rose_griffes

Roommate H has a Disney+ subscription; fair game to share it, given that we're in the same household. So I started watching WandaVision and quickly caught up on all six episodes. It is delightfully weird, edging on nightmarish horror. Nothing visceral, thankfully--that's not at all my genre. Anyway, I do recommend it so far, and there are three episodes left in season one.

FYI, Disney+ doesn't release shows as a complete season. One episode per week is what you get with their original shows.

Oh, hey, a link! WandaVision Empathizes With its Characters Better Than Any Other MCU Project. Spoilers through 1.06

Anyway, due to watching WandaVision, I decided I would watch (parts of) Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame for the first time. I had lost interest in the ensemble MCU films a while back, although I knew key spoilers for both films. ( spoilers? ish? )

The tl;dr version of that: while there were a few things I enjoyed in the movies, and I might have liked them well enough if I'd watched them with a live audience in a movie theater, skipping them was a valid choice. And if you're interested in the show and want to know the relevant spoilers, let me know in the comments. Because YOU shouldn't have to watch the bloated endgame that was Endgame if you don't want to.

You could probably watch the show without knowing anything about the MCU movies. The show does and will tie into the films, but it would still be an interesting series without the background knowledge. Just not quite as rich an experience. Elizabeth Olsen is fantastic in the role of Wanda Maximoff--I didn't care about her character at all in the MCU films, but given a leading role and some interesting writing, she really shines.

My current question: ( speculation about Marvel's plans for show and films )

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Roommate H doesn't like musicals--in theory. Turns out that she doesn't like modern musicals, and their frantic pacing, singing, and visuals. We watched the Whitney Houston-produced version of Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, and she loved it. So if you have any film recommendations for older musicals, let me know.

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I'm still on a romance novel kick, which--no doubt--has everything to do with being in the middle of a pandemic. Stress in real life --> no desire for stressful stories. Ten Things I Hate About the Duke, by Loretta Chase, fit the bill for low-stress fun romance. I... can't recall if I skipped the sex scenes in this one? I tend to do that. Anyway, this novel is an adaptation of the movie Ten Things I Hate About You, which was an adaptation of Shakespear's The Taming of the Shrew. Wisely, the book author designated the duke as the one in need of reformation. I'm quite sure there are MANY anachronistic things in the story; I'm also sure I don't care.

If you're looking for some epistolic fluff to read, the Cecelia and Kate novels by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer might be just right - and the trilogy is on sale right now.

This article was recced by more than one of you: ‘Heroes’ Was Supposed to Be Leonard Roberts’ Big Break. Instead, It Nearly Broke Him.

Currently thinking of subscribing to NYT Cooking for a year. I've found recently that I enjoy the challenge of new recipes that come my way. (Nothing too complicated; I'm not at all a fancy chef. But it looks like there's a lot of variety in their recipes.) Anyway... thoughts? Anyone used it before?

threeforthememories starts soon! Share photos and memories from 2020! I'm busy importing photos from my (very old) smartphone into Google drive so I can finally update to a newer smartphone.

Remix Revival fics are live. Someone remixed my old Mickey Smith fic from ten years ago--it's a sweet tribute to Mickey and to past Mickey x Rose and present/future Mickey x Martha. The nostalgia factor! The Mickey Smith love! I should re-up my paid account here so I can access my Mickey userpic...

It's funny: the fic I remixed is also about ten years old, at least according to its post date on AO3. (Given some other factors, I'd guess that the original story is older than that. AO3 has only been around for ten years, for one thing.) Fandom and fanwork as yet undisclosed. I will say that my remix story is the only one posted in that fandom this year, but that's not much of a hint; the remix crowd is only in the seventies this year and a lot of fandoms have one unique remix offering.

It was a stretch, trying to remix a fanfic and still do, well, everything else. I'm overdue to tackle Mount Clean Laundry, for instance.

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A few weeks ago I fell into a YouTube rabbit hole and ended up watching a video about opulence--and getting a helpful explanation about one aspect of Donald Trump's appeal. (Basically, by indulging in opulence / acting like the nouveau riche rather than behaving as an heir to wealth, Trump is more relatable to some in his audience.) Anyway, the whole video is a wild journey with YouTuber Natalie Wynn, aka ContraPoints. I've only recently discovered her channel. Language warning for her vids--I wouldn't play them aloud at work. Also, Wynn delves a bit into her own journey as a trans woman, so it could be a sensitive topic for some. Finally, this video is a year old, so a few of the people she name-checks have acquired various scandals in the meantime.

