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The one who seduced you and screwed you over and broke your heart in a million pieces and laughed about it.
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. I loved loved loved that series. It was fresh and funny and an utter delight, and then the producers wrecked it with the single worst "big twist you'll never see coming!" during the wedding episode. I was unable to watch another episode of it, ever, and I'm not surprised that the ratings basically tanked pretty much immediately.
The old flame you don't see very often any more but whom you still really enjoy getting together with for a few drinks and maybe a pleasant nostalgic romp in the sheets.
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover books. I have no use for the collaborations, or many of the later ones, but I still can read the likes of Stormqueen!, The Heritage of Hastur, and Sharra's Exile with great enjoyment.
The mysterious dark gothy one whom you used to sit up with talking until 3a.m. at weird coffeehouses and with whom you were quite smitten until you realized she really was fucking crazy.
Sara Paretsky's VI Warshawki mysteries. The sheer weigh of the angst finally had me screaming "ENOUGH!!!!" and putting the books down, never to read again.
The one you spent a whole weekend in bed with and who drank up all your liquor, and whom you'd still really like to get with again although you're relieved she doesn't actually live in town.
Cagney & Lacey. Loved that show half to death, but now a lot of it seems pretty dated.
The steady.
Star Trek, now and always.
The alluring stranger whom you've flirted with at parties but have never gotten really serious with.
Eric Flint's 1632 series, which has a great set up and fabulous ideas, but somehow it's never really caught my attention.
The one you hang out with and have vague fantasies about maybe having a thing with but ultimately you're just good buddies 'cause the friendship is there but the chemistry ain't there.
The Horatio Hornblower novels. They're well written and entertaining, and I've liked the ones I've read, but no spark. Alas.
The one your friends keep introducing you to and who seems like a hell of a cool chick except it's never really gone anywhere.
Georgette Heyer. I've had so many people tell me about the witty dialogue and nifty plots that I downloaded an early one of hers (and didn't much like it), then sampled what everyone agrees is her masterpiece (and couldn't stand it). I'm about to give it one last try by downloading a free version of one of her mysteries, but unless they're really different from her romances, it ain't happening.
The one who's slept with all your friends, and you keep looking at her and thinking, "her? how the hell did she land all these cool guys?"
Romance novels as a genre. I have no problems to a romance in a fantasy, or an SF novel, or historical fiction, or mysteries. But romance per se? No. Never. And God knows I've tried to like romances and tried to understand the appeal, and it Just. Isn't. There.
The one who gave you the best damned summer of your life and who you measure all other potential partners against.
The Lord of the Rings.
The one you recently met at a party and would like to get to know better and who you think you might have a crush on.
Don't have one right now, although the BBC "Sherlock" series comes close.
The old flame that you wouldn't totally object to hooking up with again for a one night romp if only he cleaned himself up a bit.
Harry Potter. I still think the first four and a half are terrific, but after that the lack of editing (and the ridiculously high body count) is a huge turn off.
Your hot new flame
Don't have one right now.
The one who stole your boyfriend
Anne McCaffrey. I loved her books in high school, liked them in college and my early 20s, and now find them unreadable. The sexual politics that I used to find swooningly romantic now make me slightly ill (especially the F'nor/Brekke rape-disguised-as-love scene), and I really don't like the way she took all her old short stories and expanded them into terrible novels (Damia in particular). I'm also less than pleased with her son's hamfisted attempts at continuing the Pern series. I tried reading one and it was just awful.
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. I loved loved loved that series. It was fresh and funny and an utter delight, and then the producers wrecked it with the single worst "big twist you'll never see coming!" during the wedding episode. I was unable to watch another episode of it, ever, and I'm not surprised that the ratings basically tanked pretty much immediately.
The old flame you don't see very often any more but whom you still really enjoy getting together with for a few drinks and maybe a pleasant nostalgic romp in the sheets.
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover books. I have no use for the collaborations, or many of the later ones, but I still can read the likes of Stormqueen!, The Heritage of Hastur, and Sharra's Exile with great enjoyment.
The mysterious dark gothy one whom you used to sit up with talking until 3a.m. at weird coffeehouses and with whom you were quite smitten until you realized she really was fucking crazy.
Sara Paretsky's VI Warshawki mysteries. The sheer weigh of the angst finally had me screaming "ENOUGH!!!!" and putting the books down, never to read again.
The one you spent a whole weekend in bed with and who drank up all your liquor, and whom you'd still really like to get with again although you're relieved she doesn't actually live in town.
Cagney & Lacey. Loved that show half to death, but now a lot of it seems pretty dated.
The steady.
Star Trek, now and always.
The alluring stranger whom you've flirted with at parties but have never gotten really serious with.
