Dear Fanfic Writers,

Anesthesia =/= anesthetic. Their definitions overlap, but in general usage, anesthesia involves a loss of consciousness, while anesthetic creates a loss of sensation. A person refusing anesthesia to treat a wound doesn't mean they have to white-knuckle it. There are lots and lots and lots of ways to numb an area that don't knock people out.*

This has been your tip of the whatever.

*Unless you are me and are stupidly resistant to anesthetic. Seriously, thirty injections to get a chronically inflamed sweat gland removed before I finally just told them to get it over with.

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1202627.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Quick note to fanfic writers: "nonplussed" means "confused or surprised." I realize that sounds counterintuitive; "plussed" sounds like it should mean "confused," so the "non" makes it sounds like a person is calm and unsurprised. But no.

This vocab moment brought to you by avoiding grading.

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1202312.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

*Waves*

In ten days, I am going into the hospital in Chicago for inpatient migraine treatment, which usually lasts between ten days and two weeks. As always, I could use entertainment. So I am seeking book and movie recs. Horror is always a favorite (I've read pretty much aaaallll the Stephen King), especially a good haunted house yarn. In the non-fiction realm, I like true crime, especially of the historical variety. Documentaries are always welcome.

Thank you!

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1201841.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Non-spoiler: I loved this episode. Please note the squee tag. Critical discussion of ideas is welcome. Just please no, "I hated it and here's why in great detail.

( Spoilers are probably a bad ideaCollapse )

Man, I really hope this show gets renewed. I haven't been quite as intensely into a show in a while.

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1200956.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

The small fanperson's school is doing Into the Woods Jr for the musical this year (a version which apparently involves doing only the first act, about which I have Feelings, but oh, well). The sfp has been cast as Cinderella's mother (the one in the tree). Not as big a part as she hoped, but she gets to sing a bit solo.

However, she has taken to saying things like, "Dead Mother entering the room!" or "Dead Mothers first!"

Ladies and gentlefans, my kid. She's such an adorable little weirdo.*

*She takes that as a compliment, btw, as she should.

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1200064.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I have finally lived to see a fictional woman's male love interest stuffed in a refrigerator.

No, LITERALLY stuffed in a refrigerator.

(Not mentioning source b/c yeah, huge spoilers. Them what knows it will know it.)

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1199472.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

This has not been a good week. Not a good week at ALL. I need some aggression therapy. Help me out, here?

You are about to charge into battle. What battle and what for is more or less irrelevant. As you lift your weapon, you shout something inspirational (to yourself if no one else). What do you yell as you charge into the battle?

Note: maximum suspension of disbelief is at hand. The fact that I have never actually fired a gun is not going to stop me from leveling my ancestors' revolver at the forehead of the opposition's leader as I say in a cold, steely voice (get it? Cold, steely?), "I kill with my heart, motherfucker."

Your turn! You can be a vague or detailed as you want; assume spoilers in comments. Also, have some fun guessing other people's!

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1194926.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I may have mentioned at some point that I generally enjoy the direct-to-streaming animated movies DC has been churning out for, well, a while, anyway. They're usually well-written, and definitely well-animated, with good voice actors (although I really miss Bruce Greenwood's Batman).

And God knows, after years as an Agatha Christie fan, I am pretty sanguine about adaptations being changed from the source material, but a couple of things annoy me. ( And here is way we cut for spoilers of Hush, and Batman vs. Robin: Talon of the Owls and possibly a few others.Collapse )

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1194252.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Was I the last person to find out that Mira Grant, aka Seanan McGuire, wrote a Scooby-Doo novel?

(I mean, it's not literally Scooby-Doo, but it is Scooby-Doo.)

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1193195.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Went to see Spider-Man: Far From Home with the small fanperson and Wa just now. ( Spoilers for both the movie and a mid-credits scene that probably tells you the plot of the next movie. Mostly positive, a little not.Collapse )

Note: Not putting on the squee tag, because, well, not all squee, but if you hated the movie, I would appreciate you not unloading in this space.

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1192766.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I don't really read tumblr unless pointed to a specific post,* so I've only caught the edges of the whole Fandom Olds/Fandom Moms/don't trust anyone over 30 25 thing. Honestly, I had a hard time believing that it was really a thing. Not that I haven't run into the, "aren't you a little old for that sort of thing?" before. That's a familiar refrain, and if there's a whole lot to unpack about what activities we're apparently supposed to outgrow (I'm having flashbacks to Aaron Sorkin's "fetish" bit), this is hardly the first time I've been looked at askance for an interest.**

Honestly, my instinctive reaction to the whole thing has been a kind of "snrk." I mean, c'mon. I was 26 when I found fandom, what I think of as fandom, anyway. And I distinctly recall being considered a bit of a youngster at the time.

