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Nov. 24th, 2013 11:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* There's a lot of Muppet armed panic going on around the agreement to lift some of the more extreme sanctions on Iran. Most of it is posturing. I need to look at the details, but this is a humanitarian move that shows good faith for further bargaining. Keep in mind that ordinary people die all the time unnecessarily because of the sanctions stopping imports of medicine and that this understandably makes people who would otherwise be better disposed to us furious. There is a difference between military and nuclear sanctions and ones that hurt civilians unnecessarily. I suspect that we were looking for an excuse to lift sanctions that were making us less safe, and that the current Iranian President was looking for a way to ease the hardliners in Iran back from the edge, though obviously, I'm not in on the diplomatic details. To me, it looks like a way of trying to improve things generally. I would love for things to go further, for Iran to back off their nuclear program and generally rejoin the community of nations, and while I'm not holding my breath, things are more hopeful for that than they've been since the Revolution. I think this should be a goal for reasonable people of good will and even taking baby steps in that direction is more than I'd had hope for. So, baby steps and fingers crossed, okay?
* "Militia nut openly calls for Obama`s assassination on Facebook:" http://americablog.com/2013/11/militia-nut-openly-calls-obamas-assassination-facebook.html
* "Absurd Creature of the Week: The 16-Foot-Tall Reptilian Stork That Delivered Death Instead of Babies:" http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/11/absurd-creature-of-the-week-quetz/
* "Ancient Wine Cellar Unearthed Beneath Palace Ruins:" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/22/ancient-wine-cellar-israel_n_4323848.html
* On Sexism and wilderness gear marketing. "The Gendered Forest:" http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/11/22/the-gendered-forest-women-relax-men-mountaineer/
* Greenwick and I took a load over to the on site storage. Progress!
* RP: Puttering around Cordoba:
The tiger set up the survivors of the parasite incident and the families of the dead to have better furures and met with a Ratkin to tell her a huge amount of information about things going on in Corduba and events in Constantinople. This was clearly above her pay grade, so she said the rats would get back to them. The group met with the owner of the Wyrmy eatery. He turned out to be a vampire with a mage amoung his body guard. They decided to defer fighting and arranged a business deal as a place holder.
On the way home, four burly men told the Tiger his presence was requested. He told the group to go on without him, and under the assumption these were rats, followed them down to a ramshackle building on the waterfront, full of people. He let them lead him upstairs and started the meeting, still assuming they were rats. They were not. An older woman asked a number of questions about what they were doing in the city and which side they were on. She was not pleased by the party's potential for chaos, but as their target was a disruptive element, she would allow them to proceed as long as their strike was surgical. She had an underling give the Tiger a list, which he pretended he could read.
While the Tiger was out naively tempting people to eat him, an elderly rat turned up at their room, but wouldn't come out until the Tiger got there. Once the Tiger turmed up, she had them pledge "not to bite" before she came out. They gave her good hospitality, so she warmed up. The people the Tiger had just met turned out to be "The Old Court," in this case two loosely allied vampire factions currently led by the Prince before the Prince before, who was a sort of ancestress to the Rat they were talking to. The new Court was based out of the palace. Neither the factions of the old court nor the new court liked them at the bath house. Many warnings were given, and the Rats offered them help breaking the warding on the section of sewer that had been sealed off. They had a big drunken party in their room.
They decided not to attack the Vampires or the Wyrmy sewer section without Skull, so sent a porter to deliver the spices to the vampire, with the fox to watch over. The transaction went fine, but Vampires closed in to feed on him. The Fox distracted half of them while one fed with two guarding, summoning help. Tiger and Bear rescued the messenger while Blake chased the vampires chasing Fumiko, killing one, but getting trapped by another. Tiger scared the other two off, rescuing Blake. The players were all "These Vampires are Dicks!" I responded, "Now you know why no one likes this faction."
The Bear fed the porter, and as they had something in common, they hit it off. It turns out he has two brothers in the palace guard and offered Gwallog a date in the gardens followed by a dawn visit to the menagerie.
They initiated Fumiko into the pack and her vision warned of a curse that has arisen in the desert in North Africa.
