![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
a "some things" post
+ Does anybody else think that the reason they kept Benedict Cumberbatch's role in the new Trek movie a secret is because they knew people would be incredibly pissed at this white guy taking Ricardo Montalban's place and they didn't want to deal with the fallout until they were able to say "Oh, it's too late, we already filmed it"? Because I hate to be that cynical about things, but I'm kind of that cynical about things. Needless to say, I'm pissed. I've been looking forward to this movie, itching for this movie since the last one came out, and now this. Also: if any character didn't need to be rebooted, it was definitely Khan. Ugh. I am distressed.
+ Well, Mark at Mark Watches pretty much had all the right reactions to Fool for Love, my favorite episode of TV ever. And I thought he was surprisingly subdued and thoughtful about it. I was pleased.
+ I have watched four episodes of Queen In-Hyun's Man AND IT IS THE MOST WONDERFUL THING. Kim Boong-Do is a wonderful little scholar-turned-resistance fighter (of sorts, it's complicated) in 1694 Joseon Korea, and through some plot machinations he ends up traveling to the future on several occasions and meeting up with this actress who is playing the queen he serves in a new drama. And what is delightful about this show, besides how brilliantly it's shot and styled (which is brilliant), is the character of Kim Boong-Do. I like Choi Hee-Jin, the heroine, quite a lot, too, but Kim Boong-Do is flawless.
source
He's adorable and precious for one thing. But he's also loyal, smart, and incredibly competent. I feel like most time-travel stories really go overboard with CULTURE SHOCK, but Boong-Do's reactions are very calm. He doesn't know things, but he learns very, very quickly, and he has a good enough mind that he can put two and two together and figure things out instead of acting like an idiot. He acts exactly like a smart guy would if he was suddenly time-travelling. He even figures out that he's time travelling all by himself. I can't get over how well the show is handling him and his jumping around through the centuries. It's brilliant.
There is nothing I love more than a show that lets its characters be smart instead of forcing them to be idiots for the sake of the plot. If your plot requires your characters to be idiots IT IS NOT A GOOD PLOT.
[Also, the kid playing Han Dong-Min is insanely cute. THOSE CHEEKBONES.]
+ I feel like King 2 Hearts is becoming kind of sloppy? But I'm still invested, mostly because of Eun Shi-Kyung and his earnestness and his face. Love of mine. Between Ji-Hyuk and Shi-Kyung and now Boong-Do, I am falling in love with kdrama guys right and left.
+ NEW EPISODE OF LOVE RAIN WAITING FOR ME TONIGHT. I DIE OF LOVE.
+ I've watched the first five or so episodes of Young Justice. I like it, but I don't have loads of feels yet. Hopefully those will come.
+ It seems like Vampire Diaries' goal in life right now is to remind me of why I hate love triangles. IT IS WORKING.
+ I am having Bonnie/Jeremy feels again. I know it's insanely underdeveloped, but THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL TOGETHER. I'm rarely struck by how a couple looks aesthetically because I'm so busy being obsessed with their characters, but these two are so beautiful individually and when they're together they become even more beautiful and speaking of beautiful if you aren't on tumblr you missed this, which just reminded me of how aesthetically pleasing Buffy and Spike are. Seriously one of my favorite tumblr posts ever. I look at it, and I think, "This is why tumblr exists."
+ I went to see Avengers on Sunday by myself, because that's what I do when I want to see a movie and no one else will go see it with me. I think it's strange that this is considered strange, considering that you're SITTING IN THE DARK and that common courtesy demands you not talk during the show. And yet you're supposed to feel like a loser if you go by yourself? I do not. My mama said that the reason you go with people is so that you have someone to talk to about it afterwards. I said, "That's what I have the internet for." She said, "Oh, yeah. I forgot." TROLOLOLOL.
Most of my feelings were about Natasha (back to that in a moment), but I'd like to take a moment just to love on the cast because HOW SO FLAWLESS? I don't have any particular feelings on Chris Evans for some reason (never have), but the rest of them just send me into fits of love with how good they are. Chris Hemsworth was born to play Thor and I'll watch Jeremy Renner in anything and RDJ is RDJ. But Mark Ruffalo really stole the show. I'm amazed at what he did with that character. So good.
BUT BACK TO NATASHA. I'm not a Scarlett Johansson fan. I don't hate her or anything, but I've always felt that she's sort of bland and overrated because of her beauty (which personally I don't see. I mean, she's an attractive woman, but I can think of lots of other people I think are more gorgeous. Not that that matters at all). But I liked her so much in this role! She was strong but still human. And of course I ship Natasha with Clint like burning. I want that Black Widow movie to happen and it to be about them kicking ass all over Europe and having makeouts and not admitting that they're madly in love. WANT.