I feel like I should be outraged about this attitude; it's certainly the kind of thing I usually get outraged about. But mostly, I just feel kind of SAD for the people who truly believe that women people should pack up their fanfic/vids/fan art and go home on their 25th birthday. I've said before that it's no wonder no one wants to grow up when you look at the narrow, boring stultifying definition of adulthood some people argue for. The most recent spate of, "Millennials, am I right?" from an old white dude (taken down rather nicely by Catherynne Valente) is just another reminder of how arbitrary this definition is, and how it is used as a gatekeeping device.

But still: sad. Because give up fandom? Beyond the simple weirdness of suggesting that I give up something I love and that I am still capable of engaging in just because of my age, do you have any idea what all I'd be giving up if I gave up fandom?

I mean, I owe my marriage to Babylon 5. It's a long chain of "and then...", but the bottom line is that without Babylon 5, and more importantly, the desire to watch episodes with other fans, I would never have met my spouse.

I owe most if not all of my closest friendships to fandom. I owe family to fandom: a woman I regard as my sister, and whose whole family have basically adopted me, spouse, and the small fanperson. These are my daughter's aunts and uncle, people who've done more with and for her than all of my family-of-origin siblings put together. They've taken me to doctors' appointments, stayed with me at the hospital, come to countless school functions, put in a good word for spouse when he applied for his current job. harriet-spy has a cogent argument about the value of connections in general, but also between younger women and older women in particular. I can safely say that I've benefited a great deal from the relationships I've made through fandom. Fandom outfitted my baby's nursery, for crying out loud.

Obviously, I'd still have this family if I gave up fandom tomorrow, but the point is that I'm still making those connections, forming those relationships: the man who has been more of a brother to me than my own brothers; the friend of a friend (and now just friend) who happened to work at the school where my birth parents met, and put me in touch with people who knew them; people who have medical maladies similar to mine, who can be good resources or just a sympathetic ear. I should give up all the potential relationships I might have because I'm over 25?

Fandom has given me ways to bond with my daughter. Whether it's a common love of superheroes or just playing "what if...?" about characters, we connect over shared enjoyment. She has friends who write fanfic. She herself customizes dolls, something I see growing into a serious hobby (she once made a Joker out of a boyband figure, and it was scarily good). She came with me to a small local con and drew a picture for Seanan McGuire.

Speaking of, the RPG I'm currently running is based on McGuire's Incryptid series, which I learned about through fandom, and Supernatural, which I was led to by another fan. The sheer number of books, tv shows, movies, comics, music, and other sources of great enjoyment I've been introduced to through fandom is incalculable, and I've in turn had the genuine pleasure of leading other fans to said sources.

(Funny: In all my time playing RPGs, no one has ever suggested I'm too old for it, or that it's creepy for me to do so.)

That fandom has made me a better writer, a more perceptive reader/viewer/listener, and a better critic (in the sense of responding to a text, whether for the benefit of the author or for the benefit of other readers/viewers/listeners) goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. Perhaps just as importantly, it has given me confidence in my writing and my perceptions.

Fandom has taught me many, many, many things. Some are just interesting (like what sleep paralysis is), some are useful information (like what a hypnogogic hallucination is), and some have been critical to my personal growth (see: many, many, many things about social justice issues).

I'm turning 50 in a few months, which is apparently two fans' worth of years. I've been a young fangirl, nurtured and guided by those older than I was (and sometimes fighting against entrenched attitudes, too). I've been an older fangirl (who still embraces the term), sharing information and resources, sometimes headdesking over misinformation or misrepresentation of fannish history and practices (no, "slash" did not "originally" mean any non-canon pairing), sometimes bowled over by a new perspective.

And I'm never giving that up.

*I'm not saying that as any kind of nose-turning-up-at. I just find the format difficult to follow, and .gifs literally make my eyes and head hurt, so I just never got into it.
**What's been really funny is watching the things that I used to get those looks for go mainstream. See: superheroes.

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1192516.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Teaser trailer for Doctor Sleep, which, if you don't know is a sequel to The Shining, and IMHO, easily the best thing King has written since Lisey's Story and possibly even since the Great Van Incident.

