Seven Questions!
First, thank you SO MUCH to everyone who sent me awesome gifts on LJ over the last few weeks. So much fun and hugely, hugely appreciated.
canis_takahari gave me seven subjects to discuss! If you also want seven subjects say so in the comments.
1. your favourite place in the city
I'm going to leave out private residences, or it would be my chair in my livingroom or
bhanesidhe's love seat or
ali_wildgoose's kitchen.
So with that out of the running, my favorite place is the Museum of Modern Art. I'm a member, not only because I can get in for free or because I like supporting the museum but also because I can get cheap guest tickets and therefore bring friends along for not much. I strongly prefer modern art and my favorite painters worked mostly in the twentieth century. I enjoy conceptual and nonrepresentational art and I love the mixed media found at MoMA. I particularly love the design galleries, where there are architectural models and cars and silverware and furniture and posters and salt shakers. There's something about modernity that just gets me very excited.
2. clint/coulson
I'm going to construct this as a personal narrative because my squee powers are not that strong. I'm not, as a general rule, a big fan of action narratives or comic books or comic book movies or superheroes in general. But like a lot of other people I went to see Iron Man mostly to watch RDJ be ridic, and he certainly delivered.
And then, at the end of the movie, in walks Phil Coulson. Stealth badass is soooooo my type, you guys, as is the kind of fond but firm scolding he does of Tony in Iron Man II. I also like people with secret power who operate in the background--my favorite character in Brick is The Brain. It's totally what gets me.
Then I saw Hulk, with its many references to the 70s Bill Bixby show I loved as a child, and I felt like I got the joke, which is rare for me in comic franchises. I decided right then and there, okay, Marvel. I'll do your Avengers movie thing. It's sort of fun to watch a bunch of movies and anticipate a bunch more, and I LOVE teams and ensembles. Why not?
I knew, vaguely, about the whole Steve/Tony thing; it was often alluded to on Fandom Secrets before Chris Evans was cast. As archetypal pairings go, it's pretty solid, and it's thrown up a lot of good fic. I often lurk around in slash megafandoms, reading fic but not really feeling invested, because the size and the BNF thing can be a big turnoff for me. So there I was, minding my own business, when I read a Steve/Tony fic with a minor pairing of Clint/Coulson--Clint being Clint Barton, or Hawkeye. I hadn't seen Thor at that point, so while I knew that Jeremy Renner was in the movie and would be in the Avengers I wasn't familiar with his character. But I read Clint and Coulson being snarky together, and I was IN.
I watched their exchange in Thor. I read all the Clint/Coulson fic. I hoped that there would be more, maybe an LJ comm. I poked around tumblr. Then suddenly, at the end of January, BAM, all these things happened--an LJ comm, an ongoing chat, a CC bingo--and C/C became a real little community of writers, putting out tons and tons of fantastic fic. (Even AUs, already! And you know how I feel about AUs.) The pre-existing Clint-in-comics fans couldn't be more open and welcoming. (Recs to come.)
While I'll still probably never be a traditional slasher/comics person, I really love this ship. It's like the Seamus/Dean of Avengers--a nice little slash pairing that makes people smile and doesn't really interfere with any of the big juggernauts. (For the record, I also hard-core ship Natasha/Pepper, thanks to Iron Man II, and I hard-core BBF Natasha/Clint. They're like, my OT4 of Avengers.) I mean, Clint is the best marksman in the world and has a smidge of an authority problem; Phil can disable two gunmen with his feet and a bag of flour and can handle Clint just fine, thank you. They're awesome.
3. your feelings on citrus
I love citrus, unreservedly. I can't think of a citrus fruit that I wouldn't eat. I have red grapefruit almost every day that they're in season (which would be now) and I love citrus deserts like tarts made with lemon cream. My usual cocktails are citrus based, like a margarita or a mojito or a tom collins. My favorite citrus might be a lime, because the flavor is so versatile. That said, I really do not care for fake citrus flavor at all, so orange/lemon/lime lollipops or life savers or kool-aid or whatever are pretty much out.
4. community
I am going to assume that you mean the television show! Community is about seven people who form a study group at a community college and end up becoming a group of friends. The cast is diverse in gender, race and age (though unfortunately not sexual orientation) and their relationship dynamics are endlessly shifting around without being entirely romance-driven. I wouldn't advise seriously shipping on this show, not because the show is a jerk about it, but because so much is in flux and so much affection is expressed non-sexually. It's refreshingly modern in that way.