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The garden! I collected some tomato seeds from some tasty cherry tomatoes and I actually have baby plants! The race is on: will I get tomatoes from them before it gets too cold for tomato plants to be productive? As for non-food plants, last weekend I moved some irises from one side of the flower bed to the expanded edge; this weekend I plan to add some daffodil, crocus, and iris bulbs in the rest of the expansion.

Worth a read: John Boyega's interview with GQ. John Boyega: 'I’m the only cast member whose experience of Star Wars was based on their race'

The pull-quote title is click-bait, and of course people aren't bothering to read the article for the actual context before pulling out their, "But Kelly Marie Tran! But Oscar Isaac!" rebuttals. In context, Boyega's statements are accurate and devastating.

And now back to work. It's that season.

More recent links related to police violence: this website is one of several efforts to document police brutality since George Floyd's killing prompted another round of protests. There's also a twitter thread currently with more than 500 separate incidents documented on video or photo (or both) from the last two weeks.

Two more links: first, The Police Have Been Spying on Black Reporters and Activists for Years. I Know Because I’m One of Them. Second, another twitter thread--a few of the blatant lies and other misleading or false statements made by the police about the protests.

My own suggestion if you want to do something by donating money: look for fundraising efforts related to people who have been injured in protests near you. Apparently a lot of the money-raising efforts for bail funds (for arrested protesters) are doing well enough at the moment.

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Other links, entirely unrelated to the previous.

• Twitter thread with some Oklahoma history: Have you ever heard the story about the gang of white outlaws who tried to rob a black-owned bank?
• The Soviet Military Program that Secretly Mapped the Entire World

I'll have a post with some book commentary soon. I hope y'all are doing as well as possible in the current... everything.

( links about police abuse )

I made the mistake of reading an older romance novel by an author I usually enjoy... but this book did NOT age particularly well. I mean, I've read books that have aged worse, but I was still dismayed. Bleh.

Currently reading Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II, which one of y'all recced. It's fascinating. I'll say more when I finish.

I'm amused? irritated? to report that random disdainful commentary about fictional characters that DON'T DESERVE SUCH SLANDER SAID ABOUT THEM is still enough for me to not add someone to my Dreamwidth reading list. (This is especially true if that commentary JUST HAPPENS to be a part of that person's defensive tactic in shipping. As in, Mai from ATLA is a toxic partner to Zuko and, ahem, coincidentally this person happens to prefer Zuko with Katara. Or Yennefer from The Witcher is an awful person who knew the price she was paying when the only way to move forward with any power was to sacrifice her fertility and she oughtn't to change her mind like people sometimes do and it's just happenstance that this person likes to ship Geralt with Jaskier.)

Anyway! Things I could be doing:

• reading one of the three e-books I currently have checked out from the library
• writing that Fusco fanfic
• working in the garden
• organizing craft supplies so that I can, y’know, actually DO crafty things
• trying out some of the recipes I’ve been drooling over for the last few days

What I am actually doing:

• re-reading this amazing fanfic about Loki and Heimdall (I DON'T EVEN LIKE LOKI but the fic is SO GOOD!) (it's an AU where Odin still takes abandoned infant Loki from Jotunheim to the royal home, but later gives Loki to Heimdall--an exploration of what fatherhood and heritage mean to the two main characters)
• eating too much chocolate
• mulling over writing something about sexism as a (failed) visual language in The Last Jedi and Thor: Ragnarok (essay links below)
• trying to figure out how to find my “to read” list on AO3 (there’s a “Mark for later” button on each story... but where’s the list of stuff I marked for later?! I’ll report back if I figure this out GOT IT*)
• whining about people hating on characters that I like

*Okay, to read things that you mark for later on AO3: go to your history, and then on the top right there's an option to just show what you, well, marked for later. Huzzah!

The two essays that got me thinking about sexism as a storytelling medium in TLJ and Ragnarok are:
Middle-Chapter Romance – How The Last Jedi Holds The Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones Accountable
and
What Heroes Do: Queer-Coding, Slut-Shaming, and Heroism on a Trash Planet

B.J. Priester does an extensive analysis of the good, bad, and indifferent of The Rise of Skywalker--here's the final article (part six!) with links to the rest. I haven't read every single word, and I don't agree with every single point, but it's a solid (and extremely comprehensive) look at the film and the sequel trilogy.

