shadowkat: (Default)
1. Tried Little Drummer Girl again -- this is the BBC/AMC mini-series adaptation. I had actually read the book and seen the movie. So I know the story more or less. And each time I try the mini-series, which my brother loved, it puts me to sleep. My brother's taste is odd though...Read more... )

It could be a mood thing. I may just not be in the mood for convoluted spy/terrorist thrillers?

Speaking of? Tried the first episode of The Americans as well -- all seasons are currently streaming on Amazon Prime. And I went to sleep during it as well.

2. Did watch first two episodes of Deadwood on HBO, and surprisingly enough it held my interest. Although it is hard to hear or understand what the characters are saying and they certainly talk a lot. Very talky show. Low on action, high on dialogue, also they like to feed corpses to the pigs (which is what turned my mother off). Didn't bother me that much...mainly because they look fake, and I don't know the corpses, so hard to care. But honestly -- feeding corpses to pigs -- means you do not want to eat those pigs, so they are sort of worthless. Not that I would eat them anyhow -- I tend to avoid pork -- mainly because pigs will eat anything.

I'm decided to watch it -- because co-worker convinced me that it basically had most of the same cast and creative team as Justified. And Timothy Oliphant was more or less playing the same role. He's right. Except I think Justified was better written, also far less violent, mainly because it was on F/X and this is on HBO.

The first episode, by the way, is better than the second. The second was a bit talky and slow. And I agree Ian McShane is the best thing in it.

3. Also made it through the first two episodes of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina S2 -- which is decidedly better than S1, to date. It's a bit darker. I do with they'd make the Dark Lord look pretty as opposed to a dessicated goat monster, who looks like he was made with cheap twigs from the costume department. He's hard to take seriously. Looks a wee bit too much like a humorous take Riverdale's The Gargoyle King (who was far creepier). Richard Coyle's head priest is creepier than the Dark Lord. Also, I have troubles believing that a fallen Angel would look like that.

It would be more interesting if Nick Scratch were what he really looks like and the other is a costume. But I don't see that happening.

The mythology of Sabrina much like the mythology of well all of the other Berlanti shows doesn't quite work. Every once and a while, I think, okay, what? That makes no sense. And yes, I can handwave with the best of them...but what? That's silly and makes no sense and I'm lost.

This is not a show you want to think about too hard. Just saying.

That said, from a socio-political perspective -- it has some rather intriguing themes regarding gender dynamics. And does work, if you ignore the mythology and some of the plot points. Spoilers )

4. Saw the Netflix film Always be My Maybe -- yes, I opted for the trendy Asian rom-com over the trendy gross-out horror movie.
spoilers )

5. Boom!Studios Buffy Comic #5 -- the artist changed, and he's not as good as the prior artist, and really the art was the only thing I liked about the comics. So I think I'm finally done with them.

This issue did not work for me. You know there's a problem when you prefer fanfic which you can read for free. And I have read some extremely good and extremely bad fanfic from the Buffy verse. This is mediocre fanfic - which means it's not even bad enough to be amusing. And yes, it is fanfic -- approved fanfic by the rights holders, but I think we've already established that the right's holders don't necessarily have the best taste.

6. May have to re-read the Un-Canny X-men comics under Rosenberg. Issue 19 sort of flips the entire series he wrote on its ear. Or is a huge plot-twisty reveal. Also we get the return of Emma Frost, who is the best villian turned hero outside of Magneto. She is sort of the female version of Magneto, except with the ability to manipulate minds.
shadowkat: (Default)
1. Things I found funny on DW...which admittedly doesn't say much for my sense of humor does it? Or is demonstrative for how dark and biting it can be?

* "you should never throw a bucket of flaming kerosene out the front door without first checking to make sure your mother hasn't unexpectedly returned."

LOL. May depend on how you feel about your mother?

* "Waking Up at 4 A.M. Every Day Is the Key to Success. Or to Getting a Cold."

This would explain why various people I work with seem to have perpetual colds.

* "Alton Brown's Good Eats Is Returning After Seven Years to Save Summer TV"

I didn't realize it needed to be saved. And by Alton Brown of all people?

*" Big Little Lies season 2 is brilliantly acted and all over the place"

Sort of like S1 and most of Lian Moriarity's books. And...wait, this is the same review I read from critics on Good Omens, Game of Thrones, and Dark Phoenix. Is it just me, or are the critics struggling for new soundbites?


2. There's a streaming service that contains filmed Broadway shows, entitled Broadway HD on Roku...whoa. And apparently there's a theater fandom???

I must find.

Yes, I'm an incorrigible theater geek. You know this. I know this. Let's move on.


3. Looked at Rotten Tomatoes to get a feel for Dark Phoenix's reception, then I jumped over to see how they ranked "Bumble Bee" which was the cheesy and insanely bad Transformers film that I watched via "On Demand" last weekend. Guess what?
Their rating with a 94% fresh tomato scale -- eh, no. I just lost all respect for you as a source for reviews.

Dark Phoenix reviews are all over the place, which is par for the course for X-men films. Read more... )

4. Speaking of X-men ...bloody Marvel is rebooting the comic franchise again. (I'm not really that surprised by this -- I knew they'd do that once they regained the movie rights. Also, the current story is clearly leading in that direction. But. Damn. Again?)
Read more... )
shadowkat: (Default)
1. I'm avoiding reviews of The Dark Phoenix in the same manner I avoided reviews of Avengers: Endgame. I plan on seeing it regardless. I saw X-Men: Apocalypse and liked it better than the critics did. Was it great, no. It's a loose adaptation of superhero comics..I have low expectations. The only good X-men films to date is "X-men: Days of Future Past" and "Logan". Everything else... is ...well better than most of the DC films, and definitely better than any Marvel flick prior to Iron Man.

So, low expectations. But will see anyhow. I saw X-men: Last Stand in the movie theater, as long as it is better than X-men Last Stand and Origins: Wolverine, we'll be fine. Those are the worst two films of the franchise, although to be fair you'd have to go a long way to beat out the Fantastic Four films which were atrocious. If there was a superhero franchise that needed to be successfully rebooted? It's the Fantastic Four.

I also am leery of it -- since it went from a three movie trilogy to one movie, and was re-shot after Disney was about to re-acquire the rights.

