Best of 2014 in media
I hate New Year's because I find it toxic to hang hopes on an arbitrary calendar date when I know things like illness in the family and a six month depressive episode will persist. So! I don't really do end of year lists, but I do sometimes do best media encountered in an arbitrary period of time lists. These are things I discovered, but which were probably not released, in 2014, and I think they were amazing.
Best Books:
Fate/Zero by Gen Urobuchi. Intelligent, ruthless, ambiguous, id-writing to the highest degree; a tour de force of basically every trope I've ever loved. If you liked the anime or anything else Urobuchi has worked on (Psycho Pass, Puella Magi Madoka Magica), please pick this up and talk to me about it.
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Less Wrong/Eliezer Yudkowsky. This felt like reading The Fountainhead as a teenager, and while it probably has as many flaws (although hopefully not the same ones), it was important in a character-defining way.
Magical companion animal trope. Examples include: The Beast Master, Andre Norton; Ariel, Steven R. Boyett; Assassin's Apprentice, Robin Hobb. Truth is, I'm here for the cumulative effect; not every individual example does much for me, but tracing the trope through them has been satisfying.
Best Television and Film:
Hannibal. This is the world inside my head, a morally gray menagerie of the compelling and questionable, id-level and indulgent; Hannibal is fully one of the best things I've seen, and helped set the tone for what I look for in similar media.
Maleficent. Magnificent, important, and instantly one of my favorite films. Magic and relationships between women and inspired casting; there's something flawless in Maleficent, not in result but in effect; it is greater than the sum of its parts.
Orphan Black. It's bizarre to see a sci fi show (or anything, really) entirely live up to its potential, but this does. It's sci-fi done right, a ruthless exploration of women's identity and bodily autonomy, phenomenally acted and well shot.
Elementary. This gave me something I didn't know I needed: a Sherlock retelling, and moreover a piece of media, fueled by admiration and love; it has an essential sense of goodness, but not simplicity, that I believe to be important.
Best Games:
Skyrim. This game was what I needed it to be: vast and immersive, rather than particularly good. Thanks to mods, it's better now than it was on release.
Dragon Age: Inquisition. Hands down, game of the year. Inquisition occasionally overreaches, but the truth is that it's a triumph: the best that the Dragon Age team can do taken to a grand scale, realized with intent and skill.
Gopher's Let's Plays. (And Skyrim mod reviews, too.) Eminently soothing and immersive, and funny too; Gopher became one of my favorite LPers when I watched him play Vampire: The Masquerade, and I continue to admire his work.
Twitch Plays Pokémon. I was there when they beat the Elite Fourthis was a fascinating landmark in internet culture, as well as a unique experiment, and was downright enjoyable to watch in the way that only intense frustration and snail-like pacing can be.
Dreamwidth entry mirror. Comment count:
.
Best Books:
Fate/Zero by Gen Urobuchi. Intelligent, ruthless, ambiguous, id-writing to the highest degree; a tour de force of basically every trope I've ever loved. If you liked the anime or anything else Urobuchi has worked on (Psycho Pass, Puella Magi Madoka Magica), please pick this up and talk to me about it.
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Less Wrong/Eliezer Yudkowsky. This felt like reading The Fountainhead as a teenager, and while it probably has as many flaws (although hopefully not the same ones), it was important in a character-defining way.
Magical companion animal trope. Examples include: The Beast Master, Andre Norton; Ariel, Steven R. Boyett; Assassin's Apprentice, Robin Hobb. Truth is, I'm here for the cumulative effect; not every individual example does much for me, but tracing the trope through them has been satisfying.
Best Television and Film:
Hannibal. This is the world inside my head, a morally gray menagerie of the compelling and questionable, id-level and indulgent; Hannibal is fully one of the best things I've seen, and helped set the tone for what I look for in similar media.
Maleficent. Magnificent, important, and instantly one of my favorite films. Magic and relationships between women and inspired casting; there's something flawless in Maleficent, not in result but in effect; it is greater than the sum of its parts.
Orphan Black. It's bizarre to see a sci fi show (or anything, really) entirely live up to its potential, but this does. It's sci-fi done right, a ruthless exploration of women's identity and bodily autonomy, phenomenally acted and well shot.
Elementary. This gave me something I didn't know I needed: a Sherlock retelling, and moreover a piece of media, fueled by admiration and love; it has an essential sense of goodness, but not simplicity, that I believe to be important.
Best Games:
Skyrim. This game was what I needed it to be: vast and immersive, rather than particularly good. Thanks to mods, it's better now than it was on release.
Dragon Age: Inquisition. Hands down, game of the year. Inquisition occasionally overreaches, but the truth is that it's a triumph: the best that the Dragon Age team can do taken to a grand scale, realized with intent and skill.
Gopher's Let's Plays. (And Skyrim mod reviews, too.) Eminently soothing and immersive, and funny too; Gopher became one of my favorite LPers when I watched him play Vampire: The Masquerade, and I continue to admire his work.
Twitch Plays Pokémon. I was there when they beat the Elite Fourthis was a fascinating landmark in internet culture, as well as a unique experiment, and was downright enjoyable to watch in the way that only intense frustration and snail-like pacing can be.
Dreamwidth entry mirror. Comment count:
.