Fannish Catch-up: Snowflake Challenge, Fandom Stocking, Miss Peregrine's movie, and Killjoys s2
Wrapping up the Snowflake Challenge:
Day 14: Go forth and commit an act of kindness.
I took the opportunity to fill a couple more random fandom_stockings on that day, and calling it done.
Day 15: In your own space, write a love letter to Fandom in general, to a particular fandom, to a trope, a relationship, a character, or to your flist/circle/followers. Share you love and squee as loud as you want to.
I feel like the fandom/Fandom/tropes, etc. parts of this have been taken care of by various days this year and in the past, so let's go with flist. Because you guys are awesome. I have met so many amazing people through LJ (HP and ASOIAF fandoms mostly, with a special nod to Discworld, as westerosorting-ers will recall). Some of you have watched my kids grow up (seriously, O was 6 months old when I started this LJ!), and have sent them (and me :P) toys and books and drawings and COOKIES and compliments and support. Through the magic of time zones, you are invariably the first to wish me happy birthday and Happy New Year. I have been so fortunate to meet quite a few of you in person (18, as of this count!), whether it was a way to make logistics mesh in Paris or to keep me company in assorted hotels in Phoenix and Austin; you have come to visit me (from as far away as Moscow!) or made time for me in your hectic schedules when passing through. And there are so many of you that I haven't met in person yet but it almost comes as a surprise, because I've known you for years, even if it was purely across an internet connection -- and I really hope we will get to meet! We have spent so much time talking about favorite things, about books we love and cracky ideas and deep things like our families and things going on in the world and ridiculous things like favorite snack crackers and what Hogwarts house Buffy characters would be sorted into. But whatever the topic, my flist is never dull when you are posting, and when you aren't posting (or the rare occasions when I'm not reading), I miss you all terribly. There are many friends I miss, too, disappeared off LJ with no forwarding address or appearing on my flist with a strikethrough these days -- even those I haven't talked to for years are people I miss and hope will return. Because, collectively, you are the most brilliant and generous and interesting bunch of people I could wish to be part of my daily life. <333
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And speaking of, fandom_stocking went live over the weekend, yay! I got a glorious Jaime/Loras fanart from none other than the awesome sephystabbity, an intriguing RoL AU ficlet (with Peter/Nightingale and Peter & Abigail, yay), a slew of adorable hamster icons from lost_spook, pretty HP movie icons of my favorite characters, awesome book recs from rachelmanija and puzzle recs, adorable picspams of anteaters and rodents, and holiday wishes both critterful and fannish.
I wasn't sure this year if I would actually manage to do much of anything on my end, between stockings going up later than usual and work crazy and travel and being sick, but the delay in reveals for once worked in my favor, and I was able to make some graphics and share some targeted book recs and picspams of both random cute stuff and critter photos from our own stash. The dozen or so icons I made
For jain, a couple of icons for Watchmaker of Filigree Street and Lynes and Mathey books:
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(art credit = cover art for Watchmaker of Filigree Street and Death at the Dionysus Club)
For rachelmanija, two quote icons from Prisoner/Werewolf Marines:
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For kaffyr, a couple of The Goblin Emperor art icons:
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Art credit:
Wee Maia by Erin Faith Hicks
Color Csethiro by shiftingpath on Tumblr
B&W Maia and Cesthiro by myartaline on Tumblr
For veleda_k, some Gentlemen Bastards icons
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(art credit = kejablank on DeviantArt)
For alias_chan, a LotR/Hanukkah icon:
(Unsurprisingly, two other people also opted for the Galadriel and Hanukkah combination, but without the phial)
And the new holiday banner for this year (although I used a mix of them from past years, too, for variety)
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As I mentioned in my previous post, we watched Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children over the weekend. So I'd read the book a year or two ago and didn't think much of it, but the trailer for the movie looked pretty, and I thought it might make a better movie than book. And I do think it did! The movie changed a fair bit about the story, but some of the basic premises are unchanged and don't make a lot of sense in either format -- but it does feel like a more coherent narrative (albeit with silly worldbuilding) in a way the book did not to me. It doesn't address some basic problems I had with the book -- the worldbuilding making very little sense, SPOILERS from here the Jacob/Emma storyline feeling Replacement Goldfish creepy, the majority of the characters not really feeling like people -- but it made them a bit less glaring to me.
For example, Emma and Jake actually get some moments together, so it feels less like she's just settling for the only available male relative of Abe's. I was rather puzzled at first by Emma's flying powers, since it's a different character who has them in the book, but I suppose this makes more sense for a romantic lead, and makes for some nice visuals. But her 'powers over air' are really bizarre and lead to all kinds of stuff that's not in the book and makes no sense (if she can fill an entire ship with air, why can't she suck air out of Barron, say, instead of just trying to hold him back? -- this is what L kept asking). And then the ending is totally different, too -- probably because the book ends abruptly and the movie needed closure. I didn't think the 'peculiar children' characters needed aging up, but I suppose it's easier than working with child actors and it doesn't change all that much -- and perhaps makes Jacob choosing to stay with them more believable, too. I felt the principal weakness of the book was that it sort of lurched from photograph to photograph, relying on them for worldbuilding, instead of characterization, etc. In departing from the book (which had been so constrained), I felt like the movie actually had more leave to shape a more coherent story.
One thing I did miss in the movie was the one thing I actually liked about the book -- a sense of Jacob's family, his relationship with his father as well as his grandfather. A few of the beats were still there, but the father came across as ridiculous rather than poignant. I suppose that also helps shore up Jacob making the choice to go back to the Peculiars (with Miss Peregrine being back, it's not really duty pulling him there anymore.