2. Was discussing Trek with a co-worker who is a serious fan. So serious that he is spending $20 a month to get it on CBS All Access. He said it's good, one of the better Treks. We discussed all the Treks. Neither of us are cult Trekkies -- in that we don't write fanfic, wear the costumes or go to the cons. But we've seen most of the episodes and series. At the end of the day, he told me in true Spock fashion to live long and prosper.

3. Truly Funny Review of the GodZilla Movie -- they gave it an F+ but said it was a fun bad movie. (Which to be honest is true of all Godzilla films, sort of the point of the films actually.)

I love how they mention that all the monsters are radioactive...see, if you know anything about Japanese Cinema, and if you grew up watching these films then gradually moved over to Japanese Anime, and have a knack for picking up patterns in things -- you'd realize all of this is how the Japanese internalized and handled surviving not one but two atomic bombs.

Did I mention that I grew up watching Godzilla movies on the Saturday Creature Feature Maintainee and on the Afternoon Afterschool Movie?Read more... )

4. Finished watching the second episode of Songland which I liked better than the first, but this may be because I prefer the music of W.il.iam and the Black Eyed Peas to John Legend. (I'm not a huge fan of the belted pop song. It's rare that I like it -- why? It sounds cheesy.)

Although in this case much like Legend's they picked the song that I would not have picked. The song I loved this week and stopped to listen to was..
Boxes by Josh Logan )

5. Picked up more comics...and read one of them.

Uncanny X-men #19 (2018) -- where we finally get to see Emma Frost's reaction to Scott Summers being alive and back, her Scott, not the boy from the past.
Unfortunately the art is crappy in this issue. Come back Salvadore Larroca or please get Adam Kubert of While Porticia or someone?

This is the problem with comics...the artists change constantly. The writer tends to stay constant, but the artists jump in and out. I remember when Joss Whedon took on the X-men, he insisted that he keep the same writer throughout his run. Mainly because that was his complaint as a reader -- he loved Grant Morrison's run until the art got wonky and they kept changing the artists. This can be jarring.

I don't know why they shift artists in and out but keep the same writer throughout.
Sometimes a writer/artist will form a bond and stick throughout. Such as Lee and Kirby, and Claremount and Kirby, and Claremount and Lee. But often that's not the case.

Ugh.

Also, another shout out about the book? We get a reprint of Stan Lee's soap box from 1968, where he does a lengthy speech about bigotry and racism, and how important it is to route that out. That we can't overlook it or tolerate it. That we shouldn't judge people on race or religion, but as individuals. It's a lovely speech, but he's not quite there yet on gender. Sigh. But still, close.

It's why I fell in love with the X-men and Marvel verse -- because the writers were progressive and very anti-racism and pro-human rights. A lot of great political commentary can be found in superhero comic books. Stan Lee was a progressive writer and fought racism with his pen. Maybe not always well, but he tried.

The story? It's interesting. Read more... )

Also picked up the latest issue of the Buffy comics and I think they changed artists on me. Why? The artist was good. The writer and plotter -- needed help. Don't change artists...bad comic book producers. Bad.

And I fear the writer/producers of this thing are shameful Bangle shippers and about to give me the adventures of Buffy/Angel against the world. No. No. Boom!Comics is making me miss the Dark Horse version.

So why'd I pick it up? Curiosity? And a desire to see if I'm right? Also...I wanted to see how Xander turns out as a vampire. Plus it's cheap.
shadowkat: (Default)
1. Finished Fosse/Verdon finally -- and, I've mixed feelings about it. Read more... )

2. Critiquing art is not an easy thing. I was pondering it today. For the most part -- it's highly subjective. I mean -- take for example, Game of Thrones? Or Buffy?
Or Doctor Who? Whether you love or hate it -- is often emotional and personal. You just happened to fall in love with Ayra, so as long as Ayra survived and was happy at the end, you were. End of story. It could do no wrong. Or maybe you just thought it was cool -- and never looked past that. Or maybe in Buffy -- all you cared about was that Spike got redeemed or Willow did? OR maybe all you cared about in Doctor Who was that a woman finally got the role? That's a subjective response to art.
It doesn't look beyoond the emotional reward.

And there is the view that art shouldn't be critiqued at all. It's art. (I don't buy into that, obviously. Mainly because I was trained and taught to be highly critical of art -- and with detailed precision. If I wasn't -- I got a bad grade or smacked upside the head by the professor. I was an Literature and Cultural Anthropology major -- I was taught to critique all art and I went to school with people who did. I have friend who is an art history major -- who can do detailed critiques of paintings and I learned how from her. And there's my brother -- who went to film school and is an artist -- who is equally highly critical. We went to Silence of the Lambs, and on the way home did a detailed critique of everything in the movie, we did the same thing with Titus Adronicus and Twin Peaks.) Heck, I go to a MCU movie with movie buddy -- and afterwards, we rip it apart. My mother and I watch a soap opera or any television show, and enjoy critiquing it -- figuring out what worked and what didn't, and why. Does it track? Do the characters make sense? Why didn't it work? We can discuss this for hours and it's a blast.

But there are people who don't think like that. A lot of my family members don't. A lot of coworkers don't. And a lot of members of my church don't. Why do you think I came online with the Buffy fandom? I wanted to analyze and critique it. I enjoy reading professional film, book and television reviews. Constructive critiques are fun to read.

So this circles back to the principal question -- to what extent can it be critiqued? When I love something -- I don't want it critiqued. I hate it when people critique it -- although I am known to critique things I love, and often ruthlessly, including my own works. And if I had a hand in creating it or giving birth to it -- I really don't want it to be critiqued. It's akin to having something cut into me or tear off skin. It's painful. Also, there's another question -- should the artist be held to a certain level of responsibility for their work? Are they responsible for delivering a product? Or are they not responsible at all for it -- is it just an expression and is all the responsibility in the viewer or reader? OR is it a little of both?

I think artists are responsible for what they put out there, just as parents are responsible for the children they give birth to and put out into the world or the pets they decide to adopt. But more so for what we create or have a hand in creating. We have a responsibility to that -- and we have a responsibility for how it is perceived.

I used to think we didn't, but I've changed my mind over time. I do think those viewing the work or reading it -- also have a responsibility to it. What they do with it, how they perceive it, how they critique or love it. Do they love a work that is misogynistic and racist -- blindly? Or should they look at that work through a far more critical if balanced lense?