* Supernatural Thought: I think it’s interesting that Dean had so many father figures step up where John Winchester failed so miserably.
Sam had Dean.
I think I need to dig deeper here.
* Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor:
Hah! I guessed where the Hurt Doctor fell in the Timeline back when the previous episode aired! (Logged at BPAL's Doctor Who Thread.) It is logical, and still is. I loved the hurt Doctor asking ten and eleven why they were so afraid of being grown ups and them giving him The Look. I've written before about the various regenerations and the sense of age in the the later ones despite the young bodies and how much younger the earlier incarnations genuinely feel, and the way that speaks to me. It was weirdly affirming to have various canonical commentary here along the lines of Clara talking about the Doctor's eyes. I think this story needed telling. It really did bridge the old Who Doctor always trying to solve things peacefully where possible, with Nine's Bad Wolf Doctor who was willing to blow up the earth to destroy the Daleks because he'd done it to Gallifray once, the same one who turned Captain Jack Harkness first into a classic Old Who optimistic companion and then into the dark mirror that could do what he did in CoE. The two versions of Jack that war in Miracle Day: Immortal Sins really do seem to me a shadow of a similar tension between old and new Who that makes for some of the more interesting twists in the Doctor's character. This was beautiful for me that way, because it spoke thematically to the whole of new Who in Torchwood and it's running dialog with old who's legacy.
Less over arching things:
*I never much liked the Zygons as villains. It wasn't just the particularly bad design of the rubber suits of my childhood, but because they always seemed two dimensionally villainous without virtue of speaking direction to/about/with the zeitgeist. The better Who villains either did what they were doing for a reason, had an interesting perspective or culture, or were simultaneously talking about something else if you dug a little deeper. (Side Note: I also like a bit of spacing between repetitions. I think Who just generally uses Daleks and Zygons too often, much as Star Trek came to use the Borg too often. I really liked that they dug up a Classic Who villain that is way less common for a plot designed to commemorate the 50th Anniversary, and i get that the Zygons were just generally a side issue to the central conflicts, but still, not my favorite).
* Who continuity is never particularly good over time. Historically it has been always terrible around Elizabeth I, stretching all the way back to at least Pertwee. It still sucks here, as it does around things like fixed points and regeneration overlap.
* I guessed that someone smashed the statues and was hiding in their places the second I saw the set up in that room. How come the Doctor and all those other bright people in the room didn't?
* Things like Four's scarf on the fan scientist and all the old carefully culled clips, and body double/CGI stuff warmed my burnt husk of a wicked old heart as did seeing the Four Cameo. I know, I know, fan service and I should know better, but I'm not used to being the fan being serviced, so I'll take it.
* I still miss Ten, damnit, and it really was fun to see Ten and Eleven behaving exactly the way Doctors always do in these crossovers.
* I now have a pretty good idea what Moffat's up to with Clara, but I'm hoping it's not as obvious as it seems. Please, Moffat, surprise me. I want to be wrong.
In sort, flawed in the usual ways, but oh so relevant to my interests.
* The Night of the Doctor: A Mini Episode - Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor Prequel - BBC
* Glee 5.6: Moving Out
* I loved the Klaine stuff, which I will be mulling for a few days, I think.
*Ryder was freaking me out, going way to fast. I could see Marley make the face I've made all too many times over the years.
* Jake: still an idiot. Still beautiful in motion even while being an idiot.
* I love that they are still exploring Sam's body issues, and I think it's interesting the way this aspect of his character/plot speaks to previous ones around Quinn, Mercedes, and Marley. I'm pretty sure there's a post there all on it's own that has to do with the conversation the show just generally has around the construction of and specific punishments for masculinity and femininity within the Gleeverse. The thoughts are not formed to the ready to put into words stage though. I may need more data points and/or to rewatch... I'm thinking it's season One, which I didn't much like.
* The Artie/Becky/Sue plot made me happy. It just did.
* Love Billy Joel or hate him, I have to admit that the use of the Glee Casts vocals here where mostly excellent fits for their style and ranges (with two minor exceptions). (My relationship to Billy Joel songs is weird and complicated. I honestly can't tell you if I love them or hate them because it's usually both/and, for reasons neither intrinsic nor relevant).
