Remember The Time We Had That Soup?

[robanybody]

So I listened to bits of The Mighty Boosh at work today, and by the time I got to "a mackerel that exposes itself," I had to hide my face in my hands and try not to howl with laughter. I swear to God that my co-workers thought I was having some sort of seizure because I was shaking so hard from trying not to laugh out loud. I surrender, you crazy Brits. Here, have my soul, I didn't need it anyway.

As soon as I have some mad money floating around, I'm going to go buy season one from HMV since they actually have it for less than a hundred dollars (actually, about thirty), which is a bargain for an import. (Especially since all British shows seem to cost around a hundred bucks in stores, seventy-five if it's on sale.)

In any case, it will be mine soon! Because I really needed another show to get hooked on. Sigh.


Thoughts on Best Destiny by Diane Carey:

sixteen-year-old Jim Kirk is a total shit. But I love him anyway, and he still fucking breaks my heart. I absolutely love the concept that Kirk has a bit of a thug inside him, a little hint of gangster that makes him understand the gangsters and crooks of the universe better than most. It's how I've always seen Kirk, so I'm glad that Diane Carey actually articulated it in such an amazing fashion so I could point to it and say, "yes, that!"

I love George Kirk in this universe. He's flawed and hurt deeply by his son's antagonism toward him, but also so goddamn stubborn and angry and fiercely protective of his family and his crew. I love how complicated and painful his relationship with Jim is, how they come across as real and fractured people in ways that I understand. It hurt to read, but it was so emotionally rewarding at the end to see how far Jim and George had come, to see where they stood with each other, and you appreciate the journey you took with them.

I also like the fact that Carey shows just how difficult it is to maintain relationships in the face of long-term space travel. Winona and George are not in love by the time Jim's sixteen. They're tired and out of love with each other and are essentially strangers, scarred by Tarsus IV and George being gone for so long and Jim's acting out because he thinks his father's abandoned them so he's stopped caring about his dad. She shows the fractures in the family because of George's long absences, but she never vilifies him for the choices he makes, instead showing the reader his side of things and why he made the choices he made. It's a good look at adult relationships and the tough choices you have to make in life for reasons you think are good, and it's wonderful to see a Star Trek book take that so seriously and write it so well.

I LOVE ROBERT APRIL FOREVER AND EVER OMG. He is British and wears an Irish sweater and quotes poetry and always defends Kirk, even when his own father won't. He and George have the best friendship ever, and I love him so much for so many reasons. (I may also ship him and George because talk about vibey.) Also, totally picture Hugh Laurie as April, and all the descriptions of him do nothing to convince me otherwise.

so I watched The Menagerie last week, and while I enjoyed most of it, the ableism fail throughout the episode had me yelling at the TV screen, "Just because he's in a wheelchair DOESN'T MEAN HIS LIFE IS OVER OR THAT HE CAN'T DO ANYTHING EVER AGAIN, JACKASSES." And yeah, I know, it was the '60s and that was the prevalent attitude at that time and they did everything they could to make it so that he was essentially a body in a chair, but that was my first reaction.

So when I read about the engineer, Veronica, and her prosthetic arm, I was terrified that it was going to be more ableism that was going to send me into a frothing rage. Instead, Veronica is one of the most wonderful characters in the book. She's smart, she's funny, she acknowledges her handicap and how hard she had to work to get to where she was because of it and then shows him how much that doesn't even fucking matter because she is awesome and works her ass off to do what she wants, she becomes Jim's mentor, and she is such an integral part of the crew that when she's incapacitated, the crew is devastated and hampered without her input. She is so wonderful that I cannot even deal with how much I love her.

Thank you, Diane Carey. I really needed Veronica.

the book has a lot of wonderful secondary characters, people of all races and ages and cultures. It was really lovely to read a book that was not just about brave white people, but brave Hispanic people and a smart, funny head of security from Trinidad and a cranky, older, brilliant female captain who makes terrible jokes and is loved by her crew.

Although there were some moments that made me pause a bit, like when no one seems to remember if Drake is from Trinidad or Jamaica when giving him a nickname based on where he's from, but I don't know if that's racefail or just awkward comedy. Especially since the rest of the book is so ethnically diverse in such a positive way. If you're going to read it, just be aware that you might be stopped short by that.

Jim Kirk always breaks my heart. No, seriously, always. Between all the moments where he realizes just how deeply he'd hurt his dad to forty-five years later when Jim is wounded by the idea of having to give up his ship and retire, he always, always fucking breaks my heart and makes me want to weep for him. I don't even care how ridiculous it is, I love him deeply. He was my hero when I was thirteen and he still is now, even though he's flawed and sometimes arrogant and stubborn and makes mistakes. Still the best, still my favorite.

In conclusion:



You have no idea how much I love this picture.