i walk the world in a skin so thin
I got my period yesterday and it was one of those times where it felt like my ability to think had ground to a halt. Just a really bad case of the dumb. Today I feel so much more alert and able to function.
I did manage to write a cute little Arrow story though:
We'd take a limousine 'cause it costs more (@ AO3)
Arrow; Felicity, Oliver, Diggle; g; 855 words
In which Felicity and Diggle introduce Oliver to the wonders of Kraft macaroni and cheese.
So
angelgazing says to me, "there should be an Olicity vid to 'If I Had $1,000,000'" and I say, "yes! And also the story of how Felicity introduces Oliver to the wonders of Kraft macaroni and cheese." This is that story. Sadly, we'll have to rely on the universe to get the vid. So if you decide to make that vid, please let us know!
*
Links:
chaila has written a great intro/recruiter post for Wonder Woman comics. Go read it! And also read The Hiketeia and JLA: A League of One if you're interested in standalone Wonder Woman stories where she is AWESOME. I also enjoyed the Wonder Woman/Batman crossover "The Gods of Gotham" where the Wonders and Bats team up. I haven't read the Azzarello run because I am still upset about the changes he made to the Amazons and I didn't want to give DC money, but I'll probably end up reading it in trade, because Cliff Chiang's art is amazing. I don't have high hopes for the movie, because DC, but maybe they will surprise us. Anyway. ALWAYS BE WONDER WOMAN. (the most popular tumblr post I've ever made is the one with the link to the New Yorker article about her from September.)
Also about awesome ladies: The Cult of Connie Britton:
And the way we understand Britton's demeanor is as an extension of Tami Taylor, who spent five seasons negotiating her way to power from the stereotypically subservient position of "coach’s wife" in a football-obsessed town.
Instead of forcefully critiquing the cultural infrastructure from the outside, she works within its existing boundaries to change it. Her beauty, her smile, that nice-lady voice, all of it is a way of getting what she/the high school students she counsels want or need, especially when dealing with apparatuses of power (the boosters, the school board, Joe McCoy). She kills not with kindness, but with y'alls.
Tami's power is negotiated, but it's also a realistic rendering of how women in much of America are able to fight and win battles on a daily basis. Instead of busting balls, attempting to engage in conversation. Instead of insulting another's way of life, trying to inhabit it. Tami's mix of the soft Southern exterior with steely drive emulates a form of activism wholly recognizable to anyone who's attempted to effect change in an environment wholly resistant to it.
And another link that may be relevant to your interests: It's Sesame Street Week at the AV Club. Though they don't seem to have an index page up for links to each day's articles.
*
Teevee in brief:
The Good Wife
Oh man, Kalinda! I fear for her so much! And Cary! You know Kalinda is somehow going to get him out of this and either have to go on the run or end up dead because of Bishop.
Also, Alicia! I love you but sometimes you make me facepalm. And Eli is AMAZING.
Brooklyn Nine Nine
HOT DAMN! Andre Braugher in that cold open was also AMAZING. And then all his stuff with Amy and Rosa. "Again... I cannot." And then the haranguing/pow wow. Oh man, SO MUCH LOVE for him mentoring them all in the ways they need. ALL THE EMMYS FOR MR. BRAUGHER PLEASE.
Also, Terry in court: "You want me to flex and rip my shirt?" "You can do that?" "The challenge is keeping the buttons on." I BET IT IS TERRY. THIS MAN IS A GIFT.
Also, also, I know she's probably not going to stick around, but I really liked Eva Longoria as Sophia. She seemed believable both as a lawyer and someone who would sleep with Jake. And Jake is right - being the little spoon is the best.
Lastly, HOLY CRAP STEPHEN ROOT IS BOYLE'S FATHER. IS HE REALLY JIMMY JAMES UNDERCOVER? AND SANDRA BERNHARD AS GINA'S MOTHER IS BRILLIANT CASTING. I'm excited to see if that goes somewhere, too.
Gotham
I actually dozed off and I didn't see last week, so I wasn't going to say anything about how terrible what parts I saw were, but I feel like that was a really weak take on Black Mask. Unless he's Black Mask's father, instead of just a name change. Also, why is the writing on this show so bad?
Sleepy Hollow
Man, after such a fun first season, this season is bobbling on core levels. From the AV Club review this week: The basics are still here-the monster kills, the cool special effects, the great quips, the creepy twists-but there so many other unfortunate decisions being made that it feels like we're on a terrific ship that is somehow, despite our best efforts, deeply in love with icebergs. I don't think that Sleepy Hollow has completely fallen apart; I still look forward to the show each week, and if somebody ever managed to bottle Mison and Nicole Beharie's chemistry, you could probably save the world. But man, things need to get tighter. Bring back Jenny, stop trying to push empty romances, and come up with better reasons for our heroes to stress out. Seriously why are we stuck with Hawley while Jenny and Irving are sidelined? No one is interested in an Abbie/Hawley/Jenny love triangle, least of all Abbie and Jenny!