And to what degree do we as viewers or artists have a responsibility to each other?
To look beyond the work or beyond ourselves, and see how that work reflects the world around us, and what it says about us as a society, and what if anything we should do about it?

Granted to a degree, art is just escapism. Fun. But isn't also something else -- regardless of the subject matter or source? Should we treat a work that is determined to be literary differently than one that is say popular or pulp? Can nothing be learned from pulp? Sometimes I think more can be ascertained from a work of pulp fiction than the greatest work of literature. I certainly saw The Watchman and the X-men comics as a greater indictment of our culture than anything written by James Joyce -- even if James Joyce was the better writer from a purely technical standpoint.

I don't know. It's late and this is just something I've been pondering.
shadowkat: (Default)
1. Found this on FB, during an interesting discussion about how rewarding social media can be. It can be, depending on how you handle it.

Read more... )

2. Picked up the latest Un-canny X-men #18 (2018) - by Mathew Rosenberg and Salvador Larroca -- his story arc is rather controversial -- or so it appears by some of the reviews.

For one thing -- it's not action packed, but dialogue heavy and character focused. (One of the reasons I love the X-men and Marvel comics -- is the emphasis on character and social justice themes. The writers really do tackle political issues in an interesting way.) This issue is basically a funeral. One of the characters has died and in a ...less than stellar way. She wasn't killed in battle or fighting super villains. And for many fans of the comics this was hard for them to digest or take.

I don't tend to analyze things from an emotional perspective so much as a logical one, I think logically. I was trained to logically break down story and theme and analyze it in a logical manner. Emotion comes in -- but usually later. Which is why it is often hard for me to understand people who do it the opposite? I ran into problems on various fan boards -- because I saw how the story was going to play out logically. They were going to kill this character because it was the only way to propel the story, theme, and various other arcs forward. Did I care that the character was being killed off -- eh, not really, I'd already figured out that the character had to be killed off for the rest of the story to work about a year ago, so stopped investing in their arc. I'm not that masochistic. I wasn't upset Spike was going to die in Chosen, because I'd already figured out that they had to bring him back in Angel due to how they were killing him -- nothing else made logical sense. This doesn't mean I don't feel the emotion -- I do. I'm an empath. It's just that I see how the story is going to play out.

It also means that I don't tend to think or analyze in socio-political terms. Read more... )

So, in Uncanny X-men #18 -- we learn that long-time character spoilers ) has died horribly. Read more... )
shadowkat: (Default)
1. Read the latest issue of Boom Studios Buffy Comics Reboot - this is allegedly the final of the four issue arc for this year. No clue if they will continue after it?

Anyhow....my thoughts? It's steadily gone downhill, writing wise. To the point in which I've just about decided to give up on it.


spoilers )
I'm not sure what the writer is doing exactly, but I've read better fanfic (well that sort of goes without saying when it comes to the comics or any novelization of the series.) Why? Because whomever is approving the rights for these things -- doesn't perceive the series in the same way that I do, obviously. Nor has the same taste, which is saying a lot, considering how broad my taste actually is.

The problem is that the writer is not telling the story directly. She skips time.
Relies too heavily on the readers pre-existing knowledge of the series and characters (much like fanfic writers do, actually), which would be fine -- if the characters were closer in their behavior to those in the series (they aren't). And the story followed the canon, it doesn't. You can't veer that far away from canon and just skip to the fun parts in your story, without any build up. It's jarring.
Don't do this people. It's lazy writing. It's bad enough that you are playing in someone else's sandbox with their toys and getting paid for it, without forgetting to build up to your major plot points in a satisfying way.

I don't care what happens to these characters. They bear little resemblance to the one's I knew. And I have not had time to invest in their relationship with each other, to care what happens. You can't push the reader into the center of the action without some character development -- even if the characters are based (and rather loosely in this case) a television series.

If it weren't for the great art, I'd have given up a while ago. The art is the best that I've seen for the Buffy comics. It's very complimentary to the actors -- they actually look better here than they did on screen. I know, go figure.

But the writing is getting worse with each issue. Some of the dialogue is cringe-inducing. Buffy actually says the words "Jeez, Louise" - eh, no.

And while the art is great for the most part, Joyce and Drusilla do not bear any resemblance to the actors who played them. Nor for that matter does Robin Wood, but that appeared to be deliberate.

Rating? Not worth your time or the price of admission. Skip.

2. It probably would have helped if I hadn't been reading the X-men comics at the same time. In particular Matthew Rosenberg's take on Un-Canny X-men, which is superb and pretty much does all the things a good serial writer should do -- further the characters arcs, address their relationships with each other, and provide action that helps examine social issues and those relationships/emotional arcs concurrently.

I read Uncanny X-men #16 prior to the Buffy Comic, and night and day. My only quibble with Un-Canny is the art, which was uneven. It's the reverse of the Buffy comic -- great writing, very uneven art, yet still a much better comic.

They do a few unexpected things here -- which help examine what it means to be a leader and the toll it takes on people. In this issue, Cyclops has begun to question his leadership -- and decides to step down. He's basically tired of second-guessing himself all the time, and worse having everyone else do it too. He's also trying to hold his team together, and keep everyone alive. He's been trying to keep everyone alive for a while now, and failing miserably. He's lost more people than he cares to count, and most of them, people he loved a great deal. The guy is basically wallowing in grief and self-doubt. But luckily he has company -- Logan, Alex, Dani Moonstar, Shan, Rahn, Hope Summers, Banshee, Johnno, Illyana, Jamie Maddrox, are all along for the ride.
spoilers )
shadowkat: (Default)
I've been reading comic books again. X-men Comic Books )
shadowkat: (Default)
1. Enjoying the new Vamp Diaries spin-off - "Legacies" - weirdly it reminds me a lot of Buffy, more so than Vamp Diaries or anything else has. I think it's the monster of the week format admist the wackadoodle high school setting. Also Alaric reminds me more of Giles than Dumbledore or anyone else.

2. Been pondering this for a while now..

Some (not all) fans get REALLY upset if another writer reboots or adapts a story they've fallen in love with in a new or different way, with the same characters.
rather long discussion of rebooted favorite television series and stories with same characters etc as opposed to just exploring the same verse, and why I'm all for that approach, in fact much prefer it to just exploring the verse. )

You ever write something and then think..wait a minute, but what about...

