Mixed week, character meme results, more Babylon 5 thoughts, and a meme

[lunasariel]

This week has been one of the first truly relaxing weeks I've had since the start of the semester. Or, at least, the latter half of it has been relaxing. I had planned to actually campaign in westerosorting's Character Meme after receiving a hell of a kick-start from hamsterwoman (see below), but that third essay I mentioned in my last post? Yeah, it kind of snuck up on me. Three pages really doesn't sound like that much, but I hadn't done any research or anything; I didn't even really have a thesis beyond "compare John Smith and William Bradford and see what comes up," so this ended up taking way, way longer than I expected. Compounded with some technical difficulties (see below, again), I ended up not being able to campaign at all, which was kind of a bummer.


The first half of the week was pretty normal: tons o' reading, but HoME was fun. We covered the part of the Sil (the death of Fingolfin, ensuing destruction, etc.) that might as well be re-titled "Life Sucks, And Then You Die," especially because we also got introduced to Men, and their ensuing mortality. We've also been going over Elven heraldry in bits and pieces, and it was really interesting to see how the heraldry of the Edain took so much inspiration from that of the Eldar, but it really made me wonder what pre-contact human heraldry was like. The banner of Rohan is pretty much the only heraldic device left that has absolutely no Elven influence - no rotational symmetry, no abstract(-ish) shapes, no strict lozenge border. And one of our instructors is a real heraldry buff, so it's funny to hear him rant about which colors are supposed to go with which and why Haleth's tree would be impossible to see among actual trees. It mostly boils down to "Tolkien, ur doin it rong," but, still, it's nice to hear from an expert. As mentioned above, we also covered the death of Fingolfin, the first truly catastrophic event since the Kinslaying/ship-burning/crossing of the Helcaraxë. We compared quite a few fanart (both amateur and pro) renditions of it, and we noticed, interestingly, that Fingolfin was often portrayed as blonde (these fanartists clearly aren't Tolkien n00bs, so maybe it's some sort of subconscious effort to link him to the shiny heroic blonde Finarfineans?), and that Morgoth was just as often portrayed as left-handed (we even got into the "sinister"= left-handed/"dexter[ous]" = right-handed thing, which I once again broke my arm patting myself on the back for already knowing). And, of course, Memo (previously referred to here as Robbie, for some weird reason that even I can't fathom), gave his usual, er, memorable spin on things, by referring to Fingolfin's and Morgoth's battle as "the most epic game of Whack-A-Mole in history," which, lol, cannot unsee! So that was the main thing I took away from HoME; I consider it a class well-spent.



The rest of the week was, apparently, Let's All Be Nice to Rose Week - my reading slacked off, hamsterwoman made some very flattering comparisons between me and both Willas Tyrell and Brienne, in the Character Meme, brit_columbia also said some extremely warm-fuzzies-inducing things in the meme she's been running over on her blog (a version of which is posted below), and several people randomly complimented my new clothes, especially my long knitted coat, which I'm increasingly in love with. And, finally, my mom and RG came to visit on Thursday, to resolve a money issue that's been cropping up recently. Basically, I've been receiving what we've taken to calling Mystery Cal Money - checks for a lot of money, for no reason I could discern, and Bank of America was giving me some trouble when I tried to transfer it into my mom's account. It turns out I've won some sort of scholarship that I don't even remember applying for, so, yay!, but also, um?

Other than that, though, it was a really great chance to see her, since we'd missed our chance during my adventures in house-sitting a few weeks ago, so not only did I miss just talking to her, but quite a few issues had been piling up that needed dealing with, the Mystery Cal Money being the most prominent. We also discussed Plans, and I was extremely relieved to hear that she was actually excited, not condemning, about my idea of taking a super-senior year, maybe finishing that Celtic Studies double-major, and re-applying to UCLA then, since I'm not even sure whether they would accept my application as it stands, since they're uncomfortably unclear about what has to be included in the application and what can be left to be completed on good faith, whether deferred enrollment is an option, etc. I mean, I'm still going to apply, but it's good to know that I have options beyond working at Burger King if I don't get in. I was especially worried about this because I've heard Stepmom and my dad talking about P's rather, er, erratic academic history (community college, Reed, community college again, and now Davis), and I remember Stepmom saying something like "he can't go to school forever," and apparently she's worried about  finances being a factor, and, basically, what I got was that she didn't want to waste money on footling around in academia with no clear goal in mind, or a goal that changes every six months. But, to be brutally honest, I'm more interested in my mom's opinion than in Stepmom's, so getting my mom's approval was a big deal.

Speaking of step-parents, I've been trying to parse out my thoughts re: my mom and RG as a couple, and I've actually come to pretty much the same conclusion as re: my dad and Stepmom: I don't think I really like him (RG), but he makes her (my mom) really happy, so who am I to get in the way? RG really loves Berkeley as a city, so I can see why my mom brought him along, but he was really, really awkward the entire time. Like, he barely spoke (not unusual), didn't really try to interact at all, and smiled sort of stiffly and uncomfortably at the middle distance when my mom and I started talking about something that wasn't within his areas of interest (which, considering that his areas of interest are pretty much limited to cooking, [classical] music, his cat, so-bad-they're-good Asian movies, and some older sci-fi/fantasy, is just about everything). We both made sporadic efforts to draw him into the conversation, but nothing really took. Things got less awkward as time went on, or maybe I just got used to it, but I was definitely :\ at first. But they're actually really cute together, and seeing him be all gentlemanly and courtly to her, in his own awkward way, was sweet, and clearly charmed the hell out of her, so I'm satisfied.

