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lunasarielAt the moment, I'm smack dab in the middle of Dead Week. Classes are officially over and finals don't start (for me, at least), until next Tuesday, leaving me plenty of time to stew. I always get kind of sniffly and nostalgic towards the end of the semester, and this one particularly, as it means moving out. I'd heard so many horror stories about bad roommates that I was pretty much dreading meeting The Roomie, so I'm eternally grateful that she and I got along so well. We're both introverts, we're both comfortable with quiet, we're both huge geeks...we meshed well, and I hope that I'll get as lucky with the still-nebulous The Roomie II. I'm also going to miss my room, especially the phenomenal view. But more than that, I really lucked out with classes this semester, and I'll be sad to be leaving them behind. My two English professors got spontaneous applause at the end of their respective last official classes, both of which were well deserved. Puckett, my ENGL 45B professor, has won all kinds of teaching awards, and it's easy to see why: he's funny, personable, engaging, and really communicates his enthusiasm for a subject very well. Sorensen, my ENGL 125A professor, was a harder sell. She definitely doesn't have Puckett's charisma, but, to be perfectly honest, I think I might have enjoyed her class the most. The reading was all stuff that I thoroughly enjoy anyway (with one notable exception), and when I went to her office hours and told her that I'd read Mysteries of Udolpho, her face just lit up. She pointed me in the direction of both contemporary and modern works on the whole Gothic Romance movement (it's a sign of just how much of an English nerd I am that, to me, Romance is always capitalized and refers to the literary tradition that grew out of deliberately anachronistic 18th and 19th century French chivalric tales, not Harlequin), and is letting me do my final paper on the differences and similarities of MoU and Northanger Abbey. Every so often topics like this just reach out and grab me, and suddenly I find myself doing research for fun, which is the point I'm at now. The books on my desk are roughly organized by subject into stacks, and the Gothic Romance stack has outstripped the Leisure Reading and Lent To Me By
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hamsterwoman stack, and now even rivals the Textbook stack for size. I'm glad the Cal library allows books to be kept over the summer, otherwise I would have to basically disappear from social life of every kind in order to finish them all in the next week and a half.But getting back on topic, my Celtic Studies professors didn't get ovations, but this was probably because there are, like, seven people in each class. Professor Melia, who teaches Irish Literature, is the one I'm most worried about the final for. He's an old-fashioned, takes-no-crap kind of professor, and when he says that everything is game for the final, he means *everything*. Professor Klar, of Celtic Romanticism fame, is retiring at the end of this semester, and it's been her stated goal to just have fun this time around, which is pretty much exactly what happened. It was certainly my least intensive class, work-wise, but had some of the most interesting ideas, and actually caused me to question my reasoning for taking a Celtic Studies minor.
This weekend was taken up with our annual mini-family reunion at Pajaro Dunes, which is a beach resort on Monterey Bay. I say mini-family reunion, since it's largely comprised of only my immediate family. There's a larger pan-La Follette reunion every 4th of July weekend, which alternates years between here in California, where roughly half the family lives, and Oklahoma, where the other half lives. I do like the smaller events more, and not just because I know everybody's name. Little weekend things like these are a lot more informal and spontaneous, whereas the big ones are always full of structured events where we all have to wear matching t-shirts and everyone is always looking for some mythical person called Cousin Carol, who's supposed to be organizing everything, but whom nobody can ever find.
This weekend was fun, though. My dad picked up P and A at their respective schools and then swung down through San Francisco to pick up my cousin Ryan, who recently(-ish) moved there. My stepmom, along with one of my stepsisters, came by Berkeley to get me, and my stepbrother and other stepsister drove down on their own, so, as usual, the La Follette/Hunter branch was the last to arrive, although we arrived in stages. We always rent the same two beach houses, which have by now come to be known as the "loud house" and the "quiet house," where people can go to nap, read, or if they just want some alone time. The loud house, predictably, is where all the action is: somebody's iPod is almost always plugged into my uncle's iHome (Beatles and showtunes dominate), somebody is always in the kitchen microwaving something or making a sandwich, there are two or three movies per day (more on this in a mo'), and there are more or less continuous games of Murder, Rummy Tiles, and Scrabble going on at the various tables. And, of course, that's where everybody hangs out, so the couches that line the walls are always full of people knitting/reading/napping/snacking/talking/drawing, and the tables are similarly full of people doing much of the same. Walking is always a hazard, because there's always someone stretched out somewhere napping or reading or whatever and are not above grabbing one's feet and tickling them when stepped on.
