eruthros: Delenn from Babylon 5 with a startled expression and the text "omg!" (BtVS cheeseman nonsense)
In which [livejournal.com profile] thingswithwings and I finally realize the TRUTH about the scifi channel's monster movies. The horrifying, Philip-K-Dickian truth.

frightening details behind the cut )
eruthros: Delenn from Babylon 5 with a startled expression and the text "omg!" (Default)
Excerpt:

[livejournal.com profile] thingswithwings: I sort of want to make a ____ or die challenge, where ____ has to rhyme with fuck
[livejournal.com profile] thingswithwings: so there could be duck or die
[livejournal.com profile] thingswithwings: luck or die

/ excerpt

In which eruthros and thingswithwings have an important conversation about ____-or-die )

Your turn! Pintuck or die, the story where Rodney and John must participate in strange Pegasus versions of Project Runway? You know there are a bazillion more out there!
eruthros: Delenn from Babylon 5 with a startled expression and the text "omg!" (Default)
In which we discuss:
1) how Peter DeLuise learned his scifi politics playing a genetically-engineered janitor on Seaquest. (Peter DeLuise directed, produced, and wrote various bits of Stargate SG-1 and SGA between 1999 and the end of season ten of SG-1.)
2) why some situations call for a B-Movie version of Lee Edelman.
3) the disconcerting correlations between characters who don't use contractions.

This is cleaned-up IM-discussion, meaning that it's full of playing with these topics rather than really fleshing them out.

Dagwood! Stargate Atlantis! Genetic engineering! And other topics as well. )
eruthros: Delenn from Babylon 5 with a startled expression and the text "omg!" (Default)
This is a brilliant story of Major Evan Lorne's tragic painterly life! Because he grew up painting only male nudes in his mom's studio, and now he is in the military! Woe.

Today, we went crazy )
eruthros: Ivanova from B5 saying "boom boom boom boom" to Londo -- angry icon!! (B5 - Ivanova boom)
I'm beginning to think these shoes are cursed.

See, I got them (in the right size, finally!) Wednesday night and wore them to work yesterday, a day which, as we all know, did not exactly go swimmingly.

And I put said shoes on again this morning and left the house right on time... only to discover that my train, which had been running ten minutes late all week, had picked today to be three minutes early and was pulling into the station as I rounded the corner nearly a quarter-mile and two staircases away. I did that split-second mental math to answer the question "should I run for the train?" (Mental math that public transit users are used to: How far away is it? Is there a chance at all that I can make it? When is the next train? How late will I be if I catch that one? Can I run in these shoes? One doesn't just run indiscriminately, because there's nothing more depressing than running for your train and missing it anyway, left to collapse on the platform. If you decide not to run for it, then at least you can pretend it was a choice.) Anyway, my mental math answer was "maybe," and thus I discovered that these shoes are great for sprinting, though Philadelphia's air remains crap for same.

I also discovered that this bra is not so great for sprinting, but perhaps that got me onto the train -- there was no-one left on the platform but a single conductor who was getting back on the train, and they were about to take off, when I rounded the top of the stairs shouting "please wait!" Wearing my low-cut not-entirely-opaque tailored white and purple striped shirt and a kind of fallen down bra. And they did wait.

And I am proud of myself, because not only did I make the train, I made the train in front of three women who were running (admittedly, in heels) from twenty feet and two staircases away. (Since I hit the platform just as they were about to take off, those women managed to get on to the train, too, because they got to the platform in the time it took me to get onto the train.)

Anyway! The train wasn't late, and didn't make any inexplicable stops, a great improvement over most of the week... until we get to suburban station, where we wait for twenty minutes. And then I head over to the trolley platform at 30th Street... only it's cordoned off. All five trolley routes were diverted to 40th Street Station. So it's onto the El (which is at that point underground) and to 40th Street and then, slowly, to work.

See, there are five trolley routes. They don't merge until they go underground, on a normal day. When they're all five diverted to the above-ground tracks, that means five trolley routes, each with a trolley running every four minutes during commute hours, sharing two-lane city streets with commute traffic. And that means huge, huge lines of trolleys backed up for blocks whenever they need to turn, because cars are blocking the intersection or running the red. And all five routes have to make an unprotected left turn in university city, home of lo these many pedestrians and drivers and nobody lets anyone in here, so. (This also means that there are huge, huge lines and crowds on the Lucy Loop shuttles around campus, and that it takes ten minutes to drive a single block down Spruce, and that Crazy Philadelphia Drivers are making illegal u-turns and driving the wrong way through alleys and driving whole streets in reverse to get out of the bad traffic. Whee.)

