swim through the fires to stay in this world

This is a great meme that I gacked from philcoulson over on tumblr and you should all do it, too. As was pointed out when it was making the round on tumblr, one thing that's notable about this meme is that it's all general questions - nothing about OTPs or romantic relationships. (Of course, because it's me, there's a touch of pairing talk anyway, because that's how I roll.)

(Psst, qualapec, this was the meme I was talking about.)


( questions ahoy! )

Okay, media update time.

In the area of books, I just finished Marissa Meyer's Cinder, which I loved. It’s a fantastic sci-fi retelling of Cinderella and it ends on a cliff-hanger that made me interested enough in the rest of the series to splurge and get the next two books from B&N.

I watched the first ten minutes of the most recent episode of SHIELD( we love our acronyms )

I loved this week's Brooklyn Nine-Nine.( this is a den of liars )

Arrow was actually pretty boring this week, imho.( where ever i go, I'm just answering phones )

I read Hawkeye 15, which was SO overhyped, imho.( he's just a shape )

On the subject of awesome queer ladies, I just watched the second episode of Bomb Girls. (My goal is to get caught up before the movie airs at the end of March.( if you can pour tea, you can pour amatol )

But I came across this icon recently and this gif five minutes ago, and I am just like, hot damn both of those things are epically awesome.



Also, I just changed my default icon and journal layout.

Jennifer Crusie wrote an article on first meetings using Felicity and Oliver’s.

On the subject of her writing advice, I’m not sold on the necessity of needing the characters to be vulnerable, but I’d define it more broadly as characters needing to have a clear, emotional change during to the first meeting.

But really, you should be reading this article for the shade Crusie throws on Laurel/Oliver, the hightlights of which are:

That means that the viewer is given nothing to build future expectations on and in fact, actively hopes they never meet again because these people are unpleasant to watch: two hard, shiny surfaces who make each other colder by their proximity.

and

(It should be noted that Laurel is still supposed to be Oliver’s One True Love. I have no idea what show the people who keep saying that are watching, but I don’t think it’s this one.)

So say we all, Jenny Crusie. So. Say. We. All.

There is a really interesting article with (one of the?) the exec producer(s) of Arrow. It’s vaguely spoilery with a few specifics thrown in. (The deciding factor on whether or not I read it was that there was no way tumblr wasn’t going to be quoting the hell out of it without tagging for spoilers, so, why bother not reading it?)

vonnie_k pretty much lays out my thoughts on what the article means in a way more articulate manner than I could manage today right here.

I will add, that I find the comments about being willing to throw out the plan promising in regards to Oliver and Felicity having a consummated relationship at some point, although I wish they’d apply them to Laurell. I’m sure it’s hard to handle all the hate for Laurel but she’s just not working on pretty much any level (and fyi, it is NOT that hard to take a character from public defender to vigilante, in fact, with a more dynamic character it is easier than taking a self-absorbed rich dickhead to vigilante) but Laurel is just not working, and I don’t think a four episode arc about her drug addiction is going to make me care.

The other thing is that I am tentatively excited for the possibility of a Felicity-heavy season three. That could be fabulous, and I'd love if Felicity's silence about her life in general was actually a semi-conscious choice by the character. Like, she had a happy childhood and something bad happened when she was mid-to-late teens and she kind of boxed it up? And choose to be/present herself as a very happy person? And/or didn't let herself spiral down into grief? That could be awesome (and a fantastic contrast to how both Oliver and Diggle deal -or don't- with tragedy.)

Based on rec lists, which had gotten me to read (and adore) about ten Yuletide fics I would have otherwise missed, I have already realize that I need to go fandom by fandom through the Yuletide archive and read everything that is for a fandom I know.

IF I HADN'T, HOWEVER, THIS SEXY-AS-FUCK ARROW FELICITY/OLIVER FIC WOULD HAVE INFORMED ME THAT YEAH, I NEED TO READ EVERYTHING. LET MET JUST QUOTE THE AUTHOR'S NOTE, SHALL I? (I ALMOST SCREAMED WHEN I READ IT.)

"Some credit for this belongs to redbrunja. I don't really know her, nor was she harmed involved in the writing of this story, but the idea -- and the title -- came to me while reading the comments section for This Is The Art Of Living With A Ticking Heart. Because when someone commented liking that Oliver was "the kind of guy who goes straight for the oral sex," redbrunja replied "Sometimes, he really is a hero."

