It is so bizarre having free time.
Even if I technically don't because I have to write my resume and cover letter and send them out despite them being hugely overdue. And pack. And clean my room. Especially the bathroom because it's gross and I don't want my mom to see how long it's been since I've scrubbed out the toilet. And because my roommate's mom was in today to help her pack and she kept making comments about how she couldn't imagine how we could even use such a disgusting bathroom.
Given that I was likely to never see her again, I really should have spoken up re: our suitemate's unhelpfulness and the fact that it isn't that bad, but I'm a sissy when it comes to confrontation, so. I have bleach and toilet cleaner now, so I'm thinking that's how I'm going to spend tomorrow. Well, that and packing. And backing up my computer. And typing my damn resume already.
I had shit to do today, F!S. Why did you have to pick now to have another anonmeme? *sigh* I do wish it wasn't so easy to waste time on those things.
Anyway, went to see Iron Man 2 on Monday night with Roomie in the best movie theater ever (leather rolling chairs! Pizza and burgers and cookies and wine in the concessions! Actually being able to leave your seat without stepping on people's toes!). I'd heard mixed reviews beforehand but I ended up quite enjoying it, save for a few quibbling points: The very sudden onset and steep increase of Tony's symptoms were a bit difficult to buy; if he'd been using the suit enough to stabilize the Middle East surely he'd have built up a greater blood toxicity by the time the movie starts. Even if he hadn't, his toxicity levels wouldn't increase as fast as they did to the point where he was almost dead until near the end of the movie. Although I suppose if the reactor was burning out its cores faster and faster and thus the palladium was degrading faster the more the reactor machinery degraded (and thus the more sloppy/leaky its processing got), that might explain it, like a battery losing its ability to hold a charge with age, but it still doesn't sit quite right.
I also found it a bit unbelievable that the new core would completely reverse the blood poisoning (effectively purifying his entire circulatory system) instantly. Of course, I could also point out how completely implausible it would be for Tony to build a particle collider in his house and synthesize a new element right there on the spot, but given that accepting that means that Tony Stark is so crazy awesome that he can put together a particle collider with his bare hands in his fucking house, I'm...slightly more willing to let that slide. :)
Furthermore, I thought the movie too neatly sidestepped the moral dilemma of Howard Stark using someone else's intellectual property without giving them proper credit and allowing them to reap it's rewards. By handwaving that Ivan Vanko's father was a double-agent who was "only in it for the money", Tony gets to easily maintain the moral high ground, and Howard is neatly justified for everything he did. We're not asked to confront the idea that a protagonist, even one in high-concept R&D, could possibly have done something wrong. There's no coming to terms with it, no moral ambiguity. Vanko is too easily in the wrong.
And, on a quibbling point, I hated that Pepper just stood there and looked at the drone when the bomb in it was about to go off. You could still have the Big Heroic Rescue while having Pepper do the sensible thing and run away. I'm willing to buy that she wouldn't be able to get out of the blast radius in time! And as a bonus that doesn't make her look completely spaced out!
But, as for things I did like, this movie was very funny (making Pepper an omelet is on Tony's list of things to do before he dies! Like, before he actually tells her he's dying.) , and while I'm still bothered by the recasting of Rhodey I thought Don Cheadle had very good chemistry with RDJ and they played off each other very well, especially when Rhodey finally had to stop putting up with Tony and take his suit by force. I liked the conflict there. I was also worried that this movie would succumb to Spider-Man 3 Syndrome, i.e. having three different plots without the time or coordination to develop any of them fully, but here we had four or five subplots that all tied together nicely, and the more minor plotlines (the Avenger Initiative and Natasha, for example) were given just enough time and substance without feeling like they were thrown in as plot devices. The cast worked really well as an ensemble; it wasn't just Tony's show.
I also really, really liked Natasha and Jackson!Nick Fury makes me squee pretty much automatically, so I'm perhaps biased.