I'm admittedly of two minds on the above. Similar to fanfic. Or cooking for that matter.

How to explain this?

Read more... )

Sigh. I may delete this tomorrow. Not sure it made a whit of sense. Although let's face it...I'm probably just talking to myself anyhow. ;-)

3. Whoa...Luke Perry died of a stroke at 52
shadowkat: (Default)
1. Just finished watching Anna And The Apocalypse which is basically a British High School Christmas Musical...with ZOMBIES. [No, it's not the Pink Floyd Film. - The Wall..which is actually much better and you should go watch that.] And, everybody dies in the film (Ann and the Apocalypse not The Wall) except three characters.

Read more... )

2. Manifest

Well, now that I've watched all of S1 Manifest, I can tell you all with absolute certainty that I'm not continuing with it. The plot does not work for me.

Shame, it had potential. But the writers got lazy and went with established cliches.
Also the twist, I thought was sort of silly. spoilers )

3. A Million Little Things -- feel much the same way about this series as I did about Manifest. The twist was disappointing and didn't make a lot of sense.
They spent the entire season building up to the reveal on Barbara Morgan and what John did, and it was...spoilers )

I don't know if I'll continue with this or not next year. It's okay, but there's a lot of better television shows to watch instead.

4. New Amsterdam

I love this show -- it shows how we should treat others, and how hospitals and doctors should care for patients and friends. I wish there were more television series on that showed people being genuinely kind to each other. I've grown weary of the television series where we're basically watching nasty folks beat up on each other and torture each other all the time.

It's one of the reasons that I enjoyed The Good Place. Also Russian Doll. Both series were about learning to be kind to others.


5. I also saw the latest Dark Phoenix trailer and I'm not sure how they are going to turn that into a three-part trilogy.
I'm beginning to wonder if they changed it and decided to cram it all into one film?

And I'm wary. Read more... )

Update Meme

Feb. 9th, 2019 12:35 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
1. What are you reading?

Lots of X-men comics. Adventures in Bad Taste (AIBT) has some interesting bits as well. Honestly, taste is in the eye of the beholder.

Finished Uncanny X-men (2018-11) by Matthew Rosenberg and Salvador Larroca.
The problem with the X-men -- is they have a tendency to just use the same title and renumber. So we have Uncanny X-men 11 - 2015, and Uncanny X-men #11 - 1990s...so it's really hard to find the issue in Good Reads.

Anyhow here's the somewhat spoilery review:

spoilers )

Still reading a romance by Laura Kinsale, The Shadow and the Star, which would either make you roll your eyes or you'd enjoy. I fall somewhere in between. Read more... )

Also reading Age of X-men -- which is sort of the flip-side of Age of Apocalypse, where the X-men live in an isolated Utopia, with no humans. A nice commentary on utopian views and how they are great in theory but not in practice.
And being a long running serial -- there's some nice character touches along the way.

Finished both Age of X-men - Alpha and Marvelous X-men -- which is the lead title. There's about five or six titles, five issues each, and an Alpha and Omega -- patterned after the Age of Apocalypse. And it is a critique of a certain set of current political idealogies that are cropping up. Ayn Rand's Individualism aka Objectivism and the whole concept of letting go of negative emotions, connections, and isolating oneself in a peaceful existence of contemplation -- no tribal connections of any sort. One big unifying family, with children created via a hatchery. Oh, Brave New World...indeed. (Reminds me a little of Adolus Huxley.)

It's well done. The art has a sort of calm look to it -- peaceful pallet, simple lines, reminds me a lot of post-modern literary comics. And the X-men are the Avengers. They live in their own nice homes, solitary, and meet as a team to fight the world's ills. There's no romantic love or love, so no strife. Everyone is friendly. No family ties, just loose friends. No biological connections. Individualism reigns supreme. And we're given the philosophy -- it's a utopia of sorts. Yet, there's a quote after each segment..."At the heart of every so-called utopia is tyranny" and in Age of X-men, "revolution is in who we are, not just what we do...the desire to fight for freedom" -- from Ursula Le Quinn's The Dispossessed.

These new writers, artists and editorial staff have something to say. It's odd, but most ideological and socio-political critique is found cult art or pulp. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, comic books, soap operas, then really in the more literary or mainstream fair. It's no accident that Buffy was the first broadcast television show to depict a lesbian relationship, or that All My Children was the first to do so, and pre-dated Buffy by about five years with not one but two relationships, along with a gay storyline. Daytime Soaps often tackled serious social issues that prime time series steered away from. Why? Because they fell under the wire of the censors and the advertisers during that period were a bit more open-minded. Comics are the same way -- often going right for the juglar regarding complex socio-political issues. It wasn't surprising to me that both Captain America-Civil War and Black Panther tackled serious socio-political issues that most films steer clear of. Or that we see them tackled in horror films. Perhaps being able to use metaphor helps? It provides enough distance from the reader/viewer and the topic for it to be discussed?

I don't know. But it is to a degree why I've always been drawn more to genre, and in particular comics and soaps. Well that, and the fact that you can't find better character arcs and analysis anywhere else. Nobody explores characters better than a long-running serial. That may explain, why I don't think characters in sitcoms are well-developed and seem a tad shallow. Mainly because we don't get to look at them from every angle imaginable.

2. What are you watching?

Finished Russian Doll -- earlier in the week. See posts for reviews. It's good, but the Groundhog Day/Time Travel gimmick still annoys me and does not work from a plot perspective. (shrugs)


A Million Little Things -- it's okay, irritating in places, but compelling in its' own way. I'm interested in the mystery but find the individual emotional character subplots -- annoying and poorly written also very cliche ridden in places. spoilers )

And I gave up on it -- and wandered off to do laundry. Shows how well it was holding my attention, doesn't it? Then came back and finished.

spoilers )

*Grey's Anatomy -- which was a whole lot better and once again made me cry.
Sigh. I do like how these writers handle love triangles -- which is to sort kick them to one side. That said, why they feel the need to push people to have romantic relationships...Read more... )

* Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Well they are doing a great job of wrapping up all the character arcs. Also in explaining mental illness and Rebecca's journey through it. While at the same time, critiquing romantic shipping and how our society pushes romance, careers, etc to equal happiness. Rebecca is now pursuing her dream of being a musical theater star.

