Random MCU Meme
Aug. 16th, 2025 01:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glitteryv(Snagged from littlerhymes
Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part/DNF'd
*Watched more than once.
Phase One:
Iron Man (2008)
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
* Thor (2011)
* Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
* The Avengers (2012)
Phase Two:
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV 2013–2020)- From what I remember, I dropped off halfway thru S1
* Thor: The Dark World (2013)
* Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) - This is the one I've watched the most. It's probably over 100 times? IN MY DEFENSE, there was a point in 2015-2017 where it'd be show on TV at least twice/week.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
*Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Ant-Man (2015)
Daredevil (TV 2015–2018)
Agent Carter (TV 2015–2016)
Jessica Jones (TV 2015–2019)
Phase Three:
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Luke Cage (TV 2016–2018)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Iron Fist (TV 2017–2018)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
The Defenders (TV 2017)
The Punisher (TV 2017–2019)
Inhumans (TV 2017) - IIRC, I watched the first 2 eps and then said "I'm good!"
Runaways (TV 2017–2019)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017) - Deffo the 3rd thing I've watched a ton of times.
Black Panther (2018) - And this is the 2nd most watched media for sure. Love it to bits still!
Cloak & Dagger (TV 2018–2019) - NB: Haven't watched it BUT I do plan to do that sometime this year? A friend recced it to me in a way that convinced me to give it a chance.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Avengers: Endgame (2019) - And this the 4th MCU media I've watched an excessive amount of times. I know a lot of ppl hated it (and that's OK!). It worked for me despite the random turns and weird plot holes. *Hands*
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) - My not watching this movie signaled the beginning of my burnout with this franchise. I was NOT in the mood for it then, and remain to NOT be in the mood to watch it in 2025. XD
Phase Four:
Black Widow (2021) - This one was a bittersweet experience given Nat's storyline in EG. However, I do remember liking it a lot more than expected.
WandaVision (TV 2021) - This was a series everyone but me loved. I was practically hate-watching it by ep.4. Solely stuck around for Agatha LOL.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV 2021) - MESS!
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) - Wish it had had some casting changes, but I liked it?
Eternals (2021) - MESS part 2. - I just... yeah. This was the official last drop for me.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Loki (TV 2021-2023) - NB: I came close to start this one, but I was still in 🙅🏾♀️ mode fandomwise AND what I saw of the reactions online (from fannish spaces) made me leave it where I found it. #NoRegrets
Hawkeye (TV 2021)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Moon Knight (TV 2022) - NB: I do intend to watch this one too for 2 reasons: cuz I LURVE the character (have read all of his comics) AND Oscar Isaac. I've got a feeling it's gonna disappoint me, but IDC. I gotta watch it at some point soonish (like before December ends.)
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) - My feelings are too complicated to give it a full yays, but I wasn't going to ignore a new BP movie. IDEK, y'all.
Ms. Marvel (TV 2022)
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (TV 2022)
Phase Five:
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Secret Invasion (TV 2023)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
The Marvels (2023)
Echo (TV 2024)
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Agatha All Along (TV 2024) - NB: I too am surprised I haven't watched this nor plan to. IDK.
Daredevil: Born Again (TV 2025-2026) - NB: Ditto this one.
Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
Thunderbolts (2025) - I know it's kinda ???? but, I did watched this movie! Loved Yelena and Bob, felt EXTREMELY MEH abt everything else (including Bucky! Weird, I know!). My overall feeling after I was done with it was "I guess? It wasn't terrible, but I could've watched something else instead."
Ironheart (TV 2025)
Phase Six:
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
Wonder Man (TV 2025)
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)
Vision Quest (TV 2026)
Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
Avengers: Secret Wars (2027)
Final thoughts:
So, yeah, aside from the 2 1-season series that I'm deffo watching AND the two movies I might, per-maybe-haps pick up at some point in the future, I can say that me and the MCU are dunzo. #WompWommp
Looking at this list, I'd say that 2021 was the turning point. In part cuz there was so much new stuff dropping every other month that just trying to figure which one I should start with first was overwhelming AF. And I'm NOT into the idea of stressing myself out for stuff that's meant to be entertainment. Triply so if it's related to Fandom, IJS.
There's also the FACT that the premises (Sam and Bucky buddy cop roadtrip! Loki time-travels! A Thor film that goes OTT! A live action version of the excellent Hawkeye comics by Matt Fraction and David Aja!, etc, etc, etc.) sounded amazing...only for the actual content to not land at all cuz Disney had "other ideas". IDK, I can only take so many disappointments.
It's also super clear that the MCU as a whole was trying to launch a 2nd Chapter of sorts, but they pushed it so hard that it put me off almost completely.
littlerhymesBold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part/DNF'd
*Watched more than once.