Also, two random observations -- I'm too lazy to go back and actually look whether the book mentions it explicitly or just strongly implies that Jake's family is Jewish, but I thought it was rather odd that the movie did not explicitly mention it at all. I mean Abe and Jacob Portman, with Abe having to leave Poland due to Nazis, there's not much of a mystery involved, but it's just kind of noticeable in its omission. And I think the 'human monsters' are never mentioned as Nazis either. The other realization is actually related to WWII also -- L asked me if I thought that "hollowghast" came from "Holocaust" -- which had never occured to me but, duh. But I guess it's more noticeable when the word is spoken rather than when skimmed.
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And I also finished watching the second season of Killjoys. I'd actually mainlined the first 7 episodes within a couple of days, and then stalled on #8, which you'll see below I didn't like much, but then finished out the season in less than a day once I got past that.
Overall thoughts -- I think I liked season 1 more overall, because while I like how well the show uses all of the disparate elements it introduces, it's almost TOO neat in season 2 -- everything goes back to plasma and Sixes, and it makes the world feel smaller. And also, the worldbuilding around the plasma is, how do I put it delicately, rather stretching my suspension of disbelief in a sci-fi universe. So, all plasma all the time is not exactly the key to my enjoyment of the show. Also, I felt like the things the show did with Johnny (who remains my favorite, of course) were a bit less interesting/to my taste this season; I do lik season 2 Dutch and D'av more than in season 1, I find, but Johnny is the heart for me, so enjoying his storyline less means I enjoy the whole show less. But I liked the climax more in season 2, and the way the whole thing with Khlyen played out was beautifully done. Oh and Pree! Pree was awesome, and I liked that there was more of him; I did miss seeing Bellus, though -- I feel like there wasn't nearly as much of her this season.
One thing I unequivocally liked less in s2 than in s1 though? The credits! OMG, why get rid of the awesome haunting song and replace it with the stupid "ooh ooh ooh", and the cartoony images weren't doing it for me either. I suppose they do help orient the show more, but I'd kind of liked the sink-or-swim way the first season just threw you in the universe. I realize not everyone was watching it straight through like I was, probably, but still -- I really miss the original credits. I actually went back and watched the beginning of the very first episode, now that I could appreciate it properly in the knowledge of who Johnny and Dutch were and their relationship, and it was so good to hear the song again!
OK, now episode by episode reactions: Spoilers!
episode 1 -- waah, what happened to the cool theme song I liked? :(( And the new cartoony zastavka/credits isn't doing it for me. Why mess with a good thing?? Also, D'av's green goo visions aren't doing much for me either. I am, however, amused by D'av developing the sudden habit of voicing viewer thoughts to Khlyen, like "You know you have some pretty serious Daddy issues with her. It's pretty creepy." and "That's some multi-tasking green shit you've got there."
I am enjoying Pree joining in on the action (and him and John playing a couple). Lucy and Johnny continue to be probably my favorite relationship on the show:
Lucy: The system is resisting me.
Johnny: Kick its ass, woman!
Lucy: Understood.
But what is this phenomenon of Lucy two-timing Johnny with Clara? I like Clara just fine, but I do not approve of this development! Not even if Alice the arm has a crush on Johnny.
episode 2 -- "Maybe they're out of asshole bosses with rubber stamps." If only, D'av, if only. We are apparently experiencing a thing where, in order to turn asshole boss Turin and (presumably) asshole shadow ops Khlyen into plausible potential allies, the actual antagonist has to be such an unmitigatedly horrid smug snake as Jelco. I was so happy to see that Hills had made it through the bombing OK, and I really had not expected Jelco shooting him, any more than Pawter did, but even before that, Jelco was was just so terrible that he's not even in love-to-hate territory for me, he is sort of in the "kill it with fire" territory previously reserved for, like, Joffrey Baratheon. I hope somebody kills him soon, preferrably Khlyen, who could probably be persuaded to be appropriately messy about it. Things I actually enjoyed in this episode were mostly to do with Pree (I wanna know about his warlord past!) -- and yay for him getting Royale back! -- and also all the Johnny/wall. XD
episode 3 -- I didn't enjoy this episode as much on its own merits (except for Pawter's B plot, which was entertaining just for Jelco getting a taste of his own medicine), but it did reveal some interesting things. So the plasma comes from the mossopedes (and of course Johnny took one with him, the dork; the little one is kind of cute, actually), and the mossopedes avoiding D'avin just as he was able to reject the green goo, and whatever is going on with the memory of the scarbacks on Arkyn... But, Dutch/Alvis... why? I like the thematic links between them, but am not feeling that at all.
episode 4 -- OK, definitely my favorite episode of season 2 so far (supporting my suspicion that the more, uh, episodic episodes work better for me than "cor arc" ones). Also, Delle Seyah always adds fun to the proceedings. I liked the family stuff a lot, even when it wasn't subtle, like D'av losing his shit when Jake's father manhandles the boy or Johnny playing the "little brother guilt card" (combined with a healthy dose of deception and engineering savvy). D'av bonding with Jake was also cute ("Sounds like our dads would get along. They'be both giant assho-- ...Jerks." "Nah. Mine's an asshole.") and then trying (unsuccessfully) to not make it worse when they think Olan is dead. And aside from the kids, Johnny getting excited about the Prodigy school and D'av and he ribbing each other (about Johnny being a nerd... and D'av stabbing him XD)
I also really liked the plot/resolution -- the fact that what had killed the children was an accident (the data transmission from Khlyen overloading the system and tripping the cryopods into sterliziation; I mean, this is obviously a TERRIBLE engineering design decision, the cryopods should fail safe in a case like this, not kick off sterelization, but narratively I found it neat), Olan surviving because Chambers tried to save him (as the most promising student?) and misinterpreting that and killing her, etc. I just liked that the real antagonist wasn't some evil power, or even 'ruthlessly working for an unknown possibly good outcome' power, but tragic happenstance and people working on limited data and incorrect assumptions. You know, for a change. And there were a LOT of lines I liked in this one:
Dutch: "To escort students. Small people."