3. Doing?

Did Laundry. Four loads. Huzzah. The laundry gods were with me.
shadowkat: (work/reading)
There's an article about fanfiction, fandom and shipping in the new romance magazine Blush, that's just been launched. (Got it via Smartbitches. )

1. Critiques?
tiny print and what is cult not cult )
2. Wrong-headed shipping or shipping bad guys with heroes...such as Kylo Ren and Rei, or Draco Malfoy and Hermonine, or Angelus and Buffy.

Quibbles aside..I don't ship the way the person being interviewed does. I don't really do or tend to do "wrong-headed" shipping. With a few rare exceptions -- and usually those are one's that fit the story thread and are canon. I don't tend to ship counter to the canon.
Read more... )

3. Canon vs. non-canonical shipping (not to be confused with m/m or f/f slash - which can be canonical or non-canonical depending on the series.).

Per the above, I ship with the canon or with the story-thread. And don't have a lot of patience for shipping against the story-thread. It's rare that I'll ship characters that aren't going to end up together, aren't written to be romantic love interests, and aren't written to be friends. And if they are friends or lovers or married and the story-thread leads to their inevitable separation and the demise of their relationship in a convincing manner that tracks -- and shows why, doesn't tell, I'll go along with it. (See Buffy/Angel above as an example. The writers successfully broke that ship up for me in S1 Angel.)
Read more... )

4. Where the line should be drawn regarding shipping...

shippers who try to influence the writing of the show )

5. My ships or the one's that I have shipped the hardest in recent years and still do to an extent?

Canonical Ships:
Read more... )

Nothing new though. I don't ship much any longer. Shipping for television shows is ridiculously painful.

Non-canonical?
Read more... )
But I can't say I was passionate about any of them.
shadowkat: (Default)
1. Made it to the DMV for my "Enhanced Driver's License" (I worked damn hard in high school to get a driver's license, I refuse not to have that as well as the Id, regardless of whether or not I plan on actually driving -- reminds me a bit of my long inactive law license actually. Coworker: Do you even remember how to drive after twenty years? ME: No. (but all the DMV requires is that I take an eye exam. Hah! Although that would explain why driving in NYC is hazardous to one's health.)). Didn't take that long and wasn't as painful as expected. Although they are terribly inefficient.
Read more... )

What do you need for an Enhanced ID?

1. Proof of Birth (either birth certificate or Passport, I just made the deadline, my passport expires next month)
2. Proof of State Residency (two documents -- utility bill, paycheck stub, and NY Driver's License
3. Social Security Card
4. Form filled out and completed

Oh well. Apparently if you want to renew an enhanced ID/Driver's License, you can mail it in the next round. They make you take an eye exam - regardless of whether you state you wear corrective lenses.
I guess they want to make sure you're not blind.

I also managed to cancel my doctor's appointment. Since I could not get a hold of the office -- I did it by text message and email. Their phone line kept telling me that the office was closed. And I could not leave a message. It was annoying. I finally called another number to see if my appointment was truly cancelled -- the other number confirmed it. Very weird and aggravating.

2. Reading Meme

Just finished reading - some really good comic books (and a horrible one, but hey that's comics.)

* Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1 by Jordie Bellaire and artist Dan Mora -- this is BOOM STUDIOS reboot, after they acquired the rights to the series from Dark Horse.
Read more... )

*Uncanny X-men Annual 1 - Return of Cyclops by Ed Brisson and Carlos Gomez

Much better than expected. Read more... )

* Jean Grey - arc about teen Jean on her quest regarding the Phoenix

Read more... )


Uncanny X-men Dissembled -- this is the series that leads up to Uncanny X-men Annual 1 - Return of Cyclops.
Read more... )
shadowkat: (tv slut)
1. Both The Good Place and the Connors disappointed me these past two weeks. I knew where they were headed of course, but I'm annoyed at the writers for going the predictable route, and basically hitting the reset button.

For me, a story is only interesting if it continues to evolve, and the characters get explored in new ways. Reverting back annoys me.

Well that, and ...

* spoilers for the Good Place )

* spoilers for the Connors )

2. My Dad is getting worse. Like the news, I'm trying to ignore it. I can't. I have to call my mother nightly and listen to her tell me about it. It is both insanely painful and weirdly amusing, which I know sounds like a contradiction in terms, but the universe apparently has a wicked sense of humor.

Read more... )

4. Speaking of guilty cultural comforts...and as mentioned, briefly above, I'm a huge X-men Cyclops fan. I think you may have figured that out by now? (If you've been reading this journal since 2012, you must have.) No one else on my flist appears to be - a fan. (I know I asked for fanfic and icons, and the fandom did NOT deliver. Loki and Iron Man, yes. Killing Eve? No problem. Doctor Who? Not a problem. MCU movies...not a problem.

Cyclops, no. Folks? I only like Loki and Iron Man, because I like anything Tom Hiddleston and Robert Downy Jr decide to do. I'd watch those actors read the phone book. The characters...shrug. Can someone please friend me who is a die-hard Cyclops fan? Please? Preferrably someone who agrees with my perspective on the character? So I can have long insane discussions about him? And squee over his return?

The comics fandom universe hates me. {Or just isn't into the X-men comcis and only watches the movies...and television series, because, hello, cheaper.) Or I used up all my fan privileges with Spike.

Oh, well, probably for the best. Sometimes guilty pleasures are best kept to oneself.

Besides fandoms can be weird about characters. I remember getting into weird arguments with Spike shippers. They did not view Spike the same way I did nor like him for the same reasons. I have a feeling I'd have the same problem with Cyclops fans. I tend to like characters that are really complicated, tragic, and deeply flawed. Also with a dry wit, smart, and pro-active.

Anyhow, in case there happens to be someone lurking out there who loves Cyke.

Here's a link to a cool bunch of blog posts that I've been reading that defend the character. I really like the one I just linked to, because it basically provides my argument to the Cyke haters ...and yes, my favorite character has the haters. (Fandom. Sigh. Fandom. Is it possible to love a fictional character in a fandom and not have a bunch of people who hate that character with the same passion? To date? I have not found one character in which this is not the case. Why this is, I don't know. I think it's just par for the course of being human -- there's always going to be someone out there who disagrees vehemently with you on pretty much everything, even if it is something as innocuous as the difference between cream and beige paint.)