Phase One:
Iron Man (2008)
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
* Thor (2011)
* Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
* The Avengers (2012)
Phase Two:
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV 2013–2020)- From what I remember, I dropped off halfway thru S1
* Thor: The Dark World (2013)
* Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) - This is the one I've watched the most. It's probably over 100 times? IN MY DEFENSE, there was a point in 2015-2017 where it'd be show on TV at least twice/week.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
*Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Ant-Man (2015)
Daredevil (TV 2015–2018)
Agent Carter (TV 2015–2016)
Jessica Jones (TV 2015–2019)
Phase Three:
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Luke Cage (TV 2016–2018)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Iron Fist (TV 2017–2018)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
The Defenders (TV 2017)
The Punisher (TV 2017–2019)
Inhumans (TV 2017) - IIRC, I watched the first 2 eps and then said "I'm good!"
Runaways (TV 2017–2019)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017) - Deffo the 3rd thing I've watched a ton of times.
Black Panther (2018) - And this is the 2nd most watched media for sure. Love it to bits still!
Cloak & Dagger (TV 2018–2019) - NB: Haven't watched it BUT I do plan to do that sometime this year? A friend recced it to me in a way that convinced me to give it a chance.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Avengers: Endgame (2019) - And this the 4th MCU media I've watched an excessive amount of times. I know a lot of ppl hated it (and that's OK!). It worked for me despite the random turns and weird plot holes. *Hands*
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) - My not watching this movie signaled the beginning of my burnout with this franchise. I was NOT in the mood for it then, and remain to NOT be in the mood to watch it in 2025. XD
Phase Four:
Black Widow (2021) - This one was a bittersweet experience given Nat's storyline in EG. However, I do remember liking it a lot more than expected.
WandaVision (TV 2021) - This was a series everyone but me loved. I was practically hate-watching it by ep.4. Solely stuck around for Agatha LOL.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV 2021) - MESS!
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) - Wish it had had some casting changes, but I liked it?
Eternals (2021) - MESS part 2. - I just... yeah. This was the official last drop for me.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Loki (TV 2021-2023) - NB: I came close to start this one, but I was still in 🙅🏾♀️ mode fandomwise AND what I saw of the reactions online (from fannish spaces) made me leave it where I found it. #NoRegrets
Hawkeye (TV 2021)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Moon Knight (TV 2022) - NB: I do intend to watch this one too for 2 reasons: cuz I LURVE the character (have read all of his comics) AND Oscar Isaac. I've got a feeling it's gonna disappoint me, but IDC. I gotta watch it at some point soonish (like before December ends.)
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) - My feelings are too complicated to give it a full yays, but I wasn't going to ignore a new BP movie. IDEK, y'all.
Ms. Marvel (TV 2022)
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (TV 2022)
Phase Five:
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Secret Invasion (TV 2023)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
The Marvels (2023)
Echo (TV 2024)
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Agatha All Along (TV 2024) - NB: I too am surprised I haven't watched this nor plan to. IDK.
Daredevil: Born Again (TV 2025-2026) - NB: Ditto this one.
Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
Thunderbolts (2025) - I know it's kinda ???? but, I did watched this movie! Loved Yelena and Bob, felt EXTREMELY MEH abt everything else (including Bucky! Weird, I know!). My overall feeling after I was done with it was "I guess? It wasn't terrible, but I could've watched something else instead."
Ironheart (TV 2025)
Phase Six:
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
Wonder Man (TV 2025)
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)
Vision Quest (TV 2026)
Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
Avengers: Secret Wars (2027)
Final thoughts:
So, yeah, aside from the 2 1-season series that I'm deffo watching AND the two movies I might, per-maybe-haps pick up at some point in the future, I can say that me and the MCU are dunzo. #WompWommp
Looking at this list, I'd say that 2021 was the turning point. In part cuz there was so much new stuff dropping every other month that just trying to figure which one I should start with first was overwhelming AF. And I'm NOT into the idea of stressing myself out for stuff that's meant to be entertainment. Triply so if it's related to Fandom, IJS.
There's also the FACT that the premises (Sam and Bucky buddy cop roadtrip! Loki time-travels! A Thor film that goes OTT! A live action version of the excellent Hawkeye comics by Matt Fraction and David Aja!, etc, etc, etc.) sounded amazing...only for the actual content to not land at all cuz Disney had "other ideas". IDK, I can only take so many disappointments.
It's also super clear that the MCU as a whole was trying to launch a 2nd Chapter of sorts, but they pushed it so hard that it put me off almost completely.
(no subject)
Aug. 14th, 2025 12:42 pmskygiantsLast week I was on vacation at Beth's family cottage, which normally would mean that I'd be reading a battered paperback. HOWEVER instead I was racing to finish Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets due to the unfortunate fact of it being triply overdue at the library.
