i want to be a secret whispered in your ear
SHIELD
Well, I have to say, it's certainly more entertaining now than it was before - Garrett and Ward and Raina are more fun to watch than Coulson's team, anyway, and Patton Oswalt was fun (lanyards!) but I'm having a lot of trouble with how the show is framing SHIELD itself, I think Coulson's leadership has been poor (also, I'm annoyed that he's still so pissed at May for spying on him, but not at Fury who ordered her to, and that he unilaterally decides to wipe everyone's identity and keep secrets even though that is exactly the same bullshit that got them into this mess in the first place; I also feel like the show is a lot less ambivalent about SHIELD itself than Cap 2 was* and I don't like that, either), and I dread Ward's redemptive death for love of Skye. I mean, I'll be glad to replace him with Triplett (who I hope is not a HYDRA plant despite that name) and I won't be sorry he's dead (though he's much more interesting now than he was as a "good guy"), but ugh, the whole Skye/Ward thing is a perfect example of how predictable and rote the writing on this show is. And the dialogue is still terrible.
*I read a couple of posts at Mother Jones and Daily Kos about the movie and it's kind of funny to me that they were less concerned with any punches the movie might have pulled than fandom was; they seemed pretty pleased to have a superhero with a clearly political (clearly leftist) agenda.
On the plus side, big ups for having the entrance to HYDRA be in an old-timey barbershop. That's straight out of the comics, though I think it was a SHIELD facility and it was Nick Fury's thing there. Though again, at the this point, I feel like differentiating between SHIELD and HYDRA is basically splitting hairs.
In other comics news, apparently now that his secret identity has been revealed, Dick Grayson is going to become a super spy. I don't even know, you guys. (I mean, if it's public now that Dick Grayson is Nightwing, isn't it SUPER OBVIOUS that Bruce Wayne is Batman? IJS)
First off, I'm so glad he's not dead. That would have been three out of four post-reboot Robins dead (I still say a big FUCK YOU, STEPH WAS ROBIN to DC, but whatever) and for real, I think Alfred might have had to beat the everliving crap out of Bruce for that, even if Dick came back fairly quickly.
Secondly, I don't have a problem with the gun, which seems to be a sticking point for a lot of people, but even though I guess it was erased by the reboot, OFFICER GRAYSON was still a thing, and Dick carried a gun then, too. (The comics did not explore this nearly as much as they should have, though. IJS) Otoh, he looks way more Jason-y there, so. I don't even know. Also, I'm not sure how having your face and name revealed will make you a good super spy. And Dick's disguises are notoriously hilariterrible. This is a dude who went undercover in the mob AS HIMSELF. So while he's probably got a ton of tradecraft in some ways, I just don't see it working out well for him. (Also, I feel like the shades of gray morality that spies live in will be tougher for him to handle, but who knows?)
Thirdly, I kind of laugh at the Winter Soldier-y-ness of it all (well, Dick and Bucky are the prototypical plucky boy hostages sidekicks, but didn't we already do that with Jason? though to be fair, I think Red Hood and Winter Soldier happened kind of simultaneously in the comics, just as both Steve and Bruce were unstuck in time at around the same time with Dick and Bucky stepping into their respective cowls [I still want that story! How do you step into your mentor's shoes when it was never ever what you wanted to be doing?]; while Jason/Bucky seems like the obvious parallel, I do love the Dick/Bucky parallels as well), but if it allows for easier MCU/DCU crossovers, I'm good with that. We already know Dick loves redheads, but I feel a rash of Natasha Loves Dick jokes breaking out already. *cough*
Mostly, though, I once again feel the need to say #DC LOOK AT YOUR LIFE. LOOK AT YOUR CHOICES.
***
What I'm reading Wednesday:
What I've just finished
Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War by Max Hastings, which suffered (for me) from being just about 1914 rather than the whole war. *hands* It was really long for a book that only covered one year, and it was probably a little too much about various battles etc. and not quite enough about the personalities involved, though there was some of that too.
What I'm reading now
The First World War by Hew Strachan, which is quite a bit shorter for all that it does cover the whole war, and quite a bit drier in tone. While I appreciate that the pictures are probably interesting in a hard copy, they're completely unreadable in ebook form, and the book suffers quite a lot (imo) from a sad lack of maps. I NEED MAPS, PEOPLE. If I want them of fictional places - and I do - then I want them eleventy million times MORE of real places. Otoh, I've already learned a ton of stuff I didn't know about what was happening in the Europeans' African colonies during the war. I didn't even realize there was related fighting in Africa at the time, but there was!
What I'm reading next
I dunno. Maybe I will dip back into fiction for a while. Who knows?
***
Today's poem:
the loneliness of the long-distance lover
another phone call. the distance becomes
blue smoke rising from an ashtray; static
crackling like familiar songs on vinyl; the
delicate smell of mandarins. tangible and
elusive. how inadequate hands can be -
fingers slice through air as if it were mere
gas, not a tangle of unused words. and you
hold your breath, don't ask. i hear silence
intensify, before you blurt out my name -
jack-in-a-box sick of confinement, its lid
kept shut too long. this is how you make
love to me. this is what i have learned to
mould into a dream of happiness, late at
night when sleep won't come: your lips
on mine, your palm a perfect fit for my
pale winter cheek, an answer to every
question, and no morning without the
reward of another night. i want to be a
secret whispered in your ear, the smoke
that stings your eyes, a tear on your face.
unlearn the magic, pleads reason; my
voice says nothing. my heart beats out
whatever rhythm yours dictates, tries to
x out every single thought does not bear
your name. darling, i breathe across time
zones. darling. all my words melt into one.
~Michaela A. Gabriel
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/655543.html.
people have commented there.
