*(Major spoilers for Doctor Who ahead. Also, animated gifs.)*
So, lemme get this right…
This post contains spoilers for Doctor Who (all of it) and the use of animated gifs.
Category: Pop Culture Musings
Thoughts on True Blood, Season 7, Episode 3, or “This is why we don’t do Mob Rule, children”
Oh no, Sarah Newlin is back. Why, gods, why.
And we begin another episode. Actually we’re re-watching this one as well, because I didn’t get my thoughts down the first time. The things I do for y’all. WITNESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU
Spoilers, etc. Mild trigger warning for use of a homophobic slur and anti-queer violence (ostensibly shown as anti-vamp, but come on).
Thoughts on True Blood Season 7 episode 2, or “Gay Blood”
We’re finally watching these again. Actually we watched this episode a while back and I sort of jotted down some notes but they weren’t very coherent. So bring on the re-watch.
It’s been awhile since I did my thoughts on Episode 1. We’re finally watching these again. Actually we watched this episode a while back and I sort of jotted down some notes but they weren’t very coherent. Decided to re-watch it to get the notes better.
Spoilers ahead. Thoughts for episodes 3 and 4 should be up in the next few days (we did a marathon). Still working on episode 5. No, we are obviously not caught up. After episode 3 we sort of stopped caring for a while.
Thoughts on these episodes are not as involved as my thoughts on the first episode. Or, rather, there are more bullet points with smaller paragraphs.
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Thoughts on Season 7, Episode 1 of True Blood
Spoilers and a lot of swearing. Mind yourself.
Yes, I watch True Blood. Mr. Katje and I marathoned through several seasons and then got all caught up, and started catching episodes as they came out.
If you asked us why we’ve stuck with it we’d likely respond with “Stockholm Syndrome.” The show is like a trainwreck: awful, but you can’t tear your eyes away. At some point the only characters on the show we weren’t constantly wishing death upon were Lafayette, Eric, and Terry. (Other characters had their moments but these 3 were the only ones we consistently did not hate.)
All of the protagonists are stupid. The show is terribly written. They handle rape so awfully I should be surprised but sadly I am not. (Seriously, really really awful.)
And yet we keep coming back. We’re addicted to it, like one gets addicted to V.
So on that note, my thoughts on the first episode of the final (thank gods) season. There be spoilers and a lot of swearing ahead; mind yerself. (though if you haven’t seen it my thoughts might not make much sense, anyway.)
Continue reading “Thoughts on Season 7, Episode 1 of True Blood”
Songs for snakes and lions
Lately I’m interested in fandom music mixes, like this Gryffindor/Slytherin one I found on Friday.
I was looking at the ebook of prompts, and today’s is “What role does music play in your life?”
Short answer: a pretty important one. I have a lot of music on my computers; I have writing playlists, playlists for the gods, playlists for holidays, playlists for sleeping, playlists for cleaning, playlists for sex….
I love music. And when I find a new song I like, I listen to it on repeat for hours, sometimes days, so it becomes a part of me.
Lately, I’ve been interested in fandom mixes — collections of songs put together to fandom themes, like mixes for the houses of Hogwarts, or mixes for your one true pairing.
On Friday I saw this Gryffindor/Slytherin music mix. (Only slightly Drarry.) I’m a Slytherin engaged to a Gryffindor — I had to check it out.
The mix is perfectly put together for its theme; each song conveys the tension and attraction between Gryffindor and Slytherin. I like most of the songs, but my favourite so far is Afraid by The Neighbourhood. I’ve listened to it several times since Friday. I won’t be surprised if I break 100 plays sometime this week.
I don’t own it yet; when I have some extra cash I’ll probably buy it (and the other songs from the mix) from iTunes. I’ve been listening to it on Youtube.
When you get a chance, check out the music mix. It’s pretty awesome.
The same user has also put together a Slytherin mix, a Ravenclaw mix, a Hufflepuff mix, and a Gryffindor mix. I haven’t listened to any of them yet; I’m still absorbing the Slyth/Gryff one. There is another Slytherin mix, however, that I listened to a long time ago and really liked — it’s here, if you’re interested, and that user has also put together mixes for the rest of the houses.
Lazy Sunday
I spent most of the day knitting.
I did basically nothing today. It was gray and rainy outside and I woke up late, and tired, dealing with low levels of pain from the moment I got up. (Wisdom teeth problems like these are not something I would wish on my worst enemy.) I’m alive, though. I have an arsenal of painkillers to get me through the day.
I spent most of the day knitting. I’m working on this currently; the pattern calls for endless stockinette until one binds off, at which point the exciting bit happens. (I’m not sure if you need to log into Ravelry or not to see the pattern. It’s a drop stitch pattern, which means when you bind off, you drop stitches to create a laddered look. I’ll post pictures when I’m done.)
