Weekend Stuff
Jan. 27th, 2014 11:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shipperxDoes it seem like winter has been going on forever?
While the South can definitely get cold, usually you can depend on it being very temporary and quickly turning back to moderate temperatures. This winters's cold seems ongoing. Between the gray and the cold, I'm beginning to feel very cooped up. The dog doesn't even like to walk when it's gray and cold. She starts dragging me back towards the house once we reach the end of the block.
Briefly went shopping on Saturday. Despite the cold, I thought it might be a good time to coat shop, as this time of year is when they go on sale. I was looking at a fitted insulated North Face jacket and seriously considered buying, but looking at the website, the complaint about it was that it wasn't as warm as you would think. I have enough light jackets and was looking for a warm one, so I'm not sure I'm willing to pay for one that looks good but isn't considered to be particularly warm.
I also bought yet another pair of Sketcher 'Go Walks'. I already own two pair, but I wear those walking shoes to death. The blue ones are practically mesh, open air, and summer weight, so I'm not wearing those these days (and I had already done a LOT of wear on them). I have black ones that I'm wearing these days. I've also worn those to death over the winter. They are beginning to suffer from the wear, so when I saw that 'Go Walks' were on sale the other day I bought some gray ones. They're just walking shoes, but they are truly the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned... which is why I now have three pairs (though of different summer/winter weights).
Most constructive thing I did this weekend was make chili. With the cold and the gray, it seemed apropos for the weather. Turned out pretty good.
Well, Downton was on TV. Okay episode but nothing earth shattering. Don't care how Anna's story has turned into her husband's story. Did enjoy Branson mentioning his discomfort in how he's gone from 'uppity chauffeur' and socialist to something not too far removed from the Grantham's pet (he didn't phrase it like that. I did. But... yeah) And I liked Lord Grantham's petulant announcement that he didn't want Branson to go and his dreams of Branson's daughter growing up as the almost-sister of Lady Mary's son. Lord Grantham may be a twat and an idiot with finances, but he isn't all bad. :)
Other than Downton, TV is pretty thin right now (Once Upon a Time, I want you back from hiatus. And GOT, start airing already!)
Finally got around to seeing Iron Man 3. Liked it better than Iron Man 2, which I found to be boring and a complete waste of time. Iron Man 3 was enjoyable. RDJ looked good and was quite funny. And I liked the switcheroo with Pepper Potts (which was totally obvious, but I liked it anyway), so all in all not bad... for a superhero movie (of which I'm not the worlds biggest fan).
Other than that, I'm still in the fluff book territory. I seem to have swum to the edge of the angst pool, as the last two weren't particularly angsty(and I'm A-okay with that.)
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shadowkat67 mentioned having Zoe Archer's Sweet Revenge on her to-read list and the kindle blurb for it interested me. I've read about 70%+/- of it now.
It's a Victorian era story about an escaped convict seeking revenge on the titled Lord who murdered his sister. The convict runs into a group of covert 'agents' for Nemesis, a Robin Hood-esque organization seeking justice for those who can't get justice in a rigged class system that favors the titled and the wealthy. Like Jack (the hero), Nemesis is also after the titled Lord. And there is a particular female Nemesis agent that Jack finds incredibly attractive.
While packaged as a romance novel, it really isn't all that romance novel-y. It's more of an action adventure caper with a romantic subplot. Sort of "Leverage" meets "Ripper Street" (with perhaps a tiny pinch of "Inglorious Basterds"), and should probably be approached with that attitude because it's rather implausbile that in the Dickens era a Whitechapel street thug/convict such as Jack would turn out to be as...well... as nice as Jack turns out to be. Probably not as literate either. They don't play him as educated or anything, but an orphaned guttersnipe son of a prostitute from Whitechapel during the age of Ripper would most likely be unable to read. Jack can. And he's canny too. His 'roughness' seems primarily to be his boxing and his vulgar language. Everything else about him is surprisingly civilized. At any rate, the hero (who is the primary POV character) is quite likable. Though they go overboard mentioning how HUGE he is. It's like he's The Hulk or something.
