mollyringle | Entries tagged with tv

My lovely and delightful author friend Melissa McTernan was one of my early readers for Ballad for Jasmine Town, and said recently that she found herself still occasionally thinking about the book, months later. Which to me is such a high compliment! And it has led me to ponder: what is it that makes a story, be it book or show or film, stick in our heads longer than usual?

Plenty of shows or books are perfectly engaging while we’re watching/reading them, but after we’re done, they drop straight out of our consciousness. We barely give them another thought.

Then there are those we can’t stop thinking about. What is it about those? What qualities make them that way?

I have more pondering to do on this, but I have a preliminary theory. These “sticky” stories are ones in which things don’t turn out entirely perfectly.

The ending might be satisfying on the whole, but there are elements that hang around to haunt us, because what happened to some characters was incredibly unfair, even tragic, and there’s no fixing it. (Except of course with fix-it fic!) Problems we want to fix, but cannot, are much likelier to linger in our heads than problems that got neatly tied off and resolved.

Ballad for Jasmine Town has more of those tragic elements than many of my books do. Without giving spoilers, there are some huge unhappy things that befall a whole lot of characters, and even with (okay, minor spoiler) restored peace as the ending mood, those events cannot be undone.

And now that I think about it, the various series for which I have become an obsessive fan have all had that quality. Lord of the Rings has the Grey Havens. BBC Merlin has le morte d’Arthur (a.k.a. That Damned Ending). The Untamed has a brutal body count that includes beloved and/or innocent characters. And so on. Much as I insist that I need sufficient lightness and fun and hope in my stories—which I do, truly!—it would seem I also need a certain amount of sadness that grips me and won’t let go, if I’m going to become a hardcore fan about it.

Frodo and Sam sad at the Grey Havens

Merlin and the dying Arthur in the BBC Merlin finale

If you're reading this, congratulations! For seriously, getting through every last day of 2021 calls for a triumphant toast, even it it feels like all you have to show for surviving the year is a heap of empty cheese puff bags. (I honestly ordered my family a case of twelve bags of Barbara's Cheese Puffs as part of our Christmas celebrations, so, no judgment here.)

One of the things I was consistently grateful for throughout the year was the pleasant distraction, the laughter, the swoons, and the artistry provided by streaming shows. So here are the best shows I watched this past year, in alphabetical order:

Daphne and the duke in Bridgerton

Bridgerton. (Netflix.) Fluffy, steamy Regency romance. Lots of fun. Everyone watched it; I don't even have to describe it.

Cast of Brooklyn 99

Brooklyn 99. (Hulu.) Endearing and hilarious. Bonus points for corgi, LGBTQ friendliness, and some actors from The Good Place and The Office.

The duke and the cook, The Cook of Castamar

The Cook of Castamar. (Netflix.) Forbidden romances everywhere! Not to mention gorgeous costumes and cinematography. En Español with English subtitles.

A kiss in Lovely Writer

Lovely Writer. (YouTube.) Thai BL (boylove) that is also a parody of BL. Clever and sweet and soapy. I shipped them instantly, and it usually takes me a while to work up to shipping a couple.

Cast of Only Murders in the Building

Only Murders in the Building. (Hulu.) Super cute, funny, and smart. Heartily approve of Selena Gomez as the new third amigo.

Lovable heist trio in Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone. (Netflix.) Though I love fantasy, I can also be picky about fantasy, so it's notable that I ended up really liking this. Lots of charisma.

Cast of Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso. Though I care almost nothing for sportsball, I loved this show as much as everyone said I would. It is full of love and friendship. And funny lines.

Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan in Word of Honor

Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan in Word of Honor

Word of Honor. (Netflix, YouTube, Viki.) The natural follow-up to my obsession with The Untamed, this is yet another fine example of a heck of a lot of gay flirtation getting slipped past the Chinese censors. And ridiculously beautiful robes and wigs. And many creative ways to get killed, including getting your throat sliced open by that decorative fan there.

Cast of Once Upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain

Cast of Once Upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain

Honorable mention: Once Upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain. (Netflix.) A comedic version of those historical Chinese fantasy shows. Pretty silly, but ultimately with more depth than I expected, and plenty of talented and lovely folk.

I hope some of these bring you joy in 2022—and, more importantly, that many other things do too.

Ordinarily I’m not one of those people who leaves really long Amazon reviews. But for The Untamed there’s not really anywhere else notable to leave one, and it deserves one! So here is what I posted. Let’s hope Amazon approves it. If not, it's here, anyway.

Short review:

YES, WATCH THIS SHOW! I’m picky about shows. I don’t enter into obsessive fandom mode lightly. But after watching this series last year, I immediately went back to the beginning and watched the entire thing again. And joined an Untamed fandom group on Facebook. And read loads of fanfic. And watched in wonder as Wangxian (the Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji ship) shot straight to the top of my list of favorite fandom ships ever (for now, anyway). This height of fandom for me is RARE. So yeah, you should give it a try.

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian

Long review:
I first heard about The Untamed when a friend said on Twitter, “Maybe I should watch that show people are talking about with the two insanely gorgeous East Asian guys with long hair.” And I thought, “Hello, that sounds like something I’d like.” But I didn’t actually know what show that WAS. That is, not until Netflix turned it up in my list of suggestions one night, and I saw that cover shot of, yep, two insanely gorgeous Chinese guys with long hair, and clicked on it to learn more.

And learned: Oh hey, it’s fantasy, AND based on a BL (boy love) novel? Even more up my alley!

