Play-Watching in London I

Aug. 16th, 2025 05:13 pm
selenak: (Camelot Factor by Kathyh)
[personal profile] selenak
I can spend a few days in London right now, and that already meant two plays.

Globe Theatre: The Merry Wives of Windsor

Rarely performed these days, and actually one I never read, which is one of the reasons why I used the chance to watch it in an afternoon performance, that and the way watching plays at the Globe, in a perfectly reconstructed Elizabethan theatre, has yet to cease being special to me.

Shakespearean Spoilers have mixed feelings )

The Garrick: Mrs Warren’s Profession

One of George Bernard Shaw’s early “problem plays” and scandals. (He wrote it in the early 1890s, and except for a club performance in 1902, it would take two decades to make it to the London stage. By contrast, it was already performed in Germany in the 1890s as well. Legendary producer Max Reinhardt was a big Shaw fan and so were a lot of Wilhelmians.) This production is starring Imelda Staunton as the titular Mrs. Warren, and her real life daughter Bessie Carter (known to the general audience probably best as Prudence Featherington in Bridgerton) as Vivie Warren; the director is Dominic Cooke.

Shavian Spoilers argue about the ways of making money )

Having thus watched Shakespeare and Shaw, I have on my schedule next: Robert Bolt, and then a new play, which from the sound of it is Shakespeare/Marlowe slash, starring Ncuti Gatwa as Kit M. Stay tuned!

Superman (2025)

Aug. 15th, 2025 08:03 am
selenak: (Hyperion by son_of)
[personal profile] selenak
Very enjoyable indeed, and it seems we’re finally free from the Snyder influence as well as the colour-drained imagery. This is Superman not just in primary colours but as an unabashed boy scout, a good person who often lets a nice, calming remark go with the rescue of an understandably frightened person. I was often reminded of JMS’ memoirs in which he wrote what Clark Kent meant to him as a child - someone who is above all other things kind, who combines his strength with decency, who was a friend. (Given JMS had the abusive childhood from hell, fictional Superman was literally the only person who was.) Also, director James Gunn doesn’t go for the relentless slapstick/gag machinery which had put me off the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie for a while (and off Thor: Ragnarök), which isn’t so say the movie is without humour, absolutely not, but it’s used in a way that leaves the more serious scenes room to breathe. Perhaps the fact helps that we have here in the year 2025 a movie with a hero who is an illegal alien (and gets explicitly attacked for that reason), whose enemy is a demagogic techbro billionaire who uses literal evil monkeys on social media to campaign against him (and that’s the most restrained thing he does, his other plots going all the way to the usual world endangerment as par the supervillain course), and a US government who thinks nothing of teaming up both with the billionaire and with villainous foreign dictators, outsourcing the imprisonment of our immigrant hero to them to get rid of the pesky human rights he’d nominally have on US shore…. Yeah.

(Subtle, this movie is not.)

I loved how absolutely committed to its comics origin the film is, most obviously with Krypto. If you’ve seen the trailer: Krypto’s appearances in the movie are all like this in tone during the movie, and it’s adorable even for a cat person like me. Most of all, I loved that Lois Lane, played by Rachel “Mrs. Maisel” Brosnahan, really gets to be a reporter in every fibre of her being, in a show, not tell manner. The scene in which after Clark made the mistake of saying he’d let her interview him as Superman she relentlessly grills him (not in an unfair way, I hasten to add, but asking exactly all the questions which a good reporter WOULD ask in this particular situation) is as good as advertised, and it’s Lois’ reporter instincts that hugely lead to saving the day. (Along with various other factors and people, making this in addition to everything else a good ensemble movie. Also, since the movie starts with her and Clark already in a relationship and with her knowing he’s Superman, we skip the Lois-Clark-Superman-secret identity trope. (Look, I loved Lois & Clark in the 1990s, but it really would not work anymore today if we’re to believe in Lois the excellent reporter. )

Somewhat more spoilery from here )

In conclusion, I really liked this one, and look forward to Gunn’s further contributions to the DC movieverse.
badfalcon: (Break Every Rule)
[personal profile] badfalcon
I've said it before and I'll say it again - but I hope I never get tired of the way my brain comes up with stories.

I've started documenting the process on Tumblr - because there's been some controversy in the fandom with one of the popular/prolific writers found to be using AI - and I'd already shared my planning process and my editing process, so now I'm also sharing how the bunny forms from the random place it's spawned from.