I confess, I am conflicted about the trailer.

( Vague spoilersCollapse )

All that said, I'm ready to pitch my tent in line for a ticket. Although I note with amusement that it comes out in November. For years after I became a King fan, he reliably put a book out every year in November, just in time for my birthday. There were even a couple of bonus years where a Dark Tower book came out in December, just in time for Christmas. I still remember spending all of one Christmas day reading The Waste Lands. Those were the days.

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1192258.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

The last wave of grading for the semester has hit! So, it's time to resurrect my favorite distraction.

Today, on Grading Hell Theater, road trip! Take two or more of your favorite characters from different sources, and send them on a road trip. Where are they going? How are they getting there? What happens along the way?

1.Just because I've been combining these two sources a lot lately: Verity doesn't mind riding in the back of the Impala. Dominic may or may not mind, but you couldn't tell from his expression (and it must be admitted that Dean's ability to be an asshole tests that rather a lot; it must also be admitted that Dean might just possibly maybe be doing it on purpose). It's true that the U-Haul would be impractical for this little junket.

Once they stopped quibbling over terminology, they all agree that whatever's happening at the crossroads of Church and State in Champaign, Illinois* needs to be stopped, and teaming up seemed more efficient. The biggest problem is actually the mice, who are seriously struggling with how to fit Sam and Dean into their cosmology, and who are frankly weirding Sam out.

2. Thanos and Ego...no. Just no.


*Very, very real.

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1191231.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

So, the small fanperson has decided it's time to continue watching Supernatural. She started with season five, although I remain unconvinced she actually finished season four. And I have to say, ( spoilers, I guess, and not happy onesCollapse )

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1190129.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

So, Captain Marvel! I have seen it twice and not posted on it.

General, non-spoiler reaction: the small fanperson and I both loved it, as did grammarwoman (first viewing) and wa (second viewing). (So did the boy from the sfp's class who came with us, but he turned into a butthead the next day, so eh.) There are places I could get critical if I wanted to, but I don't want to, because the awesome was very, very awesome.

My absolute favorite moment in the film is ( naturally a spoilerCollapse )

Ahem. I may have gotten a little excited.

Please note the "squee" tag on this post. If you want to disagree with general ideas I talk about behind the cut, that's cool, but if you just want to tell me that the movie was bland or boring or whatever, please don't. It's very much my happy place right now, and I really need a happy place.

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1188165.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Okay, yeah, not doing so well with this. In my defense...I have no defense. I do have a raging case of laryngitis with no immediately obvious cause. My throat doesn't hurt, but I'm not getting a lot of sound.

As I was cooking dinner tonight, I thought I might post about our experience with Hello Fresh. We get two meals a week right now. Our goal is to increase the number of nights we actually cook a proper dinner, and then gradually drop Hello Fresh. It's not that we don't like it. We would just, given our druthers, prefer to have as much control over the menu as possible.

( Pluses, Minuses, etcCollapse )

Oh! I've become enthralled with Israeli couscous. I love regular couscous, but the Israeli/pearl version can be mixed with everything from sauted spinach to fresh pico so that the couscous is only a small part of the dish while still being noticeably there.

Do you have a secret kitchen weapon? An ingredient or combination thereof? A method? Please share!

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1187640.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

In an effort to get back into the habit of both posting and reading here, I'm setting myself a "post and read once a day" challenge. Some of the posts will be "fannish" (I include the RPG I'm running in those), and some will be more personal. Since this post is of necessity public, we're going with fannish.

When book eight of Seanan McGuire's Incrytid series (That's Not Witchcraft) appeared on the horizon, I remember that I had never read book seven (Tricks for Free), so I decided to catch up. I do really love the series, and I'm also running an RPG set in the universe, so, you know: research.

( Read more...Collapse )

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1187293.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Anyone here watch the 3rd season of Daredevil on Netflix? If so, ( Spoiler questionCollapse )

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1186845.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Book rec: The Broken Girls, by Simone St. James. The story is compelling and multi-layered, and it has SO MANY well-rounded and interesting female characters. Seriously, it was like a much-needed shot of pure estrogen, to borrow a phrase from a friend.

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1185916.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I have mentioned before that I post on the comments section of various advice columns (mostly those on Arcamax). I know, I know, but I really have a need in my life for active online discussion, and I'm kind of hampered in fandom right now by my inability to Tumblr*, so, advice columns it is.

