In the futile effort to avoid violins
It's very sobering to confront just how deep my ability for self-sabotage goes and how most of my work experience can be defined by different levels of shame and embarrassment. These past weeks have been quite rough with no sign of letting up. I'll get through it one way or another.
Escapism time as per my post title (not futile dammit):
The Men Who Stare At Goats -- Is it me or has George Clooney been on a role with funny movies? This one really made me crack up so many times, from the "sparkly eyes" to the plethora of Star Wars references. McGregor didn't quite master the American accent, I thought, but the irony of all the Jedi references was too awesome to pass up. WIN.
Precious-- I'm not usually into movies like this. They don't seem terribly original to me. I ended up giving it a shot because Mo'Nique is in it and I've liked her since I saw her in Def Comedy Jam. Plus she won an award for the role-- well-deserved too. Also Gabby Sidibe is a freakin' rock star (2:00 mark). Anyway I came out of it thinking it was well-acted, but those movies don't really do it for me. (Or maybe its the award curse, since I tried to watch Hurt Locker and fell asleep. WTF self)
Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Series is really entertaining--it's a fantasy series where witches rule and some dudes are their sex slaves and the Chosen one or whatever is this really strong witch who will put a halt to the world-dominating ambitions of two other cruel witches. I went into it all skeptical after the last let down with paranormal romance, but woah. Neat! I've gone through the first three books and I like the first the best I think. Possibly because it has the most sexy tiemz I am sorry to say. In fairness, I also think that it's the most tight in terms of plot. The next two have so many subplots, that the central thread occasionally gets submerged. Also I get tired of the repetition of "midnight voice" it's started getting into epithet territory a la "wine dark sea." Same with the constant repetition of adjectives like cold and cruel, which you can see in the chunk below. I decided I really liked it here:
He opened the costume trunk and examined the contents. Yes, that outfit would do very nicely. He removed a pair of black leather pants, the leather so soft and cut so well they fit like a second skin. He pulled them on, adjusting the bulge in the front to best advantage. Next came black, ankle-high leather boots with a high stacked heel. The perfectly tailored white silk shirt formed a slashing V from his neck to his waist, where two pearl buttons held it closed, and had billowing, tight-cuffed sleeves. Next he took out the paint pots, and with cold, cruel deliberation, applied subtle color to his cheeks, eyes, and lips. It was done with such skill that it made him look androgynous and yet more savagely male, an unsettling blend. Returning the paint pots to the trunks, he took a small gold hoop from its box and slipped it into his ear. He brushed his hair and used Craft to set it in a rakishly disheveled style. Last was a black felt hat with a black leather band and a large white plume. Standing before the full-length mirror, he carefully set the hat in place and inspected his reflection.
Cliche, right? I skimmed past most of this the first time, since I was all like eh, not so interested in reading about bulges and black leather pants that "fit like a second skin" *eye roll* Or "savagely male" qualities (which studying what I do always goes into raised eyebrow territory). Not to mention that the hat with the feather? Yeah, not that into it. But let's continue shall we? It gets better and not in the trainwreck style.
He saw her in the mirror. For just a moment, shame threatened to splinter the cold crust of rage, but he held on to it. She was; after all, female. His cruel, sensuous smile bloomed as he turned around.
Jaenelle stared at him, her eyes huge, her mouth dropping open. Daemon did nothing, said nothing. He simply waited for the inspection, waited for the damning words.
She started at this feet, her eyes slowly traveling up his body. His breath hitched when she reached his hips. He waited for the all-too-familiar speculation of what hung between his legs or the quick, flushed glance back down after hurrying past. Jaenelle didn't seem to notice. Her inspection never changed speed as she studied the shirt, the earring, the face, and finally the hat. Then she started from the hat and went back down.
Daemon waited.
Jaenelle opened her mouth, closed it, and finally said timidly, "Do you think, when I'm grown up, I could wear an outfit like that?"
ROFL. I loved the undercutting here. The author takes, what I suppose we fandom people can call the Draco in Leather Pants trope/gaze tropes and flips it around so that the erotics in the scene are in the gender fuckery (as in the girl looking at the guy and wanting to look like him). It's also a clever way of highlighting the fact that the girl is young (she's 12) and that the guy is pretty damaged (enough to think that she's looking at him like a grown woman who wants him).
There's a lot of hokeyness in the series like irremovable cock rings that inflict pain and are a tool of domination, a potion that is like e on steroids, creepy parental incest undertones etc. The true form of the main girl is some half-woman/half-unicorn thing, which o.o, Idk. BUT I applaud the plot, the climax, I applaud the violence, the horrific parts are truly horrific and the epic parts are very much Harry Potter taking off his invisibility cape in the last book (iirc). It's an enjoyable series, if not kind of addictive. I'm super pleased you guys recommended it to me. On behalf of the ID:
Thanks.