D'av: "Children, Dutch. They're called children."
D'av: "That's what makes us a great team. You lead. I shoot. Johnny gives a shit."
Delle Seyah: Why are you here, Yalena?
Dutch: I missed our hate-flirting.
Johnny: I'm both turned on and terrified.
Pawter: I get that a lot.
Dutch to Delle Seyah: "Don't you dare fantasize about this later."
When D'av offers Pawter the last cryopod: "You damn Jaqobis and your damsel shit."
Johnny: "He was going to blow up my girl" (totally Lucy, D'av, come on, what are you, daft?)
D'av: "Hey, John. Thanks for not getting us blown up."
Johnny: Must be Friday.
Dutch: Great. One step forward and five kicks in the ass.
(I should look up who the writer of it is -- *wikis* huh, nobody that's written any of the other episodes...)
episode 5 -- I like body-swap episodes in general -- it's always fun to see another actor's/body's take on a characters, so the D'av/Khlyen swap was fun. D'av-in-Khlyen's-body was especially fun (and I liked that it didn't fool Fancy Lee at all). I hadn't expected to meet Jaqobis senior, but liked the confrontation between D'avin (looking like Khlyen) and him. I liked Pawter's dad when he showed up in an earlier episode, and it was nice to spend some more time with him and learn about his humble beginnings as a carpenter, and was very sad when he sacrificed himself (although, seriously, family as rich as this, only has ONE diving suit?) None of the setup makes sense, but on a pure character level I liked the way Pawter's mother handled everything, giving orders till the end. And that Hank the smug asshole was behind the attack. Dutch's chance to talk to Khlyen while trying to save D'av's body and switch them back was also rather cool, especially, "I don't hate you any more. I miss it."
What I didn't like at all: the secret going up between Johnny and Dutch (and D'av) for no reason that seems logical to me. John says "Qreshi Fireball Johnny wants to give a shit", and it's surely not coincidental that in just the previous episode D'av says that's exactly what Johnny's role on the team is, in those exact words. And it's D'avin who's right, not Johnny -- he's clearly been giving a shit all this time, as a killjoy. I mean, there's a nice scene set up, with Dutch saying "You're my gravity, Johnny Jaqobis," but I really don't buy Johnny not coming clean with her, because WHY. (And while I like Pawter and find Johnny/Pawter cute, I'm definitely not OK with Johnny apparently choosing loyalty to her over loyalty to Dutch. And there isn't even a real conflict of interest AT ALL, so this is silly and artificial, and I had expected better from this show. )
Even though that soured the episode for me, I did like several lines in it:
D'av (after Sabine points out he must have family issues): This is flirting? Because I remember it being less uncomfortable.
Johnny: Pawter, are you OK? I mean, I know you're not OK, but... I'm just gonna-- I'm gonna keep saying words until you stop me.
And Lucy gets the best line, though: You are welcome to step outside, and find some other technology. (But, so Dutch doesn't realize FTL communication is possible, huh.)
episode 6 -- Aww, Johnny named the mossopede! XD I liked parts of this ep a lot but was side-eyeing other parts of it. I really liked San Rockwell (Keon Alexander) and his interactions with Dutch, including her telling him off: "I'm not your manic pixie assassin". Very interesting to get Dutch's story behind the sitara and the wedding night, and the revelation from Alvis that the trees mentioned in religious doctrine are probably connected to the plasma -- their green sap being "an elixir that confers eternal life", and that scarback cutting ritual may have started as a way to show they weren't infected iwth plasma. Predictably, I loved seeing Lucy given actual form, the John/Lucy kiss (Lucy talking him into it with "this may be your only chance to kiss a robot" and "Lucy, you're making sparks." "Am I not supposed to?" "No." "OK. Thank you for the data."), and D'avin's face throughout ("Oh, buddy, no."). Pawter surprising Johnny by really being there while pretending to be a hologram was also cute. But... Dutch/Alvis? Not seeing that one at all... I was wondering why we were getting so much more of a show with D'avin and Sabine than with the others, and then an answer presented itself. Poor D'av can't catch a break with the ladies, clearly, and also, eek.
episode 7 -- OK... so possibly the thing with Dutch/Alvis was just a compatibility viz BDSM XP This episode is making me realize that I like season 2 Dutch better than season 1 -- she was lost and hiding a lot in the first season; I like this Dutch who is more open about the kind of person she is, who can torture and kill cold-bloodedly, not on the job, when that's what the situation calls for. It was this exchange that crystallized it for me:
Sabine: Why should I try?
Dutch: Because you're restrained and I'm violent.
I'm also liking season 2 D'av more, and one thing I really respected about this episode is that he DOESN'T forgive Sabine, or agree to sleep with her again to keep the Sixiness at bay, or even tell her she's a good person just because she asks, and actually tells her that her expectations of him are not fair. I liked the conversation he and Dutch had about it, too:
Dutch: We are at war.
D'av: With who?
Dutch: I don't know, because your little bang buddy won't tell me.
D'av: Then treat her like an enemy combatant. There are conventions, and you don't get to break them.
Actually, I like most quotes about the situation, including:
Johnny: "Okay, because, you're my brother, and I love you, but maybe you should think about holstering that thing. Not a good track record."