I'm not sure how I feel about Tony/Pepper; I wasn't bothered by the more forceful, almost parental tone she took with him in this film (and I in fact quite liked it, especially when she started to push back), and that's not necessarily an impediment to shipping it (though it does of course make doing so deliciously complicated and laden with Issues), but I don't know if I like the idea of it being canon. Tony's still a little unstable to do a relationship with much of anyone, at least a steady one, and especially with someone on whom he becomes so dependent. I like that interplay of dependence, but it'd make their relationship really messy.
That said...it was a nice kiss. And at least they had a little awkwardness around it.
Speaking of shipping, why isn't there Pepper/Natasha all over the place by now? Come on, the movie's been out a whole four days now. I actually have time to read fic now, guys, make with the femslash. Please. :D
In other media-consumption news, J, J, and R showed me the first two episodes of Baccano! and I have to say I'm a little torn. On the one hand, I really like the characters I've seen so far, am intrigued to learn their stories, and want to know what happens to them and why. On the other hand, I kind of want the rest of the series to be about Isaac and Miria. Because they are amazing. Although they will probably be even more fun if accompanied by Jacuzzi and Nice, so they have someone to panic at them.
Also the dub voice cast is excellent. Between Baccano! and Higurashi it is so wonderful to rediscover good anime dubbing. I'd forgotten it existed!
It occurs to me that not only do I have free time, but I can also finally finish all those series I've left off halfway! I can finish Umineko and Higurashi and Beast Wars and Shadow Raiders and Baccano! and catch up on Doctor Who and everything. I could write fic! Or draw! Or finally finish my beading project for help_haiti ! Life is good. :D
Except that I can't do any of that right now because I need to pack and do my resume aaagh. Or rather, I need to go to bed so I can get up early enough to do all that before Mom gets in, because I don't really want her seeing all my stuff unpacked and my bathroom all grody.
Yeah. I'll do that.
One final note: It is always extremely cheering to read a review on one of your fics telling you that they don't normally like the character or pairing you wrote but they liked your fic. I don't know why, but even though every review makes me smile I am always interested in hearing something like this.
Oh crap that's another thing I need to do, is answer reviews on my fics since there are some I haven't answered in months. aaaaaah.
Given that I was likely to never see her again, I really should have spoken up re: our suitemate's unhelpfulness and the fact that it isn't that bad, but I'm a sissy when it comes to confrontation, so. I have bleach and toilet cleaner now, so I'm thinking that's how I'm going to spend tomorrow. Well, that and packing. And backing up my computer. And typing my damn resume already.
I had shit to do today, F!S. Why did you have to pick now to have another anonmeme? *sigh* I do wish it wasn't so easy to waste time on those things.
Anyway, went to see Iron Man 2 on Monday night with Roomie in the best movie theater ever (leather rolling chairs! Pizza and burgers and cookies and wine in the concessions! Actually being able to leave your seat without stepping on people's toes!). I'd heard mixed reviews beforehand but I ended up quite enjoying it, save for a few quibbling points: The very sudden onset and steep increase of Tony's symptoms were a bit difficult to buy; if he'd been using the suit enough to stabilize the Middle East surely he'd have built up a greater blood toxicity by the time the movie starts. Even if he hadn't, his toxicity levels wouldn't increase as fast as they did to the point where he was almost dead until near the end of the movie. Although I suppose if the reactor was burning out its cores faster and faster and thus the palladium was degrading faster the more the reactor machinery degraded (and thus the more sloppy/leaky its processing got), that might explain it, like a battery losing its ability to hold a charge with age, but it still doesn't sit quite right.