And I mentioned before: I have NEVER run across a community wherein it is such standard practice to inform people that you are no longer going to be reading their posts. The "Did Not Read" comments are just an extreme: people routinely announce that they will be blocking a person (after getting the last word in, of course).

I mean, I get the impulse. Of course when a thread has gone south enough that you are blocking someone, you want to get in that last,"Neener, neener." But Jesus, aren't people embarrassed to be that...transparent?

Some of this makes me want to dust off my cybertheory goggles and dig into the history of the loose community where I participate, because I could see a connection between this and the Trumpian, "FAKE NEWS I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" of the last two years. OTOH, ending "with a jade's trick" is clearly at least as old as Shakespeare, and probably as old as Og grunting that they weren't going to listen to Ug's responding grunt.

People. I'm just saying.

*Once again, I know. But it's not just the whole reblog comment-threading. I find repeating gifs actively visually distressing - as in, they both distract me and make my eyes and head hurt - and I have not yet figured out how to deal with that.

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1183046.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I've been defaulting to the "singular they" (rather than any variant of "she or he") in situations where gender is unknown for a while now. I also know that it's only a matter of time before I get a student who prefers "they/them," and I want to be ready to respect that.

So, a grammar question for those of you who use "they/them" or who are close to someone who does: what verb number do you use? I have simply been using the familiar "they are" or "they were asking," but a tv show the small fanperson was watching (the latest Degrassi, which had just about every social justice issue you can imagine come up) used singular verbs (the sentence that caught my ear was, "I'll leave if they wants me to").

I googled, but answers were mixed. Those of you more in the know that I am, which way do you usually go?

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1182758.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I know: it's been a long time, but I have SO MUCH grading to do, and I really need some distraction. Plus, I would kind of like to revive this practice.

So let's start with something simple:

How do your favorite characters take their coffee? Extra strong? With lots of milk? In a frou-frou mocha machiatto?

Nancy Drew still takes her coffee with a great deal of milk and sugar. She keeps trying to cut back; she feels somehow that taking it black, or at least with less milk and sugar, would be more grown up, but the truth is, she just doesn't like the taste that much.

Nancy Thompson takes coffee any way she can. If she could get it in an IV, she would. Anything to keep from sleeping.

Your turn!

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1182349.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I'm finally getting through Jessica Jones, Season 2, and something just hit me right between the eyes.

( Spoilers through 2.7Collapse )

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1181927.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I got another "Did Not Read" from the same commenter.

This time, I just responded with, "Liar."

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1181273.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Only I could get into an argument about the use of "they" as singular when the antecedent is of unclear gender* on Dear Abby's website.

(Just to be clear: I'm for it.)

If you want to make your own had asplode, it's in the comments of this column. Look for the comment thread started by "Yolanda Meira." She's a relative newcomer, and quite a nasty piece of work.

*(Or genderqueer/agender as well, but I think the head of the person with whom I was arguing would have exploded if I had brought that up.)

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1172514.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

After ignoring on my Netflix page for forever now, I finally watched both seasons of Last Chance U. Shockingly, as a community college teacher, I have thoughts. ( Mostly vague spoilers, one small but specific one from the end of Season 1Collapse )

Mostly, I have to say that while my school is pretty competitive in baseball, volleyball, and some other sports (bringing in national titles), I am SO incredibly glad that we do not have a football team. I only really had to deal with that once at ASU, and it was a real headache. Our coaches here are very, very determined to support teachers.

This entry was originally posted at https://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1171940.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

*waves* So, yes, I live. It's been a kind of rough few months, mostly physical health wise. So, I think I need to list Five Things That Have Made Me Happy Recently:

1. I received a random compliment on my make-up in the grocery, and a colleague opined that I was the best-dressed person at our school. Considering past questionable fashion choices, that last one was pretty nifty.ETA:And I was just complimented on my lipstick!

2. Hot Dog Day at the small fanperson's school, wherein parents get to come and have a hot dog lunch outside with the kids. It's the one thing I make every year, so I was glad to be able to make it again. She even invited some friends to our blanket (kids whose parents couldn't make it), and the Mom of wa came along as honorary grandparent.

3. Having meds to treat said physical health issues. They don't make it completely better, but they make life livable.

4. No details, but I have a kind of nifty world-building-type idea that make or may not make it into New Game. Honestly, if I thought I really had the stuff, I'd try to work up a novel around it. Hell, I might try actually, you know, writing. (Being vague on accounta it's still kind of germinating.)

5. The recent spate of cooler weather was very nice, even if temps are going back up. And soon, it will be tights weather!

