sundries

[rm]

We slept very late, and correctly didn't get up when the doorbell rang. It was Jehovah's Witnesses, and I feel irritated that they gave us fancy new Do Not Duplicate keys to the building, and this nonsense is still going on.

Patty has tied a large squeaky mouse toy to the end of the cat dancer. The cats are HORRIFIED and making faces best described as "Jesus Christ, it's a mouse, in the AIR!"

Patty, despite being femme-like in many other ways, does not wear heels. Except she just got this pair of platform sandals with a slight heel that add about 3 inches to her height. She's an inch taller than me, but since I usually wear more significant shoes to her flip flops, I'm generally used to thinking of us as the same height. Last night, she comes home in these shoes, I'm barefoot and she's a giantess. It was super weird.

LJ is being slow about delivering comments again, so just FYI if you get something form me you interpret as looming silence.

Tiny Turtle! via moonpupy.

How Muslims get treated in America via shadesong. It's not clear at first, so I will tell you the guy behind the counter is an actor as is the Muslim-dressed woman that comes into the shop. The experiment is how patrons react. (Note: video does not have captioning; if someone knows of there being a transcript anywhere, let me know; if not, I will try to do one this evening).

First two teachers harassed a student who they perceived gay. Then another student in the same school-district killed himself because of anti-gay bullying. via pgdudda.

But.... but... but the sand: NC-17 porn circa-1900 via azn_jack_fiend.

eredien found this Tampax marketing site thingy in which a boy turns into a girl and gets his first period. The boy character then describes his female condition as being neutered and uses cheesy predatory metaphors to discuss his male attraction to women. It's so damn peculiar, it's hard to know what to say about it, other than Dear Tampax, Blogosphere will eat you.

The depth of offense I believe all Americans should take from Glenn Beck and co. attempting to usurp Dr. King's mantle is actually beyond my ability to describe.

The last resident of Carnegie Hall moves out.

Last night we finished season 4 of Angel: What a strange, strange season. I felt ultimately satisfied with the payoff from the endles, boring, "turgid supernatural soap opera" that dominated most of the season. Jasmin was a great and compelling villain and the ethical issues raised were interesting, although I felt we ultimately deserved more about her motivations, the Powers in general, the truth of her love (no matter how malevolent in execution) and more. I loved the surprise reappearance of Lilah, and the Wolfram & Hart twist.

In fact, I think the Wolfram & Hart twist provides the best entry point for fanfiction in all of Angel thus far, as I imagine each team member probably has small obsessive personal projects they engage in with those resources -- like the matter of Wesley's desire to destroy Lilah's contract.

Also, huge props to the writers for making that final scene with Connor and his family so well-done that after hating Connor for the entirety of his existence on the show, I suddenly cared about and like him.

The memory erasure issue is either compelling or hugely problematic -- erasing Connor also erases the central fracture in the team: why Wesley left; why Angel was missing; and all the issues of trust and family. Also, RTD? I see what you did there.

Meanwhile, I wrote a Torchwood thing. Now all I have to do is my Retcon Book Rewrite and I'm all done on my fic obligations until Kali gets me the next bit of EtGB. Just in time too, as I have a lot of serious business pro work I need to attend to (and if I owe you email in that regard, it'll be sometime this weekend).

Comments

[elisi]

Late, I know, life's busy - but I wanted to just ramble a bit. :)

like the matter of Wesley's desire to destroy Lilah's contract.
'Home' was the first episode of Angel I ever watched (then I caught up with the rest before S5 started), and that scene totally sold me on Wesley/Lilah even though they were obviously over (what with her being dead and all). "But it matters that you tried." Breaks my heart, every time. Also, it's Wes in a nutshell - he tries, he always tries, for the best reasons in the world, and then fails. But it matters that he tries, and I love it that they point that out.

As for the season as a whole there's a LOT of stuff underneath - themes, layers etc. F.ex. remember that Angel, at the very beginning when he was stuck under the sea, hallucinated a happy family dinner with all his friends... which then comes full circle at the end, with Connor's family's dinner. (And then which is more true? Can you be saved by a lie?) Also, I always, always loved the fact that 'The Father Will Kill the Son' came true in the end.

The memory erasure issue is either compelling or hugely problematic -- erasing Connor also erases the central fracture in the team: why Wesley left; why Angel was missing; and all the issues of trust and family.
Like others have said this is dealt with very well in S5, which is definitely my favourite season for a lot of different reasons. (Although there is a lot of gender fail unfortunately.)

Jasmin was a great and compelling villain and the ethical issues raised were interesting
*nods* And I, too, wish we'd had more of an exploration, because it tapped into 'the end justifies the means' quite exquisitely. Actually, this theme will be revisited in S5, and we already see it in Angel's choice to save Connor any way he can, no matter the price he (and his friends) have to pay.