Also, why finally give Katrina something interesting to do and then yank it away?! I enjoyed her scenes with Abbie and I do want her to be part of the team since apparently she's sticking around, but oy, first with the 'attachment' to the demon baby that was inside her and then going back to Abraham and Henry, like what? WTF? Especially since she was coming around on the "well, maybe we shouldn't focus too much on trying to save Henry" thing. Which, I don't want him to have a redemption arc! He's terrible! Let him just be evil! That would be so much more interesting - and more in line with Henry's character - than love triumphing.
I did enjoy Ichabod and Katrina watching reality tv, and Ichabod's speech about dancing, though. We're going to see him bust a move at some point this season now, right? You can't just put that out there and not pay it off!
Star Wars Rebels
An episode about Hera and Sabine! That could have been a lot more interesting than it was, but I enjoyed it anyway. There needs to be less Chopper/Zeb/Ezra shenanigans and more Hera and Sabine taking care of business while hashing out their trust issues. In fact, I wouldn't mind if the sociopathic little robot got sent to the great trash compacter in the sky.
Anyway! So Hera is the one with ties to the nascent Rebel Alliance? And Sabine was in the Imperial Academy? (This seems like a catchall for a lot of characters - Han also went to the Imperial Academy, right? And Luke wanted to? Is it, like, the only way out for a lot of people, like ROTC or something?) Tell me more about the ladies, show! They are the most interesting part!
While I was never involved in any organized fandom for it, I have a lot of deep ~feelings~ about Star Wars - I was 7 when it came out and it was one of the very first things I got super-obsessed with as a kid (as I think many, many people in my age group did), and I still feel that pull sometimes, though I never got into the extended universe beyond the Han Solo novels and the Thrawn trilogy. But it consistently makes me want more, even when that proves to be a giant mistake. *cough* And one of the things I think this show has going for it is that it is set in such a large universe with a long history, even if the majority of the previous ancillary materials has been moved out of canon. And so far I think it's done a better job than Gotham about being a show that takes place years before the main action starts, though I'm still wondering when they're going to get to the fireworks factory Rebel Alliance.
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/705091.html.
people have commented there.
I did manage to write a cute little Arrow story though:
We'd take a limousine 'cause it costs more (@ AO3)
Arrow; Felicity, Oliver, Diggle; g; 855 words
In which Felicity and Diggle introduce Oliver to the wonders of Kraft macaroni and cheese.
So
angelgazing says to me, "there should be an Olicity vid to 'If I Had $1,000,000'" and I say, "yes! And also the story of how Felicity introduces Oliver to the wonders of Kraft macaroni and cheese." This is that story. Sadly, we'll have to rely on the universe to get the vid. So if you decide to make that vid, please let us know!
*
Links:
chaila has written a great intro/recruiter post for Wonder Woman comics. Go read it! And also read The Hiketeia and JLA: A League of One if you're interested in standalone Wonder Woman stories where she is AWESOME. I also enjoyed the Wonder Woman/Batman crossover "The Gods of Gotham" where the Wonders and Bats team up. I haven't read the Azzarello run because I am still upset about the changes he made to the Amazons and I didn't want to give DC money, but I'll probably end up reading it in trade, because Cliff Chiang's art is amazing. I don't have high hopes for the movie, because DC, but maybe they will surprise us. Anyway. ALWAYS BE WONDER WOMAN. (the most popular tumblr post I've ever made is the one with the link to the New Yorker article about her from September.)
Also about awesome ladies: The Cult of Connie Britton:
And the way we understand Britton's demeanor is as an extension of Tami Taylor, who spent five seasons negotiating her way to power from the stereotypically subservient position of "coach’s wife" in a football-obsessed town.
Instead of forcefully critiquing the cultural infrastructure from the outside, she works within its existing boundaries to change it. Her beauty, her smile, that nice-lady voice, all of it is a way of getting what she/the high school students she counsels want or need, especially when dealing with apparatuses of power (the boosters, the school board, Joe McCoy). She kills not with kindness, but with y'alls.
Tami's power is negotiated, but it's also a realistic rendering of how women in much of America are able to fight and win battles on a daily basis. Instead of busting balls, attempting to engage in conversation. Instead of insulting another's way of life, trying to inhabit it. Tami's mix of the soft Southern exterior with steely drive emulates a form of activism wholly recognizable to anyone who's attempted to effect change in an environment wholly resistant to it.