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1170648.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

It's been a hard day, so let's get some happiness, here. Five Things That Made Me Happy Today:

1. The new lamp in my office. Mine is black, and was considerably less expensive than it's going for now. I'll need a second lamp to bring the light up a bit, but I a am at last free from overhead fluorescent lighting.

2. Arranging my wee turtle figurines on the shelves.

3. No fewer than five people complimented my outfit today, one of them asking me how was, and I quote, "so stinking cute" all the time.

4. I have a kitty on my lap.

5. As always, hugs and kisses from my small fanperson.

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1170230.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

GAH, I am so tired of these light bubbles going up and down the left side of my visual field*. They keep making me look over my shoulder. Of course, what I'm also afraid of is that some day there is really going to be a light moving on the periphery of my vision, and I'mma ignore it because I will think it it one of these...things.

Things, btw, that my eye doctor says are ocular migraines, but that I never had before all these eye problems. Which, you know, could be true, because brains: who the fuck knows?, but seems awfully strangely timed if so.

*At least it's the side, not the center? Blessings where they come.

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1169558.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I did manage to see The Dark Tower. I don't have time/vision/wherewithal for a detailed review, but a short one behind the cut. ( Reaction-spoilers have forgotten the face of their fatherCollapse )

Other reactions are welcome, including spoilers.

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1169363.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Casting for 13th Doctor announced.

They actually did it. Well, one "it."

I am going to have to start watching again, aren't I? Where should I start? I left off towards the end of Clara's run. Can I just pick up with the new companion and call it good?

ETA Promo made both me and the small fanperson squee loudly.

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1167462.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

1. Re: Batman: It is really kind of amazing how much prolonged fighting and close-ups of grimacing men I will put up with for five panels of a Moment between Bruce and Dick.

2. Tonight, for the second week in a row, my character in Game of Awesome (see icon) got to kill a character who's had it coming for like five years (the characters in question were twins). It made me so happy.

3. ( Eye stuff, not pleasantCollapse )

4. I got pulled over today for an expired tag. Got off with a warning, BUT STILL.

5. As a result of many things, my head is ready to implode, especially around my eyes. I want so badly just to go to sleep, but I'm wired like whoa. So here I sit, waiting for various meds to kick in. At least there will be a migraine treatment tomorrow.

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1164834.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Guys, I...I think I am getting sucked back into comics. Like, Batfamily comics. Blame the small fanperson and the DC animated universe.

Meep.

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1162855.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

The President of the United States thinks our government needs a "good shutdown" this fall.

There are not enough "fuck yous" in the universe.

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1162721.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I have been racing through The Librarians, which I always meant to watch and never got around to. I'm enjoying it, but I hit a small trivia snag. ( Spoilers for and through 2.3Collapse )

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1161081.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Forgive typos. Doing this on my kindle.

Surgery went well, but things were more advanced than they were expecting. Thus, there can be no halfway on the whole "stay face down"thing. And let me tell you:the massage chair that is blissfully comfortable for about ten minutes is a lot less so when you're in it all day.

So, distract Lucy time: your favorite characters recovering from illness/surgery/anything that restricts their mobility. Bonus of you get on of them into one of the #$%& chairs.

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1160849.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I reread 'Salem's Lot this week, and found the latest (Kindle) version full of goodies, including deleted scenes and some updated authorial thoughts. ( spoilers for the book and the 2004 miniseries, and the first 3 Dark Tower booksCollapse )

Anyway, if you are a fan of the book, the new edition might be worth the...$7, $8, I think? for the goodies.

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1159610.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

Been looking up a bunch of DC's animated movies (preparing things to watch/listen to during my recovery), and...okay, thing I don't get: why, after decades of casting George Newbern as Superman, would you suddenly cast him as Steve Trevor and cast...other guys as Superman? Lucy no get.

(I mean, there are any number of things I don't get about the general movie "continuity," but that one just seems utterly random.)

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1159113.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I don't know what's weirder: rewatching a BBC mini and seeing random!Peter Capaldi, or realizing that, since I last watched it, I have seen the actor and actress who are playing father and daughter playing husband and wife in another BBC production.

One does seem to get random!Peter Capaldi a lot.

(The mini in question is Fallen Angel,* and the actor and actress are Charles Dance and Emilia Fox, who appeared in a remake of Rebecca as Maxim and the narrator.)

(*I watched parts of it many times last summer when it was on youtube, and really like it despite it having at least two intense issues of mine, which just goes to show.)

