Hunger Games Trailer, Canterbury Tales, and More

This weekend seems to have gone by fast.  I was looking forward to resting, but for some reason I don't feel rested at all.  I feel just as tired as I did Friday night even though I got a decent amount of sleep and didn't do anything to wear me out.

I watched the Hunger Games trailer when it aired on TV during the Super Bowl pre-show.  It's the same one that was released online earlier this week, but it was awesome to see it on TV.  We actually have the pre-show recorded on the DVR just for the trailer.

I haven't done much this weekend.  Tonight's the second part of the Catholicism video series my church is doing, and that'll be the only time I've done anything this weekend except for church.

I'm in the middle of reading the Nun's Priest's Tale from the Canterbury Tales, but I can't make myself focus on it.  I keep zoning out as I'm reading, and I can't remember anything I just read.  I'll get it done before I have to go to the video thing later though.

A Hunger Games Saturday

Today has just been a boring, lazy Saturday.  I listened to an episode of HG Fireside Chat and wrote some Hunger games fanfiction.  That's basically it.  My grandma was over for a bit earlier this morning.  It was nice to see her.  Our Internet has also started going in and out the past hour or two (I think my dad's updating software or something.), so I hope I can get this up without any problems.

I don't think I mentioned this anywhere but Twitter, but I got my second college acceptance the other day!  Now I just need to hear from two more.  I can't wait to finally decide where I'm going and get everything settled.

The End of 2011 and My First Hunger Games Fanfiction

Can you believe Sunday is the start of 2012?  I can't.  I filmed a video earlier today that will be up on my channel tomorrow.  I talked in there about some of the awesome things that happened this year, and things I want to try and do in 2012.  Like I said, that'll be up tomorrow if you want to watch it.  I may do a similar blog post here tomorrow, but I'm not sure yet.  I'll be at my grandma's for New Year's Eve tomorrow, so I'll probably blog about what we're doing there instead (which is why I filmed the video today). 

I haven't done much today.  I did manage to get a small part of the essay for AP U.S. history done, but then my mom called me down for dinner.  I'll probably finish it Monday, since I couldn't think of what to write anyway.  I think I'll be able to focus better on Monday.

As I mentioned earlier in a blog post, I finished writing the first draft of the story I was working on, and I put it away for a while before editing it.  For the past week or so I've been writing Hunger Games fanfiction.  I talked more about this in the video that'll be posted tomorrow because finishing the fanfic is one thing I mention as wanting to do in 2012.  I'm having a lot of fun with it so far, since it's my first Hunger Games fanfiction.

It's going to be a series of one-shots that are in chronological order and have a similar theme.  I'll talk more about it when I start posting it online.  They definitely have a lighter tone than the actual Hunger Games books because I'm focusing on Katniss and Peeta's kids who have much happier lives.  The story I just finished was also a bit dark.  It wasn't incredibly depressing or anything, but I wanted to write something a lot lighter and more positive now.  There is some darkness to it though, especially when the kids kind of think about their parents' pasts.  Actually, I just discovered this but both the story I just finished and this Hunger Games fanfiction are heavily centered around growing up.  Other than that though, they're completely different.

Anyway, I'm going to quite ranting about the fanfiction and go work on it some more!

Christmas and Writing

There's just a little over half an hour left of this Christmas!  I filmed a video earlier that will be up tomorrow that talked a bit about how this Christmas went.  Basically, we woke up extremely early with just a few hours sleep to open some awesome presents, and then over half of the house, including me, went straight back to bed.  It was a great Christmas, but even after waking up for the second time I was extremely tired.  I spent half the day half asleep.

I got some great presents!  I've only been able to use a few so far.  My new Ravenclaw iPhone case got put on my phone immediately, and I've already written in my new Harry Potter planner that's extremely similar to the one I've been using this year.  We also watched Up in the Air, which I got on DVD.  I also got The Princess and the Frog and the Beauty and the Beast DVDs.  If you know of my obsession with Beauty and the Beast, then you'll know I'm extremely happy with that gift.  I also got several other DVDs and some books among various other things.

By far the most exciting part of my Christmas was finishing the first draft of my currently untitled story that I've been working on for months.  I've posted teasers of it over on my writing blog.  It'll be a while before that's posted anywhere though.  I'm going to forget about it for a while and work on some Hunger Games fanfiction.  Then, when that's done, I'll get the story out again and edit the first draft.  I'm so excited to have it finished!  Plus, I've had so many ideas for these Hunger Games one-shots that I'm going to be writing.  I can't wait to get started!