Read more... )

A bit of back story? Unlike most comic book fans that I've met, I came to my love of the art form late. I did not fall in love with it as a kid. It wasn't that I wasn't exposed. I was. My brother and his friends used to draw comic book superheroes when they were ten years old. The comic books they had were -- I thought -- boring, male centric, and the art crappy. Tintin was probably the best of the bunch, and it was male centric, boring, British and not in a good way, and didn't do a thing for me. (Sorry Tintin fans.) Asterix, which I discovered in France, was just silly -- it did help with my French, however. (It was comic about an ancient Gaul tripping about Rome and fighting Romans...reminded me a bit of the comic strip BC both in style and humor.) But that was it.

Then, my freshman year of college circa 1985 -- I was hanging out in the lounge watching Star Trek. A group of us would watch Star Trek at 3PM every day after class. Then discuss the episodes. We also watched Star Trek Next Generation. One of the people in the lounge, a fellow freshman, Jessica Betterly, was a X-men comic book fan. So we started talking about comic books. I phoo-phooed them at first, until she began to regale me with the history of the X-men. I was enthralled. So one day, we went up to her dorm room and she pulled out her treasure chest. It was a brown box filled with comics, in nice clear plastic cases. Together we'd pull them out and read through them. I was hooked.
She invited me to tag along to the comic book store, and I began to buy my own and search for the older issues...the RA on that wing, Maria Nazarro, who was about 4 feet tall if that, was also a huge comic book fan. And she'd discuss the character arcs with me and the back stories. And there was another gal in the group who collected them -- who I've reunited with on FB. (I don't think she collects them now.)

It opened a new world for me. These were not the male centric, poorly drawn crappy books that my brother was looking at -- these were cool and adult. They had political themes. Dealt with human rights issues. A long story arc. Experimental issues. I fell in love. And I haven't really fallen out. Did go on hiatus at different points -- when I fell in love with something else. Buffy for example, who ironically had Scott's last name, Summers, and was to a degree modeled after him by Joss Whedon, who also based various characters in the Buffyverse on his first loves, the X-men, borrowing heavily from that verse. So it's probably not surprising that I flipped over to Buffy eventually.

I didn't come into it during the Silver Age or 1960s, with the boys club and Marvel Girl, I came into it during the 1980s, and read the 1970s arc -- Dark Phoenix was the first arc that I read, along with books that came directly before and after. Dark Phoenix was the arc that I fell in love with.

And from it, I read Watchmen, Dark Knight, etc. But none of those came close to the X-men. I haunted comic book stores in Overland Park, Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, Colorado Springs, Colorado, London, England, and New York City. It was my treat. My guilty pleasure. And I didn't tell anyone. I hid them in long white boxes, inside pristine clear covers. Until one day I finally gave them all away to my Super (at the old apartment) George Moonpark, the next door neighbor's kid, and a comic book store in Hilton Head, SC. I collect them now digitally, which is easier space wise, and easier to hide.
Much prefer the digital -- it's also easier to read.

I love them like I love chocolate bars, and chocolate mousse, Buffy, daytime soaps, romance novels, fantasy and science fiction. Like I love writing stories, even if I'm the only one to read them. And live theaterical performances, and musicals. I love them the same way some people love football or Doctor Who or collecting baseball cards.

We love what we love. The Universe be dammed. And it's good to love things and people in a world blasting you with hate on a 24/7 news cycle. I'm learning to focus on the love and to...ignore the hate...let it roll on by like an angry thunder cloud threatening rain.

This morning I saw a giant white moon floating in a rapidly lightening blue sky...until it suddenly disappeared. I remember standing there near the subway stop, in the crisp cold air, thinking aloud...wait, where did it ago? Where did it go?

Life is like that full of wonderful things...that disappear, float like sand through fingers, impossible to hold onto. I think because of that...I love the things I can read over and over again, always seeing something new. That don't seemingly disappear...like the moon.
shadowkat: (Default)
Meme ganked from [personal profile] beer_good_foamy, I think it's the Year-End Meme? The biggest challenge in completing this meme is trying to remember the television shows I gave up on, continued with, and didn't get around to, along with books and other items. I have a bit of a brain fog at the moment -- possibly a hold over from the head cold. (Or so I hope.)
what I watched, didn't watch, and will watch )
shadowkat: (work/reading)
Reading?

I figured a real good way to meet the Good Reads Reading Challenge -- just read comic books. I can easily plow through 20 comic books between now and December 31. Read more... )

X-men books read currently?

Read more... )

What I'm reading outside of the X-men?

Children of Blood and Bone by Toni Adeymei -- which is a YA dystopic fantasy novel that takes place in Africa. Utilizing Nigerian folklore. It's different, but also the same. Read more... )
shadowkat: (Default)
1. The Good Place Podcasts with Marc Anthony Jackson

Shawn is the head of the Bad Place. And he recaps each episode, and analyzes all of it, and invites writers and actors to help him. The above one -- has D'Arcy Caden (Janet), and the writers of the episode, Josh Seigal and Dylan Morgan. Must have for D'Arcy Caden fans --- come on, you know who you are. This is my X-mas gift or Hannuakha gift to you -- you can thank me later.

Reminds me of The Succubus Club for Buffy, but much better done. (Caveat, I don't like Podcasts. I can't just listen to something -- I have to interact with it or I get bored and start doing something else at the same time.)

2. The other fun podcasts -- if you are a fan of the X-men, is Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-men, Because Someone Has To .

3. Guilty Pleasures:

These are basically the cultural things that I find deeply comforting and entertaining, and have a life-long weakness for...but they tend to be non-mainstream and most people just don't get.

* X-men comic books and graphic novels ( I fell in love at the age of 18, and never fell out..)
* Romance novels -- specifically historicals
* Superhero television shows and movies and to a degree comics
* Daytime Soap Operas (fell in love as a pre-teen, I blame my mother)
* Japanese Anime
* Musical Theater and Musical films...often based on Musical Theater. (If it's a musical, I'll watch it, even if it is a bad musical)
* Star Wars movies
* Science Fiction/Fantasy novels and television series and films
* Rock Operas..
shadowkat: (work/reading)
1. Hee. Flist is filled with "Welcome to DW, Tumblr refugees" and "How to handle the Tumblr purge". (I'm experiencing a sense of deja vue. The last time this happened was when LJ went wonky. Then it happened again when FB went wonky. I'm waiting for Twitter to go wonky.)

