Snowflake finale + friending meme, reading roundup (Magnus Chase), and meme
Also, finishing out the challenge with the last day:
Day 15: In your own space, talk about what you're taking away from this challenge. Did you learn something? Did you interact with new people? Or did you try out different fandoms or formats or relationships? What's changed between Day 1 and Day 15 of this challenge?
This was good! Last year and the (incomplete) year before was more about writing down long things, my fannish history (which makes sense, since that was the first time I was doing it), this year was more about doing something different.
I actually commented to the community post with the more interesting (and non-f-locked) days for the first time, and that was nice -- I think I'll do it again. The cheerleading aspect feels a bit artificial for me (which is why I'd avoided linking my posts at the comm in the past), but there were a couple of days when the replies involved actual conversation about actual shared fandoms and tropes, and I liked that. So, worth it on the whole!
Day 4 (create a fanwork) was the thing that spurred me on to start making my fandom_stocking stocking stuffers, which was very timely. I don't think I would've managed as many stockings as I did if not for Snowflake (though the delay with the reveals definitely helped there, too).
Probably most impactfully, Day 5 (leave feedback) was the challenge I used to actually comment on AO3 for the first time, on a number of Yuletide fics I'd till then only kudosed/bookmarked. I'm still getting used to commenting over there, a bit, but I've gotten past that initial block.
For day 6, I came up with the nostalgia challenge, which I think should be fun for me if no-one else. (And recent conversation reminded me that a good candidate for that for me would be Tad Williams :D I think I was still in high school when I read Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, and I haven't reread them since, so it's been 15 years.)
Throughout the challenge, I commented to a number of folks (on LJ, DW, and AO3) that I hadn't interacted with before, over shared fandoms or recs or whatnot. I think two mutual friendings have come from this so far, between Snowflake and Fandom_Stocking, and I'm participating in the Snowflake friending meme, so there might be more.
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1. Rick Riordan, The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase #1) -- I was surprised by how fun I found this book! I had read the first four Percy Jackson books, but lost interest at that point, and never caught up when the second series started getting published, or checked out the Kane Chronicles at all, though the rodents have read all of them. (O likes Kane Chronicles, L doesn't really, and they both prefer the first PJO series to the second one, but have read them all.) Anyway, I wasn't sure Magnus would work for me, but I remember an earlier conversation with someone on LJ (was it you, ikel89?) about how the Norse mythology was a much more promising one than Egyptian for this treatment, because it's much less serious and even the genuine myths are already full of ridiculous things. It definitely worked out like that! I'm not sure that I won't just lose interest again as I did with Percy, but I enjoyed Sword of Summer much more than I had enjoyed The Lightning Thief, first book for first book.
Part of it is, I think Riordan has improved as a (YA) writer since then. (I guess PJO wasn't his first series, by some ten years, but it looks to be his first foray into YA, and I guess that makes a difference.) Partly it might be that I'm at a sweet spot with regard to Norse myths: I know enough to spot some mythological figures a step or two ahead of Magnus and really appreciate the jokes, but not so well that (as with the Greek myths) the stories are all old hat to me. With the early PJO books, especially, I thought too much time was spent retreading the actual myths with Percy in the central role; either that's not the case here, or I just don't recognize them.
A thing that had bugged me about the Percy Jackson books was the video-game sort of nature of violence in them -- by which I mean, the monsters weren't getting killed for real, they'd just respawn later -- which felt like it absolved the heroes of any moral responsibility. So I was pleasantly surprised that giants and such that Magnus et al kill here do seem to be dead for good. Granted, Magnus is older than Percy was when his series started, and it makes more sense for a 16-year-old who's lost his mother and lived rough for a couple of years to be involved in real death than it does for a twelve-year-old. And the "good guys" can die for good, too SPOILERS -- not that Gunilla was an ally exactly, but I found her death handled well, and the closure with Magnus's mother.
I like Magnus and his POV in a way I never warmed up to Percy, who struck me as a smartass without much of a reason for it. Magnus, I feel, comes by his snark honestly, and he also has more of a sense of humour about himself, which I liked. I also appreciate the fact that, though he ended up in Valhalla and is brave and all, he is NOT actually a warrior, but a healer and a moderating, peaceful influence -- this is a nice change of pace.
I also liked Samira, and the fact that one of the demigod kids who are principal actors in this is a daughter of Loki -- I'm looking forward to further developments there. I like that she's both religious/observant but in a way where she isn't defined by just those things -- I haven't seen that very often. I also like that some of the religious trappings are just to keep her grandparents happy (I mean, I think probably her willingness to be seen without her hijab has more to do with the fact that it's a magical object and so needs to be something she can take off, for moving-the-plot-along reasons, but I still like what it means for her character). I also liked both that she side-eyes Magnus for the falafel comment, and that it turned out to be genuine, because things are like that sometimes. I'm hoping that Magnus and Sam will remain just friends, as seems to be the set-up with her arranged marriage/crush on Amir -- teenage boy/teenage girl friendship is a really nice thing to see.