So I started watching. The first couple of episodes confused me, as many others reviewers have said, what with the multiple names per character and the general “What the hell is going on” vibe. But I stuck with it, because a) that Wei Wuxian fellow seemed actually rather cute (this was soon to be upgraded to “dear gods, he’s unearthly levels of beautiful”) and b) I wanted to see what this gay-but-subtly-so-because-of-Chinese-censorship love story would look like.

As to THAT:

As early as episode 5, we get Wei Wuxian overdoing an apology to (future eternal love) Lan Wangji by saying “I’ll even kneel down before you,” with a naughty little smile, and I went, “Oh, ha, so the gayness is NOT in fact subtle.” (Just to hammer the point home, shortly after saying that, he pranks Lan Wangji by slipping him some classic ancient Chinese gay porn. Soooo subtle.)

Wei Wuxian's apology

But it’s not all adorkable boys being unsubtly in love! Not at all.

It’s about a gold-hearted troublemaker who becomes a necromancer—for well-meaning and unavoidable reasons—but never stops being a cinnamon roll. It’s about magic-wielding clans trying to slaughter each other, marry into each other, undermine each other’s power, and/or save each other’s lives. It’s about the grumpy one falling for the sunshine one. It’s about an entire society turning against a scapegoat in circumstances so unfair you want to summon some demons yourself and exact revenge. It’s about magical music being used for tremendous good and tremendous evil. It’s about very crafty people pulling some unbelievably long cons. It’s about realizing the rules you thought were so important are actually making you miserable. It’s about cuddling bunnies and eating lotus seeds and drinking wine from pretty white ceramic bottles. And it’s extraordinarily romantic even though the leads weren’t allowed to kiss or say “I love you.”

Romantically hanging out in a boat in a lotus pond

Romantically hanging out in a boat in a lotus pond

Also, even though the show isn’t afraid to kill off good guys—which is utterly brutal at times (and kudos to all the actors for their heartbreaking crying skills!)—it does end on a happy note.

So. You know. Yes, you should watch it!

I’ve come to realize it’s not the *subject matter* you should think about when recommending shows and books to me, but the *tone*. Here is a tone spectrum I drew up for illustration, using just TV and films.

I’m unlikely to want things that are a 10—all serious all the time. (Or even 95+% of the time.) I’m open to the complete fluff on the 0 end, but I have to be in the mood for that.

The sweet spot is 3 to 7 or thereabouts: give me tonal variety! All the shows I’ve truly adored have been in there. They have a lot of complete silliness and also a goodly amount of heartbreak. They’re not just ONE MOOD.

I sketched this because sometimes people recommend a show or book to me because it’s got Greek gods in it, or linguistics, etc.—things I like. Then it turns out to be unrelentingly depressing, and I don’t like it.

So if recommending to me, think tone! I want pleasant fluff AND meaningful depth, in harmony and balance.

N.B.: I fully realize this is only one way to evaluate media and does not cover all the relevant details that might make us like a thing. Don’t bother going into full “but but but” mode about it. It’s just one angle.

For those who can’t read an image, the chart goes:

0 (Fluffy) to 10 (Grim)

0: Most Disney

1: Comedy in general

2: Gilmore Girls

3: Most Studio Ghibli

4: Harry Potter; Avatar: the Last Airbender

5: The Untamed; Buffy

6: Angel; Sherlock; BBC Merlin

7: Star Wars; Downton Abbey

8: Lord of the Rings

9: Tragedy in general

10: Game of Thrones; Witcher

Some of these, especially the ones right in the middle (e.g., Buffy, The Untamed, Merlin, Angel…) have a LOT of variety, with episodes at 0 and episodes at 10. So I went with my gut instinct on what the average number would be for the whole series. Opinions there may vary.

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By the way, this year I've watched all 50 episodes of The Untamed twice—first alone and then with my husband—and would like to officially welcome WangXian (Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian) to my (unofficial) top 5 ship list. Look how fluffy! Look how cute! (My husband calls the show "Bunnies and Zombies." It's probably a more apt title than "The Untamed," actually.)

If you're a Merthur shipper and don't mind reading subtitles or happen to understand Chinese, you may want to check out this show. Because of Chinese censorship, there are no kisses or "I love you"s, but the romance between the two is nonetheless canon and very clear.

Magic systems in fantasy! They are not all alike, as you know, but here's one of the ways to categorize them: a spectrum between "soft" and "hard" magic. Hard magic systems have defined rules on how they work, and the reader is told what they are—e.g., the four element types of bending in Avatar: the Last Airbender have certain basic limits, which is why the characters are astounded when, say, Toph invents metalbending. Soft magic is more mystical and indefinable—e.g., we don't really know HOW Gandalf does all the magic he does, or even what his limits might be; we just accept that he's a wizard and such things are unknowable to the likes of us.

I tend toward soft magic, though moderately so, in my fantasy books, because I feel like the more you give precise, quasi-scientific explanations for magic, the more it's likely to bug people who actually know science. (Also the closer it comes to being science fiction instead of fantasy.) That said, I do put limits and costs in my magic systems: the fae in The Goblins of Bellwater (and Lava Red Feather Blue), though very soft-magic in terms of having large and undefined amounts of power, must nevertheless adhere to deals they make, because that's just the rule.

I also tend toward preferring soft magic in reading, because I don't REALLY feel I need pages of detailed explanation about which material and which rule loophole and which move is the way to solve things; I'm good with a briefer and more mystical explanation. However, many readers do love the details. Neither side is wrong! It's a matter of preference—and it's also on the shoulders of us writers to be consistent within a given story, whatever slot on the spectrum we're picking.

