The Big Long Update
You guys! I’m on vacation! I flew to Moscow on the 20th and I’m just so glad to be done with this last semester. (Let’s just say there were profs this semester I would be glad to never see again.)
There’s lots of snow this year and it’s COLD. I’m not really fond of the freezing cold but the snow is nice. Last year it was all slush. ALSO we’re putting up our holiday tree today!
Winter in Moscow is ~theater season for me. I’m not really a theater buff, but I do generally make it to 3-4 plays. I’ve already gone to 2 and going to another one tonight.
One of the plays was Romeo and Juliet, same staging (though different cast/theater) that I saw several years ago. I have to say that although R&J is a pretty facepalm-worthy story all around, I really enjoyed it. (Now I feel like re-reading the original text and writing a Romeo/Mercutio fic. That’s definitely always been my OTP for this fandom, hah.) Mom got the tickets mostly for my brother’s benefit. Of course, he giggled through a lot of it. Thankfully (for me anyway), testosterone-filled puberty is slow to arrive for him.
The other play we saw was Savana Bay but I didn’t like it. I mean, the acting was good, but it’s definitely not a genre I enjoy - the sort of artsy/indie just two people having a conversation. (Also, their flyer kinda lied…) My mom didn’t like it much either. It was more a play my grandma would like. In fact, she was the one who talked me into seeing it.
Yuletide!!! Gosh I love this exchange! I had a surprisingly good year, given all the RL stress over the last month I’ve been dealing with. I can’t say anything specific about my stories yet but I will say that I wrote 6 fics in 4 fandoms, 2 of which were for my assigned recipient. No pinch hits this year, unfortunately.
I’ll gush/rec my gift and some other fics in a little bit BUT I will mention that I got a lovely Sonya Rostov-centric fic with a bit of Dolokhov/Sonya in it. We’ve got 3 War and Peace fics in the collection and 1 Pierre, Natasha and the Great Comet of 1812 fic. The latter is a musical (?) based on parts of W&P but the fic in the collection slides into W&P canon proper just fine too :D
I’m reading Captive Prince. MY GOD. I was veeeeery uncertain about getting the book. There were just so many things there (that I heard) that could squick me pretty hard. But I also kept hearing great things about it, including from people on the flist. I had some LexisNexus points saved up which I could cash in for an Amazon gift card, so I decided it was now or never.
I’m actually really glad I gave the book a chance. I’m only about 100 pgs into the first book, but I’m really liking it. It is fairly well written and definitely keeps my attention. The sex, so far, has not been distracting. I was afraid there would be lots of PWP-like scenes strewn throughout, but none of the scenes so far have had sex as the POINT of any given scene or described in overwhelmingly graphic detail. (I realize that lots of sex in their literature is something other people like, but for me that was one of the reasons I was hesitating.)
There’s obviously some political intrigue being set up and I’m excited to see where it goes. I like the characters. Damen is easy to sympathize with. Certainly because of the awful situation he is in, but also because he seems like someone with a pretty sure moral compass. (Although…his sometimes-squeamishness about rape makes me laugh. It’s like…you had slaves. You had pleasure slaves. How is that not rape, dude?) Laurent is great! He can be a total prick but just…argh. IDK. He manages to tug at my heart sometimes and I have this feeling that there is something about him, something we don’t know yet (well, I don’t know yet, at this point in the book). I’ll be disappointed if that’s not true.
The cultural differences between the two kingdoms are interesting to think about and I like how they inform the characters and their dislike for one another. The descriptions are not overwhelming but vivid enough to form some petty clear pictures. I actually think the book(s) would make a really pretty movie!
Watched the Downton Abbey season finale/Christmas Special. I do think I had somewhat higher expectations for it.
This new footman thing - Andrew, that’s his name right? Any chance Thomas will finally get a boyfriend or something next season? I’d actually REALLY love that!
I was disappointed by the Violet/Igor Kuragin storyline. I feel like the writers just didn’t really know what to do with it? Irina was not impressive in any way and the whole thing felt very anticlimactic. Also, the whole backstory, with them going to sail (SAIL?) away and then Irina catching up to them and pulling Violet out of the carriage…argh. IDK, the impression of a brawl that it gives me is unpleasant. I am happy that I held out on writing that fic though…
Wow. I didn’t actually think Carson/Elsie would become canon. I guess everyone else saw it and lots of people were cheering for them. It’s not THAT surprising but they just don’t feel like a couple to me, I guess. (I also don’t particularly like Carson so…)
Robert with Edith were very touching. I’m just so happy that Edith is happy, honestly! I wonder if that guy she was dancing with/hanging out with at the shooting will be a love interest for her next season. If he is I’ll be kinda disappointed because gah why does Mary get all the attractive guys? Seriously, she doesn’t deserve a single one. I mean, Edith did have Michael, but they fucking killed him off. I’m still bitter about that.
You can go fill Fandom Stockings until January 5th! I definitely intend to fill a few. Mine is here. (For some reason they left W&P off my tags? But it’s there!)
I hope everyone who celebrated Christmas the other day had a wonderful holiday! I've been keeping an eye on the flist but I still feel like I've been somewhat out of the loop because of stuff that's been going on. Can't wait to drown in fandom again!
