Wake the Sun

I don't have a lot of time to play video games these days, but apparently I have time to watch other people playing video games (I can watch them on the bus!). My favorite group of people to watch is the Yogscast and, god. 8 months ago (holy shit, it's been 8 months) all I knew about the Yogscast was some of my favorite webcomics artists liked to draw them. And now I've watched... a lot. A lot of hours.

If you like Minecraft (modded Minecraft in this case), or banter, or hilarity, or listening to grown men giggling constantly, or have 35 minutes to kill, you should check this out. It's a good episode. Please note! Some people (ie my dad) have a hard time watching these - headaches, nausea, etc. If you've got trouble with rapid movements and jittery cameras, you might want to skip this.

I have seen Pacific Rim, which has all the giant robot vs giant monster action you could possibly want. Plus Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Mana Ashida (who plays a young Mako Mori and is absolutely amazing), and Burn Gorman (I regret his casting in a movie already too full of white dudes, but I did love him. ... I was going to add 'viva la Torchwood!', but the irony burned too much.)

Also saw White House Down (I was in the movie theater for a while) which was wonderful action schlock and Despicable Me 2, which, well. Had some entertaining bits, but mostly I resented the overwhelming, unnecessary heteronormativity, ugh. And! ( Spoiler! ) At least some of the minions got to be vaguely queer.

I've also, like most of Tumblr, been sucked into Welcome to Night Vale. I'm all caught up except for today's episode ("First Date", ahhhhhh, I am excited) and thoroughly enjoying its adorable, terrifying weirdness.

( Fic recs under the cut! )

The most that can be said for the dwarves is this: they intended to pay Bilbo really handsomely for his services; they had brought him to do a nasty job for them, and they did not mind the poor little fellow doing it if he would; but they would all have done their best to get him out of trouble, if he got into it...There it is: dwarves are not heroes, but calculating folk with a great idea of the value of money; some are tricky and treacherous and pretty bad lots; some are not, but are decent enough people like Thorin and Company, if you don't expect too much. (The Hobbit, Chapter 12)

Yeah, this is where the dwarves' incompetence stops being funny and starts being full of fail. 

I've been ribbing on the changes PJ made to Tolkien's elves, but the changes he made to the dwarves are just as drastic and for the better (not perfect, but better). They're still a bunch of dudes who have no idea what they're doing and constantly need saving, but 

1) They all pretty much have personalities and distinct characterization - maybe not entirely memorable - but, 13 dwarves. 13.

2) Thorin has gone from pompous and self important to bitter and MAJESTIC, which is brilliant. IDK if his entrance into Lake Town was supposed to be cool or something, but I was cringing in embarrassment.

3) Their motivation has shifted from GOLD and also revenge to ~reclaiming their homeland~ (and also revenge). I wonder how that's going to play out once the movie!dwarves get to the Lonely Mountain? I can't see them making the same choices/being the assholes (or the same kind of assholes, anyway) as the book!dwarves.

Man, these are a lot of thoughts for a movie I was mostly ambivalent about.

Just watched episode 2x05 of Criminal Minds - the one with Elle? 'Aftermath'.

( And just )

Edit: I should add that Criminal Minds is on YouTube, - full eps and decent quality. I love the Internet.

I've been rewatching season 1 of Veronica Mars, which remains one of the best seasons of tv ever made. And I got to thinking - someone, somewhere, must have written an urban fantasy AU, right? Where Ghost!Lily is actually a ghost? And Veronica dives head-first into the world of supernatural crime? And I'm not saying it has to be Lilly/Veronica, but that would be a bonus. EDIT: And more of Wallace and Weevil being awesome. Especially Wallace.

Or at least a Buffy or Supernatural crossover (other than the one where Veronica investigates with/hooks up with Dean).

I spent yesterday alternating between chores and cartoons, which is the second best way to spend a Sunday (the best way has less chores). I watched 6 episodes of Gravity Falls! And the first 2 episodes of Motorcity!

Gravity Falls is the (far) better show in terms of storytelling, voice acting, and animation. The animation is *gorgeous*. Ugh, those backgrounds. And it's all about cryptozoology! And family! And magic summers in the Pacific Northwest!