Inspired by this episode of the Writing Excuses podcast, in which a legal expert discussed what writers get wrong about the law, I recently asked on my e-newsletter: "Those of you with legal know-how: what bugs you that fiction (books, TV, etc.) keeps getting wrong when it comes to law? Or do you let it all slide in the name of entertainment?"

My longtime online friend Aaron Schwabach, who is not only an exuberant fanboy of many of the same things I love, but also a law professor, gave such a wonderfully detailed and entertaining answer that I asked him if I could run it as a guest post. He agreed, so here it is, for the edification of all us writers, or just for anyone who's curious. Thank you, Aaron!
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Law in fiction: I tend to overlook most of it for the sake of storytelling, especially in a movie where time is limited. The same is true for police work, medicine, espionage, or most other “exciting” professions. Most cops never shoot anyone or get shot by anyone; doctors don’t discover cures for previously unknown diseases and halt epidemics within 48 hours; real life work at the CIA involves hours, days, and months of sitting in a cubicle looking at documents and photographs. All of those make for a boring story, as would watching a real life lawyer practice law most of the time.

One of the truest depictions in literature is the chapter of A Tale of Two Cities in which the two attorneys (Stryver and Sidney Carton) defending Charles Darnay pull an all-nighter, working on the case, bickering with each other, getting a bit too personal at times, and drinking way too much (sadly realistic for many attorneys) - as accurate today as in 1859.

In cinema, an oddly and unexpectedly accurate portrayal of the practice of law - one which gets almost everything right and for which the writers clearly did their homework - is My Cousin Vinny. Everything - including arcana like the pro hac vice appearance and Vinny’s questioning of the guy in the neck brace - has been meticulously researched.

Some courtroom scenes are clearly played solely for laughs (as in Aladdin & The King of Thieves ["I object to a tertiary character having any lines in my big courtroom scene!”] or Liar, Liar! [“I hold myself in contempt”]) and it would be silly to worry about their accuracy. (Throw in a police officer and you have the manic scene in which Woody Allen represents himself in court in Bananas.)

The worst I can think of offhand, in that it tries to take itself seriously, is Suspect, with Cher, Dennis Quaid, and Liam Neeson. I tell the students in my Professional Responsibility class: “Watch this movie. Study everything Cher's character does in the movie. And then don’t do it. Ever.” The same applies to pretty much everything every other attorney in the movie does as well.

A curious case is Arrow. The other superhero series with a lot of lawyering that comes to mind is Gotham, but that’s so comic-bookish that the inaccuracies aren’t distracting. Through the first few episodes of Arrow every time Laurel Lance did some lawyering I’d be grumbling at the screen “that would trigger an investigation by the state bar. She’d probably get fired and maybe disbarred.” And then… the state bar investigates her. And she gets fired. And maybe disbarred.

Top triggers:

Lawyers cannot engage in ex parte (that is, one on one, without the other party’s lawyer present) communications with judges, jurors, or court officials. Same goes for judges talking to one party’s lawyer.

Lawyers should not talk to jurors outside the courtroom at all. Ever.

Lawyers cannot talk directly to the opposing party if that party is represented by counsel. All communication has to go through the other party’s lawyer. (The parties can still talk to each other, though, and it usually goes badly.)

Real life cases take a lot longer… that’s just movie time, though.

Surprise witnesses are almost unheard of. Each side has had months to examine the other side’s list of witnesses and depose the witnesses if they wish.

Similarly, evidence that changes everything almost never suddenly turns up at the last minute.

The lawyer is never called as a witness. (Again, theoretically possible in extreme cases but vanishingly rare.)

Lawyers can’t reveal client confidences except in certain narrowly defined circumstances, and they’re never required to except in even more narrowly defined circumstances.

New, exonerating evidence does not automatically result in the wrongfully convicted defendant being set free. This can take years, or may not happen at all. (Another show that deals with this quite well is Limitless, tragically cancelled after just one season.)

Lawyers are admitted to practice in a single state and can not automatically practice in the courts of another state. (See My Cousin Vinny above for how to handle this correctly. Also, they can practice in federal court.) And they definitely cannot practice in the courts of another country.

Another example of getting things right: In the courtroom scene in Cheech & Chong’s stoner classic Up in Smoke, a mistrial is declared when it turns out the judge’s glass of water is actually vodka. Stuff like that does happen and does result in mistrials. (Google “penis pump judge” for an extreme example.)

Netflixing and enjoying lately: Versailles. I don't know my Louis XIV era history well enough, but I'm suspecting this is rather more historical fanfic than actual history. Even so, it's got all the intrigue and gorgeous costuming and insane sex and dreadful slaughtering you'd expect. So, it's a good time. Kind of like a slightly lighter Game of Thrones. (Just slightly. And with a slightly smaller cast. But that's not saying much, I suppose, since pretty much everything has a smaller cast than GoT.)

Plus, fellow slash fans, you might especially like it, since these two gorgeous guys...

...are often being like this:

That's Alex Vlahos as Philippe, Duke of Orleans, the king's brother, called "Monsieur" at court; and Evan Williams as the Chevalier de Lorraine. Apparently this couple is now #MonChevy in the fandom world. Vlahos was Mordred on BBC's Merlin, which is how I heard of Versailles and got interested. Also, George Blagden (who caught my attention as Grantaire in the recent film version of musical Les Mis) is quite magnetic as King Louis. I'm not through with season 1 yet, so no spoilers!