But really it boils down to this gif post on tumblr. Community is truly hilarious show-I don't think there's anything on TV right now that makes me laugh this hard this much-but it also has these wonderful characters with complicated relationships with themselves and with each other. People talk about paintball and the claymation Christmas special and those are fantastic, but Community is more than just theme episodes. It's got so much heart, so much real emotion, and yet is so funny. It's just really wonderful.
Vulture recently posted five episodes to get you hooked and it's a good list, but I would start with the pilot, which actually does a fine job setting up all of the characters and their situations, so you can get your feet under you. It's a really fun little show that could use a lot more love than it's getting, so I hope that those of you not watching will give it a try!
5. movies
I love movies. I love how they're self-contained like books, with a beginning and a middle and an end, but they have the visual and aural components as well. I love that I can watch them again and again, and they become as much old friends as my favorite books. I've both taken and taught many a film studies class, have written a big pile of papers on various movies and a thesis on blaxploitation and the '90s black film boomlet. Movies of the classic Hollywood era taught me about narrative.
I couldn't even begin to make a list of my favorite films, or the ones that influenced me, but here's a few types that I return to over and over again:
--Classic romantic comedies. Far too many modern romcoms are about humiliation, especially of the woman concerned. The older romcoms, and the ones that I write, are about internal conflict, about the barrier to the couple getting together being about their issues and their baggage and the things that they need to work on by themselves in order to come together. That's why so many of them are comedies of REmarriage; they came together with chemistry and lust and love, but couldn't stay together because of personality conflicts. They have to part to work that shit out, but then they can come back together, and be stronger.
--Musicals, classic or recent. I personally know a lot more people who walk down the street singing or dancing than are armed or participate in shoot-outs on a regular basis.
--Ensemble comedies, preferably with lots of women. I'm all over Friends with Kids, loved Bridesmaids.
I guess, in a feminist sense, one of the things that disappoints me over and over again about society as a whole and fandom in particular is the denigration of fantasies coded female (like romances and musicals) and the elevation of fantasies coded male (like action and saving-the-world). It's odd to think that a woman watching a musical is any less aware that it's fiction than a man watching a superhero movie. I want to push against that, but fangirls don't make it easy!
6. wax poetic about jim and bones
I love that they are grown ups, and therefore they have some baggage that they're trying to work out but by and large they are responsible for themselves. I love that they have regrets, that they've made mistakes, but they haven't given up on themselves or other people. I love how hopeful they are. I love that Jim is reckless and ridiculous but also a genius and a really good listener who trusts and relies on his crew. I love that Bones wears his heart on a sleeve made of the most prickly wool ever, and is a rockstar doctor in his own right. I love how well matched they are and how they can come together to heal each other, or at least help. I love that as the movie opens they're both a little lonely and taking a chance on changing their own lives, and they cling to each other like clinging things. I love that they grow old together and know each other so well. I love that neither of them let the other get away with bullshit.
I'm amazed that I ended up shipping such a popular ship; I'm usually on the sidelines (cf Seamus/Dean or Clint/Coulson). But they've got that thing that gets me. Plus, I fucking love the billion spiraling AUs we've created in the years since the movie came out, and how many more we'll create after the next movie. I'm all excitement about what the next couple of years will bring for our hardy little ship.
7. shopping for clothes
I hate shopping for clothes because I hate shopping in person at all any more because there are far too many "bad customers suck" memes floating around and I'm basically terrified of being a bad customer. I don't like asking people to open dressing rooms for me, or asking if maybe they have another size in the back, or really interacting on the retail level with anyone at all. I just keep thinking I'm going to end up on a blog somewhere.
That said, I did finally buy a bunch of clothes recently, after four years of not buying anything. I bought everything online because I'm a pretty standard size so it isn't hard to find things that fit me. I got ten dresses, six cardigans, two hoodies, five tshirts, and a pair of trousers. Obviously, I mostly wear dresses and cardigans, and on the weekends jeans/tshirts/hoodies. It's really fun to have lots of new clothes to wear! I need some work flats really badly, and maybe some new stockings, but then I should be set for a while. yay!
crossposted from Dreamwidth |
comments | comment at Dreamwidth
canis_takahari gave me seven subjects to discuss! If you also want seven subjects say so in the comments.