Otherwise, though, it was really fun, and something I'd looked forward to for a while. I wore the cream of my crop of new clothes, and Let's All Be Nice to Rose Week continued as my new look and no-longer-alarmingly-sparse hair were exclaimed over, and pictures were taken. They also brought my big brown comforter, that, given how cold my dorm gets, I'll be wanting in a few weeks, but a typo in the text message wherein I initially asked for it, "big brown comforter" became "big Brian comforter," and a running joke about who, exactly big Brian is and what his intentions are started and kept up for most of the afternoon. They arrived around 3-ish, about an hour after class had let out, so we had plenty of time to drop off my stuff and settle the Mystery Cal Money thing at the BofA downtown before going to dinner. I had vague ideas of introducing them to Bongo Burger (the awesome burger joint I mentioned a few posts ago), Yummy Burrito Place, or The Melt (sandwich joint on Telegraph that I've been wanting to try out), but my mom had done some research, and wanted to try an Italian place on Northside. The food was delicious, but the portions were unexpectedly small, and for the first time in ages, I not only ate my fair share of everything the three of us ordered, but had room for two desserts (the lemon torte and chocolate lava cake were amazing) (split two and a half ways, but still) and was still hungry afterwards. During all of this, we pretty much got caught up on each other's lives (P is On about some complicated math thing at Davis, A is enjoying high school and has recently developed her first serious Boy Drama [he came over to her table in the cafeteria! *gasp*], Granny is thinking of getting a cat after her yappy little dog didn't really work out, etc.), made plans (somewhat surprisingly, I've been invited to accompany Chreather down to spend Thanksgiving with JC, who's now doing something terribly complex and math-y at UCLA, so I'll be spending the preceding [long] weekend up in Sebastopol, doing my filial duty), and squeed about our various intersecting fandoms (yes, we have intersecting fandoms. My mom is cool like that) (neither of us have any interest in Downton Abbey until Mary and Matthew stop being drama queens and Bates comes back; we shared thoughts on the upcoming Hobbit movie[s]; I got to semi-spoil the ending of Hornblower [she's not as big an Archie fan as I am, so her reaction to the news was more "huh. I didn't know the author's estate still had any creative control at all, since it's been so long" than "*sob* WHEN THE SUN HAS SET, NO CANDLE CAN REPLACE IT!"], she borrowed A Game of Thrones to re-read, since she went through them so fast the first time and Aunt M and Granny are reading them; she apparently hasn't seen the second season of GoT so I got to rant at her about Margaery's costumes, the catastrophic mis-handling of Renly's death [and character in general], and my misgivings about Olenna's casting; and, of course, there was mutual glee about HoME, which unfortunately rhymes). After dinner, she dropped me back at my dorm while they (well, RG mostly, or so I gather) moved on to Rasputin Records. All in all, it was a day very well spent.



Friday was...odd. I woke up fine, had breakfast, did a little light reading before class (only 45C discussion - Early American Lit was cancelled), and got through half of class just fine, but at about 11:35, my energy levels just crashed. It was way more of a struggle than it should have been to get through class awake, and afterwards I went back to the library for the three hours until I was supposed to meet with M. And it was a weird, restless kind of sleep, too, so I woke up groggy and feeling like crap. But I went to meet up with M anyway, and we did our usual lunch-and-TV thing. It was almost all Buffy the Vampire Slayer this time, though, and we're almost done with the first season. So. Much. 90s! My love for Anthony Stewart Head knows no bounds, but I have a feeling that Xander's wardrobe in particular was eye-searing on purpose. This was also a much younger Joss Whedon, so his style wasn't perfected yet, and quite a few plots still had to rely on other characters being stunningly unobservant, but, c'mon, it's Joss the Boss, so it can never be truly bad, not when he's still playing around with dialogue and Battle Couples and shirtless David Boreanaz. I actually fell asleep during "The Pack," so M went home a little early, and I did some school reading and then watched Babylon 5 (more on this below) until I fell asleep.

I woke up on Saturday, and...ugh. Ironically, when my mom came down on Thursday, she delivered her yearly dire warning about what will happen if I don't get a flu shot, I resolved to do so, and this felt a lot like the flu. No throwing up, thankfully, but I was coughing rather, er, chunkily, my nose was plugged, I had zero appetite, and I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I was supposed to meet up with M again, but I warned her off, since I'd rather she not catch the Death Plague from me. I slept/dozed/drifted for most of the day, but the noise from the impending Homecoming game started to wake me up around 5ish. I did a little more school reading, but then realized that I wasn't really taking anything in (note to self: do *not* try to read Ulysses while under the influence of a virus. It's weird), so I watched some more B5 and noodled around online. Sunday was pretty much a repeat, except that I actually got dressed.