The primary weakness in the novel (to me at any rate) has been a failure to explain (at least to the point that I've read) some unelaborated aspects of the heroine. Like I said, the primary POV is Jack, and Jack finds Nemesis agent Eva to be mysterious (and with her cultured speech and clothing, exotic for the likes of him), meaning that he and the reader aren't always privy to everything that makes Eva tick. (Although it strikes me on thought as a bit of a gender reversal in that Eva is written in a way that heroes are sometimes written. In traditional formats, heroes are often elusive in the heroine's POV. This sort of flips that equation). For instance, what turned Eva, the daughter of missionaries, into such a sexually liberated Victorian? I got the explanation for how she went from frustrated missionary into the Robin Hood-esque aspects of Nemesis, but she is anachronistically liberated where sex is concerned (which, there are worse flaws for a story to have, so it's not much of a complaint. More of a curiosity.) At any rate, Eva is likable, smart, and kicks ass (and is anachronistically modern.)
Because of the missing bits of Eva's psychology (at least to the point where I've read, it hasn't yet been explained) I don't quite grasp her romantic obstacle with Jack. They seem perfect as Nemesis spy-partners with benefits. Plus, Jack seems a made to order Nemesis recruit. AND (though it's still unsaid) it's pretty clear that they both fell ass over teakettle for one another... so why can't they just stay together once the 'mission' is done? (It's a romance novel, so I assume that in the end they will, but Eva in particular behaves as though there's no possibility for that to happen, and I'm still unclear as to WHY she continues to think so.)
At any rate, it's action-filled and caperesque. Likable leads. Fun, not too angsty, and explicit.
I also read Sherry Thomas' "His at Night". Like the reviewer at Smart Bitches I had a thing for the Scarlet Pimpernel when I was growing up. (They seek him here. They seek him there. Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven or is he in hell, that demmed elusive Pimpernel...) So, yeah, I'm a prime audience for a rif on this sort of story motif. In this case it's the very late Victorian era (in fact it seemed like the late 1890s. I never look at the dates, but it felt like it was pushing 1900), so no French Revolution. Just an 'agent for the crown' who seemed to be covertly Sherlock Holmes while pretending to be... well, they talk about him as having suffered a brain injury in a fall from a horse (which was his cover story for having become 'less' than when he was a teen) but honestly, his covert identity seemed rather Big Bang Theory Sheldon Cooper-like. He's on a case and in his Sheldon-like identity when he runs into the heroine.
The heroine is trapped in an abusive household. Her uncle, the villain the hero is investigating, is coldly menacing. And, while the heroine wants to escape, and even ran away once, she's unwilling to leave her Aunt, a laudenum addict, behind in her uncle's clutches, so she's trying to formulate a plan when the hero falls into her lap. She decides that if she can somehow trap/force him into marrying her, that not only can she escape from her uncle but she can get her aunt out as well. Of course the 'addled' hero she wants to manipulate isn't really addled, so it becomes a duel of scheming...such that the heroine catches onto the fact that the hero is not what he pretends to be.
Less angsty than some of Thomas' work (not totally without angst, but not overly burdened). Fun hero and heroine. (Though the hero is mystifyingly self-destructive a couple of times) but overall enjoyable.
While the South can definitely get cold, usually you can depend on it being very temporary and quickly turning back to moderate temperatures. This winters's cold seems ongoing. Between the gray and the cold, I'm beginning to feel very cooped up. The dog doesn't even like to walk when it's gray and cold. She starts dragging me back towards the house once we reach the end of the block.
* * * * * * *
Briefly went shopping on Saturday. Despite the cold, I thought it might be a good time to coat shop, as this time of year is when they go on sale. I was looking at a fitted insulated North Face jacket and seriously considered buying, but looking at the website, the complaint about it was that it wasn't as warm as you would think. I have enough light jackets and was looking for a warm one, so I'm not sure I'm willing to pay for one that looks good but isn't considered to be particularly warm.
I also bought yet another pair of Sketcher 'Go Walks'. I already own two pair, but I wear those walking shoes to death. The blue ones are practically mesh, open air, and summer weight, so I'm not wearing those these days (and I had already done a LOT of wear on them). I have black ones that I'm wearing these days. I've also worn those to death over the winter. They are beginning to suffer from the wear, so when I saw that 'Go Walks' were on sale the other day I bought some gray ones. They're just walking shoes, but they are truly the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned... which is why I now have three pairs (though of different summer/winter weights).
* * * * * * *
Most constructive thing I did this weekend was make chili. With the cold and the gray, it seemed apropos for the weather. Turned out pretty good.