So a few weeks ago, when I was doing one of my Tennis Dads History posts - and it was a week where Simone had won the tournament he was in but I couldn't find pictures anywhere online because it was 'only' a Challenger. And I ended up lamenting to Li - at length - about the serious lack of pictures available online from Simone's SIXTEEN YEAR pro-playing career.
Right?

And Li - who is vehemently not an RPF person - turns around and says 'oh, he's an immortal and he's changed identities since then' and then apparently I have a Highlander AU. Which is fucking hilarious because I've never seen the movies, or the show, or been in the fandom. Of course, I'm aware of the fandom and I was chronically online in the mid-late 90s/early 00s so it's definitely part of my fandom cultural history/knowledge. Cue me jumping into wiki and fandom.com and rounding out the knowledge.

Then the next thing I know, I'm posting
... *sigh*

Another immortal resurfaces - one Simone thought was dead. Maybe they were once rivals, or lovers, or both.

This immortal is not as discreet. And their presence risks blowing Simone’s cover - unless he does something to stop them.

Cue: Simone beheading someone with a tennis racket behind Centre Court at 3 a.m.


and the rest is going behind a cut because this got long ) so yeah... welcome to my brain?

Meme Time!

Aug. 11th, 2025 06:32 pm
selenak: (Gwen by Redscharlach)
[personal profile] selenak
Meme time! Bear in mind that we Germans used to get not just tv shows about a year later than they were broadcast (if not longer), and even blockbuster movies took their own sweet time in ye olde days before getting released overseas. This changed in the past 25 or so years, of course, and now we sometimes get to see coproductions in Germany before they're released in the US, and can stream tv shows simultanously.


MCU Meme from [personal profile] vaysh and [personal profile] muccamukk:


Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).

It seems I watched a lot of Marvel )

Star Trek Meme from [personal profile] aurumcalendula :

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).
And I've watched even more Star Trek )

Short Staffed

Aug. 11th, 2025 07:50 am
kantayra: (Default)
[personal profile] kantayra
Hmmm... The instant the one project let up at work, the other one has kicked in. I having Feelings(TM) about the PM of this second project, who has zero sense of proper urgency and also doesn't seem to understand what is happening with this project. It is not a good combo. Ah well, it's more 'daily statuses and meetings' although unfortunately for the group that's NOT behind schedule. Yay, work!

On a happier note, here's fandon stuff:
  • Exchanges due in July/August ([community profile] fandom5k, [community profile] caseficexchange, [community profile] nonconex, [community profile] justmarriedexchange, Terrible Temperature Troubles flash, [community profile] enemiestoloversex, hAPPy birthday flash, [community profile] seasonsofdrabbles + mystery pinch-hits and treats + future stuff): I finished one of the two things! (And the one whose deadline was pending.) The other is not done, but I'm really hoping to get the bulk of it done today. The reason for that is this: My fics have been running long lately. Part of that is the assignments/prompts I'm picking, and part of it is bad estimation on my part. So I really want to finish this last assignment (which will, indeed, go long over the minimum word count) and then focus on trying to write short things for the rest of the month. This is a sensible goal since I've signed up to hAPPy birthday flash & [profile] seasonofdrabbles sign-ups close today: both things where I can write many short treats! So that is my goal: at least two weeks of short-fic & drabbles and nothing too hefty, to give myself a solid writing challenge. We'll see how it goes! Numbers-wise, I am at 8/11 (finished 1 fic, and added 1 assignment for hAPPy birthday flash). However, hAPPy birthday & [profile] seasonofdrabbles assignments won't come out until later this week, so really I only have 1 thing I can write at the moment (beyond potential treats, of course). So my goals are to get as close to finished on the 1 thing today, and then write as many short things for those two exchanges as possible. We'll see how many I get!

  • More July/August reveals: I pinch-hit for [community profile] epidemfic and wrote more of Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan from Guardian - priest being horny for each other: A Cure for the Common Cold. No notes, these two continue to be a delight to write!

  • Upcoming potential exchanges: Nominations are ongoing for [community profile] ficinabox, [profile] cuppajoexhange, [community profile] rarepairexchange & [community profile] sexpollenplus, and PiningForYou Flash. Of those, PiningForYou Flash is the only one that would be in August, but it fits my August theme of short fics, so if someone I can write for signs up for it, I'll give it a go! The others are all for my Sept/Oct docket. Also starting up in August are: [community profile] fffx, [community profile] let_me_introduce_you & [community profile] fandomgiftbasket. Way, way out (past the Sept/Oct timeframe) are: [community profile] au5k & [community profile] highadrenalineexchange.

  • Nothing for Femslash Salad Bar, yet again...