D'av: I'm the one she spy-banged, and even I'm saying you're taking this too personally.
Dutch: So... the cure for Sixes is banging D'av?
Sabine: Promise not to die this time.
D'av: Sorry. Not really up for penis roulette.
That's... probably darker humour than I normally like in my shows, but it really worked for me here. I also liked this bit:
Turin: Congratulations. You found the mole. Passed my test.
Sabine: That wasn't a test.
Turin: *shrugs* No. But it'd be pretty cool if it was.
And Sabine's revelations about Khlyen are very intriguing -- that he was a full-blown Six before something about Dutch (Yala) what, woke up some part of his emotions again? I'm really looking forward to learning more about it.
episode 8 -- OK, the one episode I didn't care for (which is not bad in 20 episodes, honestly). I'm glad the break was short-lived, but I really hated the whole thing with Dutch and Johnny being at odds, Dutch turning her back on Johnny ("So why the hells did you even come then?" "Habit"). I never particularly bought Johnny lying to the team for Pawter, even if he does love her (it seems really unnecessary), and this relationship between Johnny and Dutch is the core of the show for me, so with them working on their separate things just feels really pointless. I mean, that probably IS the point, but I really didn't need it made. Moving on!
episode 9 -- OK, back to form! I like the non-linear storytelling trick, and there were some really neat things -- microleeches are an interesting take on lie detection, Pree standing up for Dutch was great ("You, me, blaze of glory." "Some other time. Promise."), and my favorite line was D'av's "You chose Dr Crazy-Pants over Our Lady of Perpetual Ass-Kicking" (is it just me, or are they using D'av to voice viewer reactions a lot this season?). Also, D'av's manhandling of Jelco was actually quite fun, though I feel cheated of his comeuppance. I suppose (in light of what goes down in the season finale) they need a bad guy at large to save for the next season?
The thing with the wall makes very little sense to me, from either engineering or character motivation direction. I suppose I can see why they would even have that lever "rage" would be a setting for the emotional manipulation along with depression and docility. It seems unlikely that it would work so quickly, given that Arune didn't feel the effects of the happiness setting, but we can say the thing was just accelerated. It seems silly to design a lethal wall and have it be overloaded by just a bunch of people rushing it, given how advanced the technology is otherwise. And I have a really hard time buying Pawter making the call to make martyrs out of Old Towners for the sake of Westerly. It links nicely into the various themes -- her cutting off her sister's arm to save her life (which Dutch reminds her of), the reluctance to shoot Jelco which Dutch pep-talks her out of, Delle Seyah's comment about growing up like Pawter never had to do... but it's one thing to make a difficult decision in her area of expertise when every second counts (with her sister) and a very different one to make the decision she made here, and I don't buy it. It makes for an interesting picture, but doesn't feel true.
I liked Dutch and Johnny's reconciliation scene, Johnny's mixed cake metaphor, and especially the part where Dutch tells him she loves him and why she needs him. That said, killing off Pawter (assuming she really is dead -- this show likes those fake-out deaths, but this one seems pretty real, what with D'av going to the pains of stating it next ep) is sad -- I liked her as a character on the whole, and while I definitely prefer Johnny and Dutch's relationship to Johnny/Pawter, it seems like a cop-out to get rid of the latter this way.
episode 10 -- This show really likes its hate-flirting, huh? (D'av and Fancy, in this case; to quote the latter -- "Don't worry, I will tell everyone you died sexy.").
The climax worked really well for me in this case -- everybody getting to do something important (even Fancy, whom I hadn't expected to survive, so that was a pleasant surprise), Johnny and Lucy being a great team ("Oh, I understand the reference now. That was funny, John. You're funny." "Yeah, yeah. I don't need your pity.") and of course the culmination of two seasons of Khlyen and Dutch.
Khlyen's arc worked really well for me (unsurprisingly), secretive and manipulative till the end, but with all the same willingness to ruthlessly sacrifice everything and everyone (including himself) for Dutch that has been his driving force. His motivations AND his actions are still fucked up, of course, but powerfully so. And I loved Johnny's words to Dutch after: "Speaking as a member of the shitty dad club -- You don't have to forgive someone to miss them, and you don't need anyone's permission to love someone that you hate." And I found Khlyen's death scene genuinely moving, with the two of them going back to the stories he told her as a little girl (and I liked the formula of the story itself, and especially "Was he a king?" "He wanted to be. Sometimes he thought he was.").
I also liked Johnny taking vengeance on Delle Seyah (though I will miss her if she is actually dead. She didn't look terribly dead when the camera panned away from her...). I also really liked the conversation between Johnny and Dutch, echoing almost exactly his earlier words to her about Khlyen -- if you want revenge, I've got your back, if you want to run away, I call shotgun, etc. The conversation between Johnny and Lucy at the end was one of the most poignant moments for me (Lucy not letting him out, saying "I forgive you" when he tries to explain why he has to leave, finally agreeing to let him go -- and apparently meanwhile having sourced a wingman for him). (Lucy's degree of sentience/humanity seems pretty inconsistent from ep to ep and scene to scene, but I don't really care, because her interactions with Johnny are golden.) I am NOT at all in favor of Johnny taking off, at all, but especially without telling the others good-bye, even though his reasons make sense (in this case, unlike in his sneaking around for Pawter's wall project). I assume it's only temporary and probably brief, but still. And I liked Clara OK, but what's with the efforts to throw a girl at Johnny? Her calling shotgun (after the earlier conversation with Dutch) in particular rubbed me the wrong way. IDK, I'm just very proprietary about Johnny, apparently. XP
I'm looking forward to season 3 of course. I'm actually not thrilled about the Aneela storyline continuing (see above about being kinda sick of the plasma), but it'll be interesting to watch one actress play antagonists.