1. your favourite place in the city
I'm going to leave out private residences, or it would be my chair in my livingroom or
bhanesidhe's love seat or
ali_wildgoose's kitchen.
So with that out of the running, my favorite place is the Museum of Modern Art. I'm a member, not only because I can get in for free or because I like supporting the museum but also because I can get cheap guest tickets and therefore bring friends along for not much. I strongly prefer modern art and my favorite painters worked mostly in the twentieth century. I enjoy conceptual and nonrepresentational art and I love the mixed media found at MoMA. I particularly love the design galleries, where there are architectural models and cars and silverware and furniture and posters and salt shakers. There's something about modernity that just gets me very excited.
2. clint/coulson
I'm going to construct this as a personal narrative because my squee powers are not that strong. I'm not, as a general rule, a big fan of action narratives or comic books or comic book movies or superheroes in general. But like a lot of other people I went to see Iron Man mostly to watch RDJ be ridic, and he certainly delivered.
And then, at the end of the movie, in walks Phil Coulson. Stealth badass is soooooo my type, you guys, as is the kind of fond but firm scolding he does of Tony in Iron Man II. I also like people with secret power who operate in the background--my favorite character in Brick is The Brain. It's totally what gets me.
Then I saw Hulk, with its many references to the 70s Bill Bixby show I loved as a child, and I felt like I got the joke, which is rare for me in comic franchises. I decided right then and there, okay, Marvel. I'll do your Avengers movie thing. It's sort of fun to watch a bunch of movies and anticipate a bunch more, and I LOVE teams and ensembles. Why not?
I knew, vaguely, about the whole Steve/Tony thing; it was often alluded to on Fandom Secrets before Chris Evans was cast. As archetypal pairings go, it's pretty solid, and it's thrown up a lot of good fic. I often lurk around in slash megafandoms, reading fic but not really feeling invested, because the size and the BNF thing can be a big turnoff for me. So there I was, minding my own business, when I read a Steve/Tony fic with a minor pairing of Clint/Coulson--Clint being Clint Barton, or Hawkeye. I hadn't seen Thor at that point, so while I knew that Jeremy Renner was in the movie and would be in the Avengers I wasn't familiar with his character. But I read Clint and Coulson being snarky together, and I was IN.
I watched their exchange in Thor. I read all the Clint/Coulson fic. I hoped that there would be more, maybe an LJ comm. I poked around tumblr. Then suddenly, at the end of January, BAM, all these things happened--an LJ comm, an ongoing chat, a CC bingo--and C/C became a real little community of writers, putting out tons and tons of fantastic fic. (Even AUs, already! And you know how I feel about AUs.) The pre-existing Clint-in-comics fans couldn't be more open and welcoming. (Recs to come.)
While I'll still probably never be a traditional slasher/comics person, I really love this ship. It's like the Seamus/Dean of Avengers--a nice little slash pairing that makes people smile and doesn't really interfere with any of the big juggernauts. (For the record, I also hard-core ship Natasha/Pepper, thanks to Iron Man II, and I hard-core BBF Natasha/Clint. They're like, my OT4 of Avengers.) I mean, Clint is the best marksman in the world and has a smidge of an authority problem; Phil can disable two gunmen with his feet and a bag of flour and can handle Clint just fine, thank you. They're awesome.
3. your feelings on citrus
I love citrus, unreservedly. I can't think of a citrus fruit that I wouldn't eat. I have red grapefruit almost every day that they're in season (which would be now) and I love citrus deserts like tarts made with lemon cream. My usual cocktails are citrus based, like a margarita or a mojito or a tom collins. My favorite citrus might be a lime, because the flavor is so versatile. That said, I really do not care for fake citrus flavor at all, so orange/lemon/lime lollipops or life savers or kool-aid or whatever are pretty much out.
4. community
I am going to assume that you mean the television show! Community is about seven people who form a study group at a community college and end up becoming a group of friends. The cast is diverse in gender, race and age (though unfortunately not sexual orientation) and their relationship dynamics are endlessly shifting around without being entirely romance-driven. I wouldn't advise seriously shipping on this show, not because the show is a jerk about it, but because so much is in flux and so much affection is expressed non-sexually. It's refreshingly modern in that way.