Then on lighter Netflix days I watch some old eps of Arrested Development, which I never saw that much of when it was actually on, or Galavant (it's like Robin Hood: Men in Tights), or New Girl. All good and silly.

It’s been easy for everyone to bemoan how much 2016 sucked. I don’t need to rehash the more traumatizing parts of the news for you.

Instead I’m going to write a post of things that were good in 2016. For me, at least.

Of my novel-writing projects:
Immortal’s Spring was released in June, and wrapped up my Persephone-myth-based trilogy. By that time I had also finished writing The Goblins of Bellwater, about which you’ll hear more soon, and started writing (rewriting, actually) Boy in Eyeliner, a guy/guy love story in modern day with many a nod to '80s new wave music and fashion. I just finished a complete first draft of that and will be hitting up some beta readers to critique it in a couple of weeks here. I have been completely loving it, proving that immersing myself in a creative project I genuinely dig is the way to save my sanity.

Of music:
The Monkees released a new album, and it was awesome. Yes, I was as surprised about that whole sentence as you are. Such a treat for us lifelong Monkees fans.
A few other groups I’ve discovered this year and adore (not to say they all have new albums this year, just new to me): Bleachers, Børns, Nicole Atkins, Julian Casablancas, Temples.

Of TV:
Grantchester has been a British-murder-mystery delight.
New Girl is appealingly funny so far.
Gilmore Girls ran their revival (discussed in an earlier post).
I’ve watched the first episode of Call the Midwife and am much inspired and will watch more.
New Sherlock underway, hurrah!

Of skin products:
My fussy, sensitive skin is actually liking the routine I give it now, with many of these products being ones I first tried in 2016. None of them cost ridiculous amounts, either, which is good because I’m also fussy about not spending too much on products:
Wash morning and night with CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser (and wash really well, but with fingertips only, no washcloth or other harsh scrubbing)
In morning: simple rosewater as toner (I like the food-grade Cortas brand; comes in cute glass drink bottle, and you can in fact put some in your drinks or cooking too if you want), and follow up with a little bit of Toulon Cellular Defense Face Moisturizer.
In evening: I usually don’t bother with toner, and put on some Oz Natural Super Youth Retinol Moisturizer.
Special treatment for the aging eyes: I like the movie-star trick of dabbing a tiny bit of petroleum jelly around my eyes, morning and night. Also, DON’T RUB YOUR EYES. Yeah, it feels good, but you drag the skin around and cause more wrinkling, bagginess, and discoloration over time. Crow’s feet from smiling, though: I embrace those.

Of perfumes:
Some tried in 2016 that I loved:

Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel: a “Dad’s aftershave” kind of scent, nice and cheap too, but especially fresh and bracing. Hint of powdery violet in the mix as well.

Agent Provocateur: also nice and cheap. Considering I usually only LIKE rose scents, not love them, I’m surprised how much this has grabbed me. Musky, elegant, reminiscent of red lipstick; reminds me of something Satine in Moulin Rouge might wear.

Gres Cabochard: yet another that’s inexpensive. Handy that way. A lot of similarity to Robert Piguet Bandit (which I also love), in that it’s a strange but captivating green-plus-leather blend. Bad-ass in an old-fashioned way.

Etat Libre d’Orange The Afternoon of a Faun: “vegetal” is a good word for this one. It almost smells like celery sometimes, but in a sweet and earthy way, thanks to the immortelle and other notes. It lingers and stays warm and alluring, and is decidedly unique.

Tauervillle Incense Flash: this is a big YES for those of us who like smoky incense scents. With a suggestion of campfire in this one. Beautiful.

Profumum Roma Audace: vetiver done smooth. Warm and green like an overgrown humid summer riverside.

Solstice Scents Sycamore Chai: warm slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream, drying down to a lovely and non-cloying marshmallow-vanilla.

Solstice Scents Maplewood Inn: sweet mug of chai with a fire burning in the hearth and freshly split pine logs next to it.

Papillon Salome: makes me think of Colette’s stories: a woman's apartment dedicated to shameless sensual luxury; cigarettes and long-slept-in bedsheets, but also fresh pretty flowers brought in daily, and the nicest of soaps in the bath.

...and I'll stop there. For now.

I have finally caught up to the rest of the Netflixing world and watched “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.” I give it a B on the whole. It rarely hit the perfection of the best Gilmore Girls episodes of the past, and often felt aimless (much like its characters’ lives right now), but it had its thoroughly charming moments and ended strong. Well, ended on a cliffhanger, of course, but…we were warned.

Below, my notes in order, jotted down as I watched. SPOILERS, obvsly.

( Read more... )

I see that the small class size of Hogwarts is a trending topic lately. The "Voldemort-era anti-baby-boom" explanation as shown there on Buzzfeed may actually make some sense. But on the whole I'd attribute the small-ish cast to a trope you see a lot in fantasy, sci-fi, and other works involving extensive world-building. As far as I can tell, TV Tropes doesn't have a name for it (or maybe they do, but I'm not searching deep enough), but I'd call it something like "Not Enough People For This World."

You get this impression not only in Harry Potter, but in Game of Thrones and other fandoms. We see, or at least hear of, armies and other groups made up of thousands or millions of people, and we know we're dealing with a world fairly vast and large, yet all the widely-strewn characters keep bumping into each other within it. And when you do need an army of millions, they aren't there and you end up with seven or eight familiar faces doing the heroic defending. (GoT does have people hiring entire armies, I know. But at the same time, they also frequently have people traveling hundreds of miles and randomly encountering someone they know. And you occasionally get the weird impression that some entire kingdoms have, like, fifty or sixty people living there.)

