Currently... uh, Thursday: 28 November 2019

[calissa]

Currently reading
I managed to get my weeks completely mixed up, thinking that my book club was meeting next Tuesday, rather than the one after. So, I blasted through our next book, which is Indexing by Seanan McGuire. Reality is plagued by fairytale incursions who take over people fitting different archtypal profiles and forcing them to behave in waves that fit the narrative. Henrietta Marchen is a Snow White in waiting, heading up a rag-tag team whose job is to prevent such fairytale incursions.

It was originally a Kindle serial (who even knew that was a thing?), so it's structured much like a TV crime procedural. It starts off with a monster-of-the-week plus a bit of an overarching plot that gradually takes over as the Big Bad is revealed. I love crime procedurals and the only reason I haven't started reading crime is because my Mt TBR is already tall enough. Needless to say, I enjoyed it, finding the vibe at the midpoint between Seanan's two major series, October Daye and InCryptid.

Having had some issues with fatigue, I blasted through it in a day or two. So with that out of the way, I've started on Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray. This is the oldest book on my TBR pile, having been acquired on 15 January 2006. One of my goals for this year was to read (or get rid of) the 10 oldest books on my Mt TBR. This is the last one to go and I'm determined to finish it before the end of December. I guess we'll see how I go!


Currently watching
Sahaquiel and I are about halfway through the second season of Legend of Korra and I'm thinking about calling it quits. The first season wasn't too bad, though I really wasn't a fan of having Asami and Korra being jealous over Mako. The ending was also extremely unearned and points to a penchant for magical cures (which I thought I remembered as being a bit of a thing at the beginning of season 3, but apparently crops up even earlier than that).

The second season is proving interminable. Korra's headstrong temper is just annoying and I can't say I'm finding the civil war among the Water Tribes very nuanced or compelling. None of the romantic relationships are at all healthy. Sahaquiel tried to assert that Varrik is the show's equivalent of Uncle Iroh... and just no. Not even remotely.

Redeeming points have been the gorgeous painted landscapes and the sibling relationships.

Comments

[sidheblessed]

I like Korra well enough, though it's clearly not as good as Avatar. I mostly enjoy seeing Aang's children and finding out how things turned out for all the Avatar characters, plus the canon queer characters and relationships. I do agree that generally, the romantic relationships are not healthy, especially not Bolin and his abusive girlfriend. I feel like Korra and Asami probably managed to have one, from memory they were caring towards each other in the few times we got to see them as a couple.

As for Korra herself, I feel she's a much more divisive and difficult to like character than Aang.

And Varrik is not Iroh. He's just not. Not even close.

[calissa]

It was great to see how the world has progressed and how the next generation turned out. I especially love Lin Beifong. However, any canonical queerness doesn't happen until pretty late in the game. Halfway through S2 and I still hadn't seen any sign of it. Was it all in S3?

[sidheblessed]

It's in season three, though I think there's some very subtle hints of it earlier. That's really the main issue with Korra and Asami: The relationship is never given as much time as the others. They're only official for the last few episodes. They expand on the relationship in the comics and there's good stuff there that I wish had made it to screen.

[pantha]

Indexing sounds like a fun read. I swear I've heard of it before -- the premise, though not the title, is familiar.

And ugh, sorry about Korra that does indeed sound like it might have to go. Not worth pushing yourself through unpleasant media, especially if you're already feeling tired or delicate. Is there something else that the two of you could watch together whilst Sahaquiel (if he wishes) continues Korra alone?

[calissa]

Indexing sounds like a fun read. I swear I've heard of it before -- the premise, though not the title, is familiar.

I seem to vaguely recalled Sahaquiel played a computer game that was fairytales with noir detective. I can't for the life of me remember the title, though.

Sahaquiel and I ended up moving on to S3 of The Dragon Prince, which has been delightful.

[pantha]

Yay, glad The Dragon Prince is proving a good antidote. *much hugs*

[winterbird]

Definitely think it's worth quitting a show if you're not enjoying it <3 Though can also relate to the part of you that's probably like 'I should just finish it' that's lurking away too.

I'm glad you were able to get through the fatigue issues!

[calissa]

I mostly just felt bad for Sahaquiel, since he was actually enjoying it and I'm quite fussy about what I'm willing to watch.