A useful and worthwhile book; a compelling and depressing book; not, perhaps, an ideal vacation book, but so it goes. The book is composed of oral histories conducted by Alexievich in the years between 1991 and 2012 with various inhabitants of the Former Soviet Union. Alexievich is particularly interested in suicides, and several of the interviews/chapters circulate around people who knew or were close to people who took their own lives after the fall of communism; several others focus on people who were living in areas of the former Soviet Union where the end of the USSR led immediately to ethnic or nationalistic violence.
Many of the oral histories follow a pattern that goes
a. [recounting of an absolutely horrific personal-infrastructural tragedy or example of human cruelty that happened under Stalin]
b. but at least we had ideals
c. And Now We Have This Fucking Capitalism Instead And It's Not A Good Trade
and many others go
a. under socialism in [location] they said we were all brothers and I believed it
b. and suddenly overnight that changed and I will be forever haunted by the things I've seen since
Alexievich recounts the oral histories more or less as if they're dramatic/poetic monologues -- usually monologues of despair -- removing herself and the circumstances under which they were conducted almost entirely, except for a very occasional and startling interjection to make a point. (One oral history, of the horrific-things-happened-but-we-believed variety, is intermittently interrupted by anekdoty from the interviewee's son; Alexievich comments that no matter what she asked him, he only ever responded with a joke.) Some sections are compendiums of conversation gathered in a location, at a party or in a marketplace, sliding past each other montage-style. As a literary conceit, it's very effective, but I found myself wishing sometimes that it was a little less literary. It's rare that I read a nonfiction book and want the author to be putting more of themself into the narrative, rather than less, but I wanted to know what questions she was asking. That said, for various reasons, I'm considering buying a copy.
A useful and worthwhile book; a compelling and depressing book; not, perhaps, an ideal vacation book, but so it goes. The book is composed of oral histories conducted by Alexievich in the years between 1991 and 2012 with various inhabitants of the Former Soviet Union. Alexievich is particularly interested in suicides, and several of the interviews/chapters circulate around people who knew or were close to people who took their own lives after the fall of communism; several others focus on people who were living in areas of the former Soviet Union where the end of the USSR led immediately to ethnic or nationalistic violence.
Many of the oral histories follow a pattern that goes
a. [recounting of an absolutely horrific personal-infrastructural tragedy or example of human cruelty that happened under Stalin]
b. but at least we had ideals
c. And Now We Have This Fucking Capitalism Instead And It's Not A Good Trade
and many others go
a. under socialism in [location] they said we were all brothers and I believed it
b. and suddenly overnight that changed and I will be forever haunted by the things I've seen since
Alexievich recounts the oral histories more or less as if they're dramatic/poetic monologues -- usually monologues of despair -- removing herself and the circumstances under which they were conducted almost entirely, except for a very occasional and startling interjection to make a point. (One oral history, of the horrific-things-happened-but-we-believed variety, is intermittently interrupted by anekdoty from the interviewee's son; Alexievich comments that no matter what she asked him, he only ever responded with a joke.) Some sections are compendiums of conversation gathered in a location, at a party or in a marketplace, sliding past each other montage-style. As a literary conceit, it's very effective, but I found myself wishing sometimes that it was a little less literary. It's rare that I read a nonfiction book and want the author to be putting more of themself into the narrative, rather than less, but I wanted to know what questions she was asking. That said, for various reasons, I'm considering buying a copy.
MCU meme
Aug. 14th, 2025 10:43 pmlittlerhymesBecause why not.
When I drop a fandom, it's over baby. It's stone cold dead. (Not always true but for the purpose of this post let's generalise.) I did enjoy Thunderbolts this year though.
I saw most of these early and at the cinema because I love going to the movies. Less so, these days. But yeah I used to be at the cinema once every few weeks.
( there are how many phases? )
When I drop a fandom, it's over baby. It's stone cold dead. (Not always true but for the purpose of this post let's generalise.) I did enjoy Thunderbolts this year though.
I saw most of these early and at the cinema because I love going to the movies. Less so, these days. But yeah I used to be at the cinema once every few weeks.
( there are how many phases? )(no subject)
Aug. 10th, 2025 05:33 pmturpsI called into the pharmacy on Friday to see if my new compressions had finally been delivered. Now, I've called in and asked twice since my initial appointment, and each time they'd said, not yet. Yesterday they admitted that while the script had been sent off, it had been done so without any measurements attached, and the right form had only been sent that morning.
Which is all kinds of frustrating, especially so as I had asked those two times. So, as they are made to measure, I'm looking at another fortnight at least to wait.
Yesterday I was Bodhisitting. She turns four next Sunday, so I was asking what she wanted for her birthday, and it's all superhero stuff as she's really into Spider-Man and the Hulk right now. Which okay, I can work with that. Kayleigh has actually bought a Spider-Man costume and intends to deliver Bode's birthday presents while dressed up. Which, way to go the extra mile.