Day 14: Go forth and commit an act of kindness.
I took the opportunity to fill a couple more random fandom_stockings on that day, and calling it done.
Day 15: In your own space, write a love letter to Fandom in general, to a particular fandom, to a trope, a relationship, a character, or to your flist/circle/followers. Share you love and squee as loud as you want to.
I feel like the fandom/Fandom/tropes, etc. parts of this have been taken care of by various days this year and in the past, so let's go with flist. Because you guys are awesome. I have met so many amazing people through LJ (HP and ASOIAF fandoms mostly, with a special nod to Discworld, as westerosorting-ers will recall). Some of you have watched my kids grow up (seriously, O was 6 months old when I started this LJ!), and have sent them (and me :P) toys and books and drawings and COOKIES and compliments and support. Through the magic of time zones, you are invariably the first to wish me happy birthday and Happy New Year. I have been so fortunate to meet quite a few of you in person (18, as of this count!), whether it was a way to make logistics mesh in Paris or to keep me company in assorted hotels in Phoenix and Austin; you have come to visit me (from as far away as Moscow!) or made time for me in your hectic schedules when passing through. And there are so many of you that I haven't met in person yet but it almost comes as a surprise, because I've known you for years, even if it was purely across an internet connection -- and I really hope we will get to meet! We have spent so much time talking about favorite things, about books we love and cracky ideas and deep things like our families and things going on in the world and ridiculous things like favorite snack crackers and what Hogwarts house Buffy characters would be sorted into. But whatever the topic, my flist is never dull when you are posting, and when you aren't posting (or the rare occasions when I'm not reading), I miss you all terribly. There are many friends I miss, too, disappeared off LJ with no forwarding address or appearing on my flist with a strikethrough these days -- even those I haven't talked to for years are people I miss and hope will return. Because, collectively, you are the most brilliant and generous and interesting bunch of people I could wish to be part of my daily life. <333
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And speaking of, fandom_stocking went live over the weekend, yay! I got a glorious Jaime/Loras fanart from none other than the awesome sephystabbity, an intriguing RoL AU ficlet (with Peter/Nightingale and Peter & Abigail, yay), a slew of adorable hamster icons from lost_spook, pretty HP movie icons of my favorite characters, awesome book recs from rachelmanija and puzzle recs, adorable picspams of anteaters and rodents, and holiday wishes both critterful and fannish.
I wasn't sure this year if I would actually manage to do much of anything on my end, between stockings going up later than usual and work crazy and travel and being sick, but the delay in reveals for once worked in my favor, and I was able to make some graphics and share some targeted book recs and picspams of both random cute stuff and critter photos from our own stash. The dozen or so icons I made
For jain, a couple of icons for Watchmaker of Filigree Street and Lynes and Mathey books:
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(art credit = cover art for Watchmaker of Filigree Street and Death at the Dionysus Club)
For rachelmanija, two quote icons from Prisoner/Werewolf Marines:
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For kaffyr, a couple of The Goblin Emperor art icons:
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Art credit:
Wee Maia by Erin Faith Hicks
Color Csethiro by shiftingpath on Tumblr
B&W Maia and Cesthiro by myartaline on Tumblr
For veleda_k, some Gentlemen Bastards icons
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(art credit = kejablank on DeviantArt)
For alias_chan, a LotR/Hanukkah icon:
(Unsurprisingly, two other people also opted for the Galadriel and Hanukkah combination, but without the phial)
And the new holiday banner for this year (although I used a mix of them from past years, too, for variety)
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As I mentioned in my previous post, we watched Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children over the weekend. So I'd read the book a year or two ago and didn't think much of it, but the trailer for the movie looked pretty, and I thought it might make a better movie than book. And I do think it did! The movie changed a fair bit about the story, but some of the basic premises are unchanged and don't make a lot of sense in either format -- but it does feel like a more coherent narrative (albeit with silly worldbuilding) in a way the book did not to me. It doesn't address some basic problems I had with the book -- the worldbuilding making very little sense, SPOILERS from here the Jacob/Emma storyline feeling Replacement Goldfish creepy, the majority of the characters not really feeling like people -- but it made them a bit less glaring to me.
For example, Emma and Jake actually get some moments together, so it feels less like she's just settling for the only available male relative of Abe's. I was rather puzzled at first by Emma's flying powers, since it's a different character who has them in the book, but I suppose this makes more sense for a romantic lead, and makes for some nice visuals. But her 'powers over air' are really bizarre and lead to all kinds of stuff that's not in the book and makes no sense (if she can fill an entire ship with air, why can't she suck air out of Barron, say, instead of just trying to hold him back? -- this is what L kept asking). And then the ending is totally different, too -- probably because the book ends abruptly and the movie needed closure. I didn't think the 'peculiar children' characters needed aging up, but I suppose it's easier than working with child actors and it doesn't change all that much -- and perhaps makes Jacob choosing to stay with them more believable, too. I felt the principal weakness of the book was that it sort of lurched from photograph to photograph, relying on them for worldbuilding, instead of characterization, etc. In departing from the book (which had been so constrained), I felt like the movie actually had more leave to shape a more coherent story.
One thing I did miss in the movie was the one thing I actually liked about the book -- a sense of Jacob's family, his relationship with his father as well as his grandfather. A few of the beats were still there, but the father came across as ridiculous rather than poignant. I suppose that also helps shore up Jacob making the choice to go back to the Peculiars (with Miss Peregrine being back, it's not really duty pulling him there anymore.