  • The later half of S4 of BNHA is much more to my liking! Also lol forever at Bakugo's suggestion of beating up the ringleader (of kindergartners!), stringing him up, and making the other children throw rocks at him! I feel like for any problem, there are 3 types of solutions: sensible solutions, not-so-sensible solutions, and batshit-violent-Bakugo solutions. 🤣 Hoping to get through a good chunk of this this week! I am very eager to get all caught up.

  • I have not gotten much further on Wen Guan by Qi Xiao Huangshu. It's going to be slow-going for a while, unless it starts to catch my attention. I'm still going to try, though.

  • Some things on my library hold queue - namely the remaining books in The Goblin Emperor and The Locked Tomb - are slowly working their way up the list. My guess is that I might get at least one of them before August is out. Fingers crossed!


Goals for this week: 1) Finish my last assignment TODAY (or at least get it majority done, so I can ignore it until September), 2) Write short things! As many as I can think of, as many as I can! Try to go on a short-treat spree!, 3) Watch lots of BNHA, 4) Plod my way through Wen Guan more, hopefully so that it'll start to get good.

Doctor’s Orders: Blankets & Tennis

Aug. 10th, 2025 12:49 pm
badfalcon: (Don't Ask)
[personal profile] badfalcon
This week has been… a lot

I ended up being off work sick all week, and by Thursday I knew I wouldn’t be in a fit state to go back on Monday. So I made a doctor’s appointment. Cried at her, because… well, there’s been a lot lately. Health stuff, work stuff, and the way the airport sale was handled was just the final straw. Like I told her - I’m exhausted, and I just need a fucking break.

She agreed, and signed me off for all of next week too. I’m hoping that having permission to be off will help take the edge off the guilt. Fingers crossed.

I also started a new med on Tuesday, which has left me bloated and given me super fun indigestion. Sigh.

So I’ve spent most of the week on the couch, under a pile of blankies, where it’s safe. I’ve read a lot, written a lot, and watched a lot of tennis. I slept almost 13 hours last night. I still feel fuzzy around the edges, but it feels like it might have helped.

Main goal for next week: keep doing the same. Resting, reading, writing, watching TV. But I’d also like to leave the house a couple of times - even if it’s just to walk down to the library.

Writing goals: finish editing Darren renting Jannik out to Juanki; write the one where Darren is a killer (his player nickname was Killer, and people still call him that - even his wife); write chapter 1 of the Supernatural AU so it’s ready for USO (because that’s where it’s set).

cut for talk of weight loss )

Foundation 3.05

Aug. 8th, 2025 07:45 pm
selenak: (Gaal Dornick - Foundation)
[personal profile] selenak
In which Gaal unleashes her inner Hari, and lots of revelations happen in all plotlines.

Spoilers need to get the plan back on track by any means necessary )

Silo: Season 1 Review

Aug. 7th, 2025 04:29 pm
selenak: (Visionless - Foundation)
[personal profile] selenak
Since because of Foundation I'm currently watching Apple plus again, I also marathoned the first season of Silo, which I didn't have the chance to do last time I watched Apple. In the meantime, I had watched the series Paradise over a the Mouse Streaming Service, and in reviews, comparisons to Silo had been made, which enhanced my curiosity. (Now that I've seen the first seson, I know why, though I would say the shows are far more different than similar, even the resoective premises. At best, you have some parallels in some of the conditions and in one of the results. Which is why I still think it was a mistake to not conclude Paradise (which had a good season, don't get me wrong, but I think the quintessential core story is told within it) as opposed to giving it another season, whereas I look forward to Silo's second season (because while the first one has a concluded main story arc, it is very much written as the start of a larger story).

Spoilers don't know who built the Silo, or why )

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Aug. 6th, 2025 08:29 am
kantayra: (Default)
[personal profile] kantayra
*points to post subject* Huh. I just realized that that's kind of a weird idiom. It's clear what it means, but it's an odd-sounding phrase. Oh well!

I'm actually two days late, for no particular reason. My brain is reacclimating to having time again. Here's all the stuff that's going on:

  • Exchanges due in July/August ([community profile] fandom5k, [community profile] caseficexchange, [community profile] nonconex, [community profile] justmarriedexchange, Terrible Temperature Troubles flash, [community profile] enemiestoloversex, [community profile] seasonsofdrabbles + mystery pinch-hits and treats + future stuff): I'm still at 7/10 now! I did successfully pick up and write something, and also I signed up for [profile] seasonofdrabbles but no assignments out for that yet, obviously. There's also a treat I want to write, but I haven't added it to my 'official' count yet. I do still have 2 assignments that I really want to finish this week, so that everything else is off my plate for [profile] seasonofdrabbles and I can go crazy with treats for that this time around. Both of the 2 assignments are started, and I have pretty solid ideas for how they'll go, but they've been slow for me to get the words out. I think part of my adventure is that they are ironically very similar requests in topic, even though the fandoms/themes/tones are VASTLY different. It makes it too easy for my brain to toggle between them and not get much done on either. But hopefully this week will be the week! My goal is to be at 9/10 by next week, wish me luck, lol.

