forever we try

One more episode to go with Mob City, which is pretty middle-of-the-road as far as my emotional attachment to the characters goes, but also beautiful and fun and not quite as brutally violent as I was expecting--which doesn't mean it isn't brutally violent, but the trailers always gave me the impression that it's a lot bloodier than it actually turned out to be. And six episodes really doesn't feel like enough. The characters are just starting to come alive for me, and their backstories and motivations are starting to come into play in really interesting ways (at least for Joe and Jasmine, the two characters I ended up most interested in), and I know it's not all going to get wrapped up neatly in the last episode, but oh well. We got what we got. 

I also checked out The Big Sleep from the library, since watching Mob City reminded me that I haven't watched a whole ton of classic noir at all. I watched the first half hour or so last night after getting home pretty late, and so far it's just about perfect; I would have watched the entire thing if I hadn't been completely exhausted, and I might try to finish it tonight if I can get some writing done first--otherwise, I absolutely will finish it tomorrow. I never feel like I have a whole lot to say when it comes to classic movies, since pretty much everything there is to say has already been said, but LAUREN BACALL AND HUMPHREY BOGART. They're both wonderful. And that's all I have to say. 

For some reason I never got the memo (or else got it then completely forgot) that The Defenders is a miniseries and only eight episodes long. I'm not complaining--it made blowing through the entire thing in two days that much easier. In the end I'm glad that I didn't hype myself up too much for this show, since it's nowhere near as much of an emotional gut punch as Daredevil or Jessica Jones. That's not to say it isn't good, though, and that's definitely not to say that it isn't fun--watching all the banter, eye-rolling, and awkward maybe-found-family-ness was an absolute joy.
( Some spoilers )

The only other thing I did a lot of this weekend was reading. I've been on a YA kick lately and just finished The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley. Now I'm a quarter of the way through the first book in the Monstrumologist series. The first time I read these books (the first three, anyway; I still haven't worked up the courage to read the last book) I adored them. Now my feelings are a little more complicated, especially towards one of the main characters. The first time around I was on a major Sherlock kick, and the Monstrumologist is similar, personality-wise, toward Sherlock, so I was quick to forgive all the parts of his personality that, a few years down the road and one major Sherlock disenchantment later, aren't quite as funny or charming. I do think that these books get how terrible he can be in a way that Sherlock (so far, anyway) never has. It's been an interesting reread.  

Oh, yeah, one last thing--I finally sat down and ordered my textbooks today (classes start in exactly one week). I had barely anything to buy compared to last semester. Since I bought all the books used, the bill wasn't too bad...and then I realized I've gotten to the point where paying over eighty dollars for three used books feels like a bargain. Oh well. It is what it is.

Just started catching up on The Walking Dead (I'm about midway through season 6) and good grief, have I missed this show. It's not perfect--to be honest, I liked the earlier seasons better (Side note: my sister and I are, as far as I can tell, two of the only people on the planet who liked season 2). Still, something about TWD keeps drawing me back. I love the creepy-Americana setting to pieces, the villains are usually complicated and sometimes even likable, and all those survivalist-found-family themes are pretty much crack to me. Obviously I've been searching AO3 for some new fics to read (The Walking Dead and The Lord of the Rings were two of the first fandoms that got me into reading fanfic), but I'm having a hard time finding stories that aren't especially shippy and focused more on the friendships within the group.

Writing-wise things have been going a little slowly, since my laptop's internet connection has been wonky for about a week. I just fixed it, so hopefully it'll hold long enough for me to get some stories finished. The third girl!Peter fic is almost done, and I REALLY need to up the word count on my Defenders Big Bang fic.

And, oh yeah, I was so busy whining in my last entry that I forgot to mention that over on Tumblr dis4daria has drawn an absolutely adorable and beautiful portrait of Pete from my girl!Peter series. It was a totally unexpected and wonderful surprise that you can see here. 

I finished season 1 a few days ago. This is one of those shows that, in theory, should have really, really work for me, and for the most part it did. The problem is that I only started to get emotionally involved around the last episode; the story was complete by then, but I still wanted more from the characters. On the other hand, I got eight episodes' worth of murder, dysfunctional families, bromance, folk music, and southern Gothic creepiness. I can't complain too much.

Spoilers (?[not sure that they're all that many, but better safe than sorry]) under the cut.

( Read more... )

On a scale of one to ten, I'd give this an eight or so. Maybe a seven-and-a-half? Good enough for a rewatch, but not a story I'm head-over-heels in love with.