triangles! literal and love

[rose_griffes]

New-to-me html for Dreamwidth: the triangle of spoileriness! more details here. Click on the triangle to see the ‘read more’ stuff.

I’m gonna try it out, so:

Rewatching season one of Shadow & Bone:

Ah yes, the very very YA nature of the show (which comes straight from the S&B books), which is doubly so in the pilot episode. There’s too much crammed together; the show doesn’t necessarily handle its ensemble cast well. On the other hand: I still really enjoyed it. The cast is good, and aesthetically fitting for their roles. Definitely interested in season two.

Could still go for an S&B/Star Wars mashup with Rey as Alina, Finn as Mal, and Kylo Ren as you-know-who.

I started watching the show Lockwood & Co. The show creator, Joe Cornish, is an English comedian who also did the movie Attack the Block.

things I liked

Lucy Lucy Lucy! Good job on getting us to care about her in that pilot episode. The actress does solid work, too. The premise works for me: well-embedded in world building is the mystery of why ghosts started doing… the thing. (I don’t know yet! Maybe it won’t be revealed this season?

Stuff I didn’t like.

The male lead. Meh. Not sure how much is the writing versus the acting versus the actor’s appearance. Also, there’s an element in so many of these YA stories where the premise excludes or denigrates the role of “normal, responsible adult” within the lives of the teens, and OOOF, these teens need an adult. And I get that it’s part of the premise, but it also just gets a bit old, y’know?

(I miss Andor. *sadface* Still working on a second chapter of one of my two Andor fanfics.)

Unrelated to TV: lovely homage to the works of Connie Willis. (No, she’s not dead. In case you were concerned.) The article writer spoils the book Passage in hopes of getting you to read it. I have to concur that it’s her best book, at least for me. SO WONDERFUL! And so connected to the themes she returns to over and over again in her writing.

Comments

[brickhousewench]

(No, she’s not dead. In case you were concerned.)

THANK YOU FOR THAT! *whew*

[rose_griffes]

Willis is 77.

Huh, just learned that her daughter is named Cordelia. Hee. (I was watching Anne of Green Gables, and Anne thinks that Cordelia is a terribly romantic name.)

[rosaxx50]

That's a lovely Connie Willis tribute. I had never read anything outside her Oxford Time Travel universe, and will have to check out Passage!

[rose_griffes]

Passage is so good! And unlike the OTT stuff, I think it'll age better*. It's set in our world, but some years ago; the lack of cell phones is a natural part of the landscape.

*If it gets any notice. It really is sad how Willis's gorgeous works don't get much attention now.

[elperian]

Fancy new DW code! :D

I'll be curious what you think of S&B S2, since I was pretty lukewarm on the trailer for the Dregs (aka they were barely in it). But I did like Alina and Mal and some of the other Grisha in Ravka, so that might be promising.

[rose_griffes]

I'll post about it--probably twice, knowing me. Midway and after.

The new characters have excellent aesthetics. The show certainly does that well (minus a few glitches, like the dress Alina wore in the season one finale, which shifted color depending on the scene, OOPS). Very curious to see what they'll have the Dregs doing, and if they try to weave the Dregs into the main plotline or not.

[grav_ity]

Shadow and Bone remains one of my favourite trilogies (Alina in particular), and the adaptation makes me so happy. Also, they have been very good to Leigh, which I am a fan of.

[rose_griffes]

Yeah, as someone who vastly prefers S&B to all the other stories in that universe, I like this version a lot. Casting a woman with Asian heritage adds depth to the story, too.

Glad to hear that Bardugo has been treated well. Not a universal experience while working with companies like that. *nods*

[havocthecat]

I remember Passage and reading it not long after my dad had almost died and it kind of wrecked me. It was good! But also it kind of wrecked me. I think I might appreciate her works more now - 20+ years later. But I'm not sure how I'd feel about it after my dad has actually passed.

[rose_griffes]

Oof, yeah, context is everything. (I loved Station Eleven pre-pandemic. Not sure I want to read it again for several more years.)

[havocthecat]

I started watching the show version of that (because I didn't really want to go for the book, they're always more visceral) during the pandemic and ...it was rough, not going to lie, I turned it off 20 minutes into ep one and never went back.

I did watch the newer The Stand a couple years into the pandemic and I got through it because I knew 90% of what was going to happen with the pandemic.

Will I ever go back to Station Eleven, either version? Not sure. But I have them on a vague "maybe" list. I've heard they're both excellent.