Favorite Antagonists in Books

Trying to think of my favorite antagonists from all of the books I've ever read is difficult.  I know I'm going to leave some awesome antagonists out of the list, but here are a few of my favorites.  Warning: most of these contain at least slight spoilers.

Voldmort and the Death Eaters from the Harry Potter series.  I couldn't help it.  They had to start off this list.  I would have listed several different Death Eaters seperately, but I didn't want to clog this list up with Harry Potter characters, so I won't list any Death Eaters individually.  I don't think I could ever despise another fictional character as much as I do Voldemort, Bellatrix, and Wormtail (and the next character on this list).  They're so well written and so horrible.  Plus, I love that we get lots of backstory on Voldemort, and we get to kind of understand why he turned out the way he did.

Umbridge from the Harry Potter series.  She's almost worse than the Death Eaters.  I can't stand how she does whatever she's told to by whoever has the most power.  I swear she would have become a Death Eater early on if she'd known Voldemort was out there and would control the Ministry.  Not only does she act like a puppet in order to gain power, she also does horrible things on her own, such as giving a fifteen year old boy a detention where he has to write lines in his own blood.

Coin from The Hunger Games series.  I'm putting her on this list but not Snow.  Ever since reading Mockingjay I've hated Coin more than Snow.  Snow tells Katniss they shouldn't lie to each other in Catching Fire, and he really never does lie.  Everyone (except the Capitol citizens of course) know that Snow's corrupt/evil/etc.  Snow does horrible things, and sure, he puts on an act when he's in public.  Coin, however, goes even farther in my mind.  She tries to act like she's on Katniss' side, even to Katniss, and then, she tries to kill her.  It's not really that different from what Snow's doing, and yet it seems so much worse in my mind.

Dr. Cable from the Uglies trilogy.  She doesn't have that large of a role for most of the books, but the role she does play is very important.  She's interesting because she's not really evil.  As far as she's concerned, she's doing what she needs to do to protect the society they live in.  Plus, she surprises Tally (and me as well) towards the end of Specials.  I think that's when I really realized that she isn't that bad of a person.  I don't think she thought of what she was doing as wrong, and I can see her justification for her actions.  I think she's a very interesting character.

I'd add more to this list, but it's past midnight and I need sleep.  Besides, most of the books I read don't have one clear-cut antagonist.  I actually realized that in most of the books I read the protagonist themself is also the main antagonist.  Still, I hope this list is fun to read, even if it is short.  I feel like it's almost unintelligible because I'm half asleep.  I'm going to bed before I fall alseep while on the computer.

Dresses and Breaking Dawn

I've had a busy weekend so far.  After school on Friday, Ji, Regina, and I went shopping for Christmas dance dresses.  We stopped to get something to eat, and then went to this house Ji's parents are fixing up.  (This is in a city a little less than an hour away, and they're moving out there when the house is done and stuff.)  We left Ji's car there, and her mom took us to the store where she had us (particularly me for some reason) try on a ton of dresses.  Luckily, I found one, so I have that done with.  I'm not a huge shopping or trying on clothes fan.  Ji's mom was really into it though.  She wanted to see me in every dress, and she kept going to get more.  It felt like I was in that dressing room forever.

Today I went to go see Breaking Dawn with my friend Haley.  I was so excited!  Every showing before ours had sold out, so I was really worried this one would be when we got there, but we managed to get tickets.  I loved the movie so much!  As of right now, I can really only think of one complaint.  For the most part, I thought it was done great.  I'll post a review of it later.

My biggest thing was that the Hunger Games trailer wasn't shown before the movie!  It was supposed to be, but for some reason it wasn't at our theater.  Haley and I were dissapointed because we both really wanted to see it on the big screen.  I hope I get to see it in front of something before the movie's out.

This doesn't really sound like a busy weekend, but it sure feels like it.  I think most of it is because I woke up really earlier this morning.  I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep.  Usually, I lay in bed a while anyway, and I eventually go back to sleep.  I didn't do that this time, and I regret it.  I've been so tired today.  Plus, I can't sleep in tomorrow, so I'll start off the week tired.  Thankfully, I only have school two days this week!

