A look back at some good things that happened in 2019, because life is a pile of good things and bad things but a record of the good stuff is what I want to be able to look back on :)

( Authors, Shows, Films, Books, Comics... )

Fics posted in 2019: I completed more fics and posted more words than last year, definitely taking that as a productivity win!

1) High-Risk Manoeuvre - Clint/Natasha/Bucky
2) Trust Exercise - Goose (Captain Marvel); this became my most kudos-ed fic teaching me never to underestimate how much the internet loves cats
3) Natasha - Clint & Natasha; demon!au part 3
4) tangled webs we weave - Clint & Natasha; demon!au part 4
5) unconventional tokens of affection - Clint & Natasha; demon!au part 5, based on a long-ago valentine's promptathon prompt for crazy4orcas
6) Box of Tricks - Clint/Natasha/Bucky
7) Smile For The Living - Clint/Natasha/Laura; for quietlyimplode, a pinch hit for Fix-It Fest that taught me writing post-Endgame fic is hard
8) A Kissing Story - Clint/Natasha; for sandy79, a Secret Santa pinch hit (I keep saying I don't have time to write in the exchanges I help to run and yet...)
9) Must Be Tuesday - Clint genfic; a Halloween Party ficlet for crazy4orcas
10) First Date Protocol - Clint/Natasha; a belated promptathon fill for gsparkle

What good things did everyone else get up to in 2019? Any recs of things you discovered?

I watched Captain Marvel last Friday. Non-spoiler reaction is that I LOVED it. There's so much to enjoy, the characters are fantastically well done, and while I agree with some comments that it's not the best scripted film in the MCU it's still up there! There's a fun chat about the film happening here.

I had no idea that when I came out I would want ALL THE GOOSE FIC, but that happened. So I committed one of my own:

Title: Trust Exercise
Rating/Warnings: Teen and up, none
Word count: 1059 words
Summary: Five times (of many) that Fury trusts Goose to show him when someone is an ally (or not). ***SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN MARVEL***
Author Note: with thanks to franztastisch for beta reading :)

And here's some recs for others I've read so far - BEWARE, HERE BE CAPTAIN MARVEL SPOILERS:

( Captain Marvel fic recs )

Or specifically a recap of good things from 2018:

Author Events: Holly Black, Chris Riddell, and Marcus Zusak - not many this year, but all excellent.

Shows/Theatre: The Band, Hamilton (!!!), Happy Days, The Play That Goes Wrong, Queens of the Coal Age, Cirque du Soleil: Ovo, Othello, King Lear (with Ian McKellen!), and Matilda.

Concerts/Gigs: Amanda Palmer, Postmodern Jukebox, and Hozier (ridiculously good live).

Trips: Budapest (!!!) with alphaflyer and franztastisch in January, which was freezing and fantastic, and the Netherlands with the family to visit family friends. Conventions were YALC at LFCC and Thought Bubble in Leeds, which are my two favourite cons and I’m hoping/planning to do both again in 2019. I had a few day trips, including to a Terracotta Warriors exhibition and Bletchley Park. I also went on a weekend writing course, where I met some good people, and on a reunion day for a previous writing course, where I got to re-meet some good people. (How productive and useful I find writing courses, groups, group exercises, and so on varies - the weekend one was actually really good - but I love going to them regardless. I find spending time writing with other people, and chatting about writing and books with other people, to be a really good self care type break.)

Films seen at the cinema: Greatest Showman (is it a good film, I have no idea but I enjoy the hell out of it), Black Panther (SO GOOD), The Shape of Water, Coco, Tomb Raider, Infinity War (ARGH), a Deaf Shorts cinema event that was really interesting, Ant Man and the Wasp, Into The Spiderverse (which I didn’t have any expectations about; it was good fun and I love what they did with the art), and Mary Poppins Returns (on December 31st, squeezing that in there *grins*).

Some Comics Enjoyed in 2018: Runaways, The Wicked and The Divine, West Coast Avengers, Giant Days, Skyward...

Books in 2018: Goodreads tells me I managed to read 108 books. A lot of it was poetry - 22 books - which is unusual for me, but I was doing some exploring and I discovered while there’s a lot out there people say is good that just isn’t my cup of tea, there’s also a bunch that I really do like and it was fun finding out. (Some favourites: You Took The Last Bus Home by Brian Bilston, Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith, Running Upon The Wires by Kate Tempest, and Poems To Live Your Life By chosen and illustrated by Chris Riddell). I read a bunch of fiction about musicians or featuring the music industry (of which my favourites were: Greatest Hits by Laura Barnett, Five Flavours Of Dumb by Antony John, and I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman), because I was in that mood (and there may be a fanfic idea percolating). Others I loved this year: record of a spaceborn few by Becky Chambers, Bygone Badass Broads by Mckenzi Lee, and Giant Days by Non Pratt.