TV Tropes does have the "It's a Small World After All" trope and the "Contrived Coincidence" trope, which both overlap what I'm describing, but are not quite the same thing. Thoughts? Anyone else have the Not Enough People For This World impression in other material?

"On a scale of 1 to Once Upon a Time, how much does your retelling deviate from the original story/myth/legend?”
- a thing I often think when watching OUAT.

I've just started season 3, and actually I really enjoy it, but man do they mash up everything with zany, no-holds-barred glee. Red IS the wolf!, and Rumplestiltskin is the Beast!, and by the way Frankenstein apparently counts as a fairy tale or close enough! (hey, I'll give it to them), and so on. I thought I changed a lot about the Greek myths when writing my trilogy, but seriously, in comparison to how OUAT twists and smooshes together plots and characters, I was practically a devoted classics scholar.

Other random thoughts:

I love both Hook and Rumplestiltskin, so I kind of wish they'd get along, but their feud does make things more dramatic.

I laughed when they hauled up a mermaid and verified that, yes, on this show, even the females who live underwater have thick, flawless mascara. Really, the constantly perfect mascara on this show is over the top. Lovely to look at, but for some reason it strains credibility for me more than any of the crazy magic thrown around.

I kinnnnnd of? am warming up to Regina, but she's still murdering people a little too often and enjoying it a little too much, so...having problems there. I admit it might help if she had a Scottish accent too, since that surely softens me toward Rumple. Though really, the way he acts with Belle is probably what tips the scales toward "redeemable" for him. Dang they're cute together.

Also he got to say this, which made me laugh:

Charming: Not bad, Don Juan.
Rumplestiltskin: (dismissively) Don Juan was nothing before he made his deal with me.

My list goes to 12:

1.     Quitting Facebook, or at least spending waaaaay less time on it

2.     Finishing a trilogy!

3.     Starting a new novel that is not going to be a trilogy and is way simpler and smaller in scope but still paranormal and romantic and quirky in my usual ways

4.     Getting into the habit of daily meditation - I like the app Calm to help guide the practice, but there are lots and lots of others that do similar things and look good too

5.     Stepping up my exercising. In addition to making sure I take walks on an almost-daily basis, I've started doing some high-intensity-ish exercises a few times a week. (Try this one if you dare. Calling it "beginner" may be a stretch! But it'll give you a workout for sure, and I'm getting better at it with practice.)

6.     Also tai chi. I've been doing various YouTube sessions of that on occasion, and find it really does make my joints all feel happier.

7.     Recognizing anxiety for what it is; i.e., my imagination working overtime; and redirecting that imagination into creativity, such as writing stories, or thinking up ways to improve my surroundings

8.     Probiotics for all in the household. Or at least, definitely for me, in the form of things like kombucha, yogurt, kefir, and fermented pickles, and for my kids in the form of chewable probiotics when they won't eat those other things, which is usually. It has correlated to a notable decrease in number of viruses and other infections we've caught. I won't claim it has caused the decrease, but it has at least correlated, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's a cause and effect here.

9.     Earlier bedtimes for kids, better enforced. More sleep for me too. The meditation and similar breathing exercises help relax insomnia's grip on me. And more sleep surely helps our health too.

10. Being a lot gentler in how I think of myself, and getting a lot better at not giving a damn what other people think of me. Self-care feels real good, and ends up making me more patient with everyone else, so hey, win-win.

11. Leasing my soul, for a time anyway, to the Merlin (BBC) fandom, and in particular the Merthur ship. Yay, slash daydreams and fanfics! I've missed your siren song.

(It's pretty much canon, anyway.)
Also, maybe I just haven't dug deep enough yet, but so far the Merlin fandom is one of the sweetest-natured I've ever encountered. Everyone has been wonderfully nice.

12. Trying doing things in new ways, or doing new things. I'm starting small, no bungee jumping yet, but practicing flexibility in daily life is like yoga for the brain.

So my resolutions for 2016 are pretty much to keep all of those up, and do even better at them. Happy New Year, everyone!

1. TV: Why yes, I AM watching Once Upon A Time and it IS easing me off my Merlin melancholy, thank you for wondering. So far I'm only nine episodes into season 1, but I am already enamored of Emma's hair and her slightly-more-badass-Lorelai-Gilmore attitude. And I'm really liking looking at Jamie Dornan--oh. Well, I was enjoying looking at him. From the sympathetic glimpse into hitherto-slimy Rumpelstiltskin's past, I'm sensing this is one of those cool shows where everyone is deeper than they look at first, and some villains may become more heroic than we expected, and that's good, because I've always liked Robert Carlyle. Regina, though--I am still fully in "she's horrible" territory. (And I really don't like that mauve shade of lipstick they keep slathering on her. < /catty>) But I look forward to letting that opinion be changed too. (Not sure you'll convince me on the lipstick, though.)

2. Writing: I'm done with the ARC-level (advance reading copy) edits for Immortal's Spring. Whew! Back to newer projects I can go. Writing a series, like giving birth, was the kind of uber-complicated marathon that I'm in no hurry to do again. But, also like giving birth, at the same time it's something I'm immensely proud of having accomplished. Also, how beautiful is our cover art?

We had a solitary mysterious woman on the covers of Persephone's Orchard and Underworld's Daughter, but moved to a couple for the final book of the trilogy, because reunions and reconciliations and balance are the kind of themes you present at the end of a trilogy. But also because this photo was so gosh-darn lovely and we had to have it. (Photographer: the fabulously talented Felicia Simion.)

