Finished reading Mike Vasich's novel, Loki. And I liked it a lot. Beginning to end, I couldn't put it down. It's a pretty straightforward retelling of the classic Loki myths all leading up to, of course, Ragnarok (Armageddon), but with one BIG TWIST and an awesome Loki pov. Loki's journey from despised yet ardent Asgard patriot to disillusioned, vengeful exile is a thing of beauty. I also really liked the treatment of his shapeshifting ability.

( Now, some (still unspoilery) criticisms... )

( And some still unspoilery but totally unfair criticisms... )


Also, must say that I am so very pleased by how much Sigyn fic there is on Archive of Our Own. Because, once again, I find myself clinging to obscure side characters. I'm working on my own Sigyn fic, but I can't put it on Archive of Our Own because apparently I am #7368 on the waiting list. Oye. So, ff.net it is! There is a fair amount of Sigyn fic there, too.

Avengers interview wherein Tom comes off as practically perfect in every way. I'm sure he says actual words here, but all I hear is that gorgeous posh accent.



Wherein he JUST PULLS THE ST. CRISPIN'S DAY SPEECH OUT OF HIS POCKET AND ROCKS THE HELL OUT OF IT. Cannot, cannot, cannot wait to see him play Prince Hal.

The Avengers was fun, fun, fun. And also Loki, Loki, Loki.

( SO MANY FEELINGS... )

This is late to the Thor party and early for the Avengers one, but...

OMG LOKI. In love, love, love with . I'm not really a fan of any of the Marvel heroes in the Avengers line-up-- tragically because I can only imagine how much fun it would be if they had teamed up my favorite heroes-- but now I have a reason to see it (besides Robert Downey Jr.) since Loki is the villain. Loki is EVERYTHING in Thor. Actually, he's everything in Norse mythology for me (he's always been my favorite). But Loki in the movie... DADDY ISSUES, BROTHER ISSUES, SCHEMING, TRAGIC FAMILY SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA! Yes, please!

I've also been reading Mike Vasich's book, Loki (which is off to a great start!), so I was already prepped with my Loki love. Now, I can't wait to see the Avengers.



P.S: OMG Tom Hiddleston is going to play Prince Hal alongside Jeremy Irons and Harry Lloyd in an upcoming film version of my favorite Shakespeare plays, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2! I think I might die from all that awesome in one production. Might actually die.

And the dancing... finally... ends. I bought the book the day it came out, and it took me nearly a YEAR to finish! I finished all the other A Song of Fire and Ice books in under a month each. But this one. Oh, this one.

I already wrote out my thoughts on most of the storylines over here,( so I'll just sum up my thoughts... )

Had a fun time reading through this article: Fallen Idols: Disappointing Truths About Five Famous Authors. Not for the article itself (which is ridiculous) but for all the comments from people discussing and debating their favorite/despised books and authors. Speaking of fallen literary idols... I got linked in the comments to this awesome/hilarious Sue Perkins special about what a dick Dickens was and thought I'd share...




There are also some awesome (time stealing) links to be found about how horrible and racist Roald Dahl was and someone links to an apologia attempting to rescue Walt Disney from his pop culture legacy of being an antisemitic, possibly cryogenically frozen, Nazi-sympathizer. And many other beloved idols are torn to shreds. Fun!

Love, love, loved it. I still came out questioning the casting of Peeta, but whatevs. Jennifer Lawrence was the perfect Katniss, but it was really the periphery casting that made the movie for me. Stanley Tucci's Caesar Flickerman was probably my favorite. Love that crazy acting chameleon. How does he look so much like Adrian Pasdar in this movie??? Elizabeth Banks's Effie Trinket and Woody Harrelson's Haymitch steal every scene. Loved all the extra stuff with President Snow and Wes Bently's Seneca Crane. When Crane says, "Everyone loves an underdog," and President Snow calmly retorts, "I don't"? Oh, ho, President Snow. Careful, because I might start liking you.

But man. When I first read the Hunger Games, I really wanted to find some Cato/Clove fic. My baddie shipper antenna zeroed right in on them. Crazy, sadistic careers with inexplicable soft spots for each other? Yes, please! Then, the movie goes and casts that creepy girl from Orphan as Clove, and suddenly there's tons of fic that I can't enjoy because now Clove is creepy Esther. Figures, heh. Though, all the movie!fic is actually surprising to me since the movie threw out their relationship entirely in favor of Cato/Glimmer. Huh.

In Chicago, I only bought one souvenir.




Caillebotte's "Paris: a Rainy Day" is one of my favorite paintings. I had a print up in my dorm all through college. When I walked into the Art Institute of Chicago, I had no idea it was there until I turned a corner and there she was, all huge and lovely as if she were just waiting for me to find her. I did a little dance of glee when I found the mug in the gift shop because, while "Paris" is a famous painting, it's more common to find Monet's waterlillies or Van Gogh's irises on the collectibles. Caillebotte just doesn't have the mainstream fame of his contemporaries.

Anyway, my morning coffee just got a little nerdier (happier).

Just returned from some serious vacationing! I was in Chicago for St. Patrick's Day (epic), and then it was home for a few days and then off again to Vegas. Pretty much drank my weight in green beer and such. I need a major siesta to recover from all that fun, heh.

I finally caught up with the Walking Dead up through the S2 finale. For me at least, S2 was much better than S1, which I was kind of meh about. My main problem with the show has always been the characters. This kind of show kind of requires that you care whether the characters survive the zombie apocalypse or not. Before somewhere in S2 I could count how many characters I actually gave a shit about on one hand and with fingers to spare (i.e. just Rick). But this season managed to get me invested in pretty much everyone except Andrea, who I still can't stand, and wee!Carl, who is still annoying. The denouement of the love triangle broke my heart. The big character deaths were unexpected, heart wrenching, and intriguing because where you gonna go now, show? And Daryl is quite possibly the best thing about this show.