Oh, and the why and wherefore of all of this, which I didn't get from any of the Official SEPTA representatives in their shiny vests, but from the most useful tool in the SEPTA information network (i.e., stand by the doorway and gossip with the driver; making comments about something you just saw one of those aforementioned Crazy Philadelphia Drivers do is a good way to start this conversation). Once I had internet access, I confirmed it: there was a transformer fire downtown. At two am. And it's still not cleaned up. Of course.

Also, today we expect an estimate on the body+suspension damage of the car. Which, I may remind you, we have had for little more than six weeks. (Fortunately, the insurance folks are sending a guy to our mechanic in person today, to make arrangements for payment, and they are in fact waiving the deductible, so we don't have to deal with it at all. I point out that this news came after I took my shoes off yesterday.)

I dunno, though, somehow the whole thing was so ridiculous that I'm almost cheery about it. It's making me want an icon that says "no, Vir, the universe is an evil place, but it least it has a sense of humor about the whole thing."

[livejournal.com profile] darthrami, on the other hand, is concerned:
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: [like I said last night] THESE SHOES ARE CURSED.
[livejournal.com profile] darthrami: oh noes
[livejournal.com profile] darthrami: what happened?
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: [provides link]
[livejournal.com profile] darthrami: I TOLD you this would happen
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: THE WORLD WILL EXPLODE IF I WEAR THESE SHOES TOMORROW.
[livejournal.com profile] darthrami: for god's sake, don't do it!

I am currently accepting bids. Dear SEPTA: for a modest sum, I promise to never wear these shoes during commute hours again.
eruthros: Delenn from Babylon 5 with a startled expression and the text "omg!" (BtVS cheeseman nonsense)
And, having made it through lord alone knows how many Sentinel-bonding stories, I feel entitled to be random and post Funny IM Conversations. Because I know you all care what [livejournal.com profile] waywardwords and I think would happen if the actors in Top Gun were played by ducks, or what [livejournal.com profile] darthrami and I theorized about the NID's curtains. Or maybe just because I don't want to lose said randomness later.

Apparently swans and ducks are inherently funny, just like squid:

[livejournal.com profile] waywardwords: BEWARE THE SWAN!
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: It is an EVIL swan.
[livejournal.com profile] waywardwords: Swans can be.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: It will eat all the ... whatever swans eat... so that others may starve.
[livejournal.com profile] waywardwords: Ravenous swans!
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Ravenous rampaging swans VS Godzilla!
[livejournal.com profile] waywardwords: lol.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: They destroy Tokyo!
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Again!
[livejournal.com profile] waywardwords: Next up: Mothra vs. the Angry Ducks!
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Mothra is so going down.
Top Gun and Angry Ducks )

And when [livejournal.com profile] darthrami was over, we briefly talked about the fandoms that could actually support curtainfic. Later, on lj:

[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Also? Maybourne totally has a crush on Jack O'Neill.
[livejournal.com profile] darthrami: :-)
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Seriously! I mean, he's always calling from the Cayman Islands and wanting to know how Jack's doing...
[livejournal.com profile] darthrami: ...
[livejournal.com profile] darthrami: does he ask about curtains?
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: No.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Usually he asks about the NID and if they're all managing to stay disentangled from the Shadow Government sorta thing.
[livejournal.com profile] darthrami: ahhhh
[livejournal.com profile] darthrami: does he ask about the shadow government's curtains?
NID Curtainfic )
eruthros: Delenn from Babylon 5 with a startled expression and the text "omg!" (BtVS cheeseman nonsense)
This is my very first snow day EVER. They got up to 8 inches in the Philly suburbs, and all the schools where I teach are closed. How very odd!

Because [livejournal.com profile] sineala had today off, as well, we amused ourselves by writing cliche-ridden cop dramas featuring the Hogwarts Giant Squid.

[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Ducks are also fun.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: So are squid, actually. Squid are, like, inherently funny.
[livejournal.com profile] sineala: Hey, they are! Squid! Heh. That's cool.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: That's why the HP Giant Squid is EXTRA funny.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: He's a GIANT. SQUID.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Squid! Underwater life-saving squid!
[livejournal.com profile] sineala: Duuude. You know, that would totally be a good crime drama setup. Well, a funny one, anyway.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: *g* Word.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: That could be the theme song. "Squid! Underwater life-saving SQUIIID!"
[livejournal.com profile] sineala: It would be even better if it made the Law and Order Noise. And the squid had dramatic expressions. Or dramatic ink-squirting.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: I was picturing the credits with images of a stern-looking squid in the background, squirting in some direction or another to whip guns out of ... people's? ... hands, or catch falling ... women? ...
[livejournal.com profile] sineala: Well, I would certainly be intrigued enough to watch it, anyway.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Yes! To see the squid heroically save the day!
[livejournal.com profile] sineala: Totally.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Or maybe sometimes the squid would FAIL. And then there would be giant-squid ANGST.
[livejournal.com profile] sineala: With a sad sad squid.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Yes.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: And maybe sometimes the squid would accidentally have squidall relations with an evil temptress squid.Oh no! What happens then? )
eruthros: Wizard of Oz: Dorothy in black and white, text "rainbow" in rainbow colors (Dorothy singing rainbow)
[livejournal.com profile] m_shell and I watched the DVD of the London stage production of Oklahoma! recently. You know, the one with Hugh Jackman? We'd seen it before, but only as a bad PAL to NTSC dub that our prof smuggled out of England.