Harry Potter vs. Hunger Games vs. Twilight

Comparisons between Harry Potter and Twilight are everywhere.  You see them less and less now.  (Now, it tends to be Hunger Games vs. Twilight or even Harry Potter, which is just as bad.)  Still, I see the comparison pop up every so often.  I think comparing series like this is one of my biggest pet peeves.

What do Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games have in common?  Nothing really.  Sure, both Harry Potter and Twilight have vampires and werewolves, but they're not even similar vampires and werwolves.  The Hunger Games isn't even fantasy but dystopian.  I've never understood why people insist on making comparisons between the three.  You can't compare things that are so unalike.

Yes, I know most of this comes from the fact that all three are extremely popular book series there were or are being turned into films, but I don't think that makes it reasonable to compare them to the extent people have.  I hate that almost everytime I see an article on one of the three (other than on fansites) one of the other two is almost always mentioned.  For the most part, it doesn't happen when talking about Harry Potter and not so much Twilight anymore, but almost everytime I see something about The Hunger Games, the article will also mention Harry Potter or, more often, Twilight.

I just wish this would stop.  Why can't the three series remain separate.  They're way too different to be compared.

The Hunger Games Teaser Trailer

I'm a bit late about this, but I'm finally blogging about the Hunger Games teaser trailer that aired during the VMAs on MTV.

I absolutely loved this trailer!  I know it's not much, but we were told that beforehand.  The end of the trailer is just incredibly epic in my opinion.  The rest of the trailer is cool too.  I like how we see a bit of Katniss in the games, but it doesn't give away too much.  I hate when trailers give away the whole entire movie.  They're still going to have to put more than this in later trailers, but it definitely fit the teaser part of a teaser trailer.  I definitely wasn't expecting Gale to be narrating it, but I like that we get to hear everything he says.  I can't help but wonder what someone who's never read the books is thinking about all of that.

From Katniss shooting the arrow to the end of the trailer, I get incredibly fan-girly every time I watch it.  Having the arrow she shoots form the arrow in the mockingjay pin was a brilliant idea.  I didn't even realize Rue's whistle was at the end until someone pointed it out online.  I think that was a wonderful touch.  This made me even more excited for the movie!  I can't wait for March!

Yearbooks and Mockingjay

I don't know why but this week has just seemed to inch by for me.  There's no way it's only Tuesday.  I was also a little shocked yesterday when I turned to the new week in my planner and saw September.  Time's going by so fast and yet so slow.

Last year's yearbooks came in today!  We spent all of class trying to sort out all of the personalized ones by grade.  Tomorrow I think we're sorting them into groups passed on what class the kids are in that period, and hopefully we'll be able to hand them out.  We did get to take our own, so I have mine.  I haven't looked at it much though because I haven't had the time.  It's really similar to past yearbooks, but it's pretty awesome.

During lunch today, my friend Haley, who's reading Catching Fire, picked up a copy of Mockingjay and read the last page.  Her reaction was absolutely hilarious.  Neither one of us could really say anything since Jordan, who's getting ready to read Mockingjay, was sitting right there, but her face was priceless.  She said she wanted to go read Catching Fire after that.  I love seeing Jordan and Haley's reactions as the read the books.  We also had fun talking about Starkid and fanfiction.  They're basically the only people I know who actually understand these things.

We took a quiz over Ammendments 14 throught 27 in government today.  (We took one on one through thirteen yesterday.)  It's definitely wasn't as hard as I was expecting since I couldn't remember any of them, but I know I screwed up a couple of things.  It's so hard to keep all of the numbers straight!

That about sums up my rather uneventful day.

Who's Irene?

I love Saturday.  It is by far the best day of the week.  My feelings for it kind of wan in the summer, but as soon as school starts again, I remember how much I love that particular day of the week.

Today was the Drive One 4 Ur School event that I worked at.  One of the local car dealership let people test drive cars for free, and our school got money each time someone test drove.  There was a decent sized group of kids there from school, way more than was needed.  Most of our time was spent just sitting there talking.  A lot of the teachers were there, including our principal, vice principal, and guidance counselor.  It's kind of weird seeing them outside of school.