There’s lots of snow this year and it’s COLD. I’m not really fond of the freezing cold but the snow is nice. Last year it was all slush. ALSO we’re putting up our holiday tree today!
Winter in Moscow is ~theater season for me. I’m not really a theater buff, but I do generally make it to 3-4 plays. I’ve already gone to 2 and going to another one tonight.
One of the plays was Romeo and Juliet, same staging (though different cast/theater) that I saw several years ago. I have to say that although R&J is a pretty facepalm-worthy story all around, I really enjoyed it. (Now I feel like re-reading the original text and writing a Romeo/Mercutio fic. That’s definitely always been my OTP for this fandom, hah.) Mom got the tickets mostly for my brother’s benefit. Of course, he giggled through a lot of it. Thankfully (for me anyway), testosterone-filled puberty is slow to arrive for him.
The other play we saw was Savana Bay but I didn’t like it. I mean, the acting was good, but it’s definitely not a genre I enjoy - the sort of artsy/indie just two people having a conversation. (Also, their flyer kinda lied…) My mom didn’t like it much either. It was more a play my grandma would like. In fact, she was the one who talked me into seeing it.
Yuletide!!! Gosh I love this exchange! I had a surprisingly good year, given all the RL stress over the last month I’ve been dealing with. I can’t say anything specific about my stories yet but I will say that I wrote 6 fics in 4 fandoms, 2 of which were for my assigned recipient. No pinch hits this year, unfortunately.
I’ll gush/rec my gift and some other fics in a little bit BUT I will mention that I got a lovely Sonya Rostov-centric fic with a bit of Dolokhov/Sonya in it. We’ve got 3 War and Peace fics in the collection and 1 Pierre, Natasha and the Great Comet of 1812 fic. The latter is a musical (?) based on parts of W&P but the fic in the collection slides into W&P canon proper just fine too :D
I’m reading Captive Prince. MY GOD. I was veeeeery uncertain about getting the book. There were just so many things there (that I heard) that could squick me pretty hard. But I also kept hearing great things about it, including from people on the flist. I had some LexisNexus points saved up which I could cash in for an Amazon gift card, so I decided it was now or never.
I’m actually really glad I gave the book a chance. I’m only about 100 pgs into the first book, but I’m really liking it. It is fairly well written and definitely keeps my attention. The sex, so far, has not been distracting. I was afraid there would be lots of PWP-like scenes strewn throughout, but none of the scenes so far have had sex as the POINT of any given scene or described in overwhelmingly graphic detail. (I realize that lots of sex in their literature is something other people like, but for me that was one of the reasons I was hesitating.)
There’s obviously some political intrigue being set up and I’m excited to see where it goes. I like the characters. Damen is easy to sympathize with. Certainly because of the awful situation he is in, but also because he seems like someone with a pretty sure moral compass. (Although…his sometimes-squeamishness about rape makes me laugh. It’s like…you had slaves. You had pleasure slaves. How is that not rape, dude?) Laurent is great! He can be a total prick but just…argh. IDK. He manages to tug at my heart sometimes and I have this feeling that there is something about him, something we don’t know yet (well, I don’t know yet, at this point in the book). I’ll be disappointed if that’s not true.
The cultural differences between the two kingdoms are interesting to think about and I like how they inform the characters and their dislike for one another. The descriptions are not overwhelming but vivid enough to form some petty clear pictures. I actually think the book(s) would make a really pretty movie!
Watched the Downton Abbey season finale/Christmas Special. I do think I had somewhat higher expectations for it.
This new footman thing - Andrew, that’s his name right? Any chance Thomas will finally get a boyfriend or something next season? I’d actually REALLY love that!
I was disappointed by the Violet/Igor Kuragin storyline. I feel like the writers just didn’t really know what to do with it? Irina was not impressive in any way and the whole thing felt very anticlimactic. Also, the whole backstory, with them going to sail (SAIL?) away and then Irina catching up to them and pulling Violet out of the carriage…argh. IDK, the impression of a brawl that it gives me is unpleasant. I am happy that I held out on writing that fic though…
Wow. I didn’t actually think Carson/Elsie would become canon. I guess everyone else saw it and lots of people were cheering for them. It’s not THAT surprising but they just don’t feel like a couple to me, I guess. (I also don’t particularly like Carson so…)
Robert with Edith were very touching. I’m just so happy that Edith is happy, honestly! I wonder if that guy she was dancing with/hanging out with at the shooting will be a love interest for her next season. If he is I’ll be kinda disappointed because gah why does Mary get all the attractive guys? Seriously, she doesn’t deserve a single one. I mean, Edith did have Michael, but they fucking killed him off. I’m still bitter about that.
You can go fill Fandom Stockings until January 5th! I definitely intend to fill a few. Mine is here. (For some reason they left W&P off my tags? But it’s there!)
I hope everyone who celebrated Christmas the other day had a wonderful holiday! I've been keeping an eye on the flist but I still feel like I've been somewhat out of the loop because of stuff that's been going on. Can't wait to drown in fandom again!