the moon is in your house
A lot of things have made me very happy recently, and I'm trying to get back into the habit of recognizing those things instead of dwelling on the mass of stupid/annoying/infuriating that I deal with on a day to day basis. In that spirit, have a list of things that I have enjoyed in the past few weeks.
(Know that just because I write about things here it doesn't mean that I don't have criticisms of them, simply that I'm using this particular space to focus on the good rather than the not-so-good. BUT if you're ever interested in hearing my more critical thinky thoughts about something, let me know. I like talking about stuff.)
Game of Thrones
Everything he did in this episode was perfect. Finding his feet again in King's Landing and learning what it's going to mean to no longer be seen as perfect. The stuff with Tywin and Cersei was wonderfully uncomfortable and tense, and he and Brienne continue to delight me. But the White Book scene! Ugh.Also, Arya Stark continues to be wonderfully horrifying. I think it's really easy to get lost in the voyeuristic satisfaction that comes from watching the things that she does to the point that you forget that she's a little girl who is murdering people in really vengeful, awful ways. We like to see them dead because they deserve it, but what will this cost her in the end?
Other things: Sansa Stark, breaking my heart with every blink of her eyes. And while I appreciate the relationship they've built between Sansa and Shae, I'm beginning to find some of the Shae/Tyrion stuff really grating, and I'm wondering if they're[book spoiler]trying to make Shae less lovable as a way of somehow justifying Tyrion's murder of her?If so, ew. I also very much enjoyed the whole Margaery and Olenna and Brienne bit; Olenna's obvious admiration of Brienne made me really happy. Jon Snow at the Wall was less interesting than I wanted it to be, but then I remembered who Janos Slynt is and I cared a teensy bit more.[more book spoilers]I have thinky thoughts about Jon Snow and Janos Slynt as they relate to Robb and Rickard Karstark and Theon and Rodrik Cassel, but they don't belong here.And while we're talking about book things, I know there are Thenns on Skagos where they claim cannibalism is a thing, but were the Thenns from Beyond the Wall described as such in the books? Because I do not remember that and I feel like I would.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
I'm not even going to try to say anything coherent because I'll fail miserably. It wasn't perfect, but it was very, very good, and there are a lot of highlights. Sebastian Stan breaking my heart with approximately ten lines of dialogue total. Natasha Romanoff hitting the Winter Soldier's eye in a feat of marksmanship that would make a marksman give her a high five (to be thwarted by the bulletproof goggles, but still). Steve Rogers' list of things he missed to learn about. (And its different versions.) Maria Hill being unequivocally trustworthy and badass. Natasha's arrow necklace. Sam fucking Wilson. (And Anthony Mackie, who really is a gift. He seems like he is truly the most excited to be a superhero and to be able to do the job he does, and I love it.)
As far as the corresponding episode of Agents of SHIELD is concerned, maybe being a bad guy will make Grant Ward more interesting? I don't hate him (or the show, unlike a lot of people), but he is most definitely the least interesting. Bad and more interesting, excellent. Dead and gone, okay. I'm pretty okay with however this plays out.
Books
I finished both Insurgent by Veronica Roth and Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. Insurgent is enjoyable enough as a second installment in a trilogy, and I think I actually preferred it to Divergent (in which I have a lot of problems with the world building, mostly that the whole faction system doesn't really make a lot of SENSE; other dystopias, notably Marie Lu's Legend have done a better job with the worldbuilding in this post-Hunger Games YA world). Scarlet is also a second installment in a series, and follows a Red Riding Hood type in her search for her grandmother while the Wolf is at her side. I really loved Cinder (Cinderella is a cyborg, people!) and was happy that she made appearances in this book as well, and I'm really looking forward to the way that this sort of science fiction-fairy tale mashup all plays out. I know the third installment, Cress is available (and follows a Rapunzel character who lives not in a tower but in an Earth-orbiting satellite!), but it might be a while before I get to it.
And some little things
- queendoms and other musings on matriarchal societies
- coffee
- reading obscene amounts of fanfiction and neglecting to write my own (I feel I should defend myself by saying that my current WiP has reached 97,000 words and I'm entitled to a small break.)
- pink glitter tape
- when animals are so. excited. to see you
- Berry Blast smoothies
- tasty chocolate cake
- daffodils and everything else that is about to burst into bloom
- seeing American Hustle at the last-run theater on my birthday
- new books - my to-read stack just keeps growing
- reading about porn stats and love spells
- ultra-pale pink fingernails topped with pink and holographic glitter
- meeting the happiest classroom pet I've ever seen (the only happy classroom pet I've ever seen, tbh), Lenny the Lizard
- sleepy sweet babies - I met my cousin's daughter for the first time today and she's so fucking cute. I do not want one (not now and maybe not ever), but I very much enjoy having them around.
- shiny new projects
- Sharpie pens
- cats with superhero names (ask me about Tony Stark the cat sometime)
- poetry
- Marilyn cuddles
I would love to hear about the things that have been making you happy lately, darlings. Or we can tear apart the things we've enjoyed, whatever.