Sakura of DOOM

oyceter — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 05:26:14 GMT

Does anyone have good recommendations for "one action a day/week to oppose Trump" sites/mailing lists/other? I saw several right after the election but didn't note them down. Bonus points for ones that have helpful actions for someone living in a very Democratic-leaning state with Democrat elected officials (San Francisco, CA).

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Quick recs

oyceter — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 06:17:12 GMT

First, I am sure everyone has heard about this by now, but just in case you haven't or have but didn't check it out yet: Hamilton Original Cast Recording Spotify playlist (or if Spotify doesn't work for you, YouTube). I've been dying to see or listen to this musical since I heard about it a few weeks ago, and now that the soundtrack is out, I can at least listen to it. Lin-Manuel Miranda's mix of hip hop and Broadway and other pastiches (the BritPop!) is amazing, and it reminded me of the excitement of listening to Rent for the first time in the 90s after only having heard Andrew Lloyd Webber and Les Mis. The recitative bits sounds a little like Rent to me, but other than that, Hamilton is entirely its own thing. Also, Thomas Jefferson sports natural hair and purple velvet.

I also saw East Side Sushi over the weekend, a cute indie film about a Latina woman who gets a job in a sushi restaurant and decides to become a sushi chef. The plot is pretty much what you would expect—opposition from her more traditional father, racism and sexism from the Japanese owner, a competition where she Proves Herself—and it sometimes felt a little clunky, but it's extremely charming and features Mexican-Japanese fusion food. It's also filmed in Oakland by a local director, so I got a ton of enjoyment out of seeing familiar places on screen as well.

And I (FINALLY) played through Hatoful Boyfriend, aka the pigeon dating sim, thanks to bluerabbit. Although to be accurate, it's more a piece of post-apocalyptic science fiction masquerading as a pigeon dating sim, which was not what I was expecting. Also, you date pigeons (and other birds). If this interests you and you're generally not into video games, I'd give this a try. It's a visual novel, so there's not that much game play involved aside from making some decisions about who to talk to and etc., and it's worth it to go through all the storylines.

I also mean to rec N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season and Zen Cho's Sorceror to the Crown, but I am still holding out hope that I will write actual entries on them.

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Orange Is the New Black, 1x01-3x13

oyceter — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 05:07:03 GMT

It's good I've heard so much good stuff about this from various people I trust, because otherwise I would have never made it past episode three and missed out. It is sad that Jenji Kohan felt that she needed to use white, blonde, upper-middle-class Piper as a kind of Trojan horse to get people to watch something primarily about women not seen on TV as often—queer women, women of color, women of various body types, trans women, old women, etc.—but I don't doubt its true.

(On a side note, I love how we've finally gotten a few shows with POC in leading roles and already there have been concern troll-y "But what about the white men?!" articles.)

Anyway, once the episodes stopped focusing on Piper, I started liking the show much more.

Spoilers for S1-S3

My favorite part of this show is watching everyone evolve, Suzanne and Pennsatucky in particular right now. I was kind of on the line re: Suzanne's portrayal, especially in S1 with her crush on Piper, but I like how the writers have continually been adding depth to her character, from Vee taking her under wing in S2 to her sister-bond with Taystee after Vee's death and her little fan following. And I'm amazed they managed to make Pennsatucky likable after how terrible she was in S1, but I love her friendship with Big Boo.

I also like how the show has been moving from "how [character] got arrested and sentenced to prison" flashbacks to more thematic ones, where one episode will have flashbacks from multiple characters. It better reflects how the show has become more and more of an ensemble, even as some characters take the spotlight every now and then.

I find it interesting how nearly every male character has a streak of paternalism and misogyny in them that emerges—possibly it would be different if there were male inmates along with the guards, but the power dynamic is so off balance that even the men who do want to help can be unthinkingly destructive. Healy in particular creeps me out, because he's so bought into the Nice Guy view of himself.

Also, the opening song is the best.

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Lerner, Rose - multiple books

oyceter — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 07:38:58 GMT

I've been hearing about Rose Lerner for a while, but I didn't particularly enjoy the first book of hers that I read (A Lily Among Thorns), so I didn't try any of her others until now. (I have been marathoning Parks and Recreation and wanted something that felt like the main romance in the show, and suddenly remembered Lerner!)

Her specialties so far seem to be: nice people who genuinely like each other, heroes who are decidedly not jerks, class issues, local life and politics, sibling dynamics, the weight of parental expectations, and protagonists who have a very difficult time knowing and/or expressing what they want because they have sublimated their desires, frequently out of the desire to be nice and get along with society. And the last bit seems very evenly split between the men and the women, which I very much appreciated.

So far, there has been more diversity around the protagonists rather than embodied by the protagonists, but like Courtney Milan, my sense is that she is pushing at a lot of those boundaries. There are secondary characters who are POC and gay and lesbian—I am using these terms as a shortcut, since they don't quite match up with Regency categories/ways of thinking—and her latest hero is Jewish! And it looks like the protagonists of her next book are in the servant class, which is nice.

In for a Penny - Lord Nevinstoke's father dies, leaving his family deep in debt, and thus Nev proposes to Penelope Brown, who comes with a substantial dowry courtesy of her father's success in trade. Together, they attempt to restore his family estate and prevent a peasant uprising! The couple is probably the most traditional in terms of romance norms, and I find them absolutely adorable. It also helps that "socially inept heroine who is good at spreadsheets + hero who is not the best with numbers but great with people" is something that hits rather close to home. The book tends to fall a bit into the "wealthy titled people rescue impoverished workers" thing, and the villain and final conflict feels over-the-top compared to the rest of the story, but I liked it a lot.

A Lily Among Thorns - I bounced off this one the first time because I wanted an icier heroine, but on rereading it and knowing better what to expect, I liked it better. Lady Serena, former courtesan and current innkeeper, wants to help Solomon Hathaway find heirloom earrings, as he's the one who gave her the money to buy herself out years and years ago. And then there are French spies and threats from Serena's father and the plot is a bit over the top still. Solomon the tailor (or rather, master dyer) is very cute, but I didn't fully buy that Serena was able to terrorize the London underworld. Good, but I think it's the weakest of Lerner's work.

