Don't waste away until you're gone
Hello.
I was at ground zero for the massive blizzard that hit the east coast of the United States, and contrary to Sam Jackson’s face in that gif, I loved it. I genuinely love snow, and honestly would be happy if it snowed once a week for the rest of the winter, so I was pretty content. Plus, I got a weekend off work!
Here’s what my yard looked like on Saturday. A good day.
Notable Breakfast
Oatmeal with apple butter, raisins, and cinnamon.
Dog Thing
Watching the snow.
Mixed Media
For Christmas, my internet bestie sent me a copy of Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovitch. This was especially nice because the week before I’d attempted to get the same book out of the library to read, and was puzzlingly unsuccessful (I would later figure out that Rivers of London is called Midnight Riot in the US, for literally no good reason, and this was what tripped me up). An exciting gift both for the gift itself and the discovery that my friend is apparently psychic (or, I suppose, my tastes are extremely predictable).
I read it, I loved it, I went to the library to get the next two books in the series, discovered that the Americanization of them drove me nuts (it’s honestly pretty subtle but still enough to bug me), complained about it on twitter, and was placated by a friend who had bought each of the books from amazon.co.uk as they came out and was happy to lend them to me. So, this is my life right now.
Here are the reasons I love these books:
they’re about crime and magic
the police stuff and the magic stuff are equally important, which is pleasing to a person raised on British mystery tv
the protagonist, Peter Grant, is biracial and it’s a huge part of his identity in a way that feels completely natural and not like a white dude trying too hard
the cast of characters is diverse in a way that feels natural to London and not, again, like a white dude trying too hard
it’s funny, but not obnoxious
not every joke is a pun, which is usually the case with funny mystery series
(I hate puns)
the city of London is a hugely important character in the book, and Aaronovitch is constantly giving us information about the history of places without it ever becoming overwhelming
I just really love a protagonist who thinks to tell me when a building was constructed while describing it. That’s pretty much exactly My Jam
the way the magic is treated feels familiar, but is also completely fresh. And I’ve hit the point in the series where we’re learning about international magic traditions, which is very exciting
I could really go on, but I will stop. These books are good, good enough that I’m taking a break from my unofficial self-imposed moratorium on reading books written by white men to read every one of them. I recommend trying to get the British versions of them, because I actually am that obnoxious (“midnight riot,” honestly), but won’t judge you too harshly if you can only get the American versions.
Also: I folded and bought the Force Awakens Visual Dictionary and read it cover to cover. There’s a lot of really great character info it in, in addition to the visual stuff, and I loved it. I was really excited about the return of The X-Files, and while the first episode was a dud, I loved the second one. I read Two Brothers by Gabriel Bá and Fabio Moon (themselves a pair of brothers), a graphic novel adaptation of a Milton Hatoum novel about a Lebanese family in Brazil. It was very good. I listened to a lot of Tycho.
I Read Comics for a Living
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur continues to be an absolute delight. It completely nails that pleasing subversive trope where the big scary beast is the sweeter of the pair, and the little girl is terrifying. Lunella is basically a mad scientist (for a good reason! A…completely selfish good reason) and Devil Dino is just Trying His Best. I hope these two are around together for a loooong time.
Also good:
Jem and the Holograms #11 Sophie Campbell is back! Just in time for the Dark Jem storyline, which I wasn’t really feeling until I read this issue and now I am ALL ABOUT IT. This was maybe my fave issue of Jem yet? There’s so much good character stuff in it. The art in the past few issues has been cute, but man I missed Sophie Campbell so much.
Black Canary #7 This issue brought the first arc of this comic to an end, and did it so well. Annie Wu’s art on this comic has been nuts, but look at this:
That’s a fight scene. The music staff takes up most of the page. And is relevant to the plot, rather than just cool for the sake of being cool! Craziness.
Ms. Marvel #3 One of the main storylines in the new arc of Ms. Marvel has been Kamala coming to terms with her best friend, Bruno, who has long been in love with her, moving on. My closest friend through most of my life (including when I was Kamala’s age) has been a guy, so this is something I feel very strongly about, and Wilson has handled it so well. This issue sees Kamala teaming up with Mike, Bruno’s new girlfriend, to save him, and it is delightful.
Monstress #3 This magnificent book is rolling on, continuing to build its incredible world. It’s a dense read, and I find myself having to reread old issues when new ones come out, but it’s worth doing. In this issue, we finally see what exactly is so monstrous about Maika.
Anxiety Pyjamas
J. Crew Cotton Textured-Dot Sleep Set
Fics I Shouted About
The Hoth Affair by ester_inc Star Wars TFA, Poe/Finn. I think I’ve read this 3 times now, maybe more. I love it so much. Finn and Poe end up stranded on Hoth, Poe gets injured, I died.
Generational mistakes by owlet Star Wars TFA, Leia & Kylo Ren. I’m not terribly interested in Kylo Ren’s redemption, but if they could manage something like this, I could see my way around it. This is from Leia’s POV, and owlet brilliantly imagines what it must be like, to lose the way Leia has lost, and still have hope for the future. I also really love the way the Force is handled in this.
if you look for truthfulness (you might as well be blind) by overtureenvelops Supergirl, Kara/Cat. This is a wonderful developing relationship fic, with lots about how both Cat and Kara relate to Carter.
here comes the sun by coffeeinallcaps Star Wars TFA, Poe/Finn. Finn likes Poe’s hair.
Also, this is self-serving, I suppose, but I wrote a little Star Wars fic, and I’m rather proud of it.
Lastly
farewell
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