...But Buffy The Vampire Slayer absolutely one-hundred-percent RULES! I've been watching it for... oooh, a week now? And I just watched the best one so far. It had:
1) Angel. Who, thus far, equals EPIC WIN. He's everything Edward Cullen should have been and wasn't. Sarcastic, a little (well, more than a little) badass, protective and in love with the heroine..l. but who lets her FIGHT HER OWN BATTLES. He shows up when he's needed, and not before, allowing Buffy to do her job.
2) The hero faces his/her own death. Again, epic, because it means that they're not just fighting a bad guy, it's death itself they're facing. The prophecies said the Slayer would die when the Master rose from the Hell Mouth and claimed the Earth. She knew that, and she had the breakdown you expect in that situation. It was wonderfully acted, and written, and placed, because once you get past her seeing Angel, who she's crazy about, for the first time in months, she's plunged into a nightmare. She's sixteen, and she's facing the end of her life, and she screams and cries and doesn't want anyone near her. But, in the end, she goes and does what's right anyway. It's so wonderfully done, it rivals the end of EoT.
3) The Bad Guy is really Bad. Yeah, and that doesn't happen enough anymore. He whispered in her ear that, if she hadn't come to try and kill him and save the Earth, he would never have been freed. As he kills her, he makes sure she knows that she handed him his victory. It's sadistic, cruel and somehow awesome, because at that point, she's powerless. He somehow manages to be awful and hypnotic and disgusting all at once, and it combines to be completely terrifying. Her last tears make you give up all hope.
4) Real characters. Willow can't handle seeing the boys she grew up with dead in the school. Xander loves Buffy, and can't handle rejection. Angel doesn't like humans, but still comes to protect the Slayer. Giles won't tell her she's going to die because he's scared, and is going to fight the Master alone, so she won't die. Even Cordelia has a moment of awesomeness when she bites a vampire back!
5) Anthony Head gets punched out. He's awesome, but TAKE THAT MR FINCH! (Wait... Finch... damn, that means Atticus now...) He was going to sacrifice everything to save her, because he's so noble, and she punches him out because she's the Slayer and this is what she does. She slays vampires, and at this point she's faced up to destiny. She's terrified, but she's going to do this anyway. She is, in a word, awesome.
6) (man this list is getting long) The heroine saves the day in a long white dress. She looks a little bit like the Corpse Bride near the end, and when she comes walking back to the school, guitar soundtrack playing, slaying vampires with every step, it's like a wonderful cross between the best of Doctor Who, and the end of Ouran.
Right, so, that episode was simply amazing. If this is just series one, where most people say the show hadn't got good yet, I can't wait for what's next. Although, with the Master dead, I don't know what horrible mega-villain they can have next...
Friday, 29 January 2010
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Sherlock Holmes and Eva Ibbotson
I have discovered a new ship - Holmes/Adler. Or Sherlock/Irene, I suppose, but they're the same thing.
"Why don't you trust me?" "Do you want the reasons listed chronologically, or alphabetically?"
We saw the (completely EPIC) Sherlock Holmes movie today. It was, as I just said, totally amazing, with explosions and snarky insults and a lovely soundtrack, all things that make me love a movie.
But, of course, one thing that makes a movie/book/story-in-general is a nice romance. Well, maybe not NICE per se, but I happen to think that drama is enhanced when you have people flirting with each other. Even if it's a sideline and a little bittersweet and hidden behind snark and rivalry.
Which is what Holmes and Adler are. They're rivals and sarcastic and they don't trust each other, but they're perfect. It also helps that Robert Downey Jr and Rachael McAdams can really act, making you believe them. And that Downey Jr is totally gorgeous, especially for a guy in his forties with kids.
I liked Holmes/Watson as well, but I've never been a proper slash fangirl. I laugh at it, but in the end I can't properly ship it. I like Irene and Holmes too much (even if Watson's wife was Caroline Bingley, which is code for girly evil). Sorry, rambling again. I just... I love them. They're so dysfunctional and sarcastic and untrusting and... bittersweet.
So, yeah, maybe Holmes (hardcore, asexual, Conan-Doyle Holmes) would never get himself tangled up in something like that. He was just... unaware of love or desire or anything 'soft' like that. I think the actual line from... Scandal in Bohemia? Is something like 'he never spoke of the softer passions except with a sneer' or something like that.
But who expects movies to be true to the books? Sarah/Caspian never happened, and that was there in the movies. Even New Who have a dramatic, most definitely not asexual Doctor in Ten, if not in Nine (and who believes that, really?). The world moves on, and sorry, but drama, romance and all of that creeps into everything these days - and I happen to believe that the characters are richer, brighter... more human for it.