Sweet Disorder - Nick Dymond goes to the town of Lively St. Lemeston, where his brother is running for office, in order to convince widow Phoebe Sparks to marry a Whig so that her husband gets her inherited vote. I love that Phoebe is middle class and worries about having to wear the same dress to parties and can't afford mustard. Also, she is fat and the narrative is fine with it, and the hero needs a cane due to wartime injuries. I think this is my favorite of Lerner's books so far, and I particularly love one sex scene that manages to be hot while also advancing characterization AND tying up the hero. Bonus points for many loving descriptions of Regency era sweets.

True Pretenses - Ash and his little brother Rafe are con men, but Rafe wants to get out, so Ash comes up with one last con to get Rafe married to an heiress so she can get her money and Rafe can get money for a commission. Despite his secret hopes that Rafe and Lydia (aforementioned heiress) will fall in love, Ash somehow ends up engaged to her himself. They bond over the difficulty of raising younger siblings while also wanting to give them everything and how conning people and being a gentlewoman call on a similar set of skills. I especially like how being Jewish is integral to the characterization of both Ash and Rafe. On the other hand, I didn't like this as much as I had anticipated because both Ash and Lydia are rather overbearing older siblings and I ended up sympathizing with Rafe a lot. That and I wasn't entirely confident about the happily ever after, not because I didn't like the characters together, but because I still stressed about how Ash's past could still be dug up. Still, I think this is probably Lerner's best and chewiest book to date. Also, I love that Lydia is a Tory while the main characters in the previous book are Whigs and that she doesn't get converted and still doesn't like them.

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Reading Wednesday

oyceter — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 06:14:02 GMT

So that whole trying to ration out Frances Hardinge books so I didn't tear through her backlog too quickly didn't work so well. I read Fly by Night, A Face Like Glass, and Cuckoo Song over the weekend, all of which I loved. Hopefully a more detailed write up to come!

I also realized NK Jemisin's latest book just came out and promptly got it, and then got distracted by some novellas and short stories set in the Inheritance universe I hadn't read. So... I haven't opened the new book yet, but I am looking forward to it! I have also finally started Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, thanks to hearing about the TV series. I'm not very far in yet, but I'm enjoying the voice. It also makes me happy that qian's Sorcerer to the Crown will probably be out by the time I finish the Clarke, which means my desire for fantasy in Regency-voice will continue to be fed.

On a totally different note, I thought people would enjoy the latest episode of the Criminal podcast, which is about a grisly murder in 1896 and how it got turned into a murder ballad. It ends with a modern take on the ballad, which is very mournful, as is proper, but alas, the ending totally cracks me up, probably inappropriately (and unintentionally) so.

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Hardinge, Frances - Verdigris Deep and The Lie Tree

oyceter — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 08:03:37 GMT

I feel like I have been hearing about Frances Hardinge from my dwircle for quite some time now, and I've finally gotten around to reading her after a reading binge that I blame on skygiants' posts on the Fionavar Tapestry. (I started with The Fionavar Tapestry last weekend and then.. kept reading things! It was great! I think I read more books this past week than I have all year to date!)

Verdigris Deep

Ryan, Chelle and Josh are desperate for bus money one night, and Josh ends up sneaking down a well to grab some of the wishing coins. But then each of them begin developing strange powers (I am still viscerally creeped out by Ryan's), and they find that they have to start granting the wishes tied to the coins they took. And since granting wishes never goes well, things slowly start to go very, very wrong.

I've seen many comparisons of Hardinge with Diana Wynne Jones, and this book in particular feels very much like DWJ--the oddball kids, the way some unlikable characters grow likable and others turn bad, the slowly growing sense of dread and uneasiness. This book was very creepy in that damp fingers down your spine kind of way, which was not what I had been expecting. There's a lot here about what you wish for on the surface and what you actually want, and how you can be trapped in wishes you've outgrown. I also liked that even though Ryan, Chelle and Josh band together because both Ryan and Chelle would have been picked on at school if not for Josh, Hardinge takes time to show what bits are being friends just because there's no one else and how you can kind of be friends with someone and only get to know them better later.

The Lie Tree

So, I thought Verdigris Deep was creepy. The Lie Tree is SO MUCH CREEPIER O_o.

Faith's father is a discredited paleontologist who has taken his family and a secret project to an island to avoid the public eye, but growing a tree that feeds on lies that you spread never turns out well. This is set in the late 19th century, and it manages to make the time period feel just as alien as a built-from-scratch fantasy world. Hardinge makes fossils and the radical idea of evolution feel terrifying and world- and faith-shaking in a way I haven't really encountered before, and there's a matter-of-factness to the Victorian focus on morbidity that makes the entire worldview feel foreign. I went and looked up tons of details on Victorian photography and mourning rituals after this.

I loved Faith, who is clever and angry and not particularly nice, how she despises her mother and desperately wants her father's acknowledgement even though he is a terrible human being. I love that Hardinge doesn't try to file off her edges (or anyone else's, for that matter), and although it's not particularly new to talk about just how circumscribed women's roles were, it's rare to get that visceral feeling of being slowly stifled. Also, bonus points for not magically making Faith believe in evolution and other things we now know are scientifically correct; one of my favorite exchanges consists of one person arguing that something is caused by animal magnetism only to be pooh-poohed for being unscientific, as obviously it is spiritual energy instead.

This is a very, very good book, and I've been deliberately holding off on binging on more of Hardinge so I don't get through all her back catalog too quickly.

Links:

skygiants' reviews of Verdigris Deep and The Lie Tree

coffeeandink on Verdigris Deep

rushthatspeaks on Verdigris Deep

starlady on The Lie Tree

Link me to other write ups! I'm sad I missed the conversations!

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Agents of SHIELD - 1x01-2x22

oyceter — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 05:23:43 GMT

After watching several MCU movies (particularly CA2) in preparation for Age of Ultron, I wanted more source material and ended up mainlining this despite being completely meh about it when it first aired. I'm still unconvinced that the writers think SHIELD is as sketchy as I do, which is frustrating, because they keep toeing the line of "SHIELD is untrustworthy" and then hastily backpedaling and reassuring us that Coulson is great and trustworthy, and therefore by extension, so is SHIELD.

On the plus side, the second season added some much more interesting new characters and threw a few wrenches in the "happy team yay" vibe from the first few episodes.

Spoilers for S1 and S2

I was spoiled for a fair amount, since I hadn't been planning on watching the show, so I knew about Grant being HYDRA, something happening to Fitz, Skye being Quake, and her mother being immortal(ish).