I've been distinctly "meh" about this reunion in past years, but this year I really enjoyed it. There were fears that this was going to be our last year, as funding has become a problem since my grandparents died, but it looks like my grandfather, who it turns out was actually kind of rich, actually set up a special trust especially for Pajaro Dunes, so that was sweet. For me, Pajaro Dunes is all about tradition, and there was a lot of that going around this year. My uncles made the traditional cranberry chicken and homemade ice cream, my twin aunts made the traditional Saturday morning frittata and traditional turkey or ham sandwiches for lunch, we watched our traditional movies (one Disney and one Miyazaki, The Emperor's New Groove and Howl's Moving Castle this time), my dad made his traditional slightly tipsy speech on The Meaning of Family, there was the traditional last-minute expedition to the grocery store for things we all forgot, there were traditional expeditions to the beach, the boys dug their traditional hole in the sand (no, I don't know why; they just set out to dig a hole too deep to climb out of without a ladder every year), and I got my traditional sunburn (seriously, every year I literally slather myself in sunscreen, but somehow I always manage to miss a spot. This time it's my right side and the backs of my calves, the silver lining of which is that I get to wear big floofy skirts for about a week, since jeans hurt my legs. But I digress). Understand, these aren't consciously traditional things; it's not like someone sits up on Sunday afternoon and says "Crap! We forgot the Miyazaki movie! Quick, somebody plug in Princess Mononoke before it's too late!" These are just things that have evolved out of the 15 years or so we've been doing this, and have reached the point where it's just taken for granted that they will happen, and so they do.
I've discovered that there are a lot of ASOIAF fans and Ringers in my family, so a lot of conversations started out with "So, did you catch the latest episode where..." or "I couldn't believe it when that one guy..." and then trailed off, because spoilers are srs bznz in GoT-land. It's become especially funny because I have several younger cousins who really, really don't need to hear about all the incest and rape and horrible murders and maimings and torture and whatnot, so our conversations were even more heavily edited. But it turns out there are a lot of Arya, and Stark in general, fans, which makes sense, because the Lannisters (except for Tyrion, of curse) and Greyjoys hardly come off looking like heroes, the Baratheons and Arryns are all dead and/or crazy by now, the Tullys and Martells haven't even appeared yet, there's been only one Targaryen for the past 10 episodes or so, and we've only seen two Tyrells (speaking of which, I've come to realize that there are, like, no scenes in which Finn Jones!Loras isn't pouting/petulant, which detracts somewhat from my enjoyment of his more serious scenes)...I was going somewhere with this. Anyway, I had a lot of fun talking to various aunts, uncles, and cousins about it.
We tried to have an extended version LOTR marathon when it came out that several people had only seen the theatrical versions, but only got through the first two before people had to leave; I didn't even get to stay for Helm's Deep! I got a lot of ribbing from my older cousins ("older" being relative; I'm the oldest of the cousins in general, not counting my stepbrother or my eldest aunt's children, who were already almost adults by the time I was born) on my now-legendary fangirling over Orli!Legolas, which, to be fair, was rather intense, as it came from an 11-to-14-year-old. But we ended up having to put on subtitles, because so many of us have seen so much of it so many times that we've pretty much got it memorized, leaving us free to talk over it and quiz me and my dad (the resident Tolkien geeks par excellence) about the finer points of canon. Of course, matters weren't helped by the fact that several other people, amazingly, had absolutely no idea what was going on, and had to constantly ask questions like "Which one is Merry and which one is Pippin?", "Why don't they just fly the Ring into Mordor on that giant eagle?" and, most commonly, "What just happened?" This actually led to an impromptu lecture on Tolkien on the way back up, when my stepmom, who has never read the books and has only seen the movies, like, once, asked questions, I answered them, and it kind of spiraled out of control into me explaining the Istari, the Maiar, where the Dwarves come from, what the various Rings do, why Galadriel is such an ever-loving badass, etc., etc., etc.
I've been working my way through season 2 of Babylon 5, which
hamsterwoman was kind enough to lend me, and wow, it got dark *fast.* Season 1 had some hints of things to come, but those in power were generally likeable, good people who had everybody's best interest at least fairly close to their hearts. But now I'm halfway through season 2, and all of a sudden Funny Foreigner/Loveable Coward Londo is allying himself with the literal forces of darkness to commit genocide even as peace becomes a real possibility, his comedically stuttering sidekick Vir has become a quiet, wise voice of reason, Proud Warrior Race Guy/totally-not-a-Klingon G'Kar has undergone a religious revival after a brush with the aforementioned forces of darkness and is now desperately trying to bring about a peaceful resolution to the slaughter of his people, and the government of Earth has been taken over by a xenophobic dictator backed by a shadowy organization of telepaths. I'm a sucker for tropes like the Nakama, Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, La Resistance, etc., so I'm glad that Sinclair (a nicely toned-down and darker replacement for Sinclair), Ivanova, Garibaldi, and Franklin have formed their own little cell of intrigue against the increasingly tyrannical Earth government. Garibaldi is still my favorite far and away, although Susan ("tiny but fierce!") and Lennier (still a great combination of charming naïveté, touching loyalty, and the ability to incapacitate you with his pinky, which he will probably do while apologizing) vie for second place. Maybe I've been watching too much Game of Thrones lately, but I'm sure that all three will have their spirits broken and horrible, degrading, soul-crushing things happen to them, so I'm enjoying them while I can. I was especially d'awwww-ed by Garibaldi's first line of s2, when