Sorry, I didn't mean this to become a rant. It just... annoys me when people do that. If a character is as awesome as Holmes, and played by someone as, well, epic as Robert Downey Jr, then why not exploit it? Why not have Holmes and Irene flirt in a hotel room while she's drugging him? (And FYI, I think the sedative in the wine was odourless and tasteless... like iocane powder, lol, that's why he didn't detect it right away... that, and, well, she was naked only about five feet away.) Why not have them a little angsty, saying goodbye on the in-progress Tower Bridge.
Why not have them almost - almost - wishing they were normal, so they could be happy, while still loving the angst-and-snark-ridden rivals/lovers/enemies thing they have going?
Because seriously, if you're going to have Holmes/Watson left right and centre, why not add someone else into the mix? LOL, I'd love to have Watson react to her as Holmes reacts to Mary.
I need to write some fanfic for this - get it out of my system.
Aaaand we're back at the rant. This is a really long blog post, isn't it?
Okay, new topic: Eva Ibbotson romances, there we go. I'm reading another in that series - this one's called 'the Morning Gift' and, even quicker than usual, I've already fallen for the hero. As is right and proper, I might add. It's like a Mills and Boon plot (marriage of convenience turns to something more) but with Nazis and war and paleontology and a hero who resembles a certain dearly departed Doctor. At least, in my head ;).
The heroine is archetypal Ibbotson heroine: long-haired, foreign, musical, 20-ish. She's got something about her though - she's bright, and nice, as they all are, and I do like her. And she and the hero get on really well,. Ibbotson is good at three things: Characters (especially eccentric ones), Settings and Relationships. The plot is good as well, but you really get to know her characters, and root for their relationships - romantic and platonic, and feel like you are where she describes (usually Austria and Vienna, or England, as that's where the author grew up), because the author's knowledge of the places is communicated to the reader.
Right, enough analysis. You can tell I haven't been in classes, I'm analysing everything - including the scientific aspects of Hitchhikers Guide.
One more thing: PARAMORE RULES!
"Why don't you trust me?" "Do you want the reasons listed chronologically, or alphabetically?"
We saw the (completely EPIC) Sherlock Holmes movie today. It was, as I just said, totally amazing, with explosions and snarky insults and a lovely soundtrack, all things that make me love a movie.
But, of course, one thing that makes a movie/book/story-in-general is a nice romance. Well, maybe not NICE per se, but I happen to think that drama is enhanced when you have people flirting with each other. Even if it's a sideline and a little bittersweet and hidden behind snark and rivalry.
Which is what Holmes and Adler are. They're rivals and sarcastic and they don't trust each other, but they're perfect. It also helps that Robert Downey Jr and Rachael McAdams can really act, making you believe them. And that Downey Jr is totally gorgeous, especially for a guy in his forties with kids.
I liked Holmes/Watson as well, but I've never been a proper slash fangirl. I laugh at it, but in the end I can't properly ship it. I like Irene and Holmes too much (even if Watson's wife was Caroline Bingley, which is code for girly evil). Sorry, rambling again. I just... I love them. They're so dysfunctional and sarcastic and untrusting and... bittersweet.
So, yeah, maybe Holmes (hardcore, asexual, Conan-Doyle Holmes) would never get himself tangled up in something like that. He was just... unaware of love or desire or anything 'soft' like that. I think the actual line from... Scandal in Bohemia? Is something like 'he never spoke of the softer passions except with a sneer' or something like that.
But who expects movies to be true to the books? Sarah/Caspian never happened, and that was there in the movies. Even New Who have a dramatic, most definitely not asexual Doctor in Ten, if not in Nine (and who believes that, really?). The world moves on, and sorry, but drama, romance and all of that creeps into everything these days - and I happen to believe that the characters are richer, brighter... more human for it.
Sorry, I didn't mean this to become a rant. It just... annoys me when people do that. If a character is as awesome as Holmes, and played by someone as, well, epic as Robert Downey Jr, then why not exploit it? Why not have Holmes and Irene flirt in a hotel room while she's drugging him? (And FYI, I think the sedative in the wine was odourless and tasteless... like iocane powder, lol, that's why he didn't detect it right away... that, and, well, she was naked only about five feet away.) Why not have them a little angsty, saying goodbye on the in-progress Tower Bridge.
Why not have them almost - almost - wishing they were normal, so they could be happy, while still loving the angst-and-snark-ridden rivals/lovers/enemies thing they have going?
Because seriously, if you're going to have Holmes/Watson left right and centre, why not add someone else into the mix? LOL, I'd love to have Watson react to her as Holmes reacts to Mary.