And another link that may be relevant to your interests: It's Sesame Street Week at the AV Club. Though they don't seem to have an index page up for links to each day's articles.
*
Teevee in brief:
The Good Wife
Oh man, Kalinda! I fear for her so much! And Cary! You know Kalinda is somehow going to get him out of this and either have to go on the run or end up dead because of Bishop.
Also, Alicia! I love you but sometimes you make me facepalm. And Eli is AMAZING.
Brooklyn Nine Nine
HOT DAMN! Andre Braugher in that cold open was also AMAZING. And then all his stuff with Amy and Rosa. "Again... I cannot." And then the haranguing/pow wow. Oh man, SO MUCH LOVE for him mentoring them all in the ways they need. ALL THE EMMYS FOR MR. BRAUGHER PLEASE.
Also, Terry in court: "You want me to flex and rip my shirt?" "You can do that?" "The challenge is keeping the buttons on." I BET IT IS TERRY. THIS MAN IS A GIFT.
Also, also, I know she's probably not going to stick around, but I really liked Eva Longoria as Sophia. She seemed believable both as a lawyer and someone who would sleep with Jake. And Jake is right - being the little spoon is the best.
Lastly, HOLY CRAP STEPHEN ROOT IS BOYLE'S FATHER. IS HE REALLY JIMMY JAMES UNDERCOVER? AND SANDRA BERNHARD AS GINA'S MOTHER IS BRILLIANT CASTING. I'm excited to see if that goes somewhere, too.
Gotham
I actually dozed off and I didn't see last week, so I wasn't going to say anything about how terrible what parts I saw were, but I feel like that was a really weak take on Black Mask. Unless he's Black Mask's father, instead of just a name change. Also, why is the writing on this show so bad?
Sleepy Hollow
Man, after such a fun first season, this season is bobbling on core levels. From the AV Club review this week: The basics are still here-the monster kills, the cool special effects, the great quips, the creepy twists-but there so many other unfortunate decisions being made that it feels like we're on a terrific ship that is somehow, despite our best efforts, deeply in love with icebergs. I don't think that Sleepy Hollow has completely fallen apart; I still look forward to the show each week, and if somebody ever managed to bottle Mison and Nicole Beharie's chemistry, you could probably save the world. But man, things need to get tighter. Bring back Jenny, stop trying to push empty romances, and come up with better reasons for our heroes to stress out. Seriously why are we stuck with Hawley while Jenny and Irving are sidelined? No one is interested in an Abbie/Hawley/Jenny love triangle, least of all Abbie and Jenny!
Also, why finally give Katrina something interesting to do and then yank it away?! I enjoyed her scenes with Abbie and I do want her to be part of the team since apparently she's sticking around, but oy, first with the 'attachment' to the demon baby that was inside her and then going back to Abraham and Henry, like what? WTF? Especially since she was coming around on the "well, maybe we shouldn't focus too much on trying to save Henry" thing. Which, I don't want him to have a redemption arc! He's terrible! Let him just be evil! That would be so much more interesting - and more in line with Henry's character - than love triumphing.
I did enjoy Ichabod and Katrina watching reality tv, and Ichabod's speech about dancing, though. We're going to see him bust a move at some point this season now, right? You can't just put that out there and not pay it off!
Star Wars Rebels
An episode about Hera and Sabine! That could have been a lot more interesting than it was, but I enjoyed it anyway. There needs to be less Chopper/Zeb/Ezra shenanigans and more Hera and Sabine taking care of business while hashing out their trust issues. In fact, I wouldn't mind if the sociopathic little robot got sent to the great trash compacter in the sky.
Anyway! So Hera is the one with ties to the nascent Rebel Alliance? And Sabine was in the Imperial Academy? (This seems like a catchall for a lot of characters - Han also went to the Imperial Academy, right? And Luke wanted to? Is it, like, the only way out for a lot of people, like ROTC or something?) Tell me more about the ladies, show! They are the most interesting part!
While I was never involved in any organized fandom for it, I have a lot of deep ~feelings~ about Star Wars - I was 7 when it came out and it was one of the very first things I got super-obsessed with as a kid (as I think many, many people in my age group did), and I still feel that pull sometimes, though I never got into the extended universe beyond the Han Solo novels and the Thrawn trilogy. But it consistently makes me want more, even when that proves to be a giant mistake. *cough* And one of the things I think this show has going for it is that it is set in such a large universe with a long history, even if the majority of the previous ancillary materials has been moved out of canon. And so far I think it's done a better job than Gotham about being a show that takes place years before the main action starts, though I'm still wondering when they're going to get to the fireworks factory Rebel Alliance.
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/705091.html.
people have commented there.