I feel bad that Dichen Lachman seems to get cast as any character with Asian descent in any SF/F show. Also, I was not spoiled for her ultimately being evil, and I am still pretty annoyed by that, especially because it came hand-in-hand with a redemption storyline for Cal. The actor was great, yes, but I didn't really feel that it was earned. I would comment more on Skye's birth parents and parallels with May and Coulson, but no brain.

Still annoyed they killed Raina. And Trip, who I liked, even though he didn't have much to do on the show.

On the plus side, I LOVE Bobbi and Hunter and Mack and all their relationships with each other, from the bickering between Bobbi and Hunter to Mack's old friendship with Bobbi. OMG that scene with Bobbi in the finale when she thrusts herself in front of the gun to keep Hunter from being shot! It was also a very nice example of how you can put female characters in a great deal of pain and mental anguish without threats of sexual violence or sexually objectifying their pain. I mean, it's obviously there for the hurt/comfort effect, but it's very much the role that male characters tend to get.

Also good: Bobbi and Mack secretly working (at first) to take down Coulson's SHIELD and the general distrust of Coulson and his alien obsessions. Alas, there was way too much of May (and others) believing whole-heartedly in Coulson and thereby in his SHIELD for my taste.

It was really nice getting to see an interracial relationship of two POC, which I feel is incredibly rare.

I thought Fitz and Simmons were irritatingly twee in S1, but I liked how the emotional divide in S2 worked, particularly once Skye's alien/Inhuman heritage comes out and how Fitz empathizes with her due to his own experience. I was much less happy with Jemma developing romantic feelings for Fitz in the very end, which felt like it was stuck in there purely for more angst on Fitz's part.

Despite generally still hating Grant, I did like his extremely creepy and Stockholm syndrome-y thing with Agent 33. And despite being very annoyed by Fury annointing Coulson the new head of SHIELD and all the icky "You're such a good person, how could we ever doubt you" vibe that frequently surrounds Coulson, I like his relationship with Skye.

Looking forward to learning more about the Inhumans and the Kree in S3, because while I have issues with a lot of the character stuff, I am enjoying the world building a lot.

In conclusion, Bobbi Morse = THE BEST Y/Y?

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Arrow S3 and The Flash S1

oyceter — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 05:24:59 GMT

Er, if I haven't commented on people's comments or posts, it is because I haven't really been online for the past few months =(. I have, however, been watching a ton of TV! I feel like I have finally recovered from grad school brain and been able to focus on things requiring more effort and attention span, like books and TV. It only took five years, ha.

Arrow (spoilers through end of S3)

Oof, that was a rough season. I feel Oliver has had his epiphany about needing other people about five times now, and I wish the lesson would stick! I'm also curious where they're going to go, now that they've basically destroyed the Arrow identity. I was really happy about Roy getting written out and Thea FINALLY getting to play superhero, though I'm still waiting for some sort of bad effect from the Lazarus Pit. After all those dire warnings from Malcolm, a day or so of amnesia and a moment or two of violence doesn't really seem to be that terrifying. I also hope that Diggle stays angry at Oliver and they devote some time to that, as opposed to a quick, one-episode forgiveness scene, because Oliver keeps doing the same thing! Other things I liked: Nyssa and Laurel hanging out, Laurel impressing Cisco, Ray being gracious about Felicity breaking up with him. I feel like the show hasn't really recovered from killing off Moira last season, though--the balance is off, and I miss Queen family scenes. Things I didn't like: still not bought onto Oliver/Felicity, the entire season's flashback storyline, which felt so pointless. If they can't think of more stuff, I think they need to cut out the flashbacks altogether, because they felt completely out of place with what was going on in the present day, both thematically and just plotwise. Also, Tatsu's Katana outfit looks ridiculous.

The Flash (spoilers through end of S1)

Barry! I didn't love the finale, but this season was much better than Arrow. I have to admit, I wasn't totally into Cisco in the beginning because he was so obviously going to be the geek favorite, but ... Cisco! I loved that we got to see a little of his family, and I was happy they went a bit more into the Dr. Wells-Cisco relationship instead of just focusing on Barry and his many father figures. Also, thank goodness Iris FINALLY found out! I am glad they didn't drag it out longer, and now hopefully she can contribute more instead of constantly being on the outside. That said, I hated all the stuff about "Iris West-Allen" and everyone putting more weight on that than on actual Iris's choices... even Joe! What the heck Joe. I'm really interested to see what they're doing with Tom Cavanagh next season, since I hear he's still in the cast. Also, despite being annoyed at the lack of moms and Joe's attitude re: Iris and Eddie, Joe and Barry are the best. I am hoping Caitlin's eventual Killer Frost turn will be more a Dark Willow thing instead of a permanent turn to villain.

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Madison Concourse room

oyceter — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 16:20:43 GMT

I've got a reservation for a room at the Madison Concourse for Wiscon that I won't be using, anyone interested in taking? It's from 5/22-5/25, $127/night, should be two queen beds.

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Lots of TV

oyceter — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 07:42:35 GMT

Hi, I am alive! Obviously I have been terrible at being online, which then goes into the whole "I have too much to write up, so I don't write it, so then I feel even more behind" thing. It also doesn't help that my laptop is getting slow so I spend most of my computer time on my phone, which isn't very conducive to commenting or posting.

Anyway, life stuff is going on, mostly not too eventful. And I am watching a lot of TV! Here, have some impressions since the thought of doing coherent write-ups of each show keeps me from writing anything.

Arrow

This started out as my laundry folding show, except then I got hooked. It is probably not the best show ever, especially in terms of writing, but I'm fond of many of the characters and the focus on family. Also, plot like whoa. My main gripes are the romance storylines, since they are mostly terrible, and how you of course learn all things mystical and martial-arts-y in Asia. Or from Asians. (Or sometimes from possibly non-Asian people in Asia? Let's not go there...) My main delights are Oliver's relationships with his family, particularly with his little sister, and assorted Team Arrow teamwork hijinks.

Spoilers through Arrow 3x14

SO GLAD OLIVER FINALLY TOLD THEA!!!! I have not been liking S3 very much, since Moira's death basically meant no Queen family center of gravity in the show, and I've been particularly irritated by how Thea gets sidelined. (Roy bores me.) So the last episode, with Oliver and Thea survival hijinks on Lan Yu, completely delighted me. I love all the annoyed big brother faces Oliver displays when Thea is asking him about secrets and not focusing on things like pulling sharp wooden sticks from his arm or Slade on the loose.