The scene I loved most with her was when she was talking to Loki, of course. And I think the reason I loved it is because when he was trying to get to her emotionally, she turned away and made this little sobbing noise and said, "You're a monster." And I went WHAT. Because it seemed so wrong and fake and I hated it. It was the first false-step that threw me out of the movie, and I was totally discombobulated. BUT THEN. IT TURNED OUT SHE WAS MANIPULATING HIM AND IT WAS WRONG AND FAKE AND SHE GOT HER INFO AND WALKED AWAY DRY-EYED. FLAWLESS FLAWLESS FLAWLESS. It was like everything was wrong and then suddenly everything was right. I am in love.
All in all, it was just a popcorn movie, but it was a good popcorn movie because it cared about its characters. And I love a good popcorn movie.
+ I am now dreading Anne Hathaway as Catwoman even more than before. DO NOT WANT.
+ Lil Sis graduated on Saturday. Which makes me feel old. Lots of family times, and though it was great seeing everybody, it was overwhelming to have everyone together in my parents' house like that--so many people in such a small space! I loved them but was glad when they were gone and I could breathe again.
+ I have discovered the best barbeque place in town. If you're ever in the area ASK ME WHAT IT IS so that I can tell you and you can get some of the best barbeque I've ever had. Everyone in the family agrees that it's so good that you don't even need sauce.
+ I just finished The Man without a Face about Vladimir Putin, and now I am depressed about the world. It was an excellently written book, fascinating and insightful, but being reminded that there are people with so little regard for human life, who will sacrifice anyone and everyone to get what they want...it just reminds me of how broken the world is.
+ I have hit the climax for my novel. And...I have no idea of how to make my hero end up in the vicinity of my villain for a show-down. It would frankly be stupid for her to go into it on purpose, because she is so outmatched, and yet I can't have the villain go to her because of reasons. I think I have written myself into a corner and am not sure what to do. This is the first time since I started the book 65K words ago that I don't have any idea of what to write next. UGH. I really don't know what to do. I didn't write yesterday and I probably won't today, and I do not like what this is doing to my momentum.
+ Well, Mark at Mark Watches pretty much had all the right reactions to Fool for Love, my favorite episode of TV ever. And I thought he was surprisingly subdued and thoughtful about it. I was pleased.
+ I have watched four episodes of Queen In-Hyun's Man AND IT IS THE MOST WONDERFUL THING. Kim Boong-Do is a wonderful little scholar-turned-resistance fighter (of sorts, it's complicated) in 1694 Joseon Korea, and through some plot machinations he ends up traveling to the future on several occasions and meeting up with this actress who is playing the queen he serves in a new drama. And what is delightful about this show, besides how brilliantly it's shot and styled (which is brilliant), is the character of Kim Boong-Do. I like Choi Hee-Jin, the heroine, quite a lot, too, but Kim Boong-Do is flawless.
source
He's adorable and precious for one thing. But he's also loyal, smart, and incredibly competent. I feel like most time-travel stories really go overboard with CULTURE SHOCK, but Boong-Do's reactions are very calm. He doesn't know things, but he learns very, very quickly, and he has a good enough mind that he can put two and two together and figure things out instead of acting like an idiot. He acts exactly like a smart guy would if he was suddenly time-travelling. He even figures out that he's time travelling all by himself. I can't get over how well the show is handling him and his jumping around through the centuries. It's brilliant.
There is nothing I love more than a show that lets its characters be smart instead of forcing them to be idiots for the sake of the plot. If your plot requires your characters to be idiots IT IS NOT A GOOD PLOT.
[Also, the kid playing Han Dong-Min is insanely cute. THOSE CHEEKBONES.]
+ I feel like King 2 Hearts is becoming kind of sloppy? But I'm still invested, mostly because of Eun Shi-Kyung and his earnestness and his face. Love of mine. Between Ji-Hyuk and Shi-Kyung and now Boong-Do, I am falling in love with kdrama guys right and left.
+ NEW EPISODE OF LOVE RAIN WAITING FOR ME TONIGHT. I DIE OF LOVE.
+ I've watched the first five or so episodes of Young Justice. I like it, but I don't have loads of feels yet. Hopefully those will come.
+ It seems like Vampire Diaries' goal in life right now is to remind me of why I hate love triangles. IT IS WORKING.
+ I am having Bonnie/Jeremy feels again. I know it's insanely underdeveloped, but THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL TOGETHER. I'm rarely struck by how a couple looks aesthetically because I'm so busy being obsessed with their characters, but these two are so beautiful individually and when they're together they become even more beautiful and speaking of beautiful if you aren't on tumblr you missed this, which just reminded me of how aesthetically pleasing Buffy and Spike are. Seriously one of my favorite tumblr posts ever. I look at it, and I think, "This is why tumblr exists."
+ I went to see Avengers on Sunday by myself, because that's what I do when I want to see a movie and no one else will go see it with me. I think it's strange that this is considered strange, considering that you're SITTING IN THE DARK and that common courtesy demands you not talk during the show. And yet you're supposed to feel like a loser if you go by yourself? I do not. My mama said that the reason you go with people is so that you have someone to talk to about it afterwards. I said, "That's what I have the internet for." She said, "Oh, yeah. I forgot." TROLOLOLOL.