This led to some discussion about Wolverine playing Curly, as is wont to happen, and I had a sudden flash of Prof X as played by Patrick Stewart in wheelchair singing "the farmer and the cowman should be friends" and trying to stop fights between the two groups and, just, yah. Patrick Stewart. Prof X. Singing this:
"Ain't nobody gonna slug out anythin'. This here is a party!
Break it up ya' two ol' fools. All right, Andrew, sing it!
Dum-dah-dee-um-dum-dum!
and
I'd like to teach you all a little sayin'
And learn the words by heart the way you should
I don't say I'm no better than anybody else,
But I'll be damned if I ain't jist as good!
Is that not just perfect? I mean, see, Magneto is going around all Superman and Mutants Are the Next Generation and stuff, and Prof X is singing about being no better and no worse. Hee!

Sadly, since this is clearly based on movie!canon, one can't have Laurie played by Rogue, so it has to be Jean as Laurie and Scott as Judd, which is lame. And Rogue and Iceman can be Ado Annie and Will, and of course Pyro can be Ali Hakkkkiiiiiiiim.

Except there's no place for Magneto, except perhaps as Andrew, which is also lame.

Anyway.

My other pop culture stream-of-consciousness-casting-call for the day comes from a discussion with [livejournal.com profile] friede about this ... interesting post in which a Draco fan compares Draco to Lord Peter Wimsey. (Which led to this post wherin a rather famous HP author explains her Draco characterization and uses the phrase "Darth Wimsey." No, really.) After moments of "wtf?" and "but... but..." and "so the logic goes how again?" I tried to work out who the Malfoys are really like in the Wimsey oevre.

[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Darth Wimsey my ASS.
[livejournal.com profile] friede: blerg.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: ... maybe the Duke, actually.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: *ponders Lucius and Narcissa as the Duke and Duchess*
[livejournal.com profile] friede: oh dear Gawd.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: See, and Lucius knows there's something going on with his dear brother (cousin) that he just can't match -- Sirius has that certain Gryffindorish something.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Oh! Oh! And then! See, Lucius is imprisoned, and it could totally be all "Clouds of Witness" and Sirius (lala he's dead but whatever) saves him because it TURNS OUT that he wasn't in the Department of Mysteries to kill anyone, but to visit some Commoner Cutie Patootie with a mean jealous husband.
[livejournal.com profile] friede: *facepalm*
[livejournal.com profile] friede: FLEE
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Heh.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: Well, as that makes clear, it doesn't work on the SPECIFICS.
[livejournal.com profile] eruthros: But if I were comparing the Malfoys to a "type" from the LPW books, it would be the Duke, not Wimsey.

I have a sudden desire to cast everyone else, except for the problem where it doesn't work and there is no LPW equivalent in HP. And besides, who'd be Freddie Arbuthnot? The Gringotts goblins? Lame! And Peter's mother! How could anyone else be like the Dowager Duchess? And how in heaven could anyone be Bunter, good steadfast Bunter who brought Peter back from his shell-shock? Or Harriet? Because Harriet and Peter are so much individuals, at least after Strong Poison, when Peter stops being quite so much a cliche with a magnifying-glass monocle.

Hmmmm. Actually, that brings up an interesting point: I wonder if the people who compare Draco to Peter are the people who love the early novels and hate Gaudy Night? Because it does make some sense, rather. Are they looking at Peter as the detective-toff? The white-blond man of distinction, collector of elegant suits and first editions and Daimlers with long bonnets? Rather than as Peter, intelligent and incredibly neurotic and cheerfully ridiculous and learning what it means to be desperately in love? I mean, in that post you see Peter and Harriet's relationship referred to as "inevitable," when that's the last thing I'd consider it -- it's inevitable from the perspective of the series before we meet Harriet in SP. But once DLS starts turning Peter into a real person and writing Harriet? Well, no, because then the whole point is growth and change, and it's the exact opposite of inevitable.

*ponders*

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