Still not completely on board with the Laurel-as-Black-Canary storyline, especially since Caity Lotz had so much more chemistry with pretty much everyone on the cast. On the plus side, Laurel finally told her dad, OMG. And I'm hoping there will be more of Sin showing up, though I feel like they just threw her in to tip off Lance.

Oh, and then there's the Oliver/Felicity stuff, which really annoys me. Theoretically I am neutral about the relationship and don't actively ship them, but the way it's being written is very frustrating. I was glad when annoying DJ guy ended up being a secret assassin, because if I had to watch Thea getting together with him, I would have thrown something at the screen.

The Flash

So of course since I got hooked on Arrow, I started The Flash, largely because Grant Gustin is ADORABLE. I also love how deliberately non-gritty it is; Barry helps people because he likes helping people. I do wish they weren't making the same mistake Arrow made with Laurel, which is to keep Iris in the dark and thereby make most storylines having to do with her boring. This is especially too bad because the actress is a lot more likable than Katie Cassidy (sorry Katie Cassidy!). On the other hand, the Joe-Barry relationship is BEST.

Spoilers through The Flash 1x14

First, I have to make a note of the sheer hilarious genius of the "Not God. Grodd." line. I think I nearly fell off the couch.

I know nothing about the comics, so the whole Grodd thing feels pretty random to me. Also, is ARGUS going to show up? I can't imagine that the military interest in metahumans is unrelated to ARGUS.

I am less interested in the solving of Barry's mom's murder; as coffeeandink keeps saying, there really need to be more middle-aged women on the show. And I wish there was more for Caitlin and Cisco to do.

The 100

I have really been enjoying this show, and having a female protagonist is such a nice change from Arrow and Flash, much as I like them. I especially love how one of the main themes is Clarke becoming a leader. My other favorite thing is the various shifting alliances and groups and all the politicking. There are some things about the worldbuilding that questionable (Grounder culture, for one), but overall I love how much worldbuilding there is, and how large the world feels. This has really been scratching my SF/F genre itch.

Spoilers through 2x11

I'm still on the fence re: the show's treatment of the Grounders, though I'm hoping Octavia becoming Indra's second will lead to more interesting things. (Also, what's with the giant killer gorillas in CW shows?) And I really hope there's more Raven-Clarke and just more Raven in general, since the past few episodes have felt very Clarke + the guys. That said, yay Monty getting some more stuff to do.

Also, on a minor note, I get that the doctor and the president's son in Mount Weather are EVIL, but you'd think anesthetic would be helpful when you're trying to get at people's bone marrow. I feel having the patient thrashing around and screaming isn't that conducive to successful surgery.

Jane the Virgin

Yes, I am indeed watching all CW all the time.

This show! This is my new favorite and actually has me looking forward to something on Mondays. I love so many things about it, from Jane herself to the Villanueva family to the wtfbbq, telenovela-ness of some of the plot to Rogelio and his hashtags. This gives me all the warm fuzzies.

(Also, so many hearts to the show for having a bilingual household and not making it a big deal.)

Spoilers through Jane the Virgin 1x14

I'm still on the fence about the lesbian characters in the show being a malpracticing doctor who is a recovering alcoholic and the head of a giant crime ring. I think it would help if the story treated Luisa more seriously; I feel like she's been kind of a throwaway joke or plot point more often than not, which sucks, because the show generally is very good at humanizing its characters.

I am SO GLAD they did not kill Petra, though they seriously had me wondering for a while. I was a little hesitant at first, because it seemed like she was going to be one of the big villains, but so far, I think they've done a really good job at having her be villainous and terrible and also showing more of her on her own, without Rafael and Jane. That, and Yael Grobglas' "Why is this happening to me?! WHAT IS MY LIFE WHY?!" expressions are the best.

Agent Carter

I am enjoying this a lot! The Peggy and Jarvis snark is fun, and the bits fleshing out the larger MCUverse are nice as well. Mostly I am ignoring period accuracy but enjoying the clothes. Alas, this is also the whitest show on this post.

Fresh Off the Boat

This is the show I wish I were enjoying more than I actually am. I don't know how much of it is the sitcom humor, how much is the show finding its legs, and how much is stuff just feeling a little off.

One of the main things for me is that Louis and Jessica feel like second gen Chinese Americans, not first gen immigrants. Constance Wu's accent sounds a bit off (I'm not sure if Randall Park is even trying one? Which is probably the better option.), and of course, they don't speak Chinese at home! It's particularly glaring compared to Jane the Virgin's use of Spanish in the show. And when there is Chinese, it sounds a lot like it was written first in English and then translated.

That said, the 90's-ness of it cracks me up (even their light fixtures look it!), and I like it when the show focuses more on individual character quirks rather than commentary on being Chinese. Show! I hope you do well, even if you do end up being not for me.

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The 100, 2x08

oyceter — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 08:15:14 GMT

Apparently I am watching all the CW shows, all the time now. (Well, not Jane the Virgin yet, but it's next.)

I wanted to write up a general post before this, but I got stuck, so maybe some other time.

Spoilers

WOW, they actually went there. I started to think so with the flashbacks and was fairly sure when you get to the reveal of why Finn went to prison, but for a very brief moment, I was afraid they'd kill off Raven as a sort of repayment for Finn saving her life. (Hi, show, I am still annoyed about Wells.)

Anyway, this is promising, because Finn was a really boring character, and I had an incredibly difficult time believing that Clarke of all people would so quickly overlook his actions. Ditto the leaders of the Ark, who had the whole "break a single rule and get floated," thinking it was somehow terrible to give him a war crimes trial. I was yelling at the screen in the beginning, because torturing someone, then shooting them, then gunning down 18 other unarmed people trying to escape is kind of beyond "we all had to do terrible things to survive" or grief and anger because he thinks Clarke may have been killed.

Hopefully there will be some good Raven and Clarke scenes after this.

I love Lexa and how many female leaders the show has (and the reveal of who Lexa was in the trial set for Kane and Jaha), but I really really wish they a) hadn't killed Anya and b) didn't make the black female leader the vengeful, violent one.

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Arrow, 3x07 Draw Back Your Bow

oyceter — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 08:50:21 GMT

Oh Arrow, please please please stop writing romance. Especially for Oliver. Though to be honest, I didn't like any of the ones in this episode. (Except Diggle and Lyla, and obviously that wasn't the focus on the ep.)