I need to write some fanfic for this - get it out of my system.
Aaaand we're back at the rant. This is a really long blog post, isn't it?
Okay, new topic: Eva Ibbotson romances, there we go. I'm reading another in that series - this one's called 'the Morning Gift' and, even quicker than usual, I've already fallen for the hero. As is right and proper, I might add. It's like a Mills and Boon plot (marriage of convenience turns to something more) but with Nazis and war and paleontology and a hero who resembles a certain dearly departed Doctor. At least, in my head ;).
The heroine is archetypal Ibbotson heroine: long-haired, foreign, musical, 20-ish. She's got something about her though - she's bright, and nice, as they all are, and I do like her. And she and the hero get on really well,. Ibbotson is good at three things: Characters (especially eccentric ones), Settings and Relationships. The plot is good as well, but you really get to know her characters, and root for their relationships - romantic and platonic, and feel like you are where she describes (usually Austria and Vienna, or England, as that's where the author grew up), because the author's knowledge of the places is communicated to the reader.
Right, enough analysis. You can tell I haven't been in classes, I'm analysing everything - including the scientific aspects of Hitchhikers Guide.
One more thing: PARAMORE RULES!
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
SNOW DAY!
We had the day off today due to the lovely, wonderfully slippery-on-the-roads, rare snow. It's almost a foot deep in some places, so even Warrington looks gorgeous and white.
We have tomorrow off, too, so the Gang are coming over to watch DVDs. I think a Tribute To Ten will happen at some point... :)
Finished Fire Study, and I now feel at a loose end. I love reading books that are so good that when you finish them, you actually miss the characters. I think I'll write something now, it might help with this misplaced feeling.
I love Paramore. Have I mentioned that? Their new album is epic- especially The Only Exception, Misguided Ghosts, Brick by Boring Brick and All I Wanted. Hayley Williams shouts really well, but she sings even better, and that shows on there. Now I'm analysing like Wikkid.X, so I'll leave that to her, and just keep this to music recs.
Like Fireflies by Owl City, which is totally a Doctor song. Especially if you think that the fireflies are his friends/companions. They're small, short-lived, and burn so brightly. :)
Oh! One more thing: I finally found titles for my stories. My NaNo project (now the first in a trilogy... eek!) is called 'Run' (XD), the second is 'Fly' and the third is 'Fight'. I now need a series name to finish it off (and to at least finish the first story :s... might go do that now)
SNOW!!!
We have tomorrow off, too, so the Gang are coming over to watch DVDs. I think a Tribute To Ten will happen at some point... :)
Finished Fire Study, and I now feel at a loose end. I love reading books that are so good that when you finish them, you actually miss the characters. I think I'll write something now, it might help with this misplaced feeling.
I love Paramore. Have I mentioned that? Their new album is epic- especially The Only Exception, Misguided Ghosts, Brick by Boring Brick and All I Wanted. Hayley Williams shouts really well, but she sings even better, and that shows on there. Now I'm analysing like Wikkid.X, so I'll leave that to her, and just keep this to music recs.
Like Fireflies by Owl City, which is totally a Doctor song. Especially if you think that the fireflies are his friends/companions. They're small, short-lived, and burn so brightly. :)
Oh! One more thing: I finally found titles for my stories. My NaNo project (now the first in a trilogy... eek!) is called 'Run' (XD), the second is 'Fly' and the third is 'Fight'. I now need a series name to finish it off (and to at least finish the first story :s... might go do that now)
SNOW!!!
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Ten's Dead.
I'm currently in a very fragile emotional state.
*sob*
I've been reading the rest of the Study trilogy by the amazing Maria V. Snyder. They're truly epic, they never stop for a second. The main character's a brilliant and sympathetic heroine, who's first-person all the way through. This means that the reader relates to her really quickly, and it's totally awesome.
There's also Valek, who, while being complex and totally awesome can be summed up in one word: hot. Beyond belief.
All this has not stopped me from dressing all in black today out of mourning. Ten's gone, all the people I loved for years are gone, and the forehead, while looking actually a little bit epic in the trailer, can never replace them.
*sob*
I've been reading the rest of the Study trilogy by the amazing Maria V. Snyder. They're truly epic, they never stop for a second. The main character's a brilliant and sympathetic heroine, who's first-person all the way through. This means that the reader relates to her really quickly, and it's totally awesome.
There's also Valek, who, while being complex and totally awesome can be summed up in one word: hot. Beyond belief.
All this has not stopped me from dressing all in black today out of mourning. Ten's gone, all the people I loved for years are gone, and the forehead, while looking actually a little bit epic in the trailer, can never replace them.
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