Escapism time as per my post title (not futile dammit):
The Men Who Stare At Goats -- Is it me or has George Clooney been on a role with funny movies? This one really made me crack up so many times, from the "sparkly eyes" to the plethora of Star Wars references. McGregor didn't quite master the American accent, I thought, but the irony of all the Jedi references was too awesome to pass up. WIN.
Precious-- I'm not usually into movies like this. They don't seem terribly original to me. I ended up giving it a shot because Mo'Nique is in it and I've liked her since I saw her in Def Comedy Jam. Plus she won an award for the role-- well-deserved too. Also Gabby Sidibe is a freakin' rock star (2:00 mark). Anyway I came out of it thinking it was well-acted, but those movies don't really do it for me. (Or maybe its the award curse, since I tried to watch Hurt Locker and fell asleep. WTF self)
Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Series is really entertaining--it's a fantasy series where witches rule and some dudes are their sex slaves and the Chosen one or whatever is this really strong witch who will put a halt to the world-dominating ambitions of two other cruel witches. I went into it all skeptical after the last let down with paranormal romance, but woah. Neat! I've gone through the first three books and I like the first the best I think. Possibly because it has the most sexy tiemz I am sorry to say. In fairness, I also think that it's the most tight in terms of plot. The next two have so many subplots, that the central thread occasionally gets submerged. Also I get tired of the repetition of "midnight voice" it's started getting into epithet territory a la "wine dark sea." Same with the constant repetition of adjectives like cold and cruel, which you can see in the chunk below. I decided I really liked it here:
He opened the costume trunk and examined the contents. Yes, that outfit would do very nicely. He removed a pair of black leather pants, the leather so soft and cut so well they fit like a second skin. He pulled them on, adjusting the bulge in the front to best advantage. Next came black, ankle-high leather boots with a high stacked heel. The perfectly tailored white silk shirt formed a slashing V from his neck to his waist, where two pearl buttons held it closed, and had billowing, tight-cuffed sleeves. Next he took out the paint pots, and with cold, cruel deliberation, applied subtle color to his cheeks, eyes, and lips. It was done with such skill that it made him look androgynous and yet more savagely male, an unsettling blend. Returning the paint pots to the trunks, he took a small gold hoop from its box and slipped it into his ear. He brushed his hair and used Craft to set it in a rakishly disheveled style. Last was a black felt hat with a black leather band and a large white plume. Standing before the full-length mirror, he carefully set the hat in place and inspected his reflection.
Cliche, right? I skimmed past most of this the first time, since I was all like eh, not so interested in reading about bulges and black leather pants that "fit like a second skin" *eye roll* Or "savagely male" qualities (which studying what I do always goes into raised eyebrow territory). Not to mention that the hat with the feather? Yeah, not that into it. But let's continue shall we? It gets better and not in the trainwreck style.
He saw her in the mirror. For just a moment, shame threatened to splinter the cold crust of rage, but he held on to it. She was; after all, female. His cruel, sensuous smile bloomed as he turned around.
Jaenelle stared at him, her eyes huge, her mouth dropping open. Daemon did nothing, said nothing. He simply waited for the inspection, waited for the damning words.
She started at this feet, her eyes slowly traveling up his body. His breath hitched when she reached his hips. He waited for the all-too-familiar speculation of what hung between his legs or the quick, flushed glance back down after hurrying past. Jaenelle didn't seem to notice. Her inspection never changed speed as she studied the shirt, the earring, the face, and finally the hat. Then she started from the hat and went back down.
Daemon waited.
Jaenelle opened her mouth, closed it, and finally said timidly, "Do you think, when I'm grown up, I could wear an outfit like that?"
ROFL. I loved the undercutting here. The author takes, what I suppose we fandom people can call the Draco in Leather Pants trope/gaze tropes and flips it around so that the erotics in the scene are in the gender fuckery (as in the girl looking at the guy and wanting to look like him). It's also a clever way of highlighting the fact that the girl is young (she's 12) and that the guy is pretty damaged (enough to think that she's looking at him like a grown woman who wants him).
There's a lot of hokeyness in the series like irremovable cock rings that inflict pain and are a tool of domination, a potion that is like e on steroids, creepy parental incest undertones etc. The true form of the main girl is some half-woman/half-unicorn thing, which o.o, Idk. BUT I applaud the plot, the climax, I applaud the violence, the horrific parts are truly horrific and the epic parts are very much Harry Potter taking off his invisibility cape in the last book (iirc). It's an enjoyable series, if not kind of addictive. I'm super pleased you guys recommended it to me. On behalf of the ID:
Thanks.