I am probably the only non-Oliver/Felicity shipper out there, but I just found that awkward and annoying. I liked it much better in S1 when Oliver had minor angst over Laurel and Tommy but it wasn't too terrible and he was generally nice. And I actually liked Felicity and Ray Palmer, because the actor is incredibly charming, but they keep making him creepy! Stop being creepy with your employee!!! Finding out someone's dress size to get them an outfit to the dinner you assume they'll go to is creepy!!! As is trying the Pretty Woman necklace thing.

Sigh. I kind of wish they went with Felicity and Barry, though obviously that would have been impractical in terms of logistics.

Also, can we not introduce another love interest for Thea and give her more plot instead? I wanted to shake DJ Dude and his obnoxiousness.

I will not even go into the main plot, which was awful and embarrassing to watch any time Carrie Cutter was on screen.

On the plus side, at least they didn't spend too much time on Roy's angst and Diggle actually got some lines. Diggle! Get a mask or something, seriously. And possibly some body armor.

That said, I liked where the episode ended, with Oliver bringing Roy over to Diggle and Lyla's. I miss the focus on family that the show had before they killed off Moira, and that was a nice note.

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Big Hero 6

oyceter — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 00:08:49 GMT

I feel with this, Frozen, and Wreck-It Ralph, Disney is really entering another golden age (I know, all the critics say that...), which makes me happy despite all my issues with Disney because Disney is so much of my childhood. I was afraid Big Hero 6 was going to be too pop-culture-referencing and wink-wink-nudge-nudge, as well as being afraid that the main character would annoy me (that's my biggest issue with How to Train Your Dragon) and that the blend of San Francisco and Tokyo would feel pasted on and Orientalist. Instead, it's a really good movie that made me cry more than once, has some great relationships, and did what I thought was a pretty impressive job of balancing gender roles and portrayals as well as having POC representation.

(That said, Disney, I will be so happy if you make your next geek-oriented movie with a female lead!)

Also, the marketing department did a really good job with the trailer; I think it only goes into the first half hour of the movie and doesn't let on to some pretty big things while keeping the overall tone of the movie.

What most impressed me about the trailer was how the first ten or fifteen minutes of the movie completely recontextualizes a lot of the scenes, so even if you've seen them a lot, there's more there when you see them again in the movie. As I mentioned, I was worried I would be annoyed at Hiro, and I kind of was... and then they introduced another character that helped a lot. Then when something happens and Hiro gets acquainted with Baymax the robot, it adds a new emotional layer to all the boy-plus-robot scenes from the trailer. Also, Baymax is hilarious and adorable, as the best companion robots seem to be. (Are there any girl-and-robot stories that mix coming of age with teaching your robot how to be more human or something? Boy-and-robot seems to be a distinct subgenre, with this, The Iron Giant, Terminator 2, and probably more I can't think of right now.)

I was also very worried about San Fransokyo, cultural appropriation, and the whole Firefly thing. They went a long way in dispelling doubts when they made the main character and his brother Japanese (multiracial, I think?), and I was incredibly glad to find that they even cast multiracial Asian voice actors for the two as well. Obviously, Daniel Henney is not Japanese (ditto Jamie Chung), but the fact that they actually were trying to match the voice actors with their characters' races was nice. I wish this weren't something to remark on, but sadly it is not really something you can take for granted with Hollywood!

Also, I am sure San Fransokyo isn't free of problems, but to be honest, I loved it. It felt like a very real blend of two cities I love instead of the "Pier One pasted-on-yay" feel I've gotten from other shows/movies. As far as I noticed, all the Japanese was accurate and looked like it was written/drawn by people who knew Japanese (I HATE it when they don't do that, because you can so tell, especially with the Chinese characters). And there were so many random little details that I loved, from the carp-head wind turbines flying above the city to the red-and-white brick building for the police station reminiscent of Japanese colonial architecture to the bits of the city that looked like SF's Japantown and the downtown that looks like Shibuya. I wasn't the hugest fan of some of the random Asian details put on the Golden Gate Bridge or the cable cars, but oh well. Also, I was extremely amused to see that they made the Bay Bridge into a mashup of the east and west spans! (I have been complaining about how the Bay Bridge never gets as much attention as the Golden Gate Bridge, especially because I love the look of the new span, so it was nice to see it.)

And I loved that you can see so much of the city during the nod to the Ghibli flight sequence. Apparently they took open-source data of SF so they could basically create all the buildings in SF (even if they look different), and even street lamp locations and such.

Despite the lack of a female lead, it was nice that they avoided the Smurfette thing and managed to include two different women with different personalities who were cool in their own ways--especially since they were all engineering/science geeks. It reminded me a lot of how Wreck-It Ralph also tried to show that video games weren't a solely male domain by having Jane Lynch's character in the Call of Duty-esque game and the girl gamer playing Sugar Rush in the arcade. And as far as I noticed, most of the background scenes were populated with men and women too. Little things, but things you still can't take for granted now.

I similarly appreciated the racial diversity in the characters and the voice actors. I didn't notice the background characters as much in terms of race--did anyone else? There were just a lot of little things that made it feel like they had taken a lot of care and thought around racial and gender diversity (less so with other axes), from the throwaway line about how Wasabi got his nickname to the pictures on the wall in Hiro's house.

I am talking a lot about the more political aspects of the movie and not focusing on just how fun the movie is, I think partly because so much of it is in the background and not that noticeable if you aren't looking for it. I thought this was a really great example of how to have diverse characters and places and make it feel organic and not the central issue of the story, and it's what I would love to see more of, especially in genre stuff.

A lot of the reviews I've read were tired of the whole superhero thing, but I did not realize it was a superhero movie going in (I had it more pegged as an Iron Giant thing), so when Hiro starts seeing everyone as a superhero team, it totally cracked me up. Because if you are a boy with a giant robot and a 3D printer, why not?

And finally, I LOVED how the entire movie was a celebration of engineering and science and making things; one of my favorite parts is Tadashi showing Hiro his "nerd school" and how clearly he loves it. I feel I should say so much more about this, because it was a huge part of why I loved the movie so much (that, and the Tadashi-Hiro relationship) and I've spent so many words on the background stuff. Except I don't really have anything outside of how much I love it and how much they made an effort to show that the whole maker culture thing isn't solely a white guy thing.