First and foremost as far as Nerd News goes, westerosorting Character Meme results are out! After hamsterwoman's unexpected-but-indescribably-awesome kick-starting both my Brienne and Willas campaigns, I...proceeded to do exactly jack-all (*points up to Extra Essay Excuse*). I meant to campaign, I really did! I had this whole photoset of me with horses (the fat lil' Shetland pony, aptly named Snowball, that I learned to ride on), hounds (my geriatric terrier), hawks (parakeets), younger curly-brown-haired siblings (of which, OMG, I never realized how Tyrell-y we all are! Aside from the brown hair thing, I'm the bookish shorty who stays in the background, P is the handsome athletic Shiny Hero type who actually is really that nice, and A is the gorgeous drama queen with a tendency towards getting into screaming fights. This would actually make my mom Margaery, Olenna, or both, since she married a charismatic guy with blue eyes and curly black hair but it ended badly, but she's also the unquestioned HBIC and rules the house with an iron-but-loving hand. But I digress), Highgarden/California, and oh so many books, but, um, I didn't. A lot of those photos are still at home, and P is off at Davis now, so my mom has been having some trouble with the scanner, so, yeah, that didn't happen. As it works out, though, I ended up winning both of them, and while I certainly do feel like a Brienne a lot of the time, I'm going to treasure that Willas victory for ever and ever, you guys don't even know. moryssa even made some lovely character banners, and the glory of mine can be reveled in here. (My deep, dark LJ secret is that I've never been able to figure out what, exactly, one is supposed to do with a banner, but the mere fact that it exists and is now saved to my desktop is awesome in and of itself.) So thanks to hamsterwoman, the best campaign manager a fangirl could ask for! ^_^



In other news, Georgette Heyer's Regency romances were recommended to me three times in one day, so I figure the universe is trying to tell me something. Buuuut I've got the whole pile of Stuff Leant to Me By hamsterwoman (Dragaera [both timelines], Vorkosigan Saga, and Babylon 5) all calling my name, and I promised M I'd read Ananzi Boys once I found the time, and we're still working our way through Teen Wolf (it may be braincandy, but dammit, even braincandy deserves completion), and I've *still* got that pile o' Gothic Romance research & criticism that I checked out at the end of last semester, and Godzilla is almost done, and, and, and. But I've heard that Georgette Heyer is actually, like, a really good writer, and her romances aren't just bodice rippers where the rebellious young heroine tosses her golden/chestnut/ebony curls and then marries the duke's son disguised as a stable-boy and they have wild monkey sex involving corsets and stockings. So, majorly torn.



I've finally been able to watch a little more Babylon 5, and I'm about halfway through the third season now. As per usual, I've been taking notes as I go, reproduced, occasionally expanded upon, and edited for coherence, for your viewing pleasure.

Passing Through Gethsemane

• Whenever religious figures show up these days, why are they always always Christian, and usually Catholic? One of my favorite s1 moments was when Sinclair resolved the debate over how to sum up Earth's religious beliefs by inviting representatives from everyone.
• Good job with Garibaldi - his approval of the death penalty over the "death of personality." One thing I love about B5 is that the protagonists all have, y'know, actual flaws (and not just Gary-Stu/Mary-Sue "flaws"), and sometimes even controversial opinions, so good on the writers for making my favorite character more than a universally Nice Guy/Badass hybrid.
• D'awwww Lennier the nerd! When he started running his mouth about Velen and Minbari religious history, he sounded exactly like any other geek when asked about his/her topic of interest, and this is speaking from experience here.
• This may be because of my own Catholic background, but Brother Edward's/Charlie's Last Rites were more moving than expected. Like, I actually got a little misty, as it struck me very strongly that my granddad heard the exact same words right before he died.

Voices of Authority

• Hnnnng Marcus. Damn good eyecandy, sir. Damn good eyecandy, indeed.
• Draal (better known as Planet Guy, or as I like to call him, Captain Planet) has the best reassuring old man voice ever. Like, almost "Gandalf narrating 'Concerning Hobbits' while channeling Tolkien" good.
• Why is G'Kar suddenly acting all villainous? I can sure understand his eemity towards Londo, but why does he suddenly insist on being involved in Sheridan's secret club? He must remember from his time as an ambassador that  EarthForce has more to worry about than him and/or the Centauri, so I don't get why why he assumes that whatever is going on is something that he A) should know about, B) can help with and C) can help him. I mean, he didn't much seem to care about, say, the whole "making EarthForce officers pay rent for their quarters" thing, and, as far as anyone else knows at this point, that's about as important as whatever Sheridan has going on.
• Does 1984 not exist in this universe? One would think that, for such an advanced society, more people would be concerned about so many basic civil rights being revoked, as well as the INCREDIBLY OBVIOUS government corruption and secret police. But everyone is just so blasé about it: "For your convenience, you can take your Loyalty Oath at our website: www.werewatchingyou.gov, and jackboots will be passed out at lunch on Thursday."
• I don't know if I mis-heard this or what, but I swear that a passenger liner in this episode was called Loki - heh. Certainly fits in with the overall theme of deception. Yay for writers sneaking little asides like this in!
• If I'm not mistaken, it looks like Zach is being driven into the arms of Nightwatch through fear and desire for knowledge? I find this fascinating, and a great example of B5 twistiness overall - moral ambiguity, the heroes kinda creating their own problems in an ironic/Greek tragic way, people being neither innately good nor bad but pushed towards one or the other by circumstances. Normally characters creating their own problems makes me *headdesk*, but I love how this is set up, where there's really no other action that Garibaldi et all could conceivably take, so they don't trust him because he's acting untrustworthy, but he's acting untrustworthy because they're hiding things form him, and it's this whole feedback loop that, at least for me, really works. (The whole thing is MUCH more interesting than the other main way to handle this sort of thing, which boils down to "Da gub'ment done gone n' turned evil!"/1984 IN SPACE!)
• Methinks they're setting up Susan/Marcus. Huh. I confess I can't really see it right now, but I'm reserving final judgment on this one until I see how things shape up.