he's just waking up out of a coma after being shot: "What's up, doc?" I mean, the guy just nearly died, and is still too weak to sit up unaided, and the first thing he does is crack a Loony Tunes joke. That aside, though, he's spent most of this season just being an almost depressingly decent guy: he's shown to be the only one who will hang out with Londo when he was feeling lonely and unloved, and he went out of his way to cheer Talia up, even though they aren't particularly good friends and she yelled at him for it. Seriously, no words for how much I like this guy: he's genuinely concerned about people's happiness, and is always ready with a joke to ease a tense situation, but that in no way prevents him from being a badass and kicking seven kinds of shit out of those who deserve it.Speaking of Garibaldi and Talia, there have been hints that he's interested in her, which, no. I can get behind him cheering her up because she was sad and obviously needed a friend, and he's just the type of guy who hates seeing people unhappy, but I just can't see him going for a Broken Bird/Defrosting Ice Queen like her with any degree of seriousness. There seem to be a couple of weird romantic decisions like that being set up: I know that Sinclair/Delenn is eventually going to be canon, and there have been a couple of hints in that direction, but nothing has struck a spark with me yet. Also, Lennier's declaration of devotion to Delenn could be read as either platonic or romantic, and if it's romantic, I wouldn't be too fussed. It's set up as a very chivalrous, for lack of a better word, romance; very Guinevere and Launcelot, and this fits both of their personalities, so I wouldn't be unhappy to see it develop that way. Of course, it could be an entirely platonic mentor/student thing, and I could be reading the entire situation wrong, which I would also be okay with. No pairings have leapt out and grabbed me by the shirt so far, so while I might get a bit :-/ over things like Garibaldi/Talia, I don't plan on shipping entanglements detracting from my enjoyment of B5.
There have also been a couple of new additions to the cast, both of which rather mystify me. Warren Keffer and Zack Allen are both given their own subplots and prominent scenes, but they don't really have all that much effect on the overall plot, or even any interactions with the main characters. Warren in particular seems to be set up for something big, but I honestly can't remember if he's ever spoken to any of the regulars. He just seems to exist parellel to, but totally disconnected from, them. I'm more worried about Zack, who has had an actual impact on the plot, even if it is just as one of the two security guys whose name we know. For that matter, how did he and his boss Garibaldi get so chummy? Garibaldi and Lou Welch were war buddies, but all of a sudden this new guys shows up and everybody knows his name. I'm afraid of a sort of Mauve Shirt situation getting set up, where we get to know him only enough to be sad when he gets killed off, probably in the season finale.
I've also had time to finish off Orca, the next Dragaera book, and...meh. I rather liked Phoenix, which provided a good balance of introspection, political machinations, metaphysics, swashbuckling, and shipteasing. The following book, Athyra, was too heavy on the navel-gazing for my tastes, so I was all ready to get back to the action in Orca. But when I actually got there, it proved more underwhelming than anything else. It started out great, though. I like Kiera, so I enjoyed her narration much more than Savn's, and having someone for Vlad to banter with aside from Loiosh provided some much-needed levity. Her descriptions of burgling were cool, and an interesting mystery was set up. However, the story got bogged down in an overly convoluted plot (the thrilling world of finance!), and the fact that the reader only gets events at two or three removes kicks the unreliable narrator thing into high gear. I badly felt the lack of Morrolan and Aliera, who could have at least injected some asskickery into some of the duller and/or more confusing scenes where Vlad and Kiera try to track various bits of possibly imaginary money back to their possibly imaginary origins, which ended up constituting a good chunk of the second half of the novel.
The big reveal of Orca was, of course, that Kiera is really Sethra in disguise. I'm not sure I buy Vlad's reasoning for how he figured it out, but then again, this is the Big Secret, and I've built it up so much that I'm not sure whether anything could measure up to my imagination. Still, though, I found it kind of a stretch that Vlad could take two instances of atypical speech patterns and one hint that "Kiera" might be more magically talented than she let on, and come up with her being the legendary sorceress in disguise. Given the information Vlad had, Occam's Razor suggests that Kiera just comes from money and/or nobility and downplays her magical abilities, as a thief who steals mostly for the fun of it wouldn't have much call to go slinging around high-caliber magic. The leap he made was kind of a big one, and not one I would have expected from him. I was already spoiled for this, though, as well as for the existence of his and Cawti's son, so there were relatively few wham! moments for me this time around.
OK, now that the bitching is out of the way, on to the fun stuff! As I said, Kiera was a welcome addition after the doom'n'gloom of Athyra, and I enjoyed the Mission: Impossible-style heists of hers. Similarly, although it turned out to be not as effective as he'd first thought, Vlad in disguise was hilarious. To me, Brust's strength really lies in this kind of stuff, where there's a mystery to be solved, fights to get into, and witty banter to be slung back and forth, and he does all this magnificently here. The addition of the rest of Team Dragon would have upped my enjoyment, of course, but that's standard for any book where there aren't sufficient Dragon-related interesting times. Still, though, I was highly amused by the fact that Morrolan was mentioned exactly twice, both times for Vlad to say that he missed him and that he's pretty. Speaking of Dragons, I rather liked Loftis, and I was actually rather sad to see him go. This was partially because, for some reason, he reminded me of Sam Vimes (his wry sense of humor? the way he talked to Vlad? the way he talked to his team? I dunno), and just generally struck me as a decent, reasonably honorable, highly competent guy.