* This rounds up a bunch of things that bother me about supernatural romance. "Abusive Tropes are not Romantic:" http://www.fangsforthefantasy.com/2013/11/abusive-tropes-are-not-romantic.html
* "The Life and Times of an Aging Superhero Captured in Oil Paintings by Andreas Englund :" http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/11/the-life-and-times-of-an-elderly-superhero-captured-in-oil-paintings-by-andreas-englund/
* "Militia nut openly calls for Obama`s assassination on Facebook:" http://americablog.com/2013/11/militia-nut-openly-calls-obamas-assassination-facebook.html
* "Absurd Creature of the Week: The 16-Foot-Tall Reptilian Stork That Delivered Death Instead of Babies:" http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/11/absurd-creature-of-the-week-quetz/
* "Ancient Wine Cellar Unearthed Beneath Palace Ruins:" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/22/ancient-wine-cellar-israel_n_4323848.html
* On Sexism and wilderness gear marketing. "The Gendered Forest:" http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/11/22/the-gendered-forest-women-relax-men-mountaineer/
* Greenwick and I took a load over to the on site storage. Progress!
* RP: Puttering around Cordoba:
The tiger set up the survivors of the parasite incident and the families of the dead to have better furures and met with a Ratkin to tell her a huge amount of information about things going on in Corduba and events in Constantinople. This was clearly above her pay grade, so she said the rats would get back to them. The group met with the owner of the Wyrmy eatery. He turned out to be a vampire with a mage amoung his body guard. They decided to defer fighting and arranged a business deal as a place holder.
On the way home, four burly men told the Tiger his presence was requested. He told the group to go on without him, and under the assumption these were rats, followed them down to a ramshackle building on the waterfront, full of people. He let them lead him upstairs and started the meeting, still assuming they were rats. They were not. An older woman asked a number of questions about what they were doing in the city and which side they were on. She was not pleased by the party's potential for chaos, but as their target was a disruptive element, she would allow them to proceed as long as their strike was surgical. She had an underling give the Tiger a list, which he pretended he could read.
While the Tiger was out naively tempting people to eat him, an elderly rat turned up at their room, but wouldn't come out until the Tiger got there. Once the Tiger turmed up, she had them pledge "not to bite" before she came out. They gave her good hospitality, so she warmed up. The people the Tiger had just met turned out to be "The Old Court," in this case two loosely allied vampire factions currently led by the Prince before the Prince before, who was a sort of ancestress to the Rat they were talking to. The new Court was based out of the palace. Neither the factions of the old court nor the new court liked them at the bath house. Many warnings were given, and the Rats offered them help breaking the warding on the section of sewer that had been sealed off. They had a big drunken party in their room.
They decided not to attack the Vampires or the Wyrmy sewer section without Skull, so sent a porter to deliver the spices to the vampire, with the fox to watch over. The transaction went fine, but Vampires closed in to feed on him. The Fox distracted half of them while one fed with two guarding, summoning help. Tiger and Bear rescued the messenger while Blake chased the vampires chasing Fumiko, killing one, but getting trapped by another. Tiger scared the other two off, rescuing Blake. The players were all "These Vampires are Dicks!" I responded, "Now you know why no one likes this faction."
The Bear fed the porter, and as they had something in common, they hit it off. It turns out he has two brothers in the palace guard and offered Gwallog a date in the gardens followed by a dawn visit to the menagerie.
They initiated Fumiko into the pack and her vision warned of a curse that has arisen in the desert in North Africa.
* Supernatural Thought: I think it’s interesting that Dean had so many father figures step up where John Winchester failed so miserably.
Sam had Dean.
I think I need to dig deeper here.
* Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor:
Hah! I guessed where the Hurt Doctor fell in the Timeline back when the previous episode aired! (Logged at BPAL's Doctor Who Thread.) It is logical, and still is. I loved the hurt Doctor asking ten and eleven why they were so afraid of being grown ups and them giving him The Look. I've written before about the various regenerations and the sense of age in the the later ones despite the young bodies and how much younger the earlier incarnations genuinely feel, and the way that speaks to me. It was weirdly affirming to have various canonical commentary here along the lines of Clara talking about the Doctor's eyes. I think this story needed telling. It really did bridge the old Who Doctor always trying to solve things peacefully where possible, with Nine's Bad Wolf Doctor who was willing to blow up the earth to destroy the Daleks because he'd done it to Gallifray once, the same one who turned Captain Jack Harkness first into a classic Old Who optimistic companion and then into the dark mirror that could do what he did in CoE. The two versions of Jack that war in Miracle Day: Immortal Sins really do seem to me a shadow of a similar tension between old and new Who that makes for some of the more interesting twists in the Doctor's character. This was beautiful for me that way, because it spoke thematically to the whole of new Who in Torchwood and it's running dialog with old who's legacy.
Less over arching things:
*I never much liked the Zygons as villains. It wasn't just the particularly bad design of the rubber suits of my childhood, but because they always seemed two dimensionally villainous without virtue of speaking direction to/about/with the zeitgeist. The better Who villains either did what they were doing for a reason, had an interesting perspective or culture, or were simultaneously talking about something else if you dug a little deeper. (Side Note: I also like a bit of spacing between repetitions. I think Who just generally uses Daleks and Zygons too often, much as Star Trek came to use the Borg too often. I really liked that they dug up a Classic Who villain that is way less common for a plot designed to commemorate the 50th Anniversary, and i get that the Zygons were just generally a side issue to the central conflicts, but still, not my favorite).
* Who continuity is never particularly good over time. Historically it has been always terrible around Elizabeth I, stretching all the way back to at least Pertwee. It still sucks here, as it does around things like fixed points and regeneration overlap.
* I guessed that someone smashed the statues and was hiding in their places the second I saw the set up in that room. How come the Doctor and all those other bright people in the room didn't?
* Things like Four's scarf on the fan scientist and all the old carefully culled clips, and body double/CGI stuff warmed my burnt husk of a wicked old heart as did seeing the Four Cameo. I know, I know, fan service and I should know better, but I'm not used to being the fan being serviced, so I'll take it.
* I still miss Ten, damnit, and it really was fun to see Ten and Eleven behaving exactly the way Doctors always do in these crossovers.
* I now have a pretty good idea what Moffat's up to with Clara, but I'm hoping it's not as obvious as it seems. Please, Moffat, surprise me. I want to be wrong.
In sort, flawed in the usual ways, but oh so relevant to my interests.
* The Night of the Doctor: A Mini Episode - Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor Prequel - BBC
* Glee 5.6: Moving Out
* I loved the Klaine stuff, which I will be mulling for a few days, I think.
*Ryder was freaking me out, going way to fast. I could see Marley make the face I've made all too many times over the years.
* Jake: still an idiot. Still beautiful in motion even while being an idiot.
* I love that they are still exploring Sam's body issues, and I think it's interesting the way this aspect of his character/plot speaks to previous ones around Quinn, Mercedes, and Marley. I'm pretty sure there's a post there all on it's own that has to do with the conversation the show just generally has around the construction of and specific punishments for masculinity and femininity within the Gleeverse. The thoughts are not formed to the ready to put into words stage though. I may need more data points and/or to rewatch... I'm thinking it's season One, which I didn't much like.
* The Artie/Becky/Sue plot made me happy. It just did.
* Love Billy Joel or hate him, I have to admit that the use of the Glee Casts vocals here where mostly excellent fits for their style and ranges (with two minor exceptions). (My relationship to Billy Joel songs is weird and complicated. I honestly can't tell you if I love them or hate them because it's usually both/and, for reasons neither intrinsic nor relevant).
* This rounds up a bunch of things that bother me about supernatural romance. "Abusive Tropes are not Romantic:" http://www.fangsforthefantasy.com/2013/11/abusive-tropes-are-not-romantic.html
* "The Life and Times of an Aging Superhero Captured in Oil Paintings by Andreas Englund :" http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/11/the-life-and-times-of-an-elderly-superhero-captured-in-oil-paintings-by-andreas-englund/