Dust to Dust

• LOL, Ivanova's 1st solution to incoming Bester: "let's blow him up! :D" In fact, that whole first scene was very characteristic of the human members of Sheridan's conspiracy: Garibaldi wants to make the lonely new guy feel welcome, Ivanova objects on the grounds that, essentially, "he gives me an uncomfortableness" and advocates problem-solving via the judicious application of explosives, Franklin plays the peacemaker but is unaccountably jumpy, and Sheridan is busy paying attention to the big picture.
• Vir is back! Yaaaaaay! *waves Vir pom-poms*
• Still loving the grey vs. grey morality re: G'Kar & Centauri/Narn conflict.
• Vir always makes me smile when he's being all unshakably loyal - this is what makes me love him/what makes him capital-G Good (I've been sort of pawing at sorting B5 characters into ASOIAF Houses, and I've pretty much decided that Vir is Tully at its best - loyalty without stupidity, drawing strength from it instead of it being a weakness.)
• Calling it right now: I'm predicting a Heroic Sacrifice for G'Kar, whether or not Londo's dream/prophecy comes true or not.
• Why is it Garibaldi who gets the Big Book o' Narn? I admit I was running through this episode kinda fast, so I may have missed this, and I'm sure never going to say no to Garibaldi's Team Dad/universally friendly tendencies paying off, but I just wonder if there's some reason beyond the whole "brother warriors" thing he and G'Kar have going on.

Exogenesis

• And yet another instance of Garibaldi (as usual) wanting to include everybody, even Marcus *waves Garibaldi pom-poms*
• Marcus is soooo English: "The Scottish Play," cracks about the French. I thought his accent was just TV shorthand for elegance/refinement/slight exoticism, the way it usually is, but kudos to them for actually using his Englishness for more than just a sexy accent. I seem to recall him being from some off-world colony or other, though; maybe it's a primarily British colony, or maybe his parents were just British and raised their son(s) as such.
• Marcus gets his first subplot in the spotlight after the one in which he was introduced. Go him! It was neat to see what he gets up to when he's not mixed up with EarthForce or the Minbari directly.
• Corwin has crazy eyes, and is shaping up to be another excellent example of Sheridan's little cabal's mistrust of outsiders being just as destructive as the mistrust of Nightwatch or the Minbari separatists. Some interesting parallels in there...
• Why is Garibaldi suddenly being obstructionist? He already knows that psychic spiders from the dawn of time are threatening to destroy existence as we know it, and they're opposed by a battallion of equally ancient quasi-mystical, unimaginably powerful beings, several of which he as met personally, so why is he suddenly not trusting the guy they hired specifically to keep an eye out for stuff like this?
• Another interesting instance of grey vs. grey morality: Stephen & Marcus end up as the episode's antagonists. The destructiveness of mistrust seems to be an ongoing theme here.
• Hot damn, Marcus is pretty. Just because it bears repeating. He totally is Space Faramir, with the hair (and I am usually so very not a facial hair person, especially not a mustache person, but damn if he doesn't make it work), and the voice, and those eyes...I'll be in my bunk.
• Looks like Marcus/Susan is getting some development. Huh. I accidentally crackshipped Marcus/Lennier and now I can't get it out of my head, so I'm a little *eyebrow* at Marcus/Susan, but...it can actually work, I think. It has a kind of Wash/Zoë vibe to it, or at least it might, given some time to develop. As things stand, I can see how it has potential, but I can also see how it can be botched, so I'm not 100% sold on it yet.

Messages from Earth (part 1 of 3)

• A big deal was made about Marcus making this big romantic gesture of managing to import eggs for Ivanova. So can chickens not be kept on B5? I can't imagine it would take a lot to feed them, or a lot of room to keep them. Hell, there's even some damn decent fake scrambled eggs out right now.
• Garibaldi is still the best Team Dad for visiting G'Kar in jail, although it turns out that G'Kar didn't need any cheering up. I do want to see what will come of that "Garibaldi tries to read the Book of G'Quan," though.
• Oh shit, EarthForce (specifically PsiCorps) is working with the Shadows. This isn't surprising, but it *is* BAD! Soooo many ways this can go wrong.
• I'm still fairly "meh" about Sheridan/Delenn, although they're clearly shaping up to be the Official Couple.

Point of No Return (part 2 of 3)

• I love that Vir's big blow-up rebellion against Londo isn't "write the damn report yourself!" or "I'm through with you!", or even just "You're insane!" but "I'm going to get some sleep, and then we'll try to work out a compromise!" in the exact same outraged tone, and still followed by him storming from the room, but, lol.
• This episode consists of a mounting pile of "oh, crap"s. Although, clearly, making Team Dad Garibaldi angry and/or threatening those loyal to him is a bad, bad idea, and the fact that his Crowning Speech of Heartwarming was met with silence and apathy was disturbing as hell.
• Vir to the rescue! In a very Tully-like way.
• Sheridan, you crafty bastard! I could see the setup coming a mile away, but I've really liked watching Zach struggle with the will I/won't I of the whole situation, being pushed one way or the other by *everybody* being secretive and not letting him in on anything.
• The mounting pile of "oh crap"s becoming a mounting pile of CMoAs was cathartic in the extreme - Zach finally picking the right side, Sheridan pulling off yet another last-second save, the Narn acting as allies, etc.
• Prophecy that both Londo and Vir will be Emperor: bzuh? I predict that this will not go well, especially for Londo.