Then last night we went to the theatre to see Chicago, and I enjoyed it lots. Roxie Hart was played by the ex Strictly pro Janette Manrara, and I wasn't sure what to expect as she's not the best as a presenter, but while she's obviously not a stage trained singer, I thought she did a good job. The whole cast did, in fact.
But in a what are the odds moment, two rows behind us was the woman who was thrown out of the Hamilton showing. She has a very distinctive voice and way of speaking, and I turned around and yep, there she was. This time much quieter, but she still chattered away throughout to her friends.
Today it was more Bodhisitting, and yet again I spent hours looking for criminals and getting arrested. Not sure what I ever did to require being arrested so often, but obviously I must be some kind of bad guy that needs locking away from the world.
Which is all kinds of frustrating, especially so as I had asked those two times. So, as they are made to measure, I'm looking at another fortnight at least to wait.
Yesterday I was Bodhisitting. She turns four next Sunday, so I was asking what she wanted for her birthday, and it's all superhero stuff as she's really into Spider-Man and the Hulk right now. Which okay, I can work with that. Kayleigh has actually bought a Spider-Man costume and intends to deliver Bode's birthday presents while dressed up. Which, way to go the extra mile.
Then last night we went to the theatre to see Chicago, and I enjoyed it lots. Roxie Hart was played by the ex Strictly pro Janette Manrara, and I wasn't sure what to expect as she's not the best as a presenter, but while she's obviously not a stage trained singer, I thought she did a good job. The whole cast did, in fact.
But in a what are the odds moment, two rows behind us was the woman who was thrown out of the Hamilton showing. She has a very distinctive voice and way of speaking, and I turned around and yep, there she was. This time much quieter, but she still chattered away throughout to her friends.
Today it was more Bodhisitting, and yet again I spent hours looking for criminals and getting arrested. Not sure what I ever did to require being arrested so often, but obviously I must be some kind of bad guy that needs locking away from the world.
(no subject)
Aug. 7th, 2025 04:48 pmturpsI picked up my fruit and veggie box this afternoon, and look ( at the goodies )
I usually pick up from the Re-F-Use café, but this time, with it being a different day, it was a pickup from an address from Durham. It was a quick drive there, but then I stood knocking for ages. Finally messaged the person who runs the collections, and they said to just go down the drive and the boxes were under the car port and I could pick which one I liked the look of. Did that and yeah, there were four boxes to pick from, sheltered nicely out of the sun.
Once I knew what to do, it was so much easier than a café pick up. Now I have an excess of carrots to deal with, and yes, more lemons *g*
( at the goodies )I usually pick up from the Re-F-Use café, but this time, with it being a different day, it was a pickup from an address from Durham. It was a quick drive there, but then I stood knocking for ages. Finally messaged the person who runs the collections, and they said to just go down the drive and the boxes were under the car port and I could pick which one I liked the look of. Did that and yeah, there were four boxes to pick from, sheltered nicely out of the sun.
Once I knew what to do, it was so much easier than a café pick up. Now I have an excess of carrots to deal with, and yes, more lemons *g*
(no subject)
Aug. 6th, 2025 04:08 pmturpsI went swimming this morning, the first time for years.
It was at another Everyone Active gym the next town over, and it was so good to get in the water again. James used one of the two free monthly day passes I get as part of my membership so it cost us nothing, and we were swimming by 8:30am. Which was nice timing as it wasn't busy then.
We swam about an hour, then checked out the spa part, where I got roasted in the sauna for a while, before we headed off.
The pool had impressive disability access, including an excellent, and huge dedicated changing room, complete with a hoist and table to change adults if needed, a sink that could be moved up and down, as well as a sturdy bench, shower and toilet. Plus, a wheelchair that could be pushed and left at poolside. Where there was a lift thing to help people into the water. So, James used that, because the way he's been going lately he probably would have fallen down the steps.
As usual when doing something new, I was a little nervous before going, but no one gave me a second look, and it was a nice and positive experience.
I was at my own gym yesterday and my aim to be invisible remains a no-go. As shown by the fact one of the chatty gym bros decided to show me a photo of what he'd thought was a stomach hernia he had, but was actually a cyst. Not what I expected to see going in.
My Fitbit has given up the ghost, which is sad. I mean, have you even moved unless your steps are tracked? But seriously, I am missing it already and am charging up an old one, which will have to do for now. That's if it works, which I really hope it does.
Two of my favourite shows are back, Masterchef Australia and Celeb SAS, Who Dares Wins. I enjoy both of them so much, but am surprised at how many have dropped out of SAS after just two episodes. I'm rooting for Bimini Bon Boulash who was my favourite back in season 2 UK Drag Race.
Thankfully, the storm didn't hit us too hard here. I lost two containers from the flower shelf, both blown down and broken. While the poor raspberry canes were almost horizontal. But, they're already starting to spring back.