Finally, I picked up a meme from
hamsterwoman where one asks for a color, and then has to list ten things one likes that are this color. I got yellow. Have at it!1. Yellow roses. I hated roses for the longest time, since my name ensures that I will never, ever get any other flowers as long as I live, but I've come to like them over time, especially ones that aren't your standard pink or red. My neighbors put in a gorgeous rose garden in front of their house when I was a kid, and I used to love going over to help them garden, which was a clever cover for my real purpose, to look at all the different kinds of roses they had. Seriously, they had a couple dozen different varieties of all colors. They had plenty of normal ones, of course, but I always especially loved the weird-colored ones: yellow, white, purple, blue (one so dark that it was almost black, and one electric blue that sadly didn't live long), and black.
2. Highlighters. I like highlighting things; I just do. It makes me feel like a real live college student, all serious and academic with my color-coded highlighters and post-its. Of course, I usually end up using only standard yellow highlighters and post-its, but still.
3. Lemon meringue pie. Everyone in my family has a specialty dish, and my aunt's is lemon meringue pie. I've never had any as good as hers, and I've never quite learned to make it the way she does. Of course, this is probably because hers is the result of long practice, as my grandmother's house (where my aunt grew up) has a lemon tree out back. This predisposed my aunt to experimentation, which, according to my mother and uncle, didn't always turn out so well. By the time I came along, though, she'd pretty much gotten it down through trial and error.
4. Half of Cal's colors. They've always made me chuckle a bit, because blue is my favorite color (well, tied with green, anyway), and yellow my least favorite, which is a pretty fair description of my feelings about the school. There are things like Berkeley Time and the enormous terrifying bureaucracy that I can definitely do without, but on the whole, I love it. Also, navy blue and yellow look damn good together, especially on sweaters, which is fortunate for me.
5. Laurelin. During my impromptu Tolkien lecture on our way back from the beach on Sunday, I found myself explaining the cosmology of Arda, how Galadriel is literally older than the Sun and the Moon, and why it makes sense for her to have blonde hair, but Legolas not so much, all of which led me to explain about the Two Trees and what happened to them. It was nice of my stepmom to let me go on like that, especially since I suspect that a lot of the stuff I was saying is of interest only to actual Tolkien fans.
6. Jaime Lannister. ;) Golden hair, golden hand, golden House colors (before he joined the Kingsguard, of course), and, of course, his status as the golden boy of Westeros before, and, to some extent, after he gained the title of Kingslayer. I find it interesting how GRRM takes the standard "all that is gold does not glitter" thing and switches it around so that not all that glitters is gold, if you know what I mean. The Lannisters, who are surrounded by gold and yellow, are very glittery people, but, when you get right down to it, lack the value they claim to have. Basically, to me, Lannisters are gilded, whereas people like the Tyrells, and, to a certain extent, the Starks, are gold all the way through.
7. My cat Custard. He's technically sort of sandy-colored, but when he was a little fluffball kitten, he was very, very blonde. There are only two weeks to go before I head back home, so I'm going through some serious pet withdrawal syndrome, so I can make myself giggle pretty much just by imagining his meow. The joke is that his voice never changed; he has exactly the same squeaky little mew now as he did when he fit in the palm of my hand. Of course, this is made funnier by the fact that he's otherwise a very manly cat: he's now very bulky and "buff" (P's word, not mine), and highly resents anyone cuddling him (except when he wants attention, which is an entirely different story).
8. Those stupid 60s X-Men costumes. Jean Grey's ("Marvel Girl" never really stuck; for some reason she's always been just Jean Grey) truly ridiculous outsized harlequin mask gets a special mention, but in general, painting a giant yellow X on one's chest hasn't stood the test of time as either an effective or an attractive uniform option. 60s superhero costumes all look a little silly to me, but these ones especially so.
9. My family's hair. In the members of my family where my dad's side's genes are the strongest, it's common to start out blonde and then get much, much darker as years go by. My dad was born blonde, was a strawberry blonde for most of his childhood (pictures of him from this era look weird), but now has dark brown/black hair. My brother and sister, who both got a heaping helping of La Follette genes did the same thing. This was especially visible in my sister, who spent the first four or five years of her life with truly amazing Shirley Temple blonde ringlets, although this has since settled down into brown hair with a tendency to curl.
10. The Coat. (Also, honorable mention from the same 'verse: Temeraire's talon-sheaths, pretty much all of Cusco, and the golden eagles that the breeding ground crew won.) The Temeraire-verse dragons' obsession with everything shiny is a great source of humor for the series, and I always loled at Iskierka's and Granby's battle over The Coat. What makes it especially funny is that The Coat actually ended up saving his life (even if it did cost him a hand), as I'm not at all sure that a regular cloth coat would have held long enough for Laurence to stop Granby from sliding completely over the edge. In a series of absolutely fantastic sketches (more of which can be found here; I forget whether or not I've linked them before, and any and all Temeraire fans should give them a look!), the artist mentions clothes that Iskierka tries to get him to wear, including a bejeweled feathered hat or an enormous Egyptian pectoral necklace or something, which would be awesome and hilarious and very much warrant the "What. The. Actual. Fuck?" expression he's wearing.