Eric Flint's 1632 series, which has a great set up and fabulous ideas, but somehow it's never really caught my attention.
The one you hang out with and have vague fantasies about maybe having a thing with but ultimately you're just good buddies 'cause the friendship is there but the chemistry ain't there.
The Horatio Hornblower novels. They're well written and entertaining, and I've liked the ones I've read, but no spark. Alas.
The one your friends keep introducing you to and who seems like a hell of a cool chick except it's never really gone anywhere.
Georgette Heyer. I've had so many people tell me about the witty dialogue and nifty plots that I downloaded an early one of hers (and didn't much like it), then sampled what everyone agrees is her masterpiece (and couldn't stand it). I'm about to give it one last try by downloading a free version of one of her mysteries, but unless they're really different from her romances, it ain't happening.
The one who's slept with all your friends, and you keep looking at her and thinking, "her? how the hell did she land all these cool guys?"
Romance novels as a genre. I have no problems to a romance in a fantasy, or an SF novel, or historical fiction, or mysteries. But romance per se? No. Never. And God knows I've tried to like romances and tried to understand the appeal, and it Just. Isn't. There.
The one who gave you the best damned summer of your life and who you measure all other potential partners against.
The Lord of the Rings.
The one you recently met at a party and would like to get to know better and who you think you might have a crush on.
Don't have one right now, although the BBC "Sherlock" series comes close.
The old flame that you wouldn't totally object to hooking up with again for a one night romp if only he cleaned himself up a bit.
Harry Potter. I still think the first four and a half are terrific, but after that the lack of editing (and the ridiculously high body count) is a huge turn off.
Your hot new flame
Don't have one right now.
The one who stole your boyfriend
Anne McCaffrey. I loved her books in high school, liked them in college and my early 20s, and now find them unreadable. The sexual politics that I used to find swooningly romantic now make me slightly ill (especially the F'nor/Brekke rape-disguised-as-love scene), and I really don't like the way she took all her old short stories and expanded them into terrible novels (Damia in particular). I'm also less than pleased with her son's hamfisted attempts at continuing the Pern series. I tried reading one and it was just awful.
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no subject
Date: 2011-08-11 08:49 pm (UTC)From:I despised Jondalar; I saw his manipulation and controlling tendencies and I found them deeply repugnant. She thought he was romance incarnate ("Look at how hard he works to make sure she's satisfied, look at how much he loves her so much he can't stand to have her out of his sight..."), and saw the rape-disguised-as-love scenes between Lessa and F'lar which I hadn't seen. (I think I'd actually skipped over some of those parts!)
She was unwilling to admit that green riders must be homosexual, a conclusion I'd come to naturally from reading the books. (I was more disturbed at the gay=violent tendencies I saw from the bit with the belt knife in, um, the first book, I think it was.)
I was never able to read McCaffery the same way after that conversation, and still can't quite tolerate any of it. I love the first two Harper Hall books, but will admit that even those are flawed.
*sigh*
Sometimes I want someone else to re-write that whole universe, but do it well.
Stasia
no subject
Date: 2011-08-11 10:42 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2011-08-11 11:19 pm (UTC)From:The F'lar stuff stuck with me, but I don't remember the F'nor/Brekke business. It sounds foul. What I remember from that was the strangeness surrounding Kylara and how everyone dealt with it. It seemed to me that a woman willing to screw lots of people would be a positive thing in that situation, given the likelihood of a Queen rider having to have sex with multiple partners over her lifetime.
Eh. I'll sit over here in my corner and read Jane Eyre. At least she gets to be as independent as she tries to be.
Stasia
no subject
Date: 2011-08-12 02:05 pm (UTC)From:The homosexuality among green riders was readily apparent to me ; but I didn't see the gay=violent concept. I did tend to think that the blue riders tended to be unstable and prone to violence (and risk-taking so a higher death rate). I immediately saw the F'Lar/Lessa rape business. I don't remember the F'Nor/Brekke issue. I guess my perception of them is warped from learning of them first through Menolly's knowledge of them.
As for Kylara, her treatment did not surprise me -- even in our enlightened world we cannot deal with women who own their own sexuality.
As for Ayla/Jondalar -- your interaction with the fan is not surprising. To the average person he is "perfect". To thinking rders, perhaps not. I got annoyed with how perfect Ayla was -- in all of the things she discovered/invented. Almsot as bad as Dr Quinn on that TV show.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-12 02:12 pm (UTC)From:Met Anne McCaffrey two years ago, and she's deteriorating fast, mentally and health-wise, so she probably wouldn't understand what you were talking about if someone took her to task for screwy views on homosexuality or rape-as-love or whatever.