Severed Dreams (part 3 of 3)

• ...And the "oh, crap"s continue!
• Looks like Delenn has been taking some Crowning Speech of Awesome lessons.
• I was vaguely spoiled for the whole secession thing, but damned if it wasn't impressive all the same.
• Sheridan is totally Captain Kirk: the blonde-brown hair, the giant-ass spaceship, the propensity for speechifying (especially re: the power and innate goodness of humanity and the common bonds we all share), the taste for hot alien babes, and now the folksy Midwestern farmer parents.
• The CMoAs continue in proportion to the "oh, crap"s. Everyone gets a chance to shine: Garibaldi gets to kick ass and takes names with his guys, Susan gets to blow something up, G'Kar gets to rally the forces, Sheridan gets to give his usual Doctor-esque speech offering compromise (and his usual beat-down when said speech doesn't work), but the hero(ine) of this episode was definitely Delenn. She gets not one, but two Crowning Speeches of Awesome, the second one made exponentially more awesome by the fact that it's compounded with one of the best Big Damn Heroes moments of this show so far. I'm still kinda riding on the high of this last one as I type this, so pardon me if I seem a bit incoherent with glee giddy.

Finally, here, have a rather lol-worthy series of "How to Explain [Geeky Show] to People," although shock! Horror! They forgot Firefly. Oh, well, guess I'll just have to do my own (albeit slightly tweaked)...
Parents: A doctor rescues his genius sister from prison, and they end up as members of the crew of the Millennium Falcon.
Cool Friend: Space hookers with explosive incense, and Summer Glau is a ninja!
Nerdy Friend: Joss Whedon wrote half the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog as space cowboys who make up insults in Chinese. What do you mean you haven't seen this?!
Girlfriend Boyfriend Significant Other: It's a Western set way in the future. And it's got the Castle guy in it!
Co-Worker: And that's why I named my fantasy football team the Browncoats.


I've decided to postpone the other half of last week's meme in favor of this ask-and-ye-shall-receive one, courtesy of brit_columbia.

Respond to this post and I shall:
1. Tell you why I friended you.
2. Associate you with something.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Associate you with a character/pairing.
6. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
7. Tell you my favourite userpic of yours.
8. Tell you that you must post this in your own journal.

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

Sorry to hear you've been sick, and hope you're feeling better! Congratulations on the mystery scholarship, though! And glad you've been having a mostly good week with clothes and your mother's visit and general niceness :)

I was very glad you won Willas and Brienne! If and when time permits, would still love to see your Willas "campaign" photos :)

I read one (or maybe two?) books by Heyer, because people with great genre taste kept commenting how much they liked her stuff. It is rather Austenian, as far as romance goes, and I found the book I read fun, but did not feel like I needed to read more of her stuff. Anansi Boys was very funny, but a more different book from American Gods than I was expecting it to be, if that makes any sense.

Yay for getting some time to watch B5!

"For your convenience, you can take your Loyalty Oath at our website: www.werewatchingyou.gov, and jackboots will be passed out at lunch on Thursday."

Heh. The stuff happening on Earth, and the way it comes back to the station (like with the Nightswatch) does seem rather... drastic. I mostly tell myself that there must be more complex effects going on back home that we don't get to see... but JMS could've done a subtler job with it. I actually think he managed the "insiduous evil becoming commonplace" theme really well with the Psi Corps, because it's understandable why you wouldn't want random people running around being able to read your mind. The political machinations on Earth? Not so much.

Still loving the grey vs. grey morality re: G'Kar & Centauri/Narn conflict

This is a really awesome thing about s3. I won't go into more detail, but I love G'Kar's entire arc almost as much as I love Londo's.

"I'm going to get some sleep, and then we'll try to work out a compromise!" in the exact same outraged tone, and still followed by him storming from the room

<3 Totally agree that Vir is a Tully. Also, I made this a while back (or have I linked you to it before?).

"Only one Human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else!" is totally one of those epic quotes that could've come straight out of LotR if not for the sci-fi bits.

And yes, Marcus Cole is definitely easy on the eyes :) And totally Space Faramir. *keeps mum on Marcus/Ivanova*

Also, meme! I wanna play :)

[lunasariel.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear you've been sick, and hope you're feeling better!
I really am! I put on pants today and everything. Definitely going to have to get that flu shot soon, though...XP

If and when time permits, would still love to see your Willas "campaign" photos :)
Heh, maybe I'll do a post-campaign campaign (only on here, of course); I was really frustrated about not having access to all of the photos, because I know there's at least one of a seven-year-old me with my parakeet, which would totally be subtitled BEHOLD MY MIGHTY HAWK!, and one of my very small and hairy dog doing his best rug impression, with ...AND MY FEARSOME HOUND! XD

It is rather Austenian, as far as romance goes, and I found the book I read fun, but did not feel like I needed to read more of her stuff.
Thanks, this is really useful! I love me some witty Austenian romance, but Heyer has written, like, 30 or 40 books, so it's good to know that not all of them feel like required reading.

