com. I used to leave really long comments on AO3, but slowly got out of the habit. I always tried to focus on specific things I appreciated about a story so that it would be more meaningful than something generic. But, now I feel guilty that I don't even go through that basic motion of a generic comment to let an author know how much I appreciated her/his story.

I can't believe I'm going to do this so soon after everybody called truce on the other thing, but . . . I disagree! I think it's fabulous and funny and appropriate for their vanity wine brand/club and its membership of die-hard SA fans. But, I also do not drink wine, so I have no concept of appropriate wine bottle label artwork.

I teach in a STEMM field at a university, so most of my colleagues and our grad students are non-native speakers of English who've discussed the integration of languages in their primary school education (compared to languages being offered as electives at the secondary level here). Most non-native speakers I interact with are much more knowledgeable about the parts of speech and grammar rules than my domestic students. However, what impresses me about fic authors writing creatively in English is their easy use of idioms and word play, especially when there is little indication that some of them have had an immersive experience in the language.

I agree! I think I may have inadvertently insulted ChronicOlicity once when I left a comment on AO3 by how impressed I was by her command of the language--even better than some of the native speakers/writers of English. I was gushing my praise because she's a fantastic writer [1] and because I can appreciate how rare it is for a non-native speaker to perfect the natural expression [2] that is evident in her writing, and I think she responded with "Um. OK." But seriously, ChronicOlicity is amazing. I think at the time her author notes identified her as a very young law student in Hong Kong whose native language was Mandarin or Cantonese (I can't remember). I recently calculated her total word count in the Arrow fandom on AO3--it's significantly higher than all of the Harry Potter books combined. She's just incredibly prolific in her production of professional quality stories, especially for someone writing in a secondary language and who is balancing a very busy life with her writing. To be fair, I was new in the fandom at that time and had limited knowledge of how talented a lot of fic writers are. By contrast, any attempt of mine to write stories in Spanish (the only other language of which I know a smattering) would read like Dick and Jane stories for children.

I got Jake Green, too. I don't know who he is . . .

Yes, it was. I know the cinematography was highly thematic and fraught, but I wouldn't have reacted so strongly watching a male hero in the same scene, and maybe not even another woman. It was Diana specifically and how she was portrayed as fearless, yet kind and generous. We got ice cream after the movie, and I was so tempted to say "You should be proud!" :-) Last week, I read the stories online about the stupid man who wrote to the mayor of Austin to complain about the women-only screening of WW. Sure, he's a dick, but what was also discouraging were all the comments that provided counterpoints to his insults. Too many people tackled his "Name one thing invented by a woman" challenge with responses pertaining to women "inventing" all the people on the earth. I know they're well-meaning, but that's just stupid and insulting. Women didn't invent babies; they participated in a biological process. An invention is the result of creativity, intelligence, and innovation, and not every woman who's given birth is an inventor of a baby. Ugh.

I saw it today! Took the day off work and caught the matinee in the fancy theater with recliners and 3D. I wore my faded old Wonder Woman t-shirt and a necklace made from a Wonder Woman comic book page that I bought recently from a local vendor just for the occasion. What I'm saying is that I've been so excited looking forward to this movie! I LOVED it! Honestly, I just really needed Wonder Woman right now, and this movie exceeded my expectations. I was surprisingly affected during one of her hero/fight scenes (no spoilers here!) and wiped away several tears during a scene in no way meant to inspire them. But, it was wonderful and moving to see a strong, smart, fearless woman fighting for others because it's the right thing to do. There were so many gorgeous, strong women in the movie! Yes, their faces were beautiful, but I found their strong, muscled bodies just gorgeous in their strength and capability.

@kismet, this is where I'm at, too. I haven't watched live since they erased Baby Sara, even though I hadn't missed a live episode up until that point. I was such a huge, devoted fan, and I was a fantastic ambassador in my unabashed enthusiasm for the show to whomever I happened to be chatting with. And, yet, the decision to erase Sara Diggle was a blow I haven't recovered from. I hardly even post on here anymore, and I don't talk about the show other than to respond to people who ask that, no, I no longer watch because I got fed up with the way females are treated on the show and as fans. Erasure of a female character for no good reason is unacceptable. I'm tired of the messages that women don't count as much as men, that sons are preferable to daughters, that our bodies' primary purpose is for male enjoyment. Erasing Sara Diggle seems to be the one thing I didn't anticipate when I expected to be a devoted fan for the series' run.