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1157714.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

I actually finished Magic for Nothing, Book Six of the Incryptid series, a week ago, but this is my first real chance to write up a review (read: I should be grading, but screw that). And actually, this is not so much a review as a discussion of the series overall plot arc. In fact, I talk more about the last book than this one.

Non-spoiler review: I enjoyed it, although it is thus far my least favorite of the series (insert line about least favorite Incryptid book still being better than blah blah here). I did have some problems with it, or perhaps more accurately, it caused problems I had with Chaos Choreography to intensify. And here is where I ( cut for spoilers for the whole series.Collapse )

This entry was originally posted at http://cereta.dreamwidth.org/1157461.html. If you can, please speak there. have spoken there.

In a complicated process of "people who watched this also watched this" on Amazon Prime, I stumbled across Granchester, a series about a (young, quite attractive) crime-solving vicar and his best friend the police detective. And dear God (npi), it could not be slashier if it were trying. ( Slight spoilers for the fist season and for the first short story of the stories the show is based on.Collapse )

I'm almost through what there is so far, which makes me sad (why so short, British series?), but it's been a good, if not always emotionally easy series.

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I don't really have all that much grading to do, but I'm down and could use some amusement. Distract a girl?

Imagine your favorite characters are doing lawn maintenance/poking around their usual spot/however this might happen, and they find a bag. Inside that bag is money; not a fortune, but what to that character is a significant sum, something that would let themu pay off a debt or do something they've wanted/needed to do but have not been able to. Whatever that amount might be, that's what's in the bag.

What do they do?

I shudder to think what to Bruce Wayne would be a "significant sum," but it doesn't really matter, because it would never get that far. That gardener who finds the bag containing $10K in neatly banded bills dutifully, and quite noticeably to anyone who might be watching, turns it in to Mr. Pennyworth, because she knows Mr. Wayne will reward her for her honesty, and because the thought of who that money might actually belong to gives her the shivers. This is Gotham, after all.

If the money is on Price property, Verity Price makes some discreet inquiries, but when they turn up nothing, she keeps the money and/or turns it over to the family. What's she going to do, turn it into the police? Please. And anyone who comes after her for it is going to get a nasty surprise. If it's just in an alley or something, she leaves it where it is.

Your turn!

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So. Much. Grading.

It's a little late for this one, but I like it, so we're doing it:

What New Year's Resolutions did your favorite characters make, and how are they doing with them?

Barbie Roberts doesn't make New Year's Resolutions; she just tries to be her best every day. Skipper Roberts, on the other hand, has resolved to stop making gagging gestures behind her big sister's back.

Every year, Jessica Fletcher resolves not to get involved in real life murders. She's solved three so far this year.

And for the required one that five of you will get: For her Ashdown Resolution, Anjesa Napoli-Beaumont is trying to be at least a little less nosy. Alonzar...is not making this easy on her.

Your turn!

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Alternative names for a Kindle welcome in the comments ;).

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I got some really great ideas from my idea-solicitation post, so it may seem odd that I am starting with a re-run, but this one grabbed onto me about a week ago and won't let go. Plus, I have an answer involving the RPG I'm playing tonight, and could use it to get back into character.

So: What do your favorite characters have for breakfast?

Kara Danvers usually has cereal, but her favorite breakfast is cold pizza and potstickers. Alex has more than once pointed out that Kara could easily heat them up in seconds without even a microwave, but Kara somehow feels that cold pizza for breakfast is part of the Earth experience (or at least in the part of Earth she landed in). She does heat up the pot stickers when Alex isn't around to see.

One that about four of you will get (which is to say, from that RPG):
When Anjesa Napoli-Beaumont was growing up in Suryapur, breakfast was mostly whatever Mama had remembered to get enough of from the market that week, so usually some flatbread and maybe some fruit, and always some strong tea. During her years as a reporter, the flatbread got smeared with homemade chutney, and the tea was replaced with coffee, but she kept such weird hours that breakfast and dinner sort of melded into each other, anyway. Her hours are still pretty weird, but one morning, she found her wife, Rosemary, eating leftover potato and red pepper curry with her usual scrambled eggs, making clearly appreciative noises as she did so. Ever since then, she has made it a point to (a) make said curry at least once a week for dinner, and (b) make way more than the household (however many people happen to be living there at a time) can eat in one sitting. Rosemary has not remarked on it, but she has shown, well, clear appreciation.

Your turn!

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