As far as paid accounts go? Read more... )

I will warn the Tumblr refugees of a few things - 1) Images are frigging hard to post on DW. I don't have the knack for it. You have to have your images stored on a separate URL site, and copy that url here... and it doesn't always work the way you want it too. Also you can't export images from another site to this one. My LJ images and polls did not transfer over. 2) You need a paid account for polls.

If you're just friending me? Read my Bio on my profile page. I started on LJ in 2003, and started a DW journal since its inception, then transferred my LJ to DW in full in 2014, then again in 2015, and finally in 2017. LJ was deleted in 2017. I post almost daily. On whatever I please or comes to mind, the sky's the limit, hence the title Spontaneous Musings. I did try Tumblr and do have a Tumblr page -- but it never quite worked for me. (I like to write more than post visuals online. It may have to do with my background in copyright law. I used to have to get rights to online content to put into a series of online library reference database -- and images are really frigging hard to get rights to.)

Fandoms? Haven't really been in one in a while. Although I've been posting frequently on The Good Place, Doctor Who, and occasionally other series. Also, I have been a fan of the X-men since I was 18. (This is going on...hmmm...over thirty-some years now?)

2. Reading Meme

Eh, I'm thinking I may be finally done with romance novels. The one I'm reading now entitled "Hello Stranger! (The Ravenales)" by Lisa Keyplas -- spends way too much time on sex scenes and in depth details on medical procedures. It's annoying. There's an interesting set-up here, which the writer doesn't appear to be that interested in. spoilers )

I've decided to read "Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeymei - this is dystopian YA fantasy novel by a Nigerian-American Writer. I sampled it on Amazon and liked the writing style, so we shall see. Normally me and YA novels are unmixy things. But this one takes place in Africa and there's a heavy focus on West African Mythology and Folklore, which appeals to me. Most of the dystopian YA's I've read are white American novels that take place in the US or White Western/Northern European that take place in Europe. OR White Australian novels that take place in Australia. This looks like a change of pace.

Also, I'm currently writing two books with African-American female protagonists. Read more... )

In between, I'll probably read a bunch of comic books. I like comic books. They are quick reading and have cool pictures. (I'm a visual person. I like comic books, but have yet to make it through an audio book that has not been read by James Marsters. I bought Wolf Hall -- but I can't make it through Wolf Hall. My mind wanders when people read to me now. I do not know why. I need to be physically engaged with the material in order to truly absorb it.)

3. Ever since they killed off the X-men leader Cyclops aka Scott Summers in 2016 or 2015, can't remember which, I've been checking to see when he's coming back. because, excuse me while I get a little fannish, yes there is no age limit on fannish squee, apparently )

Marvel Teases Wolverine and Cyclops are the Last X-men in Uncanny X-men 12 -- so apparently we may have to wait a few issues for Cyke to reunite with the rest of the X-men who are in an alternate universe at this point?

I like the comments I've read about this from various sources..."The best X-man (Cyke) and the Worst (Wolverine) team up" -- that surprised me. Why? Well from 2013-2017, everyone loved Wolvie and hated Cyke. Cyke was the most hated character. Now it's flipped. I think that's because the writers over-exposed poor Wolvie and people felt Cyke got dumped on (he died off-screen from M-Pox, Emma Frost framed him for the War with the Inhumans and the Terrigen Mists...when in reality he was dead, and she was doing all this in his name, and he got blamed pretty much for everything -- which annoyed me. It's the defense lawyer in me, I don't like it when innocent people get blamed for other people's decisions.) And the other comment? Cyke and Wolvie pairings are really cool.

They truly are. Best bro-romances?

* Cyclops and Wolverine
* Spike and Angel, also Spike and Xander (basically Spike and any guy in either series, because Marsters had chemistry with a phone book.)
* Angel and Wesley.
* Spock and Kirk
* Apollo and Starbuck (BS v. 1, which is why I shipped Starbuck and Apollo in BSG.)
* Captain Jack and Doctor Who
* Doctor Who and The Master
* Sherlock and Watson
* Loki and Thor
* Iron Man and pretty much any guy in the series, because Robert Downy Jr has chemistry with a phone book.
* Crichton and Scorpius
* Crichton and D'Argo
* Han and Luke
* Arthur and Merlin (in the television series Merlin)
* Dean and Sam (Supernatural -- which really was the only reason I watched it. That and Dean and Castiel, because Jensen Ackles apparently has chemistry with every guy).

There may be more...I'm drawing a blank.

So yes, the X-men comics have sucked me back in. We'll see how long it lasts this round. I took a very long break in 2002. Stopped until Astonishing came out in 2004, then stopped again for a really long time, until 2015 or thereabouts. Then went on another long break. Each break had something to do with how the writers ret-conned the series, or a change in direction. I wanted one thing, they did another. Also I'm picky about the art.

But I do love comics. And I have a weakness for super-powers, magic, or supernatural/fantasy.

4. For anyone who is having problems with anxiety and/or depression? You might want to check out Headspace Mindfulness Mediation -- it is the only thing that has worked for me. I don't do it for very long. Maybe 3-10 minutes daily. Sometimes 20 minutes. And I've used the Drift To Sleep one for 60 minutes to get to sleep.

It works. It helps you figure out how to get out of your own head. To recognize that your thoughts are just that, thoughts, and nothing more. They can't hurt you. You can let them go. You can control them. And once you figure that out...it's ...well, I was able to dislodge a panic attack today by breathing and meditation. That's it.

It does take time though. Doesn't happen over night. So, don't expect it to work right off the bat. It's taken me over a year and a half to get to this point. But it does work. And it only takes ten minutes each day.

Also it is free for the first several sessions.

Another suggestion? Turn off the news. I did. I've scaled back. I just read the NY Times Daily Update online, and watch NY1 in the morning. That's it. Really saved my mental health.

Just a recommendation. Feel free to ignore. ;-)

Eh...stuff?

Dec. 4th, 2018 09:57 pm
shadowkat: (tv slut)
1. So I'm listening to Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-men Because Someone Has To. And it's hilarious. Discusses how the writers lack continuity, because they drop in to write an issue, without really understanding what came before.

It also goes into some of the socio-political problems with same of the issues.

Take-away: "Why does Betsy licks motor-oil or blood off Cyclops face, isn't that bad for you?"