* * * * * * *
Nothing has been on TV.Well, Downton was on TV. Okay episode but nothing earth shattering. Don't care how Anna's story has turned into her husband's story. Did enjoy Branson mentioning his discomfort in how he's gone from 'uppity chauffeur' and socialist to something not too far removed from the Grantham's pet (he didn't phrase it like that. I did. But... yeah) And I liked Lord Grantham's petulant announcement that he didn't want Branson to go and his dreams of Branson's daughter growing up as the almost-sister of Lady Mary's son. Lord Grantham may be a twat and an idiot with finances, but he isn't all bad. :)
Other than Downton, TV is pretty thin right now (Once Upon a Time, I want you back from hiatus. And GOT, start airing already!)
Finally got around to seeing Iron Man 3. Liked it better than Iron Man 2, which I found to be boring and a complete waste of time. Iron Man 3 was enjoyable. RDJ looked good and was quite funny. And I liked the switcheroo with Pepper Potts (which was totally obvious, but I liked it anyway), so all in all not bad... for a superhero movie (of which I'm not the worlds biggest fan).
* * * * * * *
Other than that, I'm still in the fluff book territory. I seem to have swum to the edge of the angst pool, as the last two weren't particularly angsty(and I'm A-okay with that.)
shadowkat67 mentioned having Zoe Archer's Sweet Revenge on her to-read list and the kindle blurb for it interested me. I've read about 70%+/- of it now.It's a Victorian era story about an escaped convict seeking revenge on the titled Lord who murdered his sister. The convict runs into a group of covert 'agents' for Nemesis, a Robin Hood-esque organization seeking justice for those who can't get justice in a rigged class system that favors the titled and the wealthy. Like Jack (the hero), Nemesis is also after the titled Lord. And there is a particular female Nemesis agent that Jack finds incredibly attractive.
While packaged as a romance novel, it really isn't all that romance novel-y. It's more of an action adventure caper with a romantic subplot. Sort of "Leverage" meets "Ripper Street" (with perhaps a tiny pinch of "Inglorious Basterds"), and should probably be approached with that attitude because it's rather implausbile that in the Dickens era a Whitechapel street thug/convict such as Jack would turn out to be as...well... as nice as Jack turns out to be. Probably not as literate either. They don't play him as educated or anything, but an orphaned guttersnipe son of a prostitute from Whitechapel during the age of Ripper would most likely be unable to read. Jack can. And he's canny too. His 'roughness' seems primarily to be his boxing and his vulgar language. Everything else about him is surprisingly civilized. At any rate, the hero (who is the primary POV character) is quite likable. Though they go overboard mentioning how HUGE he is. It's like he's The Hulk or something.
The primary weakness in the novel (to me at any rate) has been a failure to explain (at least to the point that I've read) some unelaborated aspects of the heroine. Like I said, the primary POV is Jack, and Jack finds Nemesis agent Eva to be mysterious (and with her cultured speech and clothing, exotic for the likes of him), meaning that he and the reader aren't always privy to everything that makes Eva tick. (Although it strikes me on thought as a bit of a gender reversal in that Eva is written in a way that heroes are sometimes written. In traditional formats, heroes are often elusive in the heroine's POV. This sort of flips that equation). For instance, what turned Eva, the daughter of missionaries, into such a sexually liberated Victorian? I got the explanation for how she went from frustrated missionary into the Robin Hood-esque aspects of Nemesis, but she is anachronistically liberated where sex is concerned (which, there are worse flaws for a story to have, so it's not much of a complaint. More of a curiosity.) At any rate, Eva is likable, smart, and kicks ass (and is anachronistically modern.)
Because of the missing bits of Eva's psychology (at least to the point where I've read, it hasn't yet been explained) I don't quite grasp her romantic obstacle with Jack. They seem perfect as Nemesis spy-partners with benefits. Plus, Jack seems a made to order Nemesis recruit. AND (though it's still unsaid) it's pretty clear that they both fell ass over teakettle for one another... so why can't they just stay together once the 'mission' is done? (It's a romance novel, so I assume that in the end they will, but Eva in particular behaves as though there's no possibility for that to happen, and I'm still unclear as to WHY she continues to think so.)
At any rate, it's action-filled and caperesque. Likable leads. Fun, not too angsty, and explicit.