  • I have a gift for [community profile] fandom5k! A Unexpected Anniversary Gift - a cute classic kid!fic for Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian from The Untamed.

  • Upcoming potential exchanges: I skipped both [personal profile] classicfilmex and [community profile] fallingforyoufallexchange. I'm currently doing nominations for [community profile] ficinabox, [profile] cuppajoexhange, [community profile] rarepairexchange & [community profile] sexpollenplus: I should end up with at least 2 of those on my docket for Sept/Oct. Things that are no longer quite so distant are: [community profile] fffx nominations & [community profile] fandomgiftbasket. And the following have posted schedules but are still way out (past the Sept/Oct timeframe): [community profile] au5k & [community profile] highadrenalineexchange.

  • Nothing for Femslash Salad Bar, although I did get some lovely comments on my Bedelia/Miriam fics, which makes me want to finish off that planned trilogy some day...

  • I'm nearing the end of BNHA S4. The first half of this one was rough for me: a combination of most of my favorite characters not being in the main plot arc, plus the main plot arc containing three of my most beloathed tropes - child-focused, female character in need of rescue, and yazuka/organized crime - made that arc kind of a slog. Also, they killed Nighteye, who was the one character in the whole arc that I thought had interesting plot and character-development potential. Like, I'm glad they finally killed someone (it was getting ridiculous), but definitely not who I would've picked. However, now we're back to Bakugo and Shouto doing remedial classes, so things are looking up!

  • I've started reading Wen Guan by Qi Xiao Huangshu, and so far it's not really grabbing me. Baby right off the bat is an inauspicious start for me. 🫤 However, I'll give it at least one arc to see if it gets better. Also, it really brings me back to my translator days, and I have Very Strong Opinions about translations, so it's kind of hard for me to read without my Editor Brain taking over. Hopefully I'll get better at ignoring that. We'll see how it goes!


Goals for this week: 1) Finish 2 assignment fics, 2) Maybe work on that treat, 3) Wrack my brain trying to come up with a plot for a current much-needed PH, 4) Watch more BNHA, 5) Read more Wen Guan and decide if it's my jam.

End of July totals: I'm now at 167K for the year. As expected, July was a slower writing month for me. I have 65 revealed works so far - not much revealed this month, lol. Still on track for 200K this year: will I make it? 😲
badfalcon: (Crowley Aziraphale Kiss)
[personal profile] badfalcon
Today was a hard one. I ended up taking the day off because the anxiety and depression hit hard in the wake of the airport sale news. The lack of sleep, the uncertainty, the way it was announced - it all caught up with me.

But I tried to take care of myself, even if I felt a bit hollow.

📚 I curled up with books and started gently planning out the rest of the year’s reading challenges
🧼 I spent the day focusing on soft, non-demanding self-care (blankets, quiet, no pressure)
📝 I wrote some very self-indulgent tennis dads smut - and honestly, no regrets

It wasn’t easy to find glimmers today. But they’re there. And I’m proud of myself for looking.

Pic Spam: Two islands in the sun

Aug. 5th, 2025 10:07 am
selenak: (Linda by Beatlemaniac90)
[personal profile] selenak
After thoroughly rainy four weeks, I finally had the time to upload my photos from a very sunny week at the start of July, dealing with two islands in the Northern Sea. I was staying on one, and for the first time had the chance to visit the other. Which is worth a little pic spam.

Düne Rotes Kliff Kampen


Photocut alert )
badfalcon: (Sunflowers)
[personal profile] badfalcon
It's always so nice to find out that the airport you're working for, and the one you're based at, are both being sold by the parent group.

You know what else is super fun?
Finding out from a report on BBC news yesterday before we were officially notified this morning.

So that was... um... delightful. Today has been a tough one, it's been very heavy and I've been struggling for most of the day. It's been tricksy to find the glimmers and good things for today:

✨ Glimmers - August 4th ✨
🧁 I didn’t overindulge, even though the office was full of tempting cakes and treats
🧠 I’m working on brainstorming a fanfic idea that actually feels fun and exciting
🧸 I curled up with a soft plushie and let it soothe some of the sharp edges

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kskitten

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