Also, two random observations -- I'm too lazy to go back and actually look whether the book mentions it explicitly or just strongly implies that Jake's family is Jewish, but I thought it was rather odd that the movie did not explicitly mention it at all. I mean Abe and Jacob Portman, with Abe having to leave Poland due to Nazis, there's not much of a mystery involved, but it's just kind of noticeable in its omission. And I think the 'human monsters' are never mentioned as Nazis either. The other realization is actually related to WWII also -- L asked me if I thought that "hollowghast" came from "Holocaust" -- which had never occured to me but, duh. But I guess it's more noticeable when the word is spoken rather than when skimmed.
**
And I also finished watching the second season of Killjoys. I'd actually mainlined the first 7 episodes within a couple of days, and then stalled on #8, which you'll see below I didn't like much, but then finished out the season in less than a day once I got past that.
Overall thoughts -- I think I liked season 1 more overall, because while I like how well the show uses all of the disparate elements it introduces, it's almost TOO neat in season 2 -- everything goes back to plasma and Sixes, and it makes the world feel smaller. And also, the worldbuilding around the plasma is, how do I put it delicately, rather stretching my suspension of disbelief in a sci-fi universe. So, all plasma all the time is not exactly the key to my enjoyment of the show. Also, I felt like the things the show did with Johnny (who remains my favorite, of course) were a bit less interesting/to my taste this season; I do lik season 2 Dutch and D'av more than in season 1, I find, but Johnny is the heart for me, so enjoying his storyline less means I enjoy the whole show less. But I liked the climax more in season 2, and the way the whole thing with Khlyen played out was beautifully done. Oh and Pree! Pree was awesome, and I liked that there was more of him; I did miss seeing Bellus, though -- I feel like there wasn't nearly as much of her this season.
One thing I unequivocally liked less in s2 than in s1 though? The credits! OMG, why get rid of the awesome haunting song and replace it with the stupid "ooh ooh ooh", and the cartoony images weren't doing it for me either. I suppose they do help orient the show more, but I'd kind of liked the sink-or-swim way the first season just threw you in the universe. I realize not everyone was watching it straight through like I was, probably, but still -- I really miss the original credits. I actually went back and watched the beginning of the very first episode, now that I could appreciate it properly in the knowledge of who Johnny and Dutch were and their relationship, and it was so good to hear the song again!
OK, now episode by episode reactions: Spoilers!
episode 1 -- waah, what happened to the cool theme song I liked? :(( And the new cartoony zastavka/credits isn't doing it for me. Why mess with a good thing?? Also, D'av's green goo visions aren't doing much for me either. I am, however, amused by D'av developing the sudden habit of voicing viewer thoughts to Khlyen, like "You know you have some pretty serious Daddy issues with her. It's pretty creepy." and "That's some multi-tasking green shit you've got there."
I am enjoying Pree joining in on the action (and him and John playing a couple). Lucy and Johnny continue to be probably my favorite relationship on the show:
Lucy: The system is resisting me.
Johnny: Kick its ass, woman!
Lucy: Understood.
But what is this phenomenon of Lucy two-timing Johnny with Clara? I like Clara just fine, but I do not approve of this development! Not even if Alice the arm has a crush on Johnny.
episode 2 -- "Maybe they're out of asshole bosses with rubber stamps." If only, D'av, if only. We are apparently experiencing a thing where, in order to turn asshole boss Turin and (presumably) asshole shadow ops Khlyen into plausible potential allies, the actual antagonist has to be such an unmitigatedly horrid smug snake as Jelco. I was so happy to see that Hills had made it through the bombing OK, and I really had not expected Jelco shooting him, any more than Pawter did, but even before that, Jelco was was just so terrible that he's not even in love-to-hate territory for me, he is sort of in the "kill it with fire" territory previously reserved for, like, Joffrey Baratheon. I hope somebody kills him soon, preferrably Khlyen, who could probably be persuaded to be appropriately messy about it. Things I actually enjoyed in this episode were mostly to do with Pree (I wanna know about his warlord past!) -- and yay for him getting Royale back! -- and also all the Johnny/wall. XD
episode 3 -- I didn't enjoy this episode as much on its own merits (except for Pawter's B plot, which was entertaining just for Jelco getting a taste of his own medicine), but it did reveal some interesting things. So the plasma comes from the mossopedes (and of course Johnny took one with him, the dork; the little one is kind of cute, actually), and the mossopedes avoiding D'avin just as he was able to reject the green goo, and whatever is going on with the memory of the scarbacks on Arkyn... But, Dutch/Alvis... why? I like the thematic links between them, but am not feeling that at all.
episode 4 -- OK, definitely my favorite episode of season 2 so far (supporting my suspicion that the more, uh, episodic episodes work better for me than "cor arc" ones). Also, Delle Seyah always adds fun to the proceedings. I liked the family stuff a lot, even when it wasn't subtle, like D'av losing his shit when Jake's father manhandles the boy or Johnny playing the "little brother guilt card" (combined with a healthy dose of deception and engineering savvy). D'av bonding with Jake was also cute ("Sounds like our dads would get along. They'be both giant assho-- ...Jerks." "Nah. Mine's an asshole.") and then trying (unsuccessfully) to not make it worse when they think Olan is dead. And aside from the kids, Johnny getting excited about the Prodigy school and D'av and he ribbing each other (about Johnny being a nerd... and D'av stabbing him XD)
I also really liked the plot/resolution -- the fact that what had killed the children was an accident (the data transmission from Khlyen overloading the system and tripping the cryopods into sterliziation; I mean, this is obviously a TERRIBLE engineering design decision, the cryopods should fail safe in a case like this, not kick off sterelization, but narratively I found it neat), Olan surviving because Chambers tried to save him (as the most promising student?) and misinterpreting that and killing her, etc. I just liked that the real antagonist wasn't some evil power, or even 'ruthlessly working for an unknown possibly good outcome' power, but tragic happenstance and people working on limited data and incorrect assumptions. You know, for a change. And there were a LOT of lines I liked in this one:
Dutch: "To escort students. Small people."