* * * * * * *
I also read Sherry Thomas' "His at Night". Like the reviewer at Smart Bitches I had a thing for the Scarlet Pimpernel when I was growing up. (They seek him here. They seek him there. Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven or is he in hell, that demmed elusive Pimpernel...) So, yeah, I'm a prime audience for a rif on this sort of story motif. In this case it's the very late Victorian era (in fact it seemed like the late 1890s. I never look at the dates, but it felt like it was pushing 1900), so no French Revolution. Just an 'agent for the crown' who seemed to be covertly Sherlock Holmes while pretending to be... well, they talk about him as having suffered a brain injury in a fall from a horse (which was his cover story for having become 'less' than when he was a teen) but honestly, his covert identity seemed rather Big Bang Theory Sheldon Cooper-like. He's on a case and in his Sheldon-like identity when he runs into the heroine.
The heroine is trapped in an abusive household. Her uncle, the villain the hero is investigating, is coldly menacing. And, while the heroine wants to escape, and even ran away once, she's unwilling to leave her Aunt, a laudenum addict, behind in her uncle's clutches, so she's trying to formulate a plan when the hero falls into her lap. She decides that if she can somehow trap/force him into marrying her, that not only can she escape from her uncle but she can get her aunt out as well. Of course the 'addled' hero she wants to manipulate isn't really addled, so it becomes a duel of scheming...such that the heroine catches onto the fact that the hero is not what he pretends to be.
Less angsty than some of Thomas' work (not totally without angst, but not overly burdened). Fun hero and heroine. (Though the hero is mystifyingly self-destructive a couple of times) but overall enjoyable.
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no subject
Date: 2014-01-27 07:03 pm (UTC)I agree that Iron Man 3 was way better than Iron Man 2. Iron Man 2's promise was developing the relationship between Tony and Pepper, and it just completely whiffed on that. I suspect that someone saw that rough cut and said "Hey! Way too much mushy stuff. This isn't going to appeal to 12-year-old boys!" And it was then re-edited to make it empty and boring. My evidence for this comes from a clip that got into all the trailers (Tony getting the helmet from Pepper and saying "You complete me") that wasn't in the final cut of the movie. It's a tiny scene, but leaving a number of moments like that in could have giving the film a reason to exist -- which it didn't have as delivered.
IM3 fulfilled the promise that IM2 dodged. And I felt that it was helped a lot by keeping Tony out of the suit for most of the movie. It wasn't a movie about its special effects. It was a character piece with some special effects. Not a perfect film by any means, but much better than its predecessor.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-27 11:47 pm (UTC)And, yeah, Matthew's continued good fortune got to be ridiculous on DA.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-27 07:23 pm (UTC)Sink me!
no subject
Date: 2014-01-27 11:47 pm (UTC)Though the version that I most remember was the 1980s one with Jane Seymore
no subject
Date: 2014-01-27 11:00 pm (UTC)Thanks for the reviews. Curious about His at Night, now. Although have opted to go for The Countess Conspiracy first...
On romances? The worst sub-genre, and oddly the most popular on Good Reads, seems to be "New Adult" - this is basically the 50 Shades of Gray sub-genre, although it pre-existed 50 Shades by at least a year.
New Adult can give the boddice rippers a run for their money. Actually your pink princess story reminds me a little New Adult. The heroines are all a wee bit wet-behind-the-ears, and the heroes are all a-hole jerks, with serious control freak issues.
Avoid, avoid, avoid. They are hands down the worst written romance novels that I've read.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-27 11:45 pm (UTC)And good lord, I'm still listening to the pretty pink princess and have now reached the point of hating the hero. Haaaaaaate. What a freaking, self-righteous tool. And the whole thing sent me skidding into positively Freudian thoughts.
This old school (sounds like New School as well if it's 50 Shades of Gray-esque) thing with the distant authoritative Alpha Hero got me to questioning whether it's a daddy-issue thing.
There is something almost Freudian in the inexplicable alpha male figure in that in books like the one with the Pretty Pink Princess, the hero is always at something of a remove, like he cannot be examined very critically or too closely and there's this huge power differential, almost like that of a child and an adult (which also plays into her being soooooooooooo 'wet beyhind the ears' ingenue as well.) Plus he is treated as an authority figure. He can judge her, dismiss her, has control over her feelings, and she's trying quite desperately for his approval/love even though if you really looked at it, she doesn't KNOW him particularly well beyond his image. It's like a struggle for approval from a masculine authority figure and... it's kind of ookie when I think about it in that regard. But I wonder whether it relates to some sort of Daddy Issue thing sometimes.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-28 02:41 am (UTC)Oh it is. I've read several of them (Sylvia Day's Crossfire series (Sylvia was a Bangle and Spuffy fanfic writer, I think), Maya Banks Rush Series,
EL James (Twilight fanfic)- 50 Shades and there's countless others. Those are the best-sellers. Of the three - the only entertaining one was 50 Shades, mainly because the heroine had a bit of spunk, and the writer had a sense of humor. Sylvia Day and Banks do not have a sense of humor.)
