bold, precise, experimental!
I figured out the issue with that story I was wrestling with, and as usual, it wasn't working because I was trying to be clever. I need to stop doing that. Either it was just the one scene with the surprise ending or it's a story about a character, and well, it works better as a story than a joke, so. *hands* Writing. It is the worst, except for those few moments when it's the best.
As usual when I have these kinds of problems, I started reading some poetry - new to me, this time, not just old favorites - and that's when I realized how to fix it. Poetry! It's the best for making me think in new ways.
Also the best? Steven Universe: Mr. Greg
HOLY CRAP PEARL. PEARL DANCING INNA TUX. A MUSICAL EPISODE. GREG AND STEVEN IN FORMAL WEAR. TOP HATS. DANCING WAITERS. EMPIRE CITY. I draw a million sparkly hearts around this episode! I loved how it had the visuals of Astaire/Rogers musicals but with a very SU twist. I loved that when they danced, Pearl led. I love that they danced and it calls back to fusion but fusion isn't the goal here, understanding is (not that fusion doesn't also promote understanding, but I don't think either Pearl or Greg would have wanted that much closeness). I loved that Steven actively decided to intervene to help repair Greg and Pearl's relationship, rather than doing it unconsciously or reactively, the way he has in the past. (I also think he's right and that Rose is still inside that gem, but that's also kind of creepy so let's not go there right now.)
Pearl's song was SO GREAT YOU GUYS:
War and glory, reinvention, fusion, freedom, her attention
Out in daylight my potential, bold, precise, experimental!
Who am I now in this world without her?
Petty and dull, with the nerve to doubt her
What does it matter? It's already done
Now I've got to be there for her son!
(Amazingly, "war and glory, reinvention" is kind of the actual theme of the story I was having trouble with, too. *hands* Everything ends up connected in my brain somehow.)
And now, the reading meme:
What I've just finished
The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer by Skip Hollandsworth, which was interesting as a history of Austin, TX, but less so in terms of the serial killer, since they never found the murderer (it's nonfiction and history so I'm not counting that as a spoiler). It's also brutal in terms of what the killer did to the women (and of course, it's only women) he killed, and that's not glossed over at all, nor is the awful racism of the white people of the time. It's sad to see how little has changed in a some ways.
Star Wars #21
Is anyone else reading this as it comes out? An issue from the POV of a stormtrooper! And not just any stormtrooper: Sgt. Kreel, the dude who was undercover on Nar Shaddaa while Luke was a captive of Grakkus the Hutt. It's very interesting to see the POV of a guy who signed up rather than being conscripted, and who actually feels the Empire has done some good. I guess that was the point? But, you know, still an Imperial stormtrooper, so I don't feel too sympathetic.
Darth Vader #23
I still kind of have no idea what is going on in some ways? So that one scientist set her ship to ram the Executor in order to kill Vader, but they seem to not understand that he is basically unkillable (and not just because he can't die before RotJ)? but also, the Emperor is on board and that doesn't seem like a very smart thing to do unless they are trying to stage a coup? I guess that's the part I'm not really sure about? Though the tentacles/brain-looking thinger a couple of issues ago also confused me greatly.
That ending though! I shouldn't feel bad because Darth Vader has been brought to his knees (LITERALLY!) by some other Imperial asshole who has a backdoor override on his prosthetics, but I actually do (for a whole bunch of reasons that basically boil down to the fact that he's still unable to free himself of slavery even as a Sith lord), and I'm eagerly anticipating his revenge when he gets himself free. (I also liked "I am coming for you," though somehow that was still not as viscerally awesome as Laura Roslin's version.) What even is my life? As I recently said in various conversations, I know he's a garbage space fascist, but sometimes you end up liking a real dumpster fire of a character. *hands* Just leave me alone. #i hate that i have ~feelings about darth vader now
What I'm reading now
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley, which I'm enjoying, but I really hope neither Mori nor Matsumoto is the bombmaker. IJS. I'm also trying to figure out how AU it really is (is 'the ether' really a thing or is Grace barking up the wrong tree?) Don't answer that! I don't want to be spoiled!