I liked Hearth and Blitz, too, but less as individual characters and more as just part of Magnus's entourage and source of comic relief. (Also, I was reassured to see that over 50% of the fic on AO3 (27 out of 45 works) is tagged Blitzen/Hearthstone. Because that was definitely the clearest ship indication from the first book.) I kept laughing at pretty much everything in Nidavellir, but especially the way everything was named. And the narration of the making contest was hilarious: "Judging has been difficult. We have weighed the merits of Junior's boiling sludge, slag heap, and useless metal cylinder against the chain mail vest, bullet-proof tie, and Expando-Duck. It was a close call." Also, I really liked the way Hearthstone's deafness was handled. His part in the conversation was integrated pretty seamlessly, but without it ever being forgotten that he was signing, and that had certain limitations, as well as certain advantages. I liked that, despite there being magic and the ability to rewrite reality in this canon, his deafness is not something that's fixed by magic -- the option exists, but it has trade-offs, and he explicitly chooses the other thing. I like that at one point his inability to hear is an advantage (with Fenrir), and that it's not something Riordan is scared to hang a running gag on (though he treats the disablity itself with respect), such as when Hearthstone is mystified by Magnus miming the giant's daughters being drunk, or Thor constantly and cheerfully misinterpreting what Hearthstone is saying, which ended up being one of my favorite funny bits.
Other things that made me laugh: Valhalla's breakfast buffet to the death and "Not that my regularly scheduled life was so great, but it beat getting judged unworthy by twelve bearded guys named Erik." About the only thing that didn't make me laugh was Jack the sword. His personality just didn't really work for me, and the bits that were supposed to be funny or charming or I don't know what were just annoying. Presumably he'll be a big part of all of this, so I'm not looking forward to that, but, really, it's only one thing in a book that otherwise very pleasantly surprised me.
OK, two things, because I was also disappointed in Odin. The way he washiding among the einherjar as a half-troll of all things, and the way he'd let Samira in on his secret? That was great. Actual unmasked Odin giving boring PowerPoint presentations? Not so much. This is a real pity, as Odin is one of my two favorite Norse gods, and I don't think it'll get better necessarily. But at least my other favorite, Loki, was great, charming and seductive and full of justified rage that occasionally peeks through the sparkly facade, malevolent but still attractive and sympathetic. I hadn't really expected that. Oh, and for a while there I hadn't thought the book would go into detail as to WHICH paren of Slepinir Loki was, and then it did, and Samira's "I don't want to talk about it" was priceless. I liked Thor, too -- he felt quite true to the mythological Thor, not too bright but with his heart in the right place, and I was touched that he missed Loki. The goats gag dragged on too long, but it was relatively amusing, too.
Bonus Blitz and Hearth fanart: Cute!
And while I'm linking to book fanart, Vorkosigan art rec: Funny Ivan-centric fanart (I think the Russian bits are fairly self-explanatory, but let me know if anyone's interested in a vague translation)
(I've also finished Burndive and am almost done with Cagebird, but I'm going to hold off on posting those write-ups until I'm done with the whole thing.)
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We watched two more episodes of Buffy with the rodents Saturday: Reptile Boy and Halloween. spoilers!
I thought at first that Reptile Boy was the one with the fish monsters, and told the rodents this was a weak ep. But then I realized it was actually the snake mosnter one with the anti-drinking PSA, and amended my prognosis for it as "even worse". With my expectations super-low, though, I actually did not hate it as much as the first time around. The bit of preachiness is still annoying, but not as prominent as I remembered it. Rodents laughed at Xander's hazing (with the bra and the wig). I thought Willow was the best thing about the ep, from explaining Bollywwod movies to the others to telling off Giles (for pushing Buffy so hard) and Angel ("You're going to live forever. You don't have time for a cup of coffee?") before concluding with, "kay, I don't feel better now, and we've gotta help Buffy." One thing that seems to be kicking in earlier on rewatch for me is being sick of Buffy/Angel.
"Halloween" is the first episode of s2 that I actually really like, I guess, and where the season starts hitting its stride for me. I remembered the main happenings, but had totally forgotten about the set-up with Buffy thinking she needed to dress up like a 18th century noblewoman to attract Angel, and the whole thing with Buffy stopping Larry from pummeling Xander. I gotta say, Larry asking Xander "So she's not your girlfriend?" about Buffy takes on a very interesting air knowing, as I do now, that Larry is gay. (I completely missed the first time, and continued to miss, until I looked on the wiki, the part where Larry was actually the pirate who attacked Buffy. OK, that makes more sense...) I was looking forward to Ethan, and he definitely didn't disappoint. The rodents both were very intrigued by Ethan calling Giles "Ripper" and talking mysteriously about their shared past. And O was very happy to see Spike again, as was I. L laughed very hard (as did I, honesly) when Giles is startled by ghost!Willow and drops all of his index cards XD Also, Buffy distracting Giles by telling him Ms Calendar thinks he's a babe was very cute!
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Meme from Tumblr: Give me a pairing and I'll tell you:
-who cries when someone dies in a movie
-who wears the ugly holiday garb
-who pays for the meals
-who slams the oven door and who plays the trombone
-who brings home stray animals
-who leaves the bathroom door open
-who tells the ‘dad jokes’
-who wants kids more
-who travels more
-who spends more cash
-who buys the things in infomercials
-who draws in the dust on their cars
-who starts the snowball fights
-who throws away the directions to things
-who puts up holiday decor
-who is more likely to forget to bathe
-who gets more obsessed about things
-who sings in the shower more often
As per usual, fandoms of note are below, and crossovers are always welcome! Fandoms: ASOIAF, AtLA/Korra, Avengers (movie-verse only), Babylon 5, Buffy (through s6), Demon's Noun, Discworld, Dragaera/Vlad Taltos, Dresden Files, Firefly, Harry Potter, Kingkiller Chronicles, Kushiel's Legacy, Rivers of London, Sherlock BBC, Temeraire, Vorkosigan Saga, and anything else you know I'm into.