Tomorrow I pick up a mystery fruit and veg box from Re-F-USe. I got one a fortnight ago and they're such good value, £15 for a crate of fresh products that would otherwise be thrown away. I managed to use mostly everything from the last one, even the pak choi. Just the lemons are left, mainly because I got an excess of the things. So, I'm looking forward to seeing what I get tomorrow. Hopefully, not more lemons.
It was at another Everyone Active gym the next town over, and it was so good to get in the water again. James used one of the two free monthly day passes I get as part of my membership so it cost us nothing, and we were swimming by 8:30am. Which was nice timing as it wasn't busy then.
We swam about an hour, then checked out the spa part, where I got roasted in the sauna for a while, before we headed off.
The pool had impressive disability access, including an excellent, and huge dedicated changing room, complete with a hoist and table to change adults if needed, a sink that could be moved up and down, as well as a sturdy bench, shower and toilet. Plus, a wheelchair that could be pushed and left at poolside. Where there was a lift thing to help people into the water. So, James used that, because the way he's been going lately he probably would have fallen down the steps.
As usual when doing something new, I was a little nervous before going, but no one gave me a second look, and it was a nice and positive experience.
I was at my own gym yesterday and my aim to be invisible remains a no-go. As shown by the fact one of the chatty gym bros decided to show me a photo of what he'd thought was a stomach hernia he had, but was actually a cyst. Not what I expected to see going in.
My Fitbit has given up the ghost, which is sad. I mean, have you even moved unless your steps are tracked? But seriously, I am missing it already and am charging up an old one, which will have to do for now. That's if it works, which I really hope it does.
Two of my favourite shows are back, Masterchef Australia and Celeb SAS, Who Dares Wins. I enjoy both of them so much, but am surprised at how many have dropped out of SAS after just two episodes. I'm rooting for Bimini Bon Boulash who was my favourite back in season 2 UK Drag Race.
Thankfully, the storm didn't hit us too hard here. I lost two containers from the flower shelf, both blown down and broken. While the poor raspberry canes were almost horizontal. But, they're already starting to spring back.
Tomorrow I pick up a mystery fruit and veg box from Re-F-USe. I got one a fortnight ago and they're such good value, £15 for a crate of fresh products that would otherwise be thrown away. I managed to use mostly everything from the last one, even the pak choi. Just the lemons are left, mainly because I got an excess of the things. So, I'm looking forward to seeing what I get tomorrow. Hopefully, not more lemons.
(no subject)
Aug. 5th, 2025 09:25 pmskygiantsI think I did The Tainted Cup a bit of a disservice in reading it For the Hugo Awards. It's a very competent book that is hitting all its beats at being both Fantasy Novel and Mystery Novel -- the world is detailed and well-realized (if a bit Attack on Titan-ish) and the plot hangs together in a sensible and logical way. In every way it is doing its job. Unfortunately in my heart I never want to give awards to things that are doing their job competently, I want to give awards to things that are trying to do something weird and interesting and ambitious even if they don't entirely succeed at it, so I kept squinting at The Tainted Cup like 'are you going to get weirder?' and the answer was, no! It continued working very reasonably through its fantasy mystery plot in an interesting and well-realized world!
The Tainted Cup follows Din Kol, a young man who has been magically altered to have perfect memory recall in order to act as an assistant to a highly-placed investigator, Eccentric Detective Ana Dolabra.genarti tells me Ana Dolabra is not a Holmesalike but a Nero Wolfe-alike, which I have to take her word for since I've never experienced any Nero Wolfe; anyway, I admit her Eccentric Behavior did not always really land for me, but I can't deny it's in the Tradition and I do like Din, who's very polite.
This dynamic duo live in an Empire that is constantly under threat from Extremely Large Beasts that live outside the Big Wall and wreak massive destruction whenever they breach it. The existence of and need to defend against the Extremely Large Beasts justifies the rule of the Empire; the center of government exists in the center of the country and then people live in sort of concentric rings of safety around it, with the least safe of course being the area right next to the Big Wall. In order to defend against the Extremely Large Beasts, the Empire is constantly pushing forward experimental magical bioresearch projects that do things like 'alter people to have perfect memories' or 'grow very large and scary vines very very fast.'
When an important nobleman turns up dead by way of having very large and scary vines grown very very fast through his entire body, this is an interesting little murder problem. When a bunch of other people also turn up dead by way of having very large and scary vines grown very fast through their entire bodies -- in a way that also causes the vines to damage the structural integrity of the Big Wall -- this immediately becomes a large and scary murder problem which Din and Ana have to truck out to the absolute least safe bit of the country to try and solve.
As you can hopefully tell from this summary, the logic of the mystery and the logic of the world are very well-integrated with each other. The beats make sense as they land, and at every point you're given enough information to go 'ah, this clicks perfectly with what I already know about this world, and now I've learned a little more.' It's a good fantasy-mystery novel! I would like to see more fantasy-mystery that does this sort of thing well! The murder by exploding vines is very creepy!