Speaking of Temeraire, although there is technically a kink meme, I really do wish there was more of an active fan community, because I need to vent all my plotbunnies somewhere. Understand, these are not good plotbunnies. Understand, these aren't actual workable ideas that could yield interesting, thought-provoking, sexy fic. They are unrepentantly, gloriously stupid, they resist any and all attempts to exorcise them, and I need them OUT OF MY HEAD. I mean, I sit down to try to work on Godzilla, which, okay, is fairly cracky in and of itself, but it at least tries to be serious sometimes, and my brain keeps tossing out stuff like:
1. Laurence travels in time back to the beginning of HMD, when he had arrived at Loch Lagan but hated everybody except Rankin and maybe Berkeley, while HMD!Laurence gets shot forward in time to, like, VoE era and is SHOCKED AND APALLED at everything that happened, especially because everybody knows he slept with Jane Roland except for him.
2. Granby family shenanigans wherein John has a twin brother who gets killed and mistaken for him, prompting a brief but intense uproar at the covert (brief cameo by Stephen Maturin for an anachronistic autopsy), and Mrs. Granby is an HBIC who terrifies everybody and whacks her sons upside the head.
3. Northanger Abbey crossover where Catherine and Isabella are aviator fangirls, Henry Tilney and Tharkay snark at each other, Eleanor says something cutting to Rankin, and John Thorpe gets punched. Jokes about aviators not knowing how to dance/behave at balls/in society abound.
See what I mean? There needs to be a plotbunny clearinghouse somewhere, where people can just vent all their stupid and/or crackariffic ideas like these. That way, when one is in the mood to write crack or silly fluff, they can just riffle through and pick one. Hell, people could leave their more serious fic ideas, too; I'm sure somebody somewhere would love the inspiration!
no subject
Date: 2012-05-02 03:12 pm (UTC)the Gothic Romance stack has outstripped the Leisure Reading and Lent To Me By hamsterwoman stack
We'll have to see about that! :P But classes that make one want to do research for fun are the best kind of classes, so yay!
(Speaking of increasing your leisure reading stack, are we still on for Friday? 6 p.m.? Parkside? I'll have the rodents with me, if so, as B will still be at work, but they should be able to just sit there and read and I shall bribe them with ice cream.)
Your mini-family reunion sounds like a ton of fun! I love things that have become quirky family traditions for no reasons that anhyone can explicitly remember, but are important elements nevertheless, like digging the hole or watching the Miyazaki move. The "loud house" and "quiet house" idea is very sensible!
and everyone is always looking for some mythical person called Cousin Carol, who's supposed to be organizing everything, but whom nobody can ever find
This made me LOL. Our family reunions tend to be local family only, so I know everyone by sight if not by name/relationship, but I can so see that play out in my head! XP
Yay for Tolkien lectures to a captive audience, too :) (I've done that with various members of my family at various times, and it never gets old. Though I suspect I'd have to brush up on my Appendices and Sil knowledge to deliver a comprehensive lecture now :P)
Babylon 5
Glad you're liking Sheridan more than Sinclair -- I definitely do (but, as I've said, he was also the first captain I got to know, so). Yay for continued Garibaldi and Lennier love, and Ivanova is, indeed, quite awesome as well (I suspect I never adored her as so many fans do because of the Russian thing -- I'm always a bit wary of Russian characters in stuff because I'm on the lookout for the writer(s) to get things wrong -- but I do like her a lot.)
Yep, season 2 is dark, and it sets the tone for the rest of the series, although there's still fun/humour and Tolkienian eucatastrophe along the way to keep things exciting and not too dark. Londo's arc, and G'Kar's, are some of my favorite things about the show, and Vir started really, really growing on me in season 2.
B5 is one of those fandoms where I don't have a romantic ship, but do have a fair number of brOTPs and buddy relationships and just like how all the principals mesh together, nakama-style. But on the subject of ships, let me know if you want me to comment ont he Lennier and Delenn thing.
B5 does this thing of introducing a couple of new people each season, or raising past cameos to greater prominence. Some of those work out better than others (my absolute favorite is Centauri Emperor Cartagia, who is a Targaryen if there ever was one), and some of them just kind of puzzle me --
we needed this person here why?
part 2
Date: 2012-05-02 03:12 pm (UTC)Orca
Sorry to hear you didn't like it as much as I was hoping you would. You're right that you were basically pre-spoiled for both of the major reveals; I was, too, and it still worked for me, so it's probably not just that. I also knew the Sethra-is-Kiera reveal happened in this book, so I was on the lookout for it. It is rather a leap by Vlad, but making leaps like that is actually not out of character for him. I guess one thing it isn't is dramatic... but Brust never seems to do dramatic reveals; they're always kind of boink-and-you'll-miss-it types, which I guess is a stylistic choice, but not always a satisfying one.
the story got bogged down in an overly convoluted plot (the thrilling world of finance!),
LOL at this for two reasons. The first is that, when it comes to Brustian plots, I don't even really try to make sense of them any longer -- I just kind of ride the wave and don't worry about figuring it out too much -- Yendi taught me well. The other reason is that I did, actually, find the financial thriller/heist/mystery investigation thing quite thrilling. I wonder if Brust set out to write the first ever financial thriller fantasy on a lark (it fits the theme of Orca the house very well, of course, but it's such a random contest, it feels almost like it must've been written on a dark :P). The other thing I noticed while reading Orca, though, is how topical it seemed to the current economic climate -- it was a bit uncanny, actually, given how long ago the book was written.