On a completely random note, I'm amused by the Disney-Pixar-Marvel mashup so that the movie has the now-famous animation short a la Pixar and the post-credits scene a la Marvel.

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Gotham 1x01-1x03

oyceter — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 06:57:27 GMT

So far, I am still watching because I am a sucker for Batverse, but I haven't really hit it off with any of the episodes yet.

Assorted random notes:

- Did they cast Selina Kyle to look like a younger Michelle Pfeiffer? Because she does.

- I am glad they stopped mentioning how Selina likes cats and how Oswald walks like a penguin because yes thank you I get it show!

- Curious if they're going to go for the Jim Gordon/Sarah Essen storyline, especially since they have her cast as a woman of color, and as older, and as his boss.

- Edward Nygma in forensics seems a bit overkill.

- The Bruce Wayne scenes bore me SO MUCH. I think I started laughing when they had him playing loud metal music, because they keep throwing in all the cliches about trauma and adolescents. And the whole Gordon giving him the say re: Gordon remaining on the police or not made me roll my eyes, as do all the "He is SPECIAL" vibes. Don't do that!! That's what annoyed me so much about Nolanverse!

- I am also not too fond of whoever's playing Gordon. On the other hand, and I feel kind of terrible about this, I find Bullock hilarious and immensely entertaining. Gordon is most interesting when he's interacting with Bullock.

- YAY canonically lesbian Renee Montoya! Also, Barbara is so much more interesting with Montoya than she is with Gordon. Montoya's partner is kind of meh, and I am wondering if we are going to see the Bullock-Montoya partnership, because that could be very amusing.

- I cynically feel Oswald Cobblepot is going to be the new woobie of fandom and I preemptively roll my eyes forever.

- I really wish I liked the actress for Selina better because CATWOMAN. MY FAV.

- Also, this show has no idea what tone it wants. There are the police, who think they are in a police procedural. Some of the villains apparently think they are in the Tim Burton Batverse. And Fish Mooney seems to be in her own show all together (what is that accent??), but I don't really care because she is so entertaining.

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Sleepy Hollow 2x01-2x03

oyceter — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 05:31:39 GMT

Hello, show! I missed you in all your cracktastic glory!

Franklinstein! The thirty coins of Judas! I am already anticipating more zombified members of the American Revolution.

Also, the Headless Horseman walking around topless, showing off his muscled torso (sans head), was weird.

I am always a little worried because the previews focus so heavily on Ichabod and Henry, so it was particularly nice to get this week's episode, with Abbie and Jenny relationship stuff in addition to more information about both Sheriff Reyes and their mother. I love that you can pass the women-of-color version of the Bechdel test multiple ways in this show! I like Reyes being a hardass, but I hope she's not evil.

Alas, Katrina's role is still pretty boring. At least she can do a bit more now? But it would be nice to see her not in captivity for once. And the show keeps defining her via her relationships with various men, from Henry to Ichabod to Abraham.

Mostly, I would like more episodes like today's, because I would like ALL MILLS SISTERS ALL THE TIME. I love the tiny bit of vulnerability Jenny gets around Abbie as well as how generally kickass Jenny is, and I adore Nicole Beharie's no-nonsense, "Fine, I'll talk about my emotions now but only because I have to now can we get back to the apocalypse," yet always warm Abbie. I've also really been enjoying her scenes with Reyes, which is also why I want Reyes to not be evil... she's much more interesting as an obstacle to our heroes while not being out and out demonic.

And Irving, oh dear. So far, he hasn't gotten too much to do, but I am hoping they bring Amandla Stenberg.

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oyceter — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 04:50:14 GMT

I feel kind of stupid posting this right now, but I haven't been checking stuff online even though I was posting the daily happiness posts, and I just found out about delux_vivens.

I met her online when I was first figuring stuff out about race and racism, and she and Dead Bro Walking opened up so much to me and introduced me to so many people. She took me to my first powwow and shared a fry bread taco with me and laughed when I insisted on getting another fry bread for dessert (she was right, that was a bit too much fry bread for my stomach...). She shared details about her regalia and her beading projects and braved the dread lack of transportation to have craft circle in South Bay and meet CB. I was really nervous around her at first because I wanted so badly to not look stupid, and I felt she kind of took me under her wing and watched out for me. I hadn't seen her for a while, even though CB would sometimes ask, because he only met her once but thought she was awesome, and now I wish I had reached out more.

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Sparkler Monthly one month free trial

oyceter — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 06:46:09 GMT

Much like umadoshi, I was super excited when Chromatic Press started and cheered on the development of something akin to an English-language shoujo magazine, though I never got around to subscribing. Anyway, apparently the numbers are much worse than I had thought, and I was incredibly amused by the descriptions of various series that sound like a fun blend of female-friendliness and idtasticness. So I have subscribed!

And I apparently get a one month free trial I can give out! So, if anyone is interested, comment between now and Friday 8/29. If there's more than one person, I'll do a random number drawing.

Also, check out their membership drive and assorted prizes for hitting various levels.

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Meme!

oyceter — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 07:08:26 GMT

That meme where you pick up the first book next to you, flip to page 45, and use the first sentence as a summary of your love life:

"After configuring the devices necessary for connecting to the Internet, tap 'Internet Settings' in the System Settings menu."

(courtesy of the 2DS manual)

... I find this eerily accurate.

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Paull, Laline - The Bees

oyceter — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 05:18:39 GMT

!markdown

Flora 717 is a lowly sanitation bee, but instead of being mute like the other members of her caste, she can talk and apparently make Flow to feed the larvae in the nursery. The sisters of the Sage clan (the priestess caste) take note and let her work in the nursery for a bit, since the hive is going through rough times and there aren't enough workers. Soon, Flora is experiencing things far outside the lives of the other sanitation bees, and she eventually realizes she is even more different than she realized, for she can lay eggs when it is a crime to challenge the Queen's fertility.

I keep seeing this described as "*Watership Down* with bees," which mostly seems accurate? Although I find it curious that *Watership Down* tends to be classified as fantasy while this is slotted under "science fiction" in Amazon, possibly due to the rural setting of the former and the more urban-esque landscape of the hive for this book. I'm also not sure I find it as political as the reviews comparing it to *The Handmaid's Tale*, possibly because the point of view is so alien in some ways. It's something I'd rather tease apart at a Wiscon panel or in discussion, because while some reviews have been classifying it as dystopic, I don't quite agree. There is too much actual bee biology for it to feel completely dystopic to me, particularly since the book is framed by a prologue and epilogue from the point of view of the humans who own the orchard the beehive is in; it didn't feel so much like it was comparing the human condition to the bee world and more as though Paull were focused primarily on fleshing out the bee world properly. I have to noodle a bit more on this, because I haven't thought it out enough.