I don't think it's a particularly spectacular novel for character -- there are Din and Ana, and there are a bunch of people who are required to make the mystery go, and there's a sort of flash-in-the-pan love-interest-shaped fellow for Din -- and I don't think it's much of a novel of ideas. Which absolutely not all books need to be, and which would not have been looking for it to be, had it not been multiply award-nominated. But that brings us right back around to the beginning of this post again.
The Tainted Cup follows Din Kol, a young man who has been magically altered to have perfect memory recall in order to act as an assistant to a highly-placed investigator, Eccentric Detective Ana Dolabra.
genarti tells me Ana Dolabra is not a Holmesalike but a Nero Wolfe-alike, which I have to take her word for since I've never experienced any Nero Wolfe; anyway, I admit her Eccentric Behavior did not always really land for me, but I can't deny it's in the Tradition and I do like Din, who's very polite. This dynamic duo live in an Empire that is constantly under threat from Extremely Large Beasts that live outside the Big Wall and wreak massive destruction whenever they breach it. The existence of and need to defend against the Extremely Large Beasts justifies the rule of the Empire; the center of government exists in the center of the country and then people live in sort of concentric rings of safety around it, with the least safe of course being the area right next to the Big Wall. In order to defend against the Extremely Large Beasts, the Empire is constantly pushing forward experimental magical bioresearch projects that do things like 'alter people to have perfect memories' or 'grow very large and scary vines very very fast.'
When an important nobleman turns up dead by way of having very large and scary vines grown very very fast through his entire body, this is an interesting little murder problem. When a bunch of other people also turn up dead by way of having very large and scary vines grown very fast through their entire bodies -- in a way that also causes the vines to damage the structural integrity of the Big Wall -- this immediately becomes a large and scary murder problem which Din and Ana have to truck out to the absolute least safe bit of the country to try and solve.
As you can hopefully tell from this summary, the logic of the mystery and the logic of the world are very well-integrated with each other. The beats make sense as they land, and at every point you're given enough information to go 'ah, this clicks perfectly with what I already know about this world, and now I've learned a little more.' It's a good fantasy-mystery novel! I would like to see more fantasy-mystery that does this sort of thing well! The murder by exploding vines is very creepy!
I don't think it's a particularly spectacular novel for character -- there are Din and Ana, and there are a bunch of people who are required to make the mystery go, and there's a sort of flash-in-the-pan love-interest-shaped fellow for Din -- and I don't think it's much of a novel of ideas. Which absolutely not all books need to be, and which would not have been looking for it to be, had it not been multiply award-nominated. But that brings us right back around to the beginning of this post again.
July reading
Aug. 5th, 2025 11:34 pmlittlerhymesThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot
The Vanished Birds - Simon Jimenez
Midnight is a Place - Joan Aiken
The Whispering Mountain - Joan Aiken
Fence: Striking Distance - Sarah Rees Brennan
Starter Villain - John Scalzi
Cactus Pear for My Beloved - Samah Sabawi
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong
Batman and Robin Eternal 1 and 2 - Jason Tynion IV, Scott Snyder
Batman: The Court of Owls - Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion
Batman: The City of Owls - Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, James Tynion IV, Rafael Albuquerque, Jason Fabok
Red Hood and the Outlaws, Volume 3: Death of the Family - Scott Lobell, Fabian Nicieza, Thomas Green II
Nightwing 2: Get Grayson - Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo
Batman vs Robin: Road to War - Robbie Thompson, Peter J. Tomasi, Joshua Williamson, Eduardo Pansica, Gleb Melnikov
Batman: Wayne Family Adventures Season 3 - CRC Payne, Starbite
( books and batman )
The Vanished Birds - Simon Jimenez
Midnight is a Place - Joan Aiken
The Whispering Mountain - Joan Aiken
Fence: Striking Distance - Sarah Rees Brennan
Starter Villain - John Scalzi
Cactus Pear for My Beloved - Samah Sabawi
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong
Batman and Robin Eternal 1 and 2 - Jason Tynion IV, Scott Snyder
Batman: The Court of Owls - Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion
Batman: The City of Owls - Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, James Tynion IV, Rafael Albuquerque, Jason Fabok
Red Hood and the Outlaws, Volume 3: Death of the Family - Scott Lobell, Fabian Nicieza, Thomas Green II
Nightwing 2: Get Grayson - Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo
Batman vs Robin: Road to War - Robbie Thompson, Peter J. Tomasi, Joshua Williamson, Eduardo Pansica, Gleb Melnikov
Batman: Wayne Family Adventures Season 3 - CRC Payne, Starbite
( books and batman )(no subject)
Aug. 4th, 2025 11:10 pmskygiantsYou know how sometimes a show is more or less made for you in a lab, but also you watch the actual plot and you have some notes, and you're not actually sure it's good, per se, but also it was made for you in a lab?