Vlad having someone to banter with again (and just being able to hear him banter with Loiosh, which we'd been deprived of in Athyra) is one of the reasons I do think Orca really picks up after the preceding book. Vlad-in-disguise is probably my favorite part, too. I also liked Loftis, who reminded me of a couple different security-type characters, most notably ones from the Vorkosigan Saga, though. I was sad when he died, too. And I also liked Timmer. Speaking of Loftis, I think he's the only Dragonlord we meet who shares Morrolan's e'Drien lineage in Vlad's present day, which I thought was kind of interesting.
Still, though, I was highly amused by the fact that Morrolan was mentioned exactly twice, both times for Vlad to say that he missed him and that he's pretty.
Heh. (As you might have already discovered, there is, at least a fair bit of Morrolan early on in Dragon. And a bit of Team Dragon dynamics in general there and in the next book.)
I'm sorry to have inadvertently given you your least favorite color for the meme! I was debating between yellow and green, and went with yellow because I felt like there are too many green things. In any case, I really enjoyed your answers! Yellow (and cream) roses are my favorite roses, too (and this predates my Tyrell obsession) -- also, blue and purple roses! I've never seen them growing like that -- so cool! Blue and gold do, indeed, look excellent together on sweatshirts and such, and it was both aww-inducing and funny to read about your macho but squeaky-voiced cat :)
I've seen other Temeraire art by that artist, but not those particular sketches -- thanks for the link!
especially because everybody knows he slept with Jane Roland except for him.
Bwahaha!
And I know what you mean about exorcising plot bunnies (I don't even write fic, but sometimes these things come up, and they need to be shared with someone so they would stop living in my head). One side effect of these random character cracky crossover memes is that they give me increasingly obscure plot bunnies which can be understood, let alone realized, but a vanishingly small number of other people (the latest of these being that Laurence and Hermione and [character from the Vorkosigan Saga] high school AU thing which I keep going back and thinking about. XP
Re: part 2
Date: 2012-05-02 11:22 pm (UTC)My pre-retirement prof had some fun moments, but there were also a lot like these. It could be kind of frustrating when I did the work the syllabus had slated, but we wouldn't get around to actually doing aything with it for, like, two weeks.
are we still on for Friday? 6 p.m.? Parkside?
You bet! I'll have the Book of Athyra and B5 s2... I'm only borrowing B5 and Vlad Taltos from you at the moment, right?
The "loud house" and "quiet house" idea is very sensible!
It really is. It's a holdover from when my grandparents and various babies needed somewhere to nap, but people liked the idea, and now, it's mostly the Internet house. XD
I'm always a bit wary of Russian characters in stuff because I'm on the lookout for the writer(s) to get things wrong
I was kind of wondering about that! She's very empathetically both Russian and Jewish, but I'm not sure if they actually get everything right and/or portray her in a non-headdesk-inducing manner. How well does she hold up?
Vir started really, really growing on me in season 2.
I just finished the episode where your Vir quote icon comes from, and...wow. That scene kind of floored me. I was seriously impressed, and I may or may not have literally cheered him on. I mean, up until now, he's pretty much been the dorky, stuttering, inefficient Butt Monkey who's comically scared of his boss, and he just delivered a no-holds-barred verbal smackdown to literally pure evil incarnate. He did and said everything that I wish Londo was smart and/or brave enough to, and raised my opinion of him from "eh, Vir's okay, I guess" to "hell, yeah, Vir! Show him how it's done!" So, yeah, I'm with you on the Vir love.
let me know if you want me to comment ont he Lennier and Delenn thing.
I think I'm good for the time being. I know it can't end well, since Sheridan and Delenn end up together, so I'm trying to preserve the image of shiny-innocent-happy Lennier before his inevitable (I'm pretty sure?) heartbreak. Actually, I have a bad feeling about a lot of these characters' futures...*gulp*
It is rather a leap by Vlad, but making leaps like that is actually not out of character for him.
Very true! Actually, that was one thing I did like about the scene: Vlad's reasoning, and his reactions, were very in-character for him. It felt exactly like something he would think and say, and, I liked the return to mysteries and "dun-dun-DUN" reveals like this, it's just that this particular reveal felt like something that I believed absolutely from Vlad's POV, but not so much from mine, the reader on the outside.
The other thing I noticed while reading Orca, though, is how topical it seemed to the current economic climate -- it was a bit uncanny, actually, given how long ago the book was written.