I also found it a bit unbelievable that the new core would completely reverse the blood poisoning (effectively purifying his entire circulatory system) instantly. Of course, I could also point out how completely implausible it would be for Tony to build a particle collider in his house and synthesize a new element right there on the spot, but given that accepting that means that Tony Stark is so crazy awesome that he can put together a particle collider with his bare hands in his fucking house, I'm...slightly more willing to let that slide. :)
Furthermore, I thought the movie too neatly sidestepped the moral dilemma of Howard Stark using someone else's intellectual property without giving them proper credit and allowing them to reap it's rewards. By handwaving that Ivan Vanko's father was a double-agent who was "only in it for the money", Tony gets to easily maintain the moral high ground, and Howard is neatly justified for everything he did. We're not asked to confront the idea that a protagonist, even one in high-concept R&D, could possibly have done something wrong. There's no coming to terms with it, no moral ambiguity. Vanko is too easily in the wrong.
And, on a quibbling point, I hated that Pepper just stood there and looked at the drone when the bomb in it was about to go off. You could still have the Big Heroic Rescue while having Pepper do the sensible thing and run away. I'm willing to buy that she wouldn't be able to get out of the blast radius in time! And as a bonus that doesn't make her look completely spaced out!
But, as for things I did like, this movie was very funny (making Pepper an omelet is on Tony's list of things to do before he dies! Like, before he actually tells her he's dying.) , and while I'm still bothered by the recasting of Rhodey I thought Don Cheadle had very good chemistry with RDJ and they played off each other very well, especially when Rhodey finally had to stop putting up with Tony and take his suit by force. I liked the conflict there. I was also worried that this movie would succumb to Spider-Man 3 Syndrome, i.e. having three different plots without the time or coordination to develop any of them fully, but here we had four or five subplots that all tied together nicely, and the more minor plotlines (the Avenger Initiative and Natasha, for example) were given just enough time and substance without feeling like they were thrown in as plot devices. The cast worked really well as an ensemble; it wasn't just Tony's show.
I also really, really liked Natasha and Jackson!Nick Fury makes me squee pretty much automatically, so I'm perhaps biased.
I'm not sure how I feel about Tony/Pepper; I wasn't bothered by the more forceful, almost parental tone she took with him in this film (and I in fact quite liked it, especially when she started to push back), and that's not necessarily an impediment to shipping it (though it does of course make doing so deliciously complicated and laden with Issues), but I don't know if I like the idea of it being canon. Tony's still a little unstable to do a relationship with much of anyone, at least a steady one, and especially with someone on whom he becomes so dependent. I like that interplay of dependence, but it'd make their relationship really messy.
That said...it was a nice kiss. And at least they had a little awkwardness around it.
Speaking of shipping, why isn't there Pepper/Natasha all over the place by now? Come on, the movie's been out a whole four days now. I actually have time to read fic now, guys, make with the femslash. Please. :D
In other media-consumption news, J, J, and R showed me the first two episodes of Baccano! and I have to say I'm a little torn. On the one hand, I really like the characters I've seen so far, am intrigued to learn their stories, and want to know what happens to them and why. On the other hand, I kind of want the rest of the series to be about Isaac and Miria. Because they are amazing. Although they will probably be even more fun if accompanied by Jacuzzi and Nice, so they have someone to panic at them.
Also the dub voice cast is excellent. Between Baccano! and Higurashi it is so wonderful to rediscover good anime dubbing. I'd forgotten it existed!
It occurs to me that not only do I have free time, but I can also finally finish all those series I've left off halfway! I can finish Umineko and Higurashi and Beast Wars and Shadow Raiders and Baccano! and catch up on Doctor Who and everything. I could write fic! Or draw! Or finally finish my beading project for help_haiti ! Life is good. :D
Except that I can't do any of that right now because I need to pack and do my resume aaagh. Or rather, I need to go to bed so I can get up early enough to do all that before Mom gets in, because I don't really want her seeing all my stuff unpacked and my bathroom all grody.
Yeah. I'll do that.
One final note: It is always extremely cheering to read a review on one of your fics telling you that they don't normally like the character or pairing you wrote but they liked your fic. I don't know why, but even though every review makes me smile I am always interested in hearing something like this.
Oh crap that's another thing I need to do, is answer reviews on my fics since there are some I haven't answered in months. aaaaaah.