3. Reading: I just started Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, and totally love it so far. Introvert girl at college who'd rather stay in her room writing fanfiction (slash, no less) than go to parties: ha, yes, okay, that is totally me. (I mean, I'm not at college anymore, but it does sound a lot like me in my freshman year. Except I had no internet following at that time. Because I had no internet. Because it was 1992.)

How about you guys? Viewing/reading recommendations?

I was lately remarking to various people in comments that, by the end of Merlin, Arthur and Merlin "out-Frodo-and-Sam Frodo and Sam." But maybe it's a tie, to be fair. Now my mind won't rest until I've delineated all the items on the bromance checklist that both pairs seem to be using as their guidebook. Let's go!

Master and servant situation: check!

Save each other's lives a whole bunch of times (bonus points if you get soaked): check!

Also make verbal promises about continuing to save each other's lives: check!

Wear armor together even if that isn't usually your thing: check!

Play with ropes together: check!

Occasionally fall under evil magic influence and try to kill your bro: check!

Carry each other in case of unconsciousness: check!

Come around to seeing servant's mighty worth even if you took him for granted at first: check!

Hold your bro tenderly at the end and make us all cry: check!

Tearfully see him off on a boat headed for magical lands: check!

Yeah. I guess it's a tie.

I will go down with these ships. Bromances. Things.

I still have SUCH a fandom hangover after the Merlin finale. So I wrote this, to the tune of that one Sinead O'Connor song we all know by heart. I figure anyone who's ever had a fandom hangover can relate, and might smile.

Btw, despite the lyrics, I have in fact started watching Once Upon a Time and I do actually like it so far and will keep watching, in hopes that it will ease me off this angst.

---
It's been seven hours and fifteen days
Since "The Diamond of the Day"
I read fic every night and weep all day
Since "The Diamond of the Day"

Now that it's done I can watch whatever I want
Fill my queue with whatever I choose
I can binge on shows that all my friends are on
But nothing, I said nothing can take away these blues

'Cause nothing compares, nothing compares to you

It's been so lonely without my knights
No more fun in Camelot
Nothing can stop these fangirl tears from flowing
Tell me, Arthur, how is Avalon?

Nothing compares, nothing compares to you

I can Google everything Colin Morgan's done
But it'd only remind me of you
I went onto Facebook and guess what they told me
Guess what they told me
They said girl you better try Once Upon A Time or Robin Hood
But that's no good

'Cause nothing compares, nothing compares to you

All the laughter over donkey ears
From the old days
All died with that final show
I know that hiding magic, Merlin, was sometimes hard
But we're willing to let all the plot holes slide

Nothing compares, nothing compares to you

Emotional exhaustion and late-blooming fangirling!

What a frustrating show. In a charming way. It became quite addictive, despite the problems, such as the ridiculous silly plots, and the big magic reveal coming waaay too late, as everyone says (come on, Merlin, you know you could have sat Arthur down and talked him onto your side; you even could have used MAGIC for it; it would hardly be the most underhanded thing you've ever done). And most frustrating of all, we didn't really get our prophecied great future where Arthur was the best king anyone ever saw and magic was no longer outlawed and Merlin got to be court sorcerer. I get that Arthur will rise again, so that's still in the future, I suppose, and from the modern-day last ten seconds of the series are we honestly to understand it still hasn't happened by the 21st century, and Merlin is STILL waiting? Gah. Between that and Rory on Doctor Who, I have to conclude the BBC has a fetish for making devoted friends wait millennia for each other.

Like Buffy, this series went through an erratic range of moods. I mean, seasons 1 to 4 were mostly all:

Genuine angst and sorrow happened here and there, but still, fluff was the order of the day. Good thing they had their fun while they could, because then season 5 was largely like:

It pretty much became Les Misérables. The series finale is not unlike the barricade scene meshed with the Grey Havens. Pain! But that's in keeping with the tragic nature of (most of) the Arthur legends, and in fact as a tragedy it turned out to be very well crafted. The rifts ran too deep to fix easily; the villains frequently were human enough that I felt sorry for them (Mordred! and of course the fabulous Anthony Stewart Head as Uther). I see why Merlin fans everywhere are saying, even three years after the series ended, that they'll never be over it.

At least half the reason it's so heartbreaking, though, is Colin Morgan alone, who throws tremendous talent into his role. He's one of those wonderful actors who, like Sarah Michelle Gellar on Buffy, doesn't care if they're being handed a somewhat formulaic script and are going to have cheesy special effects painted onto them. They're going to live this part and treat this like it's the Royal damn Shakespeare Company, and they'll win you over forever. Actually, all the Merlin actors turn in lovely and often amazing performances--as another example that comes to mind, Bradley James and Angel Coulby seriously impressed me with their powerful Arthur/Gwen showdown over Lancelot. But Colin is the standout of the series. Which is why he won all the awards and stuff, I suppose.

And what of the shipping, you ask? The Merthur? Slash, yes/no?

Well, yes. By the end of season 5, if you have any slash neurons at all, it's kind of impossible not to ship Merthur. Unlike some ensemble-cast shows that spread the stories around more among the characters, in this one probably 75% of screen time involved either Arthur or Merlin, and frequently both. They spent an awful lot of time in each other's company. Plus, in practically every episode, Merlin performs an "I'd die for him" courtly-love gesture or declaration without any irony, and sometimes Arthur even does it back. I fully believed in their other and more canonical relationships--Arthur/Gwen made me squee, Gwen/Lancelot was done with surprising good taste and romance, that one single episode of Merlin/Freya-the-doomed-magic-girl was beautiful. But even the cast and creators say without missing a beat that the "bromance" was the most important relationship of the series.