Well, I have to say, it's certainly more entertaining now than it was before - Garrett and Ward and Raina are more fun to watch than Coulson's team, anyway, and Patton Oswalt was fun (lanyards!) but I'm having a lot of trouble with how the show is framing SHIELD itself, I think Coulson's leadership has been poor (also, I'm annoyed that he's still so pissed at May for spying on him, but not at Fury who ordered her to, and that he unilaterally decides to wipe everyone's identity and keep secrets even though that is exactly the same bullshit that got them into this mess in the first place; I also feel like the show is a lot less ambivalent about SHIELD itself than Cap 2 was* and I don't like that, either), and I dread Ward's redemptive death for love of Skye. I mean, I'll be glad to replace him with Triplett (who I hope is not a HYDRA plant despite that name) and I won't be sorry he's dead (though he's much more interesting now than he was as a "good guy"), but ugh, the whole Skye/Ward thing is a perfect example of how predictable and rote the writing on this show is. And the dialogue is still terrible.
*I read a couple of posts at Mother Jones and Daily Kos about the movie and it's kind of funny to me that they were less concerned with any punches the movie might have pulled than fandom was; they seemed pretty pleased to have a superhero with a clearly political (clearly leftist) agenda.
On the plus side, big ups for having the entrance to HYDRA be in an old-timey barbershop. That's straight out of the comics, though I think it was a SHIELD facility and it was Nick Fury's thing there. Though again, at the this point, I feel like differentiating between SHIELD and HYDRA is basically splitting hairs.
In other comics news, apparently now that his secret identity has been revealed, Dick Grayson is going to become a super spy. I don't even know, you guys. (I mean, if it's public now that Dick Grayson is Nightwing, isn't it SUPER OBVIOUS that Bruce Wayne is Batman? IJS)
First off, I'm so glad he's not dead. That would have been three out of four post-reboot Robins dead (I still say a big FUCK YOU, STEPH WAS ROBIN to DC, but whatever) and for real, I think Alfred might have had to beat the everliving crap out of Bruce for that, even if Dick came back fairly quickly.
Secondly, I don't have a problem with the gun, which seems to be a sticking point for a lot of people, but even though I guess it was erased by the reboot, OFFICER GRAYSON was still a thing, and Dick carried a gun then, too. (The comics did not explore this nearly as much as they should have, though. IJS) Otoh, he looks way more Jason-y there, so. I don't even know. Also, I'm not sure how having your face and name revealed will make you a good super spy. And Dick's disguises are notoriously hilariterrible. This is a dude who went undercover in the mob AS HIMSELF. So while he's probably got a ton of tradecraft in some ways, I just don't see it working out well for him. (Also, I feel like the shades of gray morality that spies live in will be tougher for him to handle, but who knows?)
Thirdly, I kind of laugh at the Winter Soldier-y-ness of it all (well, Dick and Bucky are the prototypical plucky boy hostages sidekicks, but didn't we already do that with Jason? though to be fair, I think Red Hood and Winter Soldier happened kind of simultaneously in the comics, just as both Steve and Bruce were unstuck in time at around the same time with Dick and Bucky stepping into their respective cowls [I still want that story! How do you step into your mentor's shoes when it was never ever what you wanted to be doing?]; while Jason/Bucky seems like the obvious parallel, I do love the Dick/Bucky parallels as well), but if it allows for easier MCU/DCU crossovers, I'm good with that. We already know Dick loves redheads, but I feel a rash of Natasha Loves Dick jokes breaking out already. *cough*
Mostly, though, I once again feel the need to say #DC LOOK AT YOUR LIFE. LOOK AT YOUR CHOICES.
***
What I'm reading Wednesday:
What I've just finished
Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War by Max Hastings, which suffered (for me) from being just about 1914 rather than the whole war. *hands* It was really long for a book that only covered one year, and it was probably a little too much about various battles etc. and not quite enough about the personalities involved, though there was some of that too.
What I'm reading now
The First World War by Hew Strachan, which is quite a bit shorter for all that it does cover the whole war, and quite a bit drier in tone. While I appreciate that the pictures are probably interesting in a hard copy, they're completely unreadable in ebook form, and the book suffers quite a lot (imo) from a sad lack of maps. I NEED MAPS, PEOPLE. If I want them of fictional places - and I do - then I want them eleventy million times MORE of real places. Otoh, I've already learned a ton of stuff I didn't know about what was happening in the Europeans' African colonies during the war. I didn't even realize there was related fighting in Africa at the time, but there was!
What I'm reading next
I dunno. Maybe I will dip back into fiction for a while. Who knows?
***
Today's poem:
the loneliness of the long-distance lover
another phone call. the distance becomes
blue smoke rising from an ashtray; static
crackling like familiar songs on vinyl; the
delicate smell of mandarins. tangible and
elusive. how inadequate hands can be -
fingers slice through air as if it were mere
gas, not a tangle of unused words. and you
hold your breath, don't ask. i hear silence
intensify, before you blurt out my name -
jack-in-a-box sick of confinement, its lid
kept shut too long. this is how you make
love to me. this is what i have learned to
mould into a dream of happiness, late at
night when sleep won't come: your lips
on mine, your palm a perfect fit for my
pale winter cheek, an answer to every
question, and no morning without the
reward of another night. i want to be a
secret whispered in your ear, the smoke
that stings your eyes, a tear on your face.
unlearn the magic, pleads reason; my
voice says nothing. my heart beats out
whatever rhythm yours dictates, tries to
x out every single thought does not bear
your name. darling, i breathe across time
zones. darling. all my words melt into one.
~Michaela A. Gabriel
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/655543.html.
people have commented there.