D'av: "Children, Dutch. They're called children."
D'av: "That's what makes us a great team. You lead. I shoot. Johnny gives a shit."
Delle Seyah: Why are you here, Yalena?
Dutch: I missed our hate-flirting.
Johnny: I'm both turned on and terrified.
Pawter: I get that a lot.
Dutch to Delle Seyah: "Don't you dare fantasize about this later."
When D'av offers Pawter the last cryopod: "You damn Jaqobis and your damsel shit."
Johnny: "He was going to blow up my girl" (totally Lucy, D'av, come on, what are you, daft?)
D'av: "Hey, John. Thanks for not getting us blown up."
Johnny: Must be Friday.
Dutch: Great. One step forward and five kicks in the ass.
(I should look up who the writer of it is -- *wikis* huh, nobody that's written any of the other episodes...)
episode 5 -- I like body-swap episodes in general -- it's always fun to see another actor's/body's take on a characters, so the D'av/Khlyen swap was fun. D'av-in-Khlyen's-body was especially fun (and I liked that it didn't fool Fancy Lee at all). I hadn't expected to meet Jaqobis senior, but liked the confrontation between D'avin (looking like Khlyen) and him. I liked Pawter's dad when he showed up in an earlier episode, and it was nice to spend some more time with him and learn about his humble beginnings as a carpenter, and was very sad when he sacrificed himself (although, seriously, family as rich as this, only has ONE diving suit?) None of the setup makes sense, but on a pure character level I liked the way Pawter's mother handled everything, giving orders till the end. And that Hank the smug asshole was behind the attack. Dutch's chance to talk to Khlyen while trying to save D'av's body and switch them back was also rather cool, especially, "I don't hate you any more. I miss it."
What I didn't like at all: the secret going up between Johnny and Dutch (and D'av) for no reason that seems logical to me. John says "Qreshi Fireball Johnny wants to give a shit", and it's surely not coincidental that in just the previous episode D'av says that's exactly what Johnny's role on the team is, in those exact words. And it's D'avin who's right, not Johnny -- he's clearly been giving a shit all this time, as a killjoy. I mean, there's a nice scene set up, with Dutch saying "You're my gravity, Johnny Jaqobis," but I really don't buy Johnny not coming clean with her, because WHY. (And while I like Pawter and find Johnny/Pawter cute, I'm definitely not OK with Johnny apparently choosing loyalty to her over loyalty to Dutch. And there isn't even a real conflict of interest AT ALL, so this is silly and artificial, and I had expected better from this show. )
Even though that soured the episode for me, I did like several lines in it:
D'av (after Sabine points out he must have family issues): This is flirting? Because I remember it being less uncomfortable.
Johnny: Pawter, are you OK? I mean, I know you're not OK, but... I'm just gonna-- I'm gonna keep saying words until you stop me.
And Lucy gets the best line, though: You are welcome to step outside, and find some other technology. (But, so Dutch doesn't realize FTL communication is possible, huh.)
episode 6 -- Aww, Johnny named the mossopede! XD I liked parts of this ep a lot but was side-eyeing other parts of it. I really liked San Rockwell (Keon Alexander) and his interactions with Dutch, including her telling him off: "I'm not your manic pixie assassin". Very interesting to get Dutch's story behind the sitara and the wedding night, and the revelation from Alvis that the trees mentioned in religious doctrine are probably connected to the plasma -- their green sap being "an elixir that confers eternal life", and that scarback cutting ritual may have started as a way to show they weren't infected iwth plasma. Predictably, I loved seeing Lucy given actual form, the John/Lucy kiss (Lucy talking him into it with "this may be your only chance to kiss a robot" and "Lucy, you're making sparks." "Am I not supposed to?" "No." "OK. Thank you for the data."), and D'avin's face throughout ("Oh, buddy, no."). Pawter surprising Johnny by really being there while pretending to be a hologram was also cute. But... Dutch/Alvis? Not seeing that one at all... I was wondering why we were getting so much more of a show with D'avin and Sabine than with the others, and then an answer presented itself. Poor D'av can't catch a break with the ladies, clearly, and also, eek.
episode 7 -- OK... so possibly the thing with Dutch/Alvis was just a compatibility viz BDSM XP This episode is making me realize that I like season 2 Dutch better than season 1 -- she was lost and hiding a lot in the first season; I like this Dutch who is more open about the kind of person she is, who can torture and kill cold-bloodedly, not on the job, when that's what the situation calls for. It was this exchange that crystallized it for me:
Sabine: Why should I try?
Dutch: Because you're restrained and I'm violent.
I'm also liking season 2 D'av more, and one thing I really respected about this episode is that he DOESN'T forgive Sabine, or agree to sleep with her again to keep the Sixiness at bay, or even tell her she's a good person just because she asks, and actually tells her that her expectations of him are not fair. I liked the conversation he and Dutch had about it, too:
Dutch: We are at war.
D'av: With who?
Dutch: I don't know, because your little bang buddy won't tell me.
D'av: Then treat her like an enemy combatant. There are conventions, and you don't get to break them.
Actually, I like most quotes about the situation, including:
Johnny: "Okay, because, you're my brother, and I love you, but maybe you should think about holstering that thing. Not a good track record."
D'av: I'm the one she spy-banged, and even I'm saying you're taking this too personally.