Oooh, I forgot to mention this! But, yeah, I noticed the same thing, to the point where I actually double-checked the publishing date. It was a seriouly weird moment, reading about this banking bubble built on bad loans and tied up with government finance, and how hard everyone worked to keep it afloat even though it was fundamentally untenable, because if it goes down, everybody goes down with it...O.o
it was both aww-inducing and funny to read about your macho but squeaky-voiced cat :)
Thanks! The really funny thing is, he *hates* it when people imitate his squeaky mew, and glares and complains at anyone who tries. XD < / crazyoldcatladyintraining >
I've seen other Temeraire art by that artist, but not those particular sketches -- thanks for the link!
^.^ She's one of my favorite Temeraire artists, and these sketches are always good for a pick-me-up when I need inspiration. Her Jane Roland is my favorite, though, and definitely led me to think of Ivanova's actress as my headcanon for her.
sometimes these things come up, and they need to be shared with someone so they would stop living in my head
Exactly! I have no intention of actually doing anything with these, but they keep coming back. There should totally be some sort of pan-fandom clearinghouse for cracky ideas like these!
Re: part 2
Date: 2012-05-03 04:55 am (UTC)How well does she hold up?
A bit weirdly... Like, I kept trying to figure out why a Russian-Jewish woman would be named Susan Ivanova. Ivanova is very much NOT a Jewish name, and Susan is not a Russian name, though I guess it could be seen as a version of Shoshannah, which is Jewish at least. So, like, there are hundreds of names that connote "Russian Jewish" way more than "Susan Ivanova", but all kinds of things can happen. Like, if her father's father was Russian but his mother was Jewish, he would be a Jew (could even be a rabbi) with Ivanov for a lastname. And if Russian and English speakers are much more intermixed in 22whatever than they are today, I guess I could see them naming her Susan. Or maybe she has an American great-aunt named Susan that she's named after. There are ways it could work, but it's not intuitive, you know?
So, she definitely doesn't resonate with me as someone who shares my background. But it's a couple of hundred years from now and Earth is under a common government, so who is to say that "Russian-Jewish" would be kind of different by then?
That scene kind of floored me. I mean, up until now, he's pretty much been the dorky, stuttering, inefficient Butt Monkey who's comically scared of his boss, and he just delivered a no-holds-barred verbal smackdown to literally pure evil incarnate.
One of my favorite scenes in the show. I keep saying B5 is LotR in space, and this is one of the ways in which it pings me like that -- I thought Vir's answer to Morden was quite Hobbitish, in a Sam-like way.
still in 2 parts, lol
Date: 2012-05-03 04:56 am (UTC)Ah, I see. I definitely agree that it's not set up as something the reader can figure out, which could be frustrating. It's more that certain bits fall into place after the reveal, like the reason Buddy the dog had some kind of problem with Kiera. It's actually kind of fun to reread the early books knowing the spoiler, because there are little bits of foreshadowing thrown about. I forget at what point you got spoiled for this, so I'm not sure if you already knew when you were starting Taltos, but there's the time Loiosh first meets Sethra and he's like, "Boss, have we met her before?" -- and retroactively it's almost certainly meant to be a hint that she is reminding him of Kiera in some fashion (after all, Sethra Lavode is not the sort of person you'd easily mistake for anyone else, you know?) And then I think it's in Yendi that Kiera gives Vlad a diamond that she supposedly stole from Sethra, back when he's strapped for cash in the war with Laris. And of course it makes Kiera's pep talk with Vlad before he goes off to meet Morrolan and Sethra for the first time (and giving him the vial of goddess blood) rather interesting.
I remembered one thing I forgot to say that I liked/found interesting about Orca -- the way you get a Dragaeran's view of Vlad and of Vlad interacting with other Dragaerans. Like the old woman thinking Vlad was disgusting, and Kiera being grossed out by his body hair.
to the point where I actually double-checked the publishing date. It was a seriouly weird moment, reading about this banking bubble built on bad loans and tied up with government finance, and how hard everyone worked to keep it afloat even though it was fundamentally untenable, because if it goes down, everybody goes down with it...O.o
My feeling exactly. Kind of uncanny!
Re: still in 2 parts, lol
Date: 2012-05-03 06:37 am (UTC)If you won't be needing them, this would be great! My library doesn't have Tiassa and, as you say, I won't be back in the Bay Area until Berkeley starts up again in August, so it would be nice to finish out the series.
So, she definitely doesn't resonate with me as someone who shares my background.
Huh. Well, I'm guessing that there weren't any Russian Jews on the writing team, so I'm glad that, while a bit odd, it's not offensive or anything. Although, you're right; there's bound to be some cultural drift in the 200-odd years between now and the 23rd century. Given this, I've actually secretly been hoping that we'd see some weird new Earth traditions/religions/cultures/music/etc.
I thought Vir's answer to Morden was quite Hobbitish, in a Sam-like way.