Most of my feelings were about Natasha (back to that in a moment), but I'd like to take a moment just to love on the cast because HOW SO FLAWLESS? I don't have any particular feelings on Chris Evans for some reason (never have), but the rest of them just send me into fits of love with how good they are. Chris Hemsworth was born to play Thor and I'll watch Jeremy Renner in anything and RDJ is RDJ. But Mark Ruffalo really stole the show. I'm amazed at what he did with that character. So good.
BUT BACK TO NATASHA. I'm not a Scarlett Johansson fan. I don't hate her or anything, but I've always felt that she's sort of bland and overrated because of her beauty (which personally I don't see. I mean, she's an attractive woman, but I can think of lots of other people I think are more gorgeous. Not that that matters at all). But I liked her so much in this role! She was strong but still human. And of course I ship Natasha with Clint like burning. I want that Black Widow movie to happen and it to be about them kicking ass all over Europe and having makeouts and not admitting that they're madly in love. WANT.
The scene I loved most with her was when she was talking to Loki, of course. And I think the reason I loved it is because when he was trying to get to her emotionally, she turned away and made this little sobbing noise and said, "You're a monster." And I went WHAT. Because it seemed so wrong and fake and I hated it. It was the first false-step that threw me out of the movie, and I was totally discombobulated. BUT THEN. IT TURNED OUT SHE WAS MANIPULATING HIM AND IT WAS WRONG AND FAKE AND SHE GOT HER INFO AND WALKED AWAY DRY-EYED. FLAWLESS FLAWLESS FLAWLESS. It was like everything was wrong and then suddenly everything was right. I am in love.
All in all, it was just a popcorn movie, but it was a good popcorn movie because it cared about its characters. And I love a good popcorn movie.
+ I am now dreading Anne Hathaway as Catwoman even more than before. DO NOT WANT.
+ Lil Sis graduated on Saturday. Which makes me feel old. Lots of family times, and though it was great seeing everybody, it was overwhelming to have everyone together in my parents' house like that--so many people in such a small space! I loved them but was glad when they were gone and I could breathe again.
+ I have discovered the best barbeque place in town. If you're ever in the area ASK ME WHAT IT IS so that I can tell you and you can get some of the best barbeque I've ever had. Everyone in the family agrees that it's so good that you don't even need sauce.
+ I just finished The Man without a Face about Vladimir Putin, and now I am depressed about the world. It was an excellently written book, fascinating and insightful, but being reminded that there are people with so little regard for human life, who will sacrifice anyone and everyone to get what they want...it just reminds me of how broken the world is.
+ I have hit the climax for my novel. And...I have no idea of how to make my hero end up in the vicinity of my villain for a show-down. It would frankly be stupid for her to go into it on purpose, because she is so outmatched, and yet I can't have the villain go to her because of reasons. I think I have written myself into a corner and am not sure what to do. This is the first time since I started the book 65K words ago that I don't have any idea of what to write next. UGH. I really don't know what to do. I didn't write yesterday and I probably won't today, and I do not like what this is doing to my momentum.
no subject
NATASHA FEELINGS AND BLACK WIDOW/HAWKEYE FEELINGS. BUDAPEST PLEASE. ORIGIN STORY AND SPY MAKEOUTS, YES.
The Avengers has taken up so much of my brain space, no joke. I love everyone in the cast, though I agree with you how Evans was kinda subdued. But I feel like he really grows on you in rewatch and his quiet presence really gives the piece a beating heart. Seriously, what he brings to the film is understated but totally necessary for the tone to fly.
I'm tempted to go read Black Widow's back story on wiki and write fic. I have a problem. I was momentarily tempted to read the comics, but I've heard they're an utter mess and frankly the Natasha I care about is the one I saw on screen. So bare bones summary suits my purposes.
[eta] If you wanna talk about plot writing for your novel, I'm up for it. Discussing process is fun fun fun.
no subject
Absolutely! I'll be 100% honest: the reason I went to see it A) so soon (too soon to use my movie passes that let me get in for half-price) and B) in the theater at all, was because I wanted to be part of the internet blowup. I would probably have waited for it to come out otherwise.
BLACK WIDOW/HAWKEYE FEELINGS. BUDAPEST PLEASE. ORIGIN STORY AND SPY MAKEOUTS, YES.
THEY WERE TOTALLY SETTING UP A PREQUEL WITH THAT LINE ABOUT BUDPEST. WAAAAAAANT.
But I feel like he really grows on you in rewatch and his quiet presence really gives the piece a beating heart. Seriously, what he brings to the film is understated but totally necessary for the tone to fly.
I'm fine with him and his character (and I LOVED when he got the Wizard of Oz reference. BEST), but I'm just not really drawn to him as a screen presence? I agree, though, that he's necessary to the dynamic--he's the only one who is a straight-up good-guy hero, and they need that.
I'm tempted to go read Black Widow's back story on wiki and write fic.
DOOOO IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT.
I may email you about my book sometime. Thanks for offering!