While knitting, I watched things on Netflix. Stockinette is tedious as hell; it helps to do something else with your brain. I tried to watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but I managed to start up one of the less racially sensitive episodes and just decided…nope. Not watching a retelling of the conflict between settlers and aboriginal people told via ponies and buffalo. Not after watching the clusterfrack that was the “Voodoo zebra!” episode.
So I switched to Torchwood, which mom heard a bit of while it was on — she’s intrigued! I have another show to make her watch, when we’re done with Grey’s Anatomy.
We’ve been watching a lot of Grey’s since I got here. Got her all the way through season 4; now working on season 5. She loves the show. I love watching it with her. It’s a good time.
Tonight mom is out at the movies. I am knitting some more and getting my word count down, though I might not hit 411 words today. That’s okay. I hit my monthly goal of 15,000 words yesterday. I can take it easy today (but not take a day off), and tomorrow I’ll be back up to speed.
So, with that, I’m off to knit some more and possibly eat dinner. When mom gets home, we’re watching more of Grey’s.
Tomorrow we’ll actually get things done. I swear.
Fezzes are cool
I should talk about my thoughts re: The Day of the Doctor.
I’ve been playing a game called FEZ, in which you play this little rectangle-headed dude named Gomez. Gomez is given a red fez and then he’s able to perceive the 2D world he lives in as 3D. He must then travel among the worlds collecting cubes in order to stop the universe from ending. There is at least one point where you go through a door into a room from one area and emerge from the room in another area without apparently moving at all.
This has made me realize I should talk about my thoughts re: The Day of the Doctor.
Or, well, maybe should is too strong a word. I don’t think anyone is waiting patiently to see my thoughts. I just wanted to write this post.
If you haven’t seen the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who…
The Secret Circle
Season 1 of The Secret Circle is on Netflix. I’ve been giving it a watch, as I’ve been snowed in at the Ogre’s place for two days. It’s pretty good; I’m enjoying it so far.
It apparently got canceled, but according to IMDB season 2 starts in January — so perhaps it got picked up again? I don’t know. I hope so, because it is an enjoyable show, and — more importantly — it’s filmed in BC (at least partially). I support almost anything that gets filmed here.
Good things about the show:
It passes the Bechdel test consistently. The teenage characters are remarkably mature while still being believable as teens, which is nice — I get so sick of badly-written teenage characters *cough*Dawn from Buffy*cough*. It doesn’t shy away from darkness — that is, the danger these kids get into is real, and obviously real, early on in the show. The kids are pretty good about discussing consent and boundaries! The way they talk about energy and how it works is fairly accurate, to this witch’s eye, which is nice. At a point where one character suggests using an indigenous headdress as a Halloween costume, the main character shuts her down, saying it’s not cool. (Cue me dying of shock.)
Things that make me give it the side-eye:
Mainly the magic. Yes, it’s nice to see non-Hollywood ways of talking about magic and energy in a show. But. The way these teens do spells is…kind of silly, so far. I’m only about 6 episodes in. Their way of doing spells seems to consist of looking or glaring at things and saying random phrases, seemingly made up on the spot, that…don’t sound too powerful. I guess I just want it to be a little more Hollywood, you know? Use some Latin at least. Something.
The other thing is the opening. When the title comes on the screen the “music” they have with it is the MOST ANNOYING sound ever. It’s a kid, I guess, going “la la la la, la la la la.” ARG.
In fact, here — I found a video of the opening. Give it a listen.
Is it just me? Or is that spectacularly annoying?
Those are really the only huge negatives with the show, so far. I’ve just started episode 7 and will likely finish it later, as it’s time to cook dinner. If everything goes south and the show does a death-spiral with flames y’all will be the first to know.
I’m happy Grey’s is ending.
So far I don’t think there’s been any official confirmation that the show is ending with Season 10 — just rumours borne of the main cast contracts ending at the end of this season. Sandra Oh isn’t renewing her contract. She’ll be gone at the end of Season 10 regardless of actual series end. Which means the show will basically be over, at least for me.
I’ve loved Grey’s Anatomy for 3 years now. I’d seen an episode here or there since it first came out, but I didn’t start to really watch it from beginning onwards till 2011. I marathon-watched all the seasons already released and then continued to watch current seasons as the episodes came out, getting them however I could. I have cried buckets of tears over the characters. I have been drowned by the feels. I have been angry when characters have been assholes, but forgiven them later. Usually. I got my mom hooked on the show this summer and she adores it; we drink wine and watch it together. I think it reminds her of happy memories of her sister, who was a doctor, and in some way watching Grey’s Anatomy with mom is like spending quality time with both her and my aunt.
So I was looking forward to this latest season. I was looking forward to as many more seasons as they wanted to give me.
Was.
(spoilers below the cut)