The stuff happening on Earth, and the way it comes back to the station (like with the Nightswatch) does seem rather... drastic. [...] The political machinations on Earth? Not so much.
Very well-put! Upon further thought, this was exactly my problem with EarthForce's flirtaiton with facism: there's no justification for it. Presumably, there aren't any alien cultures near enough to Earth to present an immediate physical threat, and we haven't seen anybody getting aggressive towards Earth politically, either. Earth wasn't even vaguely being threatened, so this looked very much like EarthForce (and maybe the writers?) grasping at straws to justify the new dystopia.

Also agreed about the PsiCorps thing - they actually are pretty creepy, and I could easily see how the thought of random people being able to crawl around inside one's head would lead to, er, preventative measures being taken. So, yeah, well done them on this!

Also, I made this a while back (or have I linked you to it before?).
I think I've come across the sorting post, somewhere back during the dawn of time, but the icons are new; thanks for directing me to them! :) I'd promised myself I wouldn't peek at the B5 sortings, since I'm working on one myself, but I was intrigued by how sweetheart non-action-guy Wash and Team Dad Garibaldi ended up as Lannisters (aside from Wash being blonde and clever and Garibaldi having a tendency to go in guns a-blazin'). Also: OMG, Book is such a pefect Barristan, and River is, like, *the* Targaryen! And I absolutely agree with the sortings for Ivanova, Marcus, and the Centauri (Londo is even wearing red, and Vir is wearing blue). Although I would rather call Delenn a Tyrell, as she can be rather devious when called upon to do so, and certainly has no problem bucking authority when she feels that it's in the wrong, and Kaylee is too perfect a Tully/Tyrell hybrid for me to really pick one or the other.

one of those epic quotes that could've come straight out of LotR if not for the sci-fi bits.
Heh, it has occurred to me that this was totally B5's version of the Charge of the Rohirrim! Help vaguely hoped for but realistically unlooked-for, Crowning Speech of Awesome, women as warriors, it all really works.

[lunasariel.livejournal.com]

Also, meme! I wanna play :)
*flexes fingers*

1. Tell you why I friended you.
Well, technically it was friending you back after you'd friended me, but A) I was surprised that you went the extra mile of actually reading my blog and not just my westerosorting application (which became doubly impressive once I got sorted and found out how busy you already were with comm stuff), and B) I perused your blog in turn, and found out that we have a lot of shared fandoms, and I really liked how you expressed your thoughts about them - reading someone else's fannish opinions is always great, but even more so if they're phrased amusingly/intelligently/interestingly.

2. Associate you with something.
Awesome leather half-boots, which I've been lusting after ever since reading about your Elf boots.

3. Tell you something I like about you.
It never feels awkward talking to you - you're always been more than willing to talk about anything, and I really like the various astute and/or intriguing ideas you come up with, especially because they make me think more carefully myself.

4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
Online: Maybe it's because this happened recently, but the Jerry Springer AU, in all of its horriffic glory.
Offline: I actually don't remember where we sat or what we ate the first time we met up IRL, but I remember the second time very distinctly: we were sitting against the wall in the back room, so away from the loud sports fans at the bar. It was right before my finals started, so I was kind of on edge, but going out and face-to-face geekery with you made me feel worlds better. LJ is great, but there's something espeically awesome and refreshing about a conversation that meanders from Tolkien to Milton to ASOIAF to Tamora Pierce to Temeraire (which I remember I'd just finished) to Berkeley and back again, especially when conducted over pub food.

5. Associate you with a character/pairing.
Well, Morrolan, obviously, since you got me to read Dragaera by promising me a mixture of first-person snark and hawt ~Elven warrior-geeks with magic swords who form bonds with suspicious alacrity. Also, the Tyrells in general, and everything associated with them, because, c'mon.

6. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
Creepy-peronal: When you first moved to the U.S., what was the adjustment period like? I forget whether or not you already spoke any English, but I imagine that 11 would be a rough age to adjust to a new country/school/language/set of friends.
Hopefully-not-creepy: What position would you want in a Five-Man Band (the other members are of your choosing)?

7. Tell you my favourite userpic of yours.
Oooh, tough one! There's the honestly kind of astonishing variety of hamster ones you have - even a dragon hamster, and a drunk hamster! - and your meme lemmings, and "Fourth-Best Coat," and your chibi Loras (hell, your Tyrell icons in general), but mostly, a toss-up between the Great Tyrell Conspiracy and Ser Still Pretty. (Oh, and then there's always the Thomas one that I nabbed from you, which is glorious.)

8. Tell you that you must post this in your own journal.
It is known that this must be done!

[hamsterwoman]

because I know there's at least one of a seven-year-old me with my parakeet, which would totally be subtitled BEHOLD MY MIGHTY HAWK

You must do this! :D

The Heyer I read was Cotillon, and it was cute. There are lists out there of the better/quintessential ones, and I forget where this one falls in the rankings, but yeah.

As you can see, I couldn't decide between Tully, Tyrell, and Lannister for Wash -- Lannister being motivated mainly by being a motor-mouth and non-action guy (like Tyrion), IIRC. I had to look back at the sci-fi sorting post to remind myself why I'd picked Lannister for Garibaldi, but it still felt right. I do still think it works -- wounded past which is covered up with a lot of joking and cartoons, love being his button, that sort of thing. He's definitely a gentler, kinder sort of Lannister, but there are those, too, like Kevan and Tommen.