Anyway, we just finished watching Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born, the Kim Tae Ri vehicle about 1950s Korean all-female theater troupes in which the entire plot revolves around aspiring young lesbians competing to see who's going to be the Prince of the Theater.
Please admire these official portraits of the main cast:
Jeongnyeon! Our Heroine. Baby butch. Massive protagonist energy. FORBIDDEN to sing by her mother, who has some kind of tragic lesbian performance backstory, despite that she has the BEST VOICE in a GENERATION. In episode four someone tries to make her sing full femme with no genderplay and she revolts on live television.
Moon Okyeong, the established theater prince!! beloved of every baby lesbian in 1950s Korea!! fishes Jeongnyeon out of the sticks and inspires her to join the troupe in the hopes of molding her into a COMPETITOR who can CURE Moon Okyeong's TRAGIC ENNUI and SCHRODINGER'S MORPHINE ADDICTION with the power of HOMOEROTIC RIVALRY.
Seo Hyerang, the theater's most important femme. Moon Okyeong's toxic partner who does not approve of Okyeong experiencing homoerotic protege/rival emotions.
Heo Yeongsoo! My favorite. Jeongnyeon's OWN baby butch rival that she made HERSELF in the classic rival mode, a stiff and reserved rich girl with Family Issues whose Haughty Pride covers a Profound Passion for Theater, who only really comes alive when she gets to go onstage in full drag and play a prince or a villain. A real Mr. Darcy of a lesbian.
Jeongnyeon and Yeongsoo also have their own same-age femme whom they're constantly competing to perform with who for some reason does not get lead actress billing or one of these cool character portraits even though she is to all intents and purposes the female lead ... anyway here she is, she's extremely cute but needs to pick up some skills in communication
The experience of actually watching the show is a a bit of a roller coaster ... like one episode you're watching Jeongnyeon make the worst decisions that a human has ever made in their life, and the next episode you're just sitting back enjoying the experience of Theater Lesbians Practice The Big Villain Seduction Scene In Every Possible Casting Variation, and the next episode everyone is getting together to do the big performance when apparently nobody has ever practiced their actual blocking together before and you're like "why are you like this. surely a theater troupe cannot run this way" and then the next episode Moon Okyeong is looking simply unbelievably good in a suit.
Honestly most of the time even when something annoying was happening there was some lesbian looking good in an Outfit, so even at the times I was suffering I did not suffer! And most of the time I was not suffering, because a truth about me is I love absurd Method Theater Drama where people are constantly going out to Find their Characters and saying to each other 'show me ... your interpretation of the Foolish General! The one only you could bring!' My many years of reading Skip Beat! have prepared me perfectly for this experience.
[nb: when I say lesbians, nobody is doing anything more than tender embraces or fraught handholding on screen, and nobody is saying 'I am a lesbian', but like they are very unambiguously lesbians. The entire plot is powered by lesbian drama. Every two episodes or so a man shows up to do something like 'embezzle money' or 'vaguely menace' and then exits again.]
Do I think the ending is fully satisfying? No. Will I be requesting it for Yuletide? DESPERATELY. I hope they keep letting Kim Tae Ri play intense lesbians forever.
(Also, if anyone knows where to find scanlations of the webtoon it's based on, I am Extremely Interested in reading them ...)
Anyway, we just finished watching Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born, the Kim Tae Ri vehicle about 1950s Korean all-female theater troupes in which the entire plot revolves around aspiring young lesbians competing to see who's going to be the Prince of the Theater.
Please admire these official portraits of the main cast:
Jeongnyeon! Our Heroine. Baby butch. Massive protagonist energy. FORBIDDEN to sing by her mother, who has some kind of tragic lesbian performance backstory, despite that she has the BEST VOICE in a GENERATION. In episode four someone tries to make her sing full femme with no genderplay and she revolts on live television.
Moon Okyeong, the established theater prince!! beloved of every baby lesbian in 1950s Korea!! fishes Jeongnyeon out of the sticks and inspires her to join the troupe in the hopes of molding her into a COMPETITOR who can CURE Moon Okyeong's TRAGIC ENNUI and SCHRODINGER'S MORPHINE ADDICTION with the power of HOMOEROTIC RIVALRY.
Seo Hyerang, the theater's most important femme. Moon Okyeong's toxic partner who does not approve of Okyeong experiencing homoerotic protege/rival emotions.
Heo Yeongsoo! My favorite. Jeongnyeon's OWN baby butch rival that she made HERSELF in the classic rival mode, a stiff and reserved rich girl with Family Issues whose Haughty Pride covers a Profound Passion for Theater, who only really comes alive when she gets to go onstage in full drag and play a prince or a villain. A real Mr. Darcy of a lesbian.