Motorcity is... very early-ninties (with fancier graphics). A small group of teens must protect their dystopian undercity from an evil overlord! Using cars! Set in Detriot! The world-building's terrible (so far, anyway), and there's no explanation as to why five 17 year olds (with sweet cars) are all that stands between Motorcity and unstated doom. The writing is... pretty bad. But It's got *way* more PoC than Gravity Falls (who's core cast is entirely white), including an ambiguously brown lead dude, and signs point to it having more women. And it's better for fannish/shipping purposes. I'll give it another couple of episodes.

( Detour into original story rambling. )

( I went to see the Avengers! )

In other news, Garfield!Peter Parker was actually cracking wise in the Amazing Spider-Man trailer. Be still my heart.

I'm watching The Voice because, let's face it, everyone is doing it. Including my dad! Who calls me so we can listen to the good bits together, that'd be worth it even if it wasn't a fun show.

I also realized it makes great life drawing practice - emotions! Body language! Great clothes! So I've gone back to season one, thoroughly spoiling myself so I can pause and not get all caught up in the tension, and. And. I'm trying really hard* not to ship Adam** and Blake***.

But it's hard when they flirt all the time. Harder when my guilty shipping is validated (loudly, on live television) by Christina Agulaira.

In other news, I'm noticing season 1 is a lot more... queer friendly? Queer obvious? Has more openly queer contestants. I think season 2 only has two, and they haven't had nearly as much screen time. Miles better than American Idol, though.


* Because Blake's married and occasionally a dick. And I don't normally do RPF, but, wow.

** Levine, of Maroon 5.

*** Shelton, apparently a country singer, looks like Dr. McCoy. It's the squinty eyes, I think.

I decided to treat myself a bit last night and head up to Near River North to catch dinner and a movie. Timing issues aside (I misjudged travel/eating times and ended up wandering around for an hour and a half), it was awesome. I had tonkatsu ramen at Ginza which I have been craving, ugh, real ramen <3, and then headed to the AMC to see The Secret World of Arrietty.

Arrietty's the latest Studio Ghibli film, based on Mary Norton's The Borrowers. I loved that series as a kid and I love Studio Ghibli, it seemed like a winning combo. And it was, for the most part!

The good: the film is gorgeous. Ghibli scenery porn at it's finest, full of lush plant life, stunning vistas, intricate detailing... and the cinematography and pacing were perfect. The music was also A+. The story was quiet and low key, nothing earth-shaking, but lovely and well told.

The okay: the US/English-language voice cast was good but not stellar. I'm an unapologetic sub/original language snob, though, so your mileage may vary. The ending was a little bittersweet for my tastes (if fitting and practical).

The bad: The US dub Anglicizes everyone's names, which I don't think Disney has done before? Shō becomes Shawn, Sadako becomes Jessica, etc. It was particularly jarring because the film is very obviously set in Japan (Wikipedia says Koganei, Tokyo) unlike, say, Kiki's Delivery Service or Howl's Moving Castle. There was no reason for it and it makes me want to punch something. Also, there's a character who's less 'civilized' than the Clock family - he lives outside, wears furs and face paint, and speaks in broken English. His skin is, of course, significantly darker then the other characters. Fail, Ghibli. Fail.

I've tracked down a subbed version of the film, so we'll see how that changes things (random aside: do you know how much more sense Spirited Away and Howl's make subbed? Lots!).

I haven't heard back from the Dallas job, so I'm moving ahead with Chicago plans. 90% of my books are packed, stuff's sorted into keep/sell/donate (if you're interested in buying some books/manga off me, now's the time!), I've got most of my furniture listed on craigslist (with a couple bites already, yay!), I'm doing a brisk business in doujinshi (is it weird that I'm getting more for fanmade comics than I am for chairs? The market wants what it wants, I guess), I've got the movers scheduled for this weekend, I've bribed my siblings into helping, I've got a place for my cat, I've got a room secured in Chicago...

I've also watched all of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (except the Thanksgiving episode), the first two seasons of Inspector Lewis (it's on Netflix!), all of Luther, episodes 1-15 of Mawaru Penguindrum, and episodes 1-9 of S1 Covert Affairs. I don't think I'd have made it through packing without the media glut - packing by yourself is a pain in the ass.