Book is such a pefect Barristan

Those two characters are pretty much forever linked in my mind, thanks to the Tourney of the Hand caption contest a few games back.

I forget if I picked Londo in red (with gold accents) on purpose, or Vir in blue. Probably on accident, because that was pretty early in my icon-making endeavors, judging by the overall crappiness.

I could see Delenn as a Tyrell, too... she is really very Issola-like (to add more crossover to this, heh). She was probably the hardest for me to sort.

And, oops, I guess I should've thought that one or more of the icons may be a bit spoilery, but I'm just going to assume you won't remember the relevant faces (I know I wouldn't XD)

Heh, it has occurred to me that this was totally B5's version of the Charge of the Rohirrim! Help vaguely hoped for but realistically unlooked-for, Crowning Speech of Awesome, women as warriors

That's what I was thinking, too :)

[hamsterwoman]

was surprised that you went the extra mile of actually reading my blog and not just my westerosorting application (which became doubly impressive once I got sorted and found out how busy you already were with comm stuff),

Haha, there's a reason I now have a shiny Littlefinger banner. I go creeping through the LJs of people in communities who seem interesting, and have found a number of really awesome folks this way.

Hee! at the boots and Morrolan and Tyrell association. (And I hope that Dragaera has delivered on the "first-person snark and hawt ~Elven warrior-geeks with magic swords who form bonds with suspicious alacrity" front :)

The various places we've sat in Parkside are starting to blur together, but I do remember the first time in the back room (and completely agree on the loveliness of face-to-face geekery, of course :)

When you first moved to the U.S., what was the adjustment period like?

It was not too bad, actually. It wasn't until later, when I started reading other people's experiences that I realized immigration could be traumatic for someone, because it wasn't for me. I didn't speak English -- well, I had a year of English as a foreign language in Russia, but I couldn't really speak, but after one year in ESL I think I knew enough to get around -- I've always been really good at learning languages. I was lucky enough to make one close friend pretty much right away -- this is R, whom I still consider my best friend -- a several more at my new school the following year, though none that I've remained close to.

I actually have a whole thing written up on the bigger picture of our immigration somewhere. Ah, here it is, with some more stuff here. Not that you need to read the whole thing, or any of it! But if you're curious.

What position would you want in a Five-Man Band (the other members are of your choosing)?

Ooh, this is a great fun question! Narrowing it down to two is very easy -- either Lancer or Smart Guy/Gal/Person. I have no inclination to be a hero (not enough idealism, for one), or the Chick (I'm, like, the least empathetic person), and while being the Big Guy might be fun, well, I'm 5'2" and non-athletic and don't have waif-fu on my side :P It's harder to decide between Lancer and Smart Guy. I make a really, really good first lieutenant sort of person -- I'm very good at being the grounded, pragmatic one to enthusiastic idea guys -- so a Zoe or Kragar or that sort of role would be very fitting. Smart Gal would be cool, too, and probably safer, but I feel like Lancers have more fun?

[lunasariel.livejournal.com]

He's definitely a gentler, kinder sort of Lannister, but there are those, too, like Kevan and Tommen.
Aha, there we go! I tried to fit him into the ruthless!cut-throat!Lannister model popular among the current generation and couldn't really see it, but I didn't take into account that they would present a far, far different face if Joanna were still alive, so I guess Lannister!Garibaldi is a refugee from that 'verse, or, as you say, built along the lines of those Lannisters far away enough from the, er, trauma epicenter of Joanna's death so that it didn't screw him up as badly as it did Tywin, Jaime, Cersei, and Tyrion. Now I can see it: Kevan's ability to shine best as a second-in-command, Tyrion's jokeyness and cynicism, even a bit of Jaime's Blood Knight tendencies when his back is against the wall.

She was probably the hardest for me to sort.
Yeah, she gave me quite a bit of trouble, too. I have a tendency to see characters I like as Tyrells, but the whole mystical prophecy/Great Destiny thing is very Targaryen, or even Bran-esque Stark, and she certainly works hard to present herself as a gentle, helpful Tully. But then again, I have a sneaking suspicion that she might be able to pull a few Lannister-worthy tricks if forced to do so, and she and Doran Martell could certainly commisserate about playing the long game. So, yeah, no easy answers where she's concerned.

one or more of the icons may be a bit spoilery
Heh, don't worry. Pretty much the only spoiler I think I can infer from this is that the Targaryen Centauri is the new Emperor I haven't seen yet, and unless he shows up in disguise or something, I think I'm good. :)

there's a reason I now have a shiny Littlefinger banner. I go creeping through the LJs of people in communities who seem interesting
LOL, I'd never thought about it this way before! In this case, you doubly deserve your Littlefinger banner for first-rate creeping.

And I hope that Dragaera has delivered on the "first-person snark and hawt ~Elven warrior-geeks with magic swords who form bonds with suspicious alacrity" front
Indeed it has, and more! The Cloud Cuckoolander wizard and crazy fauna are especially welcome additions. :)

I actually have a whole thing written up on the bigger picture of our immigration somewhere. Ah, here it is, with some more stuff here.
Wow, I don't think I'd read this before, but this is a really neat story! It's cool that you seemed to be of an age to be able to make a lot of interesting comparisons, and observations/memories of your trip in general. (That villa in Italy sounds especially paradisial, especially for a preteen/young teenager.) I especially loved that bit at the end, because "welcome to the Land of the Free, poor benighted angel! Here, let me show you how the modern wonders of lights and running water work" would indeed get extremely annoying after a while.