I was so excited about finally getting to wear my awesome new shirt today.  (I can't wear it to school because it's kind of spoilery for the last Hunger Games book, and Haley and Jordan are still reading them.)  Then, I get there, and they hand me a Drive One 4 Ur School.  I didn't really have to take it, but everyone else was wearing them.  (Plus, I wasn't turning down a free shirt.)  I'm determined to wear that Hunger Games shirt tomorrow.  I don't care that it breaks my rule of not wearing t-shirts to church.  (I'm never dressed up at church anyway, so it's not like it's a big leap or anything.

Ji and I were only supposed to work an hour and a half, but we ended up staying for two and a half hours.  It really wasn't that bad since we were just talking to everyone.  We even played hangman for a while.  Ji and I took some pictures for the yearbook.  (Ji took a lot more than I did.)  We also informed Ji about the hurricane when she asked who Irene was after hearing the name.  I then informed Ji of every single bit of Hurricane Irene news that I say through twitter for the rest of the morning.  We even got some awesome free popcorn.

When I got home, I discovered that my Hoosier Girls State DVD had come in the mail!  That actually reminds me that I need to go make my family watch it with me.  I'm looking forward to all of the memories (and making my family see how awesome it was).

I  have a slight favor to ask you guys today.  As you know, I'll be going off to college next fall, so it shouldn't be surprising that I'm trying to get as much scholarship money as I can.  There's this site called Fastweb that helps you find scholarships.  It's pretty awesome.  Right now, if you refer someone to the site, you're entered into a drawing to win $500 of scholarship money.  If you're also looking for scholarships, please use this link to register.  It'll help you find scholarships, and you can help me out at the same time.  I'd be extremely greatful.

That basically summarizes the more exciting parts of my day.  The rest of it was mainly spent watching Naruto, How I Met Your Mother, vlogbrothers, and The Hillywood Show.  (Isn't that just full of variety?)  I'm going to go convince my parents to watch that HGS DVD with me.  (It's only August, and I'm already reliving the summer.)

Hunger Games Shipping

Three days ago I posted a video about Harry Potter ships.  In it I mentioned that I was probably going to post shipping related videos and blog posts about other fandoms.  This is one of those posts.

Is it any surprise that I'm going to talk about Peeta and Katniss first?  I love them so much!  They're not really the couple that would usually be considered adorable (no couple with Katniss would be really), yet I still think of that word when I think of them together.  I guess Peeta makes up for Katniss in the adorable department.  When I read The Hunger Games for the first time, I wasn't sure what to expect.  After reading the scene where Peeta confesses his feelings in front of the whole country, I was kind of shocked.  At that point I still wasn't sure if I wanted them together or not.  That quickly changed while reading about them in the games.

I adore Peeta so much.  Honestly, I would have gotten fed up with Katniss after their first games and probably would have written her off.  (I guess he came close to that, but it didn't really work.)  I love reading about how much Peeta loves Katniss.  (And, Katniss loves Peeta even if it takes her forever to realize it.)

One of the things that kept me on the edge of my seat through the whole series was their relationship.  Personally, I think Katniss fell in love with Peeta a long long time before she actually realized it.  I just wish we could read more about them as a (real) couple.

I thought Gale was a pretty decent character at first, but as I read Mockingjay, I started liking him less and less.  Still, I couldn't help but ship him with someone.  In between Catching Fire and Mockingjay I started thinking about what would happen if Madge and Gale ended up together.  (I wasn't the only one of course.)  It wasn't something I was very invested in (like Neville/Luna), but I'd thought about it.  That all went down the drain in the third book.  Then I read the scene in Mockingjay when Gale goes to visit Katniss in the hospital.  You remember how Johanna is there?  Do I even need to tell you what I ship now?  For me, the Gale/Johanna ship is at just about the same level as Gale/Madge was (or still is) for me.  I don't usually read fanfiction for either couple unless I just happen to stumble upon it, but I enjoy both couples.

Of course I have to mention Finnick and Annie.  I love them so much!  I don't read much fanfiction about them either, but I love when they make appearances in other fanfiction I read.  While reading Catching Fire I was really curious about them, so I loved reading about them in Mockingjay.  I wish we knew more about what happened to Annie after Mockingjay.

Those are my "top" four ships in the Hunger Games fandom.  Like I said in the Harry Potter video, I'll probably go back to each fandom at some point in time and do each couple more in depth.  What are your favorite Hunger Games couples?