Filmento on Youtube examines why Rian Johnson's Knives Out works where The Last Jedi doesn't. (Emetophobia warning, given that there are clips from Knives Out.) Much like the previous link, I don't agree with everything said in this video, but as a big picture of what works and what didn't? Yeah, pretty accurate.

I was thinking about this tendency to view The Last Jedi as a better film than it was, thanks to the general mediocrity of The Rise of Skywalker, but y'know what? The moment I recall some of TLJ's major missteps with Finn, I'm back to hating TLJ. But that doesn't mean I can't appreciate some commentary by someone who liked it. I wonder what this fan thought of TRoS?

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Youtuber For Harriet says that Cheer was a wild, wonderful, exploitative ride, and I don't disagree. (This is about the Netflix documentary, just to clarify.)

Anger and The Witcher's Yennefer - good meta about the most fascinating character in the Netflix adaptation.

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sholio has tips on working from home.

First a fanfic rec. It's locked on AO3, meaing you'll need an account there to read it. I have eight invitations to join AO3; no need to feel like you have to write fanfic to sign up. Plus, if you have an account (and it's FREE and AD-FREE whether you sign up or not) you can use their bookmarks. They have the option of public or private bookmarks. You can also look back at your reading history, and even delete things from your reading history.

Anyway! The fic rec:
talking in my sleep (7826 words) by rain_sleet_snow
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Finn/Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron & Finn & Rey, Finn & Jannah (Star Wars), Lando Calrissian & Jannah, Finn & Rose Tico
Characters: Finn (Star Wars), Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey, Poe Dameron, Rose Tico, Kaydel Ko Connix, Lando Calrissian, Maz Kanata, Chewbacca, Jannah
Additional Tags: Jedi Finn, General Finn, Post-Canon, Ambiguous Relationships, Exogol, The Force, Force Ghosts, Dreams, dagobah, Jedha, Wobani, Team as Family, stormtroopers - Freeform, Found Family, Original Trilogy as History, Rogue One As History, The Dark Side of the Force, Dark Past, Politics, Author’s Well-Known Fixation on how the Resistance Keeps the Lights On and Ammunition Stocked, Force-Sensitive Finn, Tatooine
Summary: After Exogol, Finn starts having these really weird dreams.

Don't let the pairing listed throw you off; Kylo Ren with anyone gives me mental nausea, but fortunately, that's not what's happening in the story.

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Side note: The author's stated reason for having her fanfic visible only to registered users is that someone else is now able to profit from the fanfic posted to AO3: this person created an app that mirrors AO3's content... and it has ads and a payable subscription. This goes against AO3's stated purposes. If your fanfic is public on AO3 then this app does display your stories through their platform, and the app creator receives money. (Whether it's profitable to them, I don't know. But it's still money given to someone not affiliated with AO3.)

Changing that setting for your own fic is easy to do: go to edit works, click 'all', then 'edit', then scroll down and change the setting that lets anyone see the fic / lets only registered users see the fic. It took me a minute to get it done.

And again, since my own fic is no longer visible without an AO3 login: I have 8 invitations for accounts there.

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Brooklyn Nine-Nine is back for a seventh season. ( spoilers for 7.01 and 7.02; fair warning that this is not the squee you're looking for )

Related: I'm putting my Hulu subscription on hold before next month's auto-renewal. Now that The Good Place is over, there's not a lot I wanna watch on that platform. I'll probably re-activate it over the summer.

In other streaming platform news--and in other news of "shows that flubbed a leading male character's characterization enough that I'm not sure if I want to keep watching"--there's a new trailer for season four of Stranger Things.

(Interesting how the ability to binge-watch makes weak shows more palatable. I've resorted to binge-watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for the majority of every season except season four. Stranger Things might have fallen off of my "to watch" list if I hadn't been able to watch it during one week instead of over eight weeks.)

As long as I'm making this a ridiculously long and meandering post, here's a trailer for a movie that I'll probably be too wimpy to watch, but that features Dev Patel looking gorgeous in period clothes and holding a knife. So. Yeah. (Brief bit of blood splattering, lots of creepy mood music.)