But really it boils down to this gif post on tumblr. Community is truly hilarious show-I don't think there's anything on TV right now that makes me laugh this hard this much-but it also has these wonderful characters with complicated relationships with themselves and with each other. People talk about paintball and the claymation Christmas special and those are fantastic, but Community is more than just theme episodes. It's got so much heart, so much real emotion, and yet is so funny. It's just really wonderful.
Vulture recently posted five episodes to get you hooked and it's a good list, but I would start with the pilot, which actually does a fine job setting up all of the characters and their situations, so you can get your feet under you. It's a really fun little show that could use a lot more love than it's getting, so I hope that those of you not watching will give it a try!
5. movies
I love movies. I love how they're self-contained like books, with a beginning and a middle and an end, but they have the visual and aural components as well. I love that I can watch them again and again, and they become as much old friends as my favorite books. I've both taken and taught many a film studies class, have written a big pile of papers on various movies and a thesis on blaxploitation and the '90s black film boomlet. Movies of the classic Hollywood era taught me about narrative.
I couldn't even begin to make a list of my favorite films, or the ones that influenced me, but here's a few types that I return to over and over again:
--Classic romantic comedies. Far too many modern romcoms are about humiliation, especially of the woman concerned. The older romcoms, and the ones that I write, are about internal conflict, about the barrier to the couple getting together being about their issues and their baggage and the things that they need to work on by themselves in order to come together. That's why so many of them are comedies of REmarriage; they came together with chemistry and lust and love, but couldn't stay together because of personality conflicts. They have to part to work that shit out, but then they can come back together, and be stronger.
--Musicals, classic or recent. I personally know a lot more people who walk down the street singing or dancing than are armed or participate in shoot-outs on a regular basis.
--Ensemble comedies, preferably with lots of women. I'm all over Friends with Kids, loved Bridesmaids.
I guess, in a feminist sense, one of the things that disappoints me over and over again about society as a whole and fandom in particular is the denigration of fantasies coded female (like romances and musicals) and the elevation of fantasies coded male (like action and saving-the-world). It's odd to think that a woman watching a musical is any less aware that it's fiction than a man watching a superhero movie. I want to push against that, but fangirls don't make it easy!
6. wax poetic about jim and bones
I love that they are grown ups, and therefore they have some baggage that they're trying to work out but by and large they are responsible for themselves. I love that they have regrets, that they've made mistakes, but they haven't given up on themselves or other people. I love how hopeful they are. I love that Jim is reckless and ridiculous but also a genius and a really good listener who trusts and relies on his crew. I love that Bones wears his heart on a sleeve made of the most prickly wool ever, and is a rockstar doctor in his own right. I love how well matched they are and how they can come together to heal each other, or at least help. I love that as the movie opens they're both a little lonely and taking a chance on changing their own lives, and they cling to each other like clinging things. I love that they grow old together and know each other so well. I love that neither of them let the other get away with bullshit.
I'm amazed that I ended up shipping such a popular ship; I'm usually on the sidelines (cf Seamus/Dean or Clint/Coulson). But they've got that thing that gets me. Plus, I fucking love the billion spiraling AUs we've created in the years since the movie came out, and how many more we'll create after the next movie. I'm all excitement about what the next couple of years will bring for our hardy little ship.
7. shopping for clothes
I hate shopping for clothes because I hate shopping in person at all any more because there are far too many "bad customers suck" memes floating around and I'm basically terrified of being a bad customer. I don't like asking people to open dressing rooms for me, or asking if maybe they have another size in the back, or really interacting on the retail level with anyone at all. I just keep thinking I'm going to end up on a blog somewhere.
That said, I did finally buy a bunch of clothes recently, after four years of not buying anything. I bought everything online because I'm a pretty standard size so it isn't hard to find things that fit me. I got ten dresses, six cardigans, two hoodies, five tshirts, and a pair of trousers. Obviously, I mostly wear dresses and cardigans, and on the weekends jeans/tshirts/hoodies. It's really fun to have lots of new clothes to wear! I need some work flats really badly, and maybe some new stockings, but then I should be set for a while. yay!
crossposted from Dreamwidth |
comments | comment at Dreamwidth