Jeongnyeon and Yeongsoo also have their own same-age femme whom they're constantly competing to perform with who for some reason does not get lead actress billing or one of these cool character portraits even though she is to all intents and purposes the female lead ... anyway here she is, she's extremely cute but needs to pick up some skills in communication
The experience of actually watching the show is a a bit of a roller coaster ... like one episode you're watching Jeongnyeon make the worst decisions that a human has ever made in their life, and the next episode you're just sitting back enjoying the experience of Theater Lesbians Practice The Big Villain Seduction Scene In Every Possible Casting Variation, and the next episode everyone is getting together to do the big performance when apparently nobody has ever practiced their actual blocking together before and you're like "why are you like this. surely a theater troupe cannot run this way" and then the next episode Moon Okyeong is looking simply unbelievably good in a suit.
Honestly most of the time even when something annoying was happening there was some lesbian looking good in an Outfit, so even at the times I was suffering I did not suffer! And most of the time I was not suffering, because a truth about me is I love absurd Method Theater Drama where people are constantly going out to Find their Characters and saying to each other 'show me ... your interpretation of the Foolish General! The one only you could bring!' My many years of reading Skip Beat! have prepared me perfectly for this experience.
[nb: when I say lesbians, nobody is doing anything more than tender embraces or fraught handholding on screen, and nobody is saying 'I am a lesbian', but like they are very unambiguously lesbians. The entire plot is powered by lesbian drama. Every two episodes or so a man shows up to do something like 'embezzle money' or 'vaguely menace' and then exits again.]
Do I think the ending is fully satisfying? No. Will I be requesting it for Yuletide? DESPERATELY. I hope they keep letting Kim Tae Ri play intense lesbians forever.
(Also, if anyone knows where to find scanlations of the webtoon it's based on, I am Extremely Interested in reading them ...)
(no subject)
Aug. 3rd, 2025 05:59 pmturpsIt was a lovely day yesterday, so we decided to get the bus to Durham to see The Naked Gun at the Odeon.
It was okay, some funny parts, but I'm glad it was a very short film because no way could it support anything longer.
We did get to see, and pet, some brilliant dogs. The best being Egg, an English Bulldog who was such a happy, stocky, solid chap who just wanted all the loves. Also, an excellent golden lab on the bus home, a very soft whippet and the most adorable spaniel type puppy we admired from afar.
We had a short walk through the town square and watched a man who was busking by creating an impressive sand sculpture of a dog. Then on the way back to the bus station stopped for chai iced drinks. They'd been promoted as buy one, get one free on the poster in the window. But, it turned out to be the promotion for last month. However, the owner said we could still have them for that price, as it was his fault the posters hadn't been taken down.
Today was the usual grocery shopping and a short walk. We also went to the tip and dropped off more donations at the tip shop, so that was a small amount of clutter gone. Two new to me dresses and a short denim jacket may have also fell into my basket somehow. No idea how that happened...
Storm Floris is due to hit overnight, and of course, we have to go out first thing as James is finally having a CT scan on his elbow. Hopefully, it won't be as windy as forecast and my poor flower shelf doesn't take another battering.
It was okay, some funny parts, but I'm glad it was a very short film because no way could it support anything longer.
We did get to see, and pet, some brilliant dogs. The best being Egg, an English Bulldog who was such a happy, stocky, solid chap who just wanted all the loves. Also, an excellent golden lab on the bus home, a very soft whippet and the most adorable spaniel type puppy we admired from afar.
We had a short walk through the town square and watched a man who was busking by creating an impressive sand sculpture of a dog. Then on the way back to the bus station stopped for chai iced drinks. They'd been promoted as buy one, get one free on the poster in the window. But, it turned out to be the promotion for last month. However, the owner said we could still have them for that price, as it was his fault the posters hadn't been taken down.
Today was the usual grocery shopping and a short walk. We also went to the tip and dropped off more donations at the tip shop, so that was a small amount of clutter gone. Two new to me dresses and a short denim jacket may have also fell into my basket somehow. No idea how that happened...
Storm Floris is due to hit overnight, and of course, we have to go out first thing as James is finally having a CT scan on his elbow. Hopefully, it won't be as windy as forecast and my poor flower shelf doesn't take another battering.
(no subject)
Aug. 3rd, 2025 11:14 amskygiantsgod have I really not posted about Voyager in a year and a half?? we are still very slowly watching Voyager! we are almost at the end of season six! but I am NOT posting about thirty episodes in a single post so, let's see, I left off with Latent Image, let's see what I remember about the rest of Season 5.
( Voyager Season 5, Episodes 12-26 )
WHEW. OKAY. Now let's see if I manage to write up the first half of S6 before we're actually done with the second half of S6. I still wish these writers knew what a B-plot was.
( Voyager Season 5, Episodes 12-26 )WHEW. OKAY. Now let's see if I manage to write up the first half of S6 before we're actually done with the second half of S6. I still wish these writers knew what a B-plot was.