They all have the following in common:
1. Rich billionaire. Note he's a billionaire. Usually in his late 20s or early 30s. Very fit. And into, ahem, BDSM sex or kinky sex. (although not always) And he's an authoritative control freak. Plus tall. Not a small man.
2. Tiny waife-like girl, who is beautiful, early twenties - approx 20-22. Rarely older than that. (Basically think Kristen Stewart in the Twilight movies...they all are sort of described as looking like her.) The girl's sexual experience varies...but she's usually very girly or more accurately, naive and wet-behind-the-ears (the exception might be the Crossfire series..where she's was sexually abused by her step-brother in the past, whom the hero kills to protect her).
At some point, she calls him Daddy, or there's a weird Father vibe...and he always has serious Mommy issues. In all of them the mother either abandoned him or abused him, or he was abused by her boyfriend. Sometimes his an orphan. In 50 Shades - he was an orphan and horribly abused, then adopted by a lovely if somewhat one-dimensional family reminiscent of the Stepford Wives. In Crossfire - his therapist molested him and his brother with his mother's permission. And in the Banks novels...well, he's fine, there's really no reason why he's an a-hole. Banks isn't into psychological development, she likes alpha men who are a-hole's for no discernible reason, they just are.
In all the books, they call the gal - "babe" or "baby". Which gets irritating really fast. And they initially want to be called sir, or Mr. And get all gooey-eyed when she uses their actual name.
Also, they have had a lot of BDSM sex with former girlfriends, and have a bit of an abusive history with women. This girl, the heroine, saves them.
This trope loves delving into childhood sexual abuse. All of these characters appear to have had horrible childhoods. Although there are admittedly variations.
Smartbitches had an interesting discussion on the trope a while back. The trope actually pre-exists 50 Shades of Gray. It can be traced back to the 1970s, with Story of O (which I found unreadable - considering some of the things I've managed to read, that's saying something). 50 Shades and Crossfire - remind me a great deal of a 1980s novel entitled Double Standards by Judith McNaught. The set-up is almost the same. Pretty 20 something girl, trips and lands at the feet of attractive billionaire. It's lust at first sight. He has serious Mommy issues. She has serious Daddy issues. He treats her like crap, stalks her, sexually harrasses her, she realizes his just a little boy who loves her - and they have hot sex, he finally proposes and briefly treats her wonderfully, something happens, he treats her like crap again because he thinks she betrayed him - fed up she leaves him - he discovers he was wrong and unable to live without her, he races after her.
On the plus side? At least he never rapes her. Beats her. Spanks her.
Yep. But no rape. Although Rush by Maya Banks did have a scene that I couldn't read - it was actually on par with rape.
[It's worth noting a lot these writers were fanfic writers for the Twilight fandom and their readership is mainly Twilight fans.]
no subject
Date: 2014-01-28 02:56 am (UTC)At some point, she calls him Daddy
Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-29 01:19 am (UTC)The .99 cents ones on the other hand...tend to be more overt.
Judith McNaught - really infantilizes her heroines. Not as much in the more recent contemporary novels. But she does have authority issues.
Actually - that's the problem with the contemporary romances - the women are either wet-behind-the-ears types or abused misfits or the pretty princess you've been discussing. The guys are usually a-class jerks, authoritative, with serious control issues - and either insanely wealthy or insanely fit bad-buys who do fight club with multiple tattoos.
Then there's the abused teen trope...that Colleen Hoover and Jamie Aquirre specialize in - basically these are teen from abusive families, who fall into lust (think Bangle and Twilight lust - except everyone's human), and the guy is usually about 10 years older. She's 17/18, and he's 25/26 - that's Hoover's deal. Often a teacher. It reminds me a great deal of the Everybody's Human smutty fanfic that I've read in the Spuffy and Bangle fandoms.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-29 01:24 am (UTC)I think the only half-way decent contemporary writer may be Nora Roberts - she has one about a female forest fire fighter...except it's rather slow, because we spend more time discussing fire jumping than developing character. I got bogged down in it.
Maya Banks did do one about a sharp-shooter - except, the gal gets raped, and goes on a revenge spree - then Banks has the hero force her to work through it and cry. But hey, at least, she's tough. It's one of the KGI series - about mercernaries - which isn't really my thing.