So. Here's to Oliver being a hero. :)"

2 Broke Girls

Sweet Tits (Max/Caroline)

Arrow

This Is The Art Of Living With A Ticking Heart (Felicity/Oliver)
The Universe Is Wide & Wild & Some Things Are Stronger After They Break (Shado/Slade)

The Avengers

Just What I Needed (Someone To Plead) (Darcy/Steve)
Lilac Perfume (Kate/Clint)
You Will Always Fall In Love, And It Will Always Be Like Having Your Throat Cut (Natasha/Clint)
The Opposite Of Perfunctory (Kate/Clint)
Marionettes (Natasha/Clint)
Nihilism & The 21st-Century Girl (Darcy/Steve)
Progress (Jane/Thor)
Couldn't Get That Boy To Kill Me (Natasha/Clint)
I'm Yours (Ghosts & All) (Natasha/Clint)
End Of The World News (Darcy/Steve)
Your Heart Cannot Be Burned (Darcy/Steve)
Your Boy Is A Soldier (Natasha/Clint)

DC Comics

Detours (Selina/Bruce)
I Have Nothing Left To Say To The Ghosts (Stephanie Brown)
Please Believe Me When I Say The Last Thing You Need Is Fixing (Stephanie Brown/Nick Gage, Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson)
You Only Live Twice (Stephanie Brown/Jason Todd)
that kind of luxe just ain't for us, we crave a different kind of buzz (Stephanie + Cassandra)

Hannibal

She Had Something Savage Coursing Under Her Skin (Abigail Hobbs)

Johannes Cabal The Necromancer

Build Me A City & Call It Jerusalem (Leonie Barrows/Johannes Cabal)

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Each Other's Anchors (We Move In Nautical Miles) (Lizzie/Darcy)
My Head Is Filled With Love Songs; My Tongue Is Mute (Lizzie/Darcy)
High Heels & Second Chances (Lizzie/Darcy)
Strain Love Through A Sieve (Gigi/Caroline)

Once Upon A Time

Proper Adventuring Attire (Alice/Knave)
I Wanna Be Here (Regina/Emma)

Pacific Rim

Underwater Kisses (Mako/Raleigh)
Crush My Heart Into Embers & I Will Reignite (Mako/Raleigh)

Teen Wolf

With Bloody Feet Across The Hallowed Ground (Kate/Derek)
If You Can't Say Something Nice (Come Sit By Me) (Lydia/Stiles, Allison/Scott)

plural_entity asked me a couple of questions for December 19th:

1. What was the very first ship you ever shipped (even if you didn't know what shipping was at the time)?

First, a little context. I have always loved romance but back when I was 8-10 (which is when I first started consuming media in, basically, a very similar way to how I consume media now) I was a lot more willing to follow the author to whatever relationship they wanted. For example, with Tamora Pierce, I was happy to just follow the narrative and see who the heroines ended up with.

And then there was The Darkangel Trilogy. (I'd like to pause for a moment and mention that I liked vampires both before they were cool AND back when they were beautifully monstrous, monstrously beautiful creatures.) So, three books happened, including things like the heroine giving the hero her heart, if I remember correctly? And it became clear to me that the hero was falling deeper and deeper into love with the heroine after treating her badly in the beginning, but she didn't see it, even though she was in love with him, and then in the final bookthey don't get together. They FUCKING FINALLY consummate their marriage (I think? again, it's been over a decade) and he's like, 'let's be married for reals!' And she says no, because of duty or magic or some bullshit like that.
And okay, the heroine does go off to spend eternity (I think) with her female bff which in retrospect... I feel like I should be more okay with? But at the time, I was just furious that after three books of tragedy and longing and beautiful prose,( spoiler )

I really need to do a reread, see how my memories of my feelings match up with what I see as an adult.

2. You're stuck on an island LOST style with 3 fandom characters. Which ones would you choose?

Katniss Everdeen, Slade Wilson (arrow version), and Tony Stark.

I WOULD FUCKING LIVE TO GET OFF THAT ISLAND, AND IN A REASONABLE TIME FRAME TO BOOT.

3. What character death (of any fandom) affected you the most?

I can't think of a good example? I mean, there have been fridgings I've been super pissed about (Abigail, Shado), deaths I thought were really badly done (Sirius Black), and things that made me sad but I really understood and were okay with them happening (Derek Reese), so I'm having trouble thinking of a really good example to go here.

BONUS QUESTION FROM qualapec:

You Rule 63 the entire cast of one Shakespeare play you have read/seen. Which one would it be?

Much Ado About Nothing. I think it would gender-swap really well, Hero's plot, while still undeniable fucked up, would at least be DIFFERENT if it was a male character's purity being questioned, and I would LOVE to see a male!Beatrice requesting that female!Benedict kill Claudio.