Dutch: So... the cure for Sixes is banging D'av?
Sabine: Promise not to die this time.
D'av: Sorry. Not really up for penis roulette.
That's... probably darker humour than I normally like in my shows, but it really worked for me here. I also liked this bit:
Turin: Congratulations. You found the mole. Passed my test.
Sabine: That wasn't a test.
Turin: *shrugs* No. But it'd be pretty cool if it was.
And Sabine's revelations about Khlyen are very intriguing -- that he was a full-blown Six before something about Dutch (Yala) what, woke up some part of his emotions again? I'm really looking forward to learning more about it.
episode 8 -- OK, the one episode I didn't care for (which is not bad in 20 episodes, honestly). I'm glad the break was short-lived, but I really hated the whole thing with Dutch and Johnny being at odds, Dutch turning her back on Johnny ("So why the hells did you even come then?" "Habit"). I never particularly bought Johnny lying to the team for Pawter, even if he does love her (it seems really unnecessary), and this relationship between Johnny and Dutch is the core of the show for me, so with them working on their separate things just feels really pointless. I mean, that probably IS the point, but I really didn't need it made. Moving on!
episode 9 -- OK, back to form! I like the non-linear storytelling trick, and there were some really neat things -- microleeches are an interesting take on lie detection, Pree standing up for Dutch was great ("You, me, blaze of glory." "Some other time. Promise."), and my favorite line was D'av's "You chose Dr Crazy-Pants over Our Lady of Perpetual Ass-Kicking" (is it just me, or are they using D'av to voice viewer reactions a lot this season?). Also, D'av's manhandling of Jelco was actually quite fun, though I feel cheated of his comeuppance. I suppose (in light of what goes down in the season finale) they need a bad guy at large to save for the next season?
The thing with the wall makes very little sense to me, from either engineering or character motivation direction. I suppose I can see why they would even have that lever "rage" would be a setting for the emotional manipulation along with depression and docility. It seems unlikely that it would work so quickly, given that Arune didn't feel the effects of the happiness setting, but we can say the thing was just accelerated. It seems silly to design a lethal wall and have it be overloaded by just a bunch of people rushing it, given how advanced the technology is otherwise. And I have a really hard time buying Pawter making the call to make martyrs out of Old Towners for the sake of Westerly. It links nicely into the various themes -- her cutting off her sister's arm to save her life (which Dutch reminds her of), the reluctance to shoot Jelco which Dutch pep-talks her out of, Delle Seyah's comment about growing up like Pawter never had to do... but it's one thing to make a difficult decision in her area of expertise when every second counts (with her sister) and a very different one to make the decision she made here, and I don't buy it. It makes for an interesting picture, but doesn't feel true.
I liked Dutch and Johnny's reconciliation scene, Johnny's mixed cake metaphor, and especially the part where Dutch tells him she loves him and why she needs him. That said, killing off Pawter (assuming she really is dead -- this show likes those fake-out deaths, but this one seems pretty real, what with D'av going to the pains of stating it next ep) is sad -- I liked her as a character on the whole, and while I definitely prefer Johnny and Dutch's relationship to Johnny/Pawter, it seems like a cop-out to get rid of the latter this way.
episode 10 -- This show really likes its hate-flirting, huh? (D'av and Fancy, in this case; to quote the latter -- "Don't worry, I will tell everyone you died sexy.").
The climax worked really well for me in this case -- everybody getting to do something important (even Fancy, whom I hadn't expected to survive, so that was a pleasant surprise), Johnny and Lucy being a great team ("Oh, I understand the reference now. That was funny, John. You're funny." "Yeah, yeah. I don't need your pity.") and of course the culmination of two seasons of Khlyen and Dutch.
Khlyen's arc worked really well for me (unsurprisingly), secretive and manipulative till the end, but with all the same willingness to ruthlessly sacrifice everything and everyone (including himself) for Dutch that has been his driving force. His motivations AND his actions are still fucked up, of course, but powerfully so. And I loved Johnny's words to Dutch after: "Speaking as a member of the shitty dad club -- You don't have to forgive someone to miss them, and you don't need anyone's permission to love someone that you hate." And I found Khlyen's death scene genuinely moving, with the two of them going back to the stories he told her as a little girl (and I liked the formula of the story itself, and especially "Was he a king?" "He wanted to be. Sometimes he thought he was.").
I also liked Johnny taking vengeance on Delle Seyah (though I will miss her if she is actually dead. She didn't look terribly dead when the camera panned away from her...). I also really liked the conversation between Johnny and Dutch, echoing almost exactly his earlier words to her about Khlyen -- if you want revenge, I've got your back, if you want to run away, I call shotgun, etc. The conversation between Johnny and Lucy at the end was one of the most poignant moments for me (Lucy not letting him out, saying "I forgive you" when he tries to explain why he has to leave, finally agreeing to let him go -- and apparently meanwhile having sourced a wingman for him). (Lucy's degree of sentience/humanity seems pretty inconsistent from ep to ep and scene to scene, but I don't really care, because her interactions with Johnny are golden.) I am NOT at all in favor of Johnny taking off, at all, but especially without telling the others good-bye, even though his reasons make sense (in this case, unlike in his sneaking around for Pawter's wall project). I assume it's only temporary and probably brief, but still. And I liked Clara OK, but what's with the efforts to throw a girl at Johnny? Her calling shotgun (after the earlier conversation with Dutch) in particular rubbed me the wrong way. IDK, I'm just very proprietary about Johnny, apparently. XP
I'm looking forward to season 3 of course. I'm actually not thrilled about the Aneela storyline continuing (see above about being kinda sick of the plasma), but it'll be interesting to watch one actress play antagonists.