"Even the dragon ships it," as the fans say. (Prophetic!Dragon is always telling Merlin that Arthur and Merlin are two halves of the same whole and are each other's destiny and similar shippable statements.)

So yeah. Count me among the heartbrokenly thrilled Merthur people. Devastated it's over, but thank goodness there's those earlier seasons to rewatch, and also there's fanfiction! In fact there's so much fanfiction I could be reading it the rest of my life and never run out of material, if I chose, so that's...good?

Postscript: I'd also like to thank Eoin Macken (Sir Gwaine) for his cheeky attitude and gorgeous hair.

Also if someone could send me every dress Morgana ever wore, tailored to fit me, that'd be super. Thanks.

Short version: I've broken up with Facebook.

Long version, in the form of a mental conversation held with myself many, many times over the last couple of years:

Me: I need to cut back on all the ways I waste time.

Mind: Such as Facebook?

Me: Maybe, but, you know, other stuff too. All the activities that are mostly just adding to my stress instead of helping me.

Mind: So, Facebook.

Me: Haha, but it's handy to have a login there, in case people need to tag me.

Mind: So that you can come to the site and wind up wasting tons of time on Facebook.

Me: I guess, but also, I mean, the news, I should avoid the news. That's just an endless stream of upsetting stuff.

Mind: So is Facebook. Which also is half advertising and news stories these days.

Me: Well...I could just try avoiding Facebook but going to it sometimes...

Mind: We've tried that. You suck at it. You end up spending as much time there as ever. Pull the plug.

Me: But I have to keep my author page. Marketing says I have to.

Mind: So keep that. Pull the plug on the main one, though. You know it felt good that one time you did it before.

Me: Well...true...but people might forget about me.

Mind: People you've never met, or hardly ever see? You were just complaining about how you wanted more time to yourself, and more time for the people you know in real life.

Me: Hm. Then. Okay. Yes.

Also, I was tired of having snark lobbed at me on my page when I don’t do that on other people’s pages. Tired of people forgetting there are human beings on the other end of the internet. Tired of keeping track of everyone else’s drama. And tired of the clickbait, and the ads, and the hiding of posts, and everything else FB does wrong. I’m sure I do have “issues” to work out (look up "generalized anxiety disorder" and "highly sensitive person" to name two of the major ones), but I would submit that so do lots and lots of my friends list, and they may not even realize how much worse FB is making those issues.

Today in the wake of clicking the "delete" button, I feel drained and still tired, but lighter. Freer. Once I unhook the Pavlovian reaching for social media from my brain ("An interesting thought! I should post it on Facebook!"), I will probably be freer still. Of course, I did come back here, to social media, to discuss it, but LJ has always been better at being a solid and fairly sedate record of life, rather than a snark-comment badminton-match like Facebook. (And lately, like, almost no one is around on LJ anyway.)

Stuff I'm doing and enjoying instead: Amazon Prime's music library is pretty sweet. That has supplied me with a delightful soundtrack of all kinds of stuff the last few days. And I've been watching "Merlin" on Netflix, and am now in the early episodes of season 4. Adorable Arthuriana angst and sparkly magic and all-too-easy slash potential! Yay! And of course, loads more time for reading and writing. (The reading lately is book 2 of Cinda Williams Chima's Seven Realms series - fun mostly-teen high fantasy with a refreshing Native-American-like slant to some of the tribes.)

This weekend I plan to spend more time outdoors, sitting under leafy trees, gazing at Puget Sound, picking flowers, that kind of thing. May you be fortunate enough to do similar. Cheers!

Some things that have made me laugh lately:

Two medieval monks invent maps.
MONK #1: wait remind me of what Asia looks like when you put it all together at once
MONK #2: a big horse with wings that’s about to eat Europe
MONK #1: right right thanks
MONK #2: no problem

Similarly, Western Art History: 500 Years of Women Ignoring Men.

A Benedict Cumberbatch coloring book that just got released on Amazon. "This colouring in activity book celebrates Mr Cumberbatch with a series of black and white drawings for you to colour in. All you need is some colour pencils, felt tip pens, good old crayons… or would watercolours suit this posh poster boy better?"
We're almost through season 3 of "Sherlock" (finally, belatedly), so, good timing.

The guy whose video went deservedly viral; the one in which he lip-synched to Celine Dion's "All By Myself" when stuck overnight in the Las Vegas airport.

Flight of the Conchords, the HBO show that ran for two seasons, featuring two lovable, silly, highly parody-talented musicians from New Zealand. I adore pretty much all of it that I've seen so far. Available to stream free on Amazon Prime if you have that.

My favorite influences, of the moment, for series that do a good job juggling large casts, humor, angst/tragedy, romance, a teen angle, and a strong supernatural element: the Harry Potter books, the Buffy TV series, and the Avatar: the Last Airbender series.

Why I mention this:
This Greek myth series has been giving me a writing experience I've rarely had: that of handling a large cast, over a sprawling amount of time, with lots of subplots and embedded smaller stories. (Thus "The Chrysomelia Stories" instead of "The Chrysomelia Series.")

You know that feeling when you're watching a TV series and thinking, "What ever happened to Person X, or that development we haven't heard anything about since the beginning of the season? What's going on with those?" Well, I now understand how the writers are probably answering, "We're BUSY, okay? There's all this other stuff to deal with!" So I shall try not to drop any threads or subplots utterly, but it's a complicated matter, and I have new respect for the writers and editors who organize such things into a coherent whole.