What I'm reading next
Next week, I'll be on vacation so I will have a ton of stuff to choose from!
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/857592.html.
people have commented there.
As usual when I have these kinds of problems, I started reading some poetry - new to me, this time, not just old favorites - and that's when I realized how to fix it. Poetry! It's the best for making me think in new ways.
Also the best? Steven Universe: Mr. Greg
HOLY CRAP PEARL. PEARL DANCING INNA TUX. A MUSICAL EPISODE. GREG AND STEVEN IN FORMAL WEAR. TOP HATS. DANCING WAITERS. EMPIRE CITY. I draw a million sparkly hearts around this episode! I loved how it had the visuals of Astaire/Rogers musicals but with a very SU twist. I loved that when they danced, Pearl led. I love that they danced and it calls back to fusion but fusion isn't the goal here, understanding is (not that fusion doesn't also promote understanding, but I don't think either Pearl or Greg would have wanted that much closeness). I loved that Steven actively decided to intervene to help repair Greg and Pearl's relationship, rather than doing it unconsciously or reactively, the way he has in the past. (I also think he's right and that Rose is still inside that gem, but that's also kind of creepy so let's not go there right now.)
Pearl's song was SO GREAT YOU GUYS:
War and glory, reinvention, fusion, freedom, her attention
Out in daylight my potential, bold, precise, experimental!
Who am I now in this world without her?
Petty and dull, with the nerve to doubt her
What does it matter? It's already done
Now I've got to be there for her son!
(Amazingly, "war and glory, reinvention" is kind of the actual theme of the story I was having trouble with, too. *hands* Everything ends up connected in my brain somehow.)
And now, the reading meme:
What I've just finished
The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer by Skip Hollandsworth, which was interesting as a history of Austin, TX, but less so in terms of the serial killer, since they never found the murderer (it's nonfiction and history so I'm not counting that as a spoiler). It's also brutal in terms of what the killer did to the women (and of course, it's only women) he killed, and that's not glossed over at all, nor is the awful racism of the white people of the time. It's sad to see how little has changed in a some ways.
Star Wars #21
Is anyone else reading this as it comes out? An issue from the POV of a stormtrooper! And not just any stormtrooper: Sgt. Kreel, the dude who was undercover on Nar Shaddaa while Luke was a captive of Grakkus the Hutt. It's very interesting to see the POV of a guy who signed up rather than being conscripted, and who actually feels the Empire has done some good. I guess that was the point? But, you know, still an Imperial stormtrooper, so I don't feel too sympathetic.
Darth Vader #23
I still kind of have no idea what is going on in some ways? So that one scientist set her ship to ram the Executor in order to kill Vader, but they seem to not understand that he is basically unkillable (and not just because he can't die before RotJ)? but also, the Emperor is on board and that doesn't seem like a very smart thing to do unless they are trying to stage a coup? I guess that's the part I'm not really sure about? Though the tentacles/brain-looking thinger a couple of issues ago also confused me greatly.
That ending though! I shouldn't feel bad because Darth Vader has been brought to his knees (LITERALLY!) by some other Imperial asshole who has a backdoor override on his prosthetics, but I actually do (for a whole bunch of reasons that basically boil down to the fact that he's still unable to free himself of slavery even as a Sith lord), and I'm eagerly anticipating his revenge when he gets himself free. (I also liked "I am coming for you," though somehow that was still not as viscerally awesome as Laura Roslin's version.) What even is my life? As I recently said in various conversations, I know he's a garbage space fascist, but sometimes you end up liking a real dumpster fire of a character. *hands* Just leave me alone. #i hate that i have ~feelings about darth vader now
What I'm reading now
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley, which I'm enjoying, but I really hope neither Mori nor Matsumoto is the bombmaker. IJS. I'm also trying to figure out how AU it really is (is 'the ether' really a thing or is Grace barking up the wrong tree?) Don't answer that! I don't want to be spoiled!
What I'm reading next
Next week, I'll be on vacation so I will have a ton of stuff to choose from!
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/857592.html.
people have commented there.