Also blows my mind that there are people out there who were far more encyclopedic and geeky about this than me.

And getting bored with romance novels, I may be going back to the X-men comics.

I don't know why this is ...but I only get obsessed with cultural pursuits, usually television shows, movies, or books/comics. (I don't get obsessed with theater because I can't bloody afford it.)
Also the things I get obsessed with or fannish about are weird:

* X-men comics (note no other comics, just those)
* Star Wars (Star Trek would have made more sense, more content)
* Farscape (see Star Wars...)
* The Chronicles of Lymond...
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer (my brother was shocked I didn't like Angel more, I didn't.)
* Daytime Soap Operas (I think I have a serial story fetish, particularly for convoluted stories that have no real continuity to speak of.)
* The Monkeeys
* Battle Star Galatica
* Battle of the Planets
* Kimba the White Lion
* Escape to Witch Mountain - book and 1970s film


2. Speaking of fannish things..

The Good Place is Renewed for Season 4

Yay. I'm really only invested in a handful of television series at the moment. One is The Good Place.

3. This poem by Kaitlin Boulding, entitled "Questions to Ask Yourself Before Giving Up" blew me away.

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Giving Up by Kaitlin Boulding.

Particularly:


Remember: you are a comma, one
beloved earring, a house
circled on a traveller’s map,
sometimes misplaced,
but never an imposition.

Everyone feels like a hallway
at some point or another.
But you are a room
that people enter to stay.


From one hallway to another...yes, definitely that. (What a perfect metaphor for how I've been feeling lately.)

4. More fannish stuff...

Captain Marvel Trailer

5. And regarding Tumblr purge...

The Great Tumblr Purge Is Open

I feel for the people who had a lot of fic and art on that site that was adult oriented. (Note, you don't have to be explicit, to be defined as adult. Alot of my content is considered adult.)

I wrote and published a novel with adult content.


6. John Scalzi reveals that he wrote his last best-selling book, Consuming Fire, in two weeks...
Read more... )
shadowkat: (Default)
1. The election results, such as they are, since not all the votes have been counted -- are a mixed bag. (Seriously not all the votes have been counted. What I saw yesterday at my polling station, scared me. Scared me enough to complain to Eric Adams, President of Brooklyn on FB, who is directly addressing the problem:

the ugly )
Now that the ugly is out of the way.

The good )

The bad? )

I don't know if this is good or bad news? Only time will tell... )

You know there's a problem when the news is scarier than the Haunting of Hill House.

2. What I'm reading?

I finished reading Artremis by Andy Weir and sorry to say, I agree with beergoodfoamy's take on it. ( The author makes the mistake of using Mark Watney's voice from the Martian for his female Saudia Arabian smuggler protagonist..and it just doesn't work. The character is supposed to be a tough-talking, street smart, smuggler, but she talks like a chatty 15 year old male science nerd. It's jarring.)

review )



Now, I'm reading a historical romance novel. Mainly because I find them comforting. And life has been mildly painful and frustrating. So I seek comfort where I can.

3. The Gifted S2 -- is better than S1. Better character development and much more interesting plot threads. The Inner Circle, aka the Hellfire Club as the main villains this season is far more interesting than the government was last season. Mainly because two of the team has "willingly" joined them, as opposed to being held prisoner by them. Changes the dynamic a bit. Instead of being chased by the government, getting caught, escaping, hiding, getting caught, mounting rescue attempts, escaping, getting caught -- rewind and repeat at will. We have -- fiendish plotting, hunting down team members who have joined the enemy, being beaten up by said enemy and team members, discovering hidden powers, making alliances with unknown entities in an attempt to route out enemy and reclaim former team members, trying to recruit and save new people...far more interesting.

Also, the characters are growing on me. The Starks have gotten less whiny and more interesting. As have Thunderbird, Blink, and the Fire Guy. We also have a few interesting new additions here and there.

So, sticking with it for the time being. (I know, I need to get rid of a few television shows. Considering kicking Poldark to the curb again. Along with the Rookie, Legacies and Charmed.)
shadowkat: (Default)
1. Situation Comedies continue to be hit or miss affairs with me. Read more... )

2. The Gifted -- is moving into far more interesting territory this season. Read more... )

3. I'm more of an X-men fan than the standard super-hero trope fan. I like my heroes, reluctant, and a bit more gritty. Also I adore the emphasis on personal relationships, instituional and personal prejudices and discrimination, the outsider focus, etc. The Avengers are sort of the popular kids, the privileged, hero-worshipped group -- while the X-men and the Mutants are the outsiders, who never get any credit, and help -- but try not to be seen.
Read more... )
4. Knee is better. So is back. Apparently it wasn't money troubles or not volunteering to save the world...but weather, barometric pressure, and possibly cramping pinching a nerve. I don't know. It's still there, just not as bad.

5. Making headway in Kate Daniel's series finale, Magic Triumphs. I may finish it by the end of this week -- which is a record. Lately it either takes two-three months to make it through a book or I don't finish it at all. (Mainly because I only have time to read on my commute and before bed at night...and I will often use that time to write instead. Particularly if I'm bored with the book in question. A bored co-worker keeps updating me on his progress through the tome "Gotham: A History of New York City" which is over 1500 pages long. I have it too - courtesy of my brother, who is in the habit of giving me huge hard-back books from Christmas which can double as door stops.)

That said, Magic Triumphs has issues. Obviously the writers are more interested in talking about the woes of parenting a toddler than having other key character interactions. Also, there's too many characters for such a short book. They walk on stage, say a few words, then leave. Several of which...the writers aren't quite sure what to do with, so their stay is rather brief.
Read more... )

6. Too late to vote for Dancing with the Stars again. Also haven't seen all of it yet. Finally figured out who the Zombie Teen is, and why Camryn Manneheim from The Practice among other things was in the audience. Milo is Camryn's kid. And he's a professional dancer -- he danced his way through the Disney Zombie movie, and has been on Broadway at the ripe old age of 16 and 17. Also has connections due to Mom.

So we have at least four ringers on this show. Hardly fair. It's a show that is supposed to be about ballroom dancing, but since ballroom dancing is clearly too boring -- they've jazzed it up with people who can do backflips.

Will admit it was an entertaining routine. I'd have given it a 9 too. Haven't seen any of the others, except Retton's which bored me.
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