She does a great job detailing her particular bee society and making it feel like a complete world, from the way the bees communicate via scent and chemicals to their worship of the queen to the foppishness of the drones. From the bit of browsing I did, it seems like most of the information is fairly accurate, except a spoilery bit in the end and the fact that bee roles are not nearly so harshly delineated irl. (Also, one beekeeper wrote a review in which they felt very put out about the negative depiction of beekeepers as the theives of the bees' carefully made honey. I have to say, I laughed.) I particularly loved the way religion and government are mixed up in the hive, and the look at the various castes and clans.

I did have some nitpicks, because it wasn't always as alien as I wanted it to be; Paull refers to things like bees bleeding or having their intestines torn out, which made me wonder if it were just a figure of speech or...?? Ditto mentions of things like goblets of nectar or plates of pollen. I also thought the prologue and epilogue should have been cut, because I am not here for human context and thoughts! I want weird alien life forms that are actually from this planet!

Anyway, this was a really fast, immersive read, and I still feel like there might be creepy-crawlies on me randomly throughout the day. (For insect-phobic people: I am pretty grossed out by bugs in real life and in pictures, but I'm mostly fine reading about them in books, from fictionalized bees to real-life parasites, so YMMV? I wasn't creeped out while reading, but my skin does start to itch when thinking about it afterward.)

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Hwang Jin-Yi, ep. 10-18

oyceter — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 03:06:29 GMT

TW for suicide

Wow, that was very eventful! I really love what the show has been doing with Eun-Ho's death and how it underlies so much of what happens in this arc. I think I was more expecting it to have less influence and for it to mostly be a tragic tale of doomed love, but instead, it's a huge turning point for Jin-Yi's character. Stoic Ha Ji-Won is always fun to watch, but angry, bitter, somewhat self-destructive and take-no-prisoners Ha Ji-Won is AWESOME. I know I've said this several times already, but the sheer amount of manpain she has is great! You so rarely get to see sympathetic female characters who are allowed to be angry and unpleasant and act superior to everyone else, and it's even rarer to not have that stamped out of them or have them change their ways. Myong Wol is just so outrageous! I thought her slamming down bags of money in front of Baek Gye-Soo and ordering him to take off articles of clothing was great, but then she MAKES HER TEACHER BOW IN FRONT OF HER. I was so shocked by that! And not only does she do that, she then refuses to forgive her!!! That actually felt the most sacrilegious of all.

And it's written just like manpain, where she is a total jerk 95% of the time and then is vulnerable, usually due to memories of poor fridged Eun-Ho, and that's what makes everyone in the drama fall for her, and the viewers as well. Also, she gets hurt-comfort scenes as well, where her being physically beaten up is in the narrative not to make her vulnerable, but to basically demonstrate just how badass she is.

In general, the romantic storyline interests me insofar as it means Jin-Yi gets tons and tons of angst that she takes out on Baek-Moo. The minister is nice enough, but so far, the guy I find most interesting is Mu Myong (does that just mean "No name"?). Stoic hot bodyguards who say they will always be there for you for the win! I am also so amused that the show briefly flirts with having Jin-Yi temporarily falling for Baek Gye-Soo, thanks to her mother's advice to him on how to win her over, but after about ten minutes, you realize she knew what was going on all along and cuts him down mercilessly.

That said, even with the "I'll pay you to strip for me" scene, which I LOVE, the absolute best one is when she shows up to the banquet dressed in funeral garb and throws a rope at his feet because she would rather hang herself than be his concubine. And then she proceeds to beat ten scholars in strip poetry! Seriously, Baek Gye-Soo, what were you thinking? Now I totally want an icon with that cold smile on her face with the text "Myong Wol is better than you."

I've also really been enjoying how the show has been fleshing out Mae-Hyang, particularly during the episodes when Jin-Yi ditches the Songdo troupe for Mae-Hyang's. Alas, Bu-Yong is not nearly as interesting. I think she would be if it were mostly about her trying to best Jin-Yi in dance, but all the scheming with Baek Gye-Soo and trying to sleep with the minister is a bit boring, and it makes her occasional declarations of wanting to beat Jin-Yi fair and square completely random. I would like her so much more if she were trying to scheme with Baek-Moo. And I feel she would be a much more formidable rival then. Instead, she mostly reads as very young and very jealous, but without the skill or threat to make her a really great frenemy like how Mae-Hyang is with Baek-Moo.

I do wish we got a bit more Dan-Shim and Jin-Yi interaction, particularly given Baek Gye-Soo. Poor Dan-Shim! He is such a jerk! That said, their friendship fading after Eun-Ho's death feels very real, particularly with how Dan-Shim normally hangs out with the other gisaeng but feels conflicted whenever they complain about Jin-Yi and the combination of jealousy and not wishing her ill due to their old friendship. I wonder if Jin-Yi distanced herself after Eun-Ho died, forgiving Dan-Shim for doing what Baek-Moo wanted her to while also resenting her as well for her matchmaking with Jin-Yi and Eun-Ho. That conversation they have when Jin-Yi is about to go offer herself as Baek Gye-Soo's concubine to save Baek-Moo's life was great, the two of them standing with their backs to each other and how they're not close any more but still about as close as Jin-Yi really is with anyone. I very much hope things turn out okay for Dan-Shim, poor girl.

Also, I was happy that the show finally confirmed Eom-Su's thing for Hyun-Geum. Awww!

And OMG. The Baek-Moo storyline!!! The way she yells at Baek Gye-Soo for not letting them finish dancing! Sigh. I was really, really hoping that the character wouldn't die =(. That said, I love how what I thought was going to be a suicide note was actually a letter to Baek Gye-Soo to say that she was thwarting him even now. And it was great getting that look into Baek-Moo's relationship with Hyun-Geum. Mostly, though, I am just sad.

Now I need more people to watch so I can flail about the gender role reversals re: manpain and how JIN-YI IS BETTER THAN YOU.