I'm 5'2" and non-athletic
Oh, I forgot to mention under the "memories" question that the first time I met you, one of my first thought was, "whew, she's not too much taller than me." XD Shorties unite!

I feel like Lancers have more fun?
I agree, especially if their corresponding Hero is someone along the lines of Miles, or Mal, or anyone else with a tendency to keep life interesting for those around them. And the Smart Gal seems only second to The Chick in terms of frequency of kidnappings, so there's that.

[hamsterwoman]

(Also, I must say I'm super-flattered that you are finding a use for my B5/ASOIAF icons :D)

Kevan's ability to shine best as a second-in-command, Tyrion's jokeyness and cynicism, even a bit of Jaime's Blood Knight tendencies when his back is against the wall

Yeah, you summarized it a lot better than my flailing, but that's basically exactly what I meant :)

the whole mystical prophecy/Great Destiny thing is very Targaryen, or even Bran-esque Stark

I was thinking that just now, too... Maybe she really is a Stark, then -- strong and not afraid to fight back when needed (like Lyanna and, one hopes, future!Arya), with the dreamy mystical side of Bran, and the overall nobility and whatever as a default. But I could see all the others, including the Doran-like Martell, so she's really hard.

Indeed it has, and more! The Cloud Cuckoolander wizard and crazy fauna are especially welcome additions. :)

Oh good! :D (And, yes, Daymar is very amusing, and the crazy fauna is, well XP)

The villa in Italy was awesome! I would love to go back as a proper tourist at some point and just hang out on the beach, because it was quite wonderful.

"welcome to the Land of the Free, poor benighted angel! Here, let me show you how the modern wonders of lights and running water work"

Yes, exactly. It definitely worked on my ornery streak :P

first time I met you, one of my first thought was, "whew, she's not too much taller than me." XD Shorties unite!

Hear hear! L is now getting almost as tall as I (she's just around 5 feet), and she seems to pity me for my height, while I've always been like, hey, being short is awesome! It does present some practical difficulties, like reaching high shelves at home and at the store or holding on in a crowded bus, but I've always liked being dainty/petite and even now that I'm not really petite anymore I still like being short. Short is cute. Short is cozy.

And the Smart Gal seems only second to The Chick in terms of frequency of kidnappings, so there's that

Hmm, you're right! And that's an important consideration. Definitely Lancer then.

BTW, it's such an awesome question that I'd love to hear you answer it, too :)

[lunasariel.livejournal.com]

(Also, I must say I'm super-flattered that you are finding a use for my B5/ASOIAF icons :D)
I not-so-secretly love crossover/sorting icons! Plus, they're good for either fandom, so it's a two-for-one deal.

Maybe she really is a Stark, then -- strong and not afraid to fight back when needed (like Lyanna and, one hopes, future!Arya), with the dreamy mystical side of Bran, and the overall nobility and whatever as a default.
Sounds good! I can still see her as Tully and Tyrell and whatever, but you make a pretty damn strong case for her as a Stark.

I've always been like, hey, being short is awesome!
Exactly! I remember one instance very distinctly, where my family and I were touring a system of caves replete with stalactites and stalagmites, and my brother, who's about 6'3", kept whacking his head and/or having to duck, while I passed buy unscathed and laughing at him in retaliation for outgrowing me. And for reaching things on high shelves, etc., that's when we can get tall people to do our bidding. ;P And, yes, being short is definitely both cute and cozy!

BTW, it's such an awesome question that I'd love to hear you answer it, too
Haha, thanks! I would also say the Smart Gal, although I think I could do okay as the Chick in a temporary role, or at least split with the Smart Gal. I tend to like Lancers or Smart Gals the best, but I don't think I would be up to yelling at a Hero to keep him/her in line. And being a Hero would be far, far to interesting for the likes of me. I did consider being the Big Gal, for contrariness' sake, but I would be more of a Glass Canon type, so unless the Hero was, say, built along the lines of Cap or Carrot, the team would be sadly lacking in defensive capabilities. So, yeah, Smart Gal.

[hamsterwoman]

and laughing at him in retaliation for outgrowing me.

Heh XP Also, whoa, your brother is TALL! (Mine is also a lot taller than me, but not by that much.)

And for reaching things on high shelves, etc., that's when we can get tall people to do our bidding. ;P

Exactly! ;)

And Smart Gal is a great choice (though Big Gal would, of course, be fun too),

[lunasariel.livejournal.com]

Also, whoa, your brother is TALL!
Yup, all the men in my family are ridiculously tall/strong (my nine-year-old cousin has been able to pick me up for about a year now XD), but P in particular. The joke is that there's some sort of supergene that gets passed from father to son, because they all look exactly like each other (and I mean exactly; it's kind of eerie when I mistake a photo of my great-great-great-grandfather from, like, 1908 for one of my dad), and I don't think one of them has been under 6', but I'm pretty sure P is the Pituitary Champion, since he out-grew me by the time we were both in middle school (he was in 6th grade, I was in 8th).

[hamsterwoman]

it's kind of eerie when I mistake a photo of my great-great-great-grandfather from, like, 1908 for one of my dad

Genetics are really cool/eerie like that!

And LOL @ "Pituitary Champion" XP