First of all, there is a new giveaway here in which you can win the ebook of Persephone's Orchard and a $10 Amazon gift card, so really, why wouldn't you enter that? Go and good luck!

Second, there's now a book trailer for it:

And third, to return to fandom concerns, I've begun watching "Game of Thrones," some six or seven years after reading the first four books (I still haven't read A Dance with Dragons but I know some spoilers). It's an addictive TV series and does a good job with the exposition--or sexposition as it usually happens--such that I don't end up too confused about the complex plot lines. My Facebook updates on the topic:

May 24: So I'm finally watching the first episode of Game of Thrones, and well gosh, who's cuter: Jon Snow or direwolf puppies? How can a person be expected to decide?

May 25: two whole episodes in now:
Viserys has quite the Lestat vibe/look going on. He may actually be MORE evil than Lestat. He'd be hot if not for the evil.
I wouldn't want to play Joffrey. People must constantly be walking up to him and punching him. How could they resist?
Cool to see That Guy play Ser Jorah with so much kindness when he played Sir Richard (on Downton Abbey) with so much despicableness.
We'll see if I can take the cruelty, knowing as I do that there's lots more of it coming. In the meantime, we have interesting faces to look at. As in the Lord of the Rings films, this series makes good use of faces: charismatic actors, interesting expressions, lingering camera work on them.
It's not escaping my notice that Kit Harington (Jon Snow) would also fit a Hades role really well, at least as I've written him. Dark eyes, dark curly hair, looks good but still youthful with facial hair, good at the brooding thing--check, check, check, and check. Hmm.

May 29: s1 ep3:
I'm already feeling sad about Ned. Oh, Ned.
I'm amused Littlefinger looks like Edward Norton, because that's who I pictured when reading the books.
Tyrion is made of awesome, but we can say that every episode, I wager.
I already like Jaime despite him not being into totally likable territory yet.
Problem with Jon Snow being at the Wall: way too many layers of clothing required. At least he's not covering up his lovely hair. Even though he probably should, given the temperatures.
I like Syrio Forel too. He looks like a cross between Robert Downey Jr and Bob Ross. Happy trees. Happy swords.

June 7: season 1, episode 5: I squeaked out loud in acrophobia when Tyrion looked over the edge of his cell in the Eyrie. And I looked away a lot because there were more stabbings and blood-spurting events this episode. (No, not Jory! We liked Jory! He was just looking at boobs a second ago!) They were also a bit heavy on the sexpositional dialogue this episode, but I don't mind that as much.

I see how this show inspired the coining of the term "sexposition." Here, Theon will explain about his home islands and his father's rebellion...while naked and messing with a whore's boobs! And Loras will discuss who's in line for the throne next...while erotically shaving Renly! Hee. Hey, far better that than the stabbings and beheadings.

My friend Kate commented: And you forgot the scene with Viserys and Doreah in the bath. That was a bit much.

Molly: Hahah--oh yes, "Tell me about the dragons, and also your family history, MMMM yeah." Any show crushes so far? I'm still pretty soft on Jon, but Jaime is highly charismatic too. And Tyrion just for sheer awesomeness.

Kate: I saw photos of the actor who plays Jon Snow beforehand, and I was like, whatevs. But now watching it? Is it all the fur? Completely, meltingly hot. *shakes head*

Molly: Hah, same here. And now, it's like, "No, Molly, you really should not kiss the photo on the DVD case; it'll start getting greasy with lip balm." I've heard theories that his hair possesses the magic of the North. I think there is something to this. Also the rare but adorable laugh. It was so nice of them to give us that shirtless haircut scene in the first episode, as compensation for burying him in Watch uniform layers later. Though yeah, even the fur works.

Here. Enjoy the most adorable ever GIF of Kit Harington as Jon Snow:

I'll stop now. Till I have more episode chatter to preserve for posterity.

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Page Summary

What makes for one of those stories you can't stop thinking about?
Best TV watched in 2021
My official review of The Untamed
Fluffy to grim: the tone spectrum. And watch The Untamed!
"Which do you choose, a hard or soft option?..."
Guest post: Aaron Schwabach on movies and TV getting law right (or not)
TV rec: Versailles
Good in 2016
My random notes on Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
The "Not Enough People For This World" trope
On a scale of 1 to Once Upon a Time, how much does your retelling deviate from canon?
My best practices of 2015
What I'm watching, writing, and reading this week
Bromance championship: Frodo/Sam vs. Arthur/Merlin
Nothing Compares 2 U, Merlin fandom hangover version
So I finished watching all of 'Merlin'
Why I quit Facebook
Link salad
On writing a series
A giveaway, and a lot of Game of Thrones notes

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Molly Ringle

You've read the book; now see the blog!

Entries tagged with tv

What makes for one of those stories you can't stop thinking about?

Best TV watched in 2021

My official review of The Untamed

Fluffy to grim: the tone spectrum. And watch The Untamed!

"Which do you choose, a hard or soft option?..."

Guest post: Aaron Schwabach on movies and TV getting law right (or not)

TV rec: Versailles

Good in 2016

My random notes on Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life

The "Not Enough People For This World" trope

On a scale of 1 to Once Upon a Time, how much does your retelling deviate from canon?

My best practices of 2015

What I'm watching, writing, and reading this week

Bromance championship: Frodo/Sam vs. Arthur/Merlin

Nothing Compares 2 U, Merlin fandom hangover version

So I finished watching all of 'Merlin'

Why I quit Facebook

Link salad

On writing a series

A giveaway, and a lot of Game of Thrones notes