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FYI...

oyceter — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 08:26:58 GMT

Flight Rising registration opening in about four hours! Friend me if you join (and let me know if you want a dragon)! I'm oyceter (lair id 35180) there as well, and a lot of us are also on flight_rising as well.

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Wiscon 39 prep: non-Western fannish things panel ideas

oyceter — Sat, 31 May 2014 03:46:25 GMT

inkstone was brainstorming non-Western media panel ideas for Wiscon 39, and so many people got into the conversation that I was using 3/4 of my allotted characters just to @ them! Ergo, post.

(Also, this makes me so happy!! I am going to sound like such an old fogey, but *shakes cane* I remember the days when we didn't have any anime/manga programming at all and coffeeandink and I had to organize "spontaneous" programming so we could talk about it!

(I was so sad to see I missed panels on Utena and fairy tales in shoujo and was kicking myself for somehow skipping those panels until I realized that was one of the years I didn't make it to Wiscon.

(It has also been really nice seeing younger people in the audience in the past few years; hopefully I will be more encouraging next year and get them on panels too. My goal: having non-Western fannish panels that are not entirely populated by the same six people, myself included, even though I love you all a ton and love hearing what you guys say.)

Anyway, my goal this year is to organize a book club for F. Compo + Hourou Musuko (and/or other works with trans protagonists? Specifically, canonically trans, as opposed to genderbending or crossdressing.), esp. since jiawen has been trying to get a trans people in anime/manga panel for forever. That way even if it doesn't make the cut due to lack of panelists and/or audience members, we can do spontaneous programming. And I really like panels that focus very specifically on one or two works.

Also, AMVs in playlists for the vid party that aren't specifically being "The AMV Playlist"!

Other ideas I vaguely remember from Twitter:
- Bollywood
- Magical girls (and Sailor Moon Crystal!)
- Women in shounen
- AMVs and vids
- Moe
- POC in SFnal music (+ weird over-the-top fantasy CPop music videos?)

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Magical girls vid playlist

oyceter — Tue, 27 May 2014 07:41:22 GMT

This is my playlist for the Wiscon 38 vid party. Er, and for anyone who was there, I embarrassingly sent the wrong link to the organizers, so this includes the actual link to the Utena vid I was planning on showing...

Next year: more AMV playlists, including playlists that just include AMVs as part of a theme!

General warnings: I think AMVs tend to do much more visual overlays and faster cutting than media vids in general, so I hope I managed to give enough notice re: flashing lights and strobe effects, but not sure! Also, I worry a bit that I underwarned for the vid show because I have a hard time figuring out the line between action movie violence and disturbing violence so I am adding some just in case.

Magical Girls: Sparkles and Subversion
(or: morally ambiguous dark-haired girls and the pink-haired girls who love them)

Hika Yagami - Magical Girls Take a Stand! (multifandom)
no warnings
(stream/download | subtitles)

Moezy-chan - Red Star (Sailor Moon)
Physical warnings: flashing lights and strobe effects
Psychological warnings: horror imagery
(stream | subtitles)

WUNETTI Productions - The Utena Symphony, Part II: Rosa Infinita (Shoujo Kakumei Utena)
Physical warnings: flashing lights and strobe effects
(stream/download | subtitles)

Chiikaboom - Devil's Game 2.0 (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
Physical warnings: flashing lights and strobe effects
Psychological warnings: horror imagery (also I find this series creepy like whoa and have a hard time with scenes in the vid, but I don't know if it's as creepy if you haven't seen the series? Comments?)
(download | subtitles)

Tidirium Studios - Hold Me Now (Princess Tutu)
Physical warnings: flashing lights and strobe effects
(stream/download | subtitles)

I wasn't really sure how familiar people in the vid party audience would be with magical girls, so I wanted a good introductory vid. Also, magical girls + cheesy 80s music = yesssss!!! and I was even happier when I found out that the song was from the (old, non-Michael Bay) Transformers movie. Transformers! They basically have henshin sequences!

Then you can't have magical girls without Sailor Moon. I had some peppier ones that I found, but Hotaru is my fav, and I suspect the vid goes a bit against the grain of popular perception of Sailor Moon; i.e. not all sparkles and light, even if sparkly rainbow butterflies end up saving the day (as they should).

I've probably actually seen more takes on the magical girl genre than straight up magical girls, ergo Utena, Madoka and Princess Tutu. I was incredibly sad to not include shati's Total Eclipse of the Heartsword vid, which is an entirely accurate representation of the experience of watching Utena, but it sadly didn't include as many bits of the magical girl aspects as I wanted. (But you all should watch it because it is BEST and WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE!)

I nearly didn't include a Madoka vid because that meant I would have to go find Madoka vids and then actually watch them, which means watching footage from Madoka again, which I find DEEPLY TRAUMATIC. I'm not sure what it says when I feel like I should not only warn for fight scenes but primarily warn for the evil clown-faced rainbow monster (SO CREEPY), Kyuubei (SO CREEPY), and the little sketchy dancing circles with mustaches (AIIEEE SO CREEPY). Having to pause every other second to take down the times for subtitles while trying really hard not to see what was actually on the screen was difficult, because the first one or so paused on Mami *winces*.

And then Princess Tutu as a palate cleanser! And apparently it is the vid everyone even outside of AMV fandom knows, because not only did people cheer when it came up, which made me happy, because Ahiru's wonderful duck self should be appreciated, but also because people actually started singing along to the Swedish subtitles! BEST.

The morally ambiguous dark-haired girl/pink-haired girl slashiness was a complete accident I didn't notice until after.

Really!

Anyway, I hope people enjoyed, and if anyone wants me to flail at them re: the various series and why you should watch them, I am more than happy to do so! (Except Madoka. Madoka continues to terrify me.)

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oyceter — Fri, 23 May 2014 02:45:38 GMT

Hi! I have not been posting about Wiscon because I have been too busy with Wiscon prep (6 vids subtitled, whoo!).

Anyway, will be arriving some time on Friday, leaving at some time on Monday. Hugs ok as long as it's not randomly from behind, she/her, and I forgot to print my icon for my badge, oh well. Also, I am crap at checking anything outside of email though I will try my best to keep an eye on Twitter messages.

(And will definitely be at the vid party, whenever that is! Come by! See my magical girls AMV playlist!)

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Subtitle help?

oyceter — Thu, 15 May 2014 23:18:42 GMT

Would anyone be up for helping me subtitle the AMVs for my Wiscon playlist? Trying to get them in by tomorrow...

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