I knew there was a reason I liked him so much! You're right; it is a very Sam-ish reaction: he may be slightly tempted, but he resists magnificently where the great and powerful fail, and even goes so far as to tell evil incarnate where it can stick its promises of power, to said evil's evident shock. Basically, that scene was one big CMoA for me. :)
I forget at what point you got spoiled for this, so I'm not sure if you already knew when you were starting Taltos
I think I found out about halfway through Taltos, because I don't remember having any "Aha!" moments during scenes like Kiera's pep talk with Vlad before he goes off to meet Morrolan and Sethra for the first time (and giving him the vial of goddess blood), but I'm pretty sure it was before the end, because I do recall thinking about it when Vlad gets the idea to summon said goddess blood. So soon enough to realize what she was up to, but not soon enough to pick up on things like Loiosh's comments to Vlad.
the way you get a Dragaeran's view of Vlad and of Vlad interacting with other Dragaerans.
Interesting! There was a lot of casual racism/speciesism, as expected, but there were some funny moments, too: the whole "human" thing was reversed (I also love Noish-pa calling Dragaerans "elfs"), and everyone was so weirded out by Vlad's mustache/general body hair. I especially liked the second one because, on reflection, body hair would probably really creep/weird/gross Dragaerans out. Am I right in assuming that no Dragaeran has facial or body hair of any kind?
Re: still in 2 parts, lol
Date: 2012-05-03 06:09 pm (UTC)No problem! (You may need a bigger bag, though :) Or at least a rubber band to use the same trick as last time.)
Given this, I've actually secretly been hoping that we'd see some weird new Earth traditions/religions/cultures/music/etc.
I'm trying to remember whether we ever get something like that... Maybe a little bit with the Mars colonists, but I think in most other respects the show focused on developint the cultures of the aliens (which I do think they did a really good job with; the Minbari, Centauri, and Narn may not be the most original aliens in fiction, but their cultures always felt fully realized to me, and we even get a glimpse of a number of the less-prominent aliens, like the Drazi). But I might have forgotten some Earth stuff that was there, admittedly, because the aliens were always the part that interested me most.
Basically, that scene was one big CMoA for me. :)
Totally agreed. I think it's actually basically s2's overall CMoA, and I was thrilled that mousy, comic-relief Vir was the one who got to have it. (That's actually one of the major strengths of the show for me, that it manages to mix in comic, tragic, and epic elements for so many of its major characters, and the characters who get to have that mix are all of my favorites.)
Am I right in assuming that no Dragaeran has facial or body hair of any kind?
Definitely true for facial hair (which is why "Whiskers" is a racial/species slur for Easterner -- one of those worldbuilding details I really love -- and also why Vlad insists on having a moustache. Also true for general body hair. As little fic as exists in this fandom, there is, actually, a tiny bit of at least semi-explicit fic, which raises the question of whether or not Dragaerans have pubic hair. There is no canonical evidence for or against AFAIK :P
I also love Noish-pa calling Dragaerans "elfs"
Me too! I was actually really bummed that we didn't get more Noish-Pa - Dragaeran interaction in Phoenix, or a glimpse of how he is getting along in charge of Vlad's holdings at Lake Szurke, because I'm really curious about both how he would interact with normal Dragaerans and (because I'm nothing if not one-note, heh) about how he would interact with Morrolan.
I haven't read it myself yet (actually, I should go ahead and buy this, I'm now bummed that I forgot about it when I was doing my Paarfi spree just now...), but Brust has a book that's set in the same universe as Dragaera (well, all of his books might be set in the same universe, or at least Devera shows up in all of them, but that's Devera for you) but is not part of either of the actual Dragaera series. It -- "Brokedown Palace" -- is basically an Eastern fairy tale, and there are some scenes in it that are the Eastern-POV (and/or possibly fictionalized -- or at least differently fictionalized) view of events also covered by one of the Paarfi books. And it may be a sort of very loose prequel to the Vlad books, too. Anyway, this is all to show the length to which Brust's perspective-messing-with extends (and I love it!)
Re: still in 2 parts, lol
Date: 2012-05-04 12:31 am (UTC)Definitely! I don't remember the episode, but there was one part where Londo and Vir were arguing about Centauri opera: comparing famous singers, singing bits of their favorite songs, etc. It was the kind of thing that wasn't necessary to the plot, and the episode could have gotten by without, but now the audience knows what Centauri music sounds like, and what kinds Londo likes vs. what kinds Vir likes, which goes a long, long way to fleshing them out.
That's actually one of the major strengths of the show for me, that it manages to mix in comic, tragic, and epic elements for so many of its major characters
Very much agreed. This was one of the things that surprised me most about B5, since, going in, I was afraid of the characters turning into a bunch of space opera stock characters: Sinclair was going to be the shiny hero, Londo was going to be the loveable coward/comic relief, G'Kar was going to be your standard Klingon/Proud Warrior Race Guy, but then all that got thrown right out the window and all the characters got, y'know, depth and dimensions and facets and stuff. Now, there aren't really any purely comic characters, or epic heroes; everyone has layers.
which raises the question of whether or not Dragaerans have pubic hair. There is no canonical evidence for or against AFAIK :P
Heh, now I kinda want someone to ask Brust this question at an event or something, if only to see how he'll react and/or if he actually has an answer. XD