Fics Posted in 2018:

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way Back From The Hospital which is Hawkeye and Deadpool. This one owes a lot to the fun Hawkeye vs Deadpool comics run.

In Deed is Bucky having a bad day, and Clint, Natasha, Lucky, and Liho making it better, for meatball42.

i carry your heart and Welcome To The Neighbourhood were for prompts left by franztastisch and gsparkle in the be_compromised Valentine’s mini-promptathon, both Clint/Natasha.

State Your Emergency was my post-post credit Clint Barton scene for Infinity War (because Infinity War, argh).

The Strike Team Delta Method of Brainwashing Recovery is Clint, Natasha, and Bucky for a franztastisch prompt. (I didn’t have time to write anything for the be_compromised summer promptathon, but then I had a hellish travel day where I was stuck on trains for over 8 hours. I’ve managed to squeeze in a fair bit of writing on transport with the help of google docs.)

Not super productive, but I did manage to post more finished words than in 2017 and I’ll aim to top that again in 2019!

( And to finish, a couple of photos... )

What good things did everyone else get up to in 2018? Any recs of books/films/comics you discovered?

On my first Thursday watch of Infinity War I went in unable to cope and left...still unable to cope! I had a rewatch Friday and the weekend to recover and form some thoughts, so here's a SPOILER FREE reaction:

The previous 10 years of movies were the build up to this one, in that it launches straight into things and does not let up. There's no time for the audience to catch up - you have to have seen what came before. And when you have, as a fan I enjoyed it! They balance a large cast very well, so that even though some characters get more screen time than others they still all get their moments. Wonderful moments! Hilarious ones, kickass ones, heartbreaking ones, great crossover ones, great quotable ones… It’s an emotional rollercoaster that was so good because I was already invested in these characters and their relationships. I’ll be watching again at the cinema - even with those heartbreaking moments - because it’s a damn good ride and there’s a hell of a lot to take in.

It's also very clearly a part one of two with Avengers 4 still to come, and thanks to some bold choices in Infinity War that I was NOT prepared for, I still feel like anything could happen next and anything could change. I NEED PART TWO NOW PLEASE.


I reached the point where I can't really do proper, full reaction posts to Marvel films anymore because they hit me with all the feelings, and then my brain starts latching onto all the little details and connections and I blue screen. It’s easier to chat about it with other people, focusing on one thing at the time, so if you want to talk with SPOILERS there’s a thread over here on be_compromised. I’m also in a Twitter chat group with a bunch of lovely Loki fangirls I kind of got adopted into after Thor Ragnarok lol, I’m lucky to have @TricksyLiesmith as my cinema buddy - we hugged a lot - and I’ve talked NON-IW fanfic with franztastich which helped, so I’m in recovery!

A few lists of 2017 things, included book recs and fics:

Author Events: Robin Hobb, M R Carey, Patrick Ness, and Natalie Haynes (all at events put on by Waterstones bookshops in the two cities nearest to me)

Plays seen: Gabriel, Lost Soul, Jayne Eyre, That Play That Goes Wrong (hilarious), Twelfth Night (at the Globe in London!), and A Comedy About A Bank Robbery

Concerts/gigs: Postmodern Jukebox, Hayley Reinhart, and Amanda Palmer (the first time I’ve been to a gig in London, a gig on my own, and to a drag show; I made friends with some strangers and had a wonderful time *grins*)

Trips: Edinburgh, Thought Bubble con in Leeds, and London & Salisbury

Favourite Films seen at the cinema: Hidden Figures, Logan, Gifted, and Thor Ragnarok

Favourite comics of 2017: Saga, The Wicked + The Divine, Runaways, Hawkeye, and Giant Days

Favourite Graphic Novels read in 2017: Porcelain: Ivory Tower, The Secret Loves of Geek Girls, and The Vision (vol2): Little Better Than A Beast

Favourite Books read in 2017:
Instead of listing all the books I’ve read this year, which is what I usually do, I’m going to link you to my goodreads account and then share my favourite books of 2017. Picking favourites is HARD, but I tried -
( Favourite fiction book recs )

Non-fiction: Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Wolf, and Hope In The Dark by Rebecca Solnit, which I read at the start of the year and gave me a much needed boost of optimism in the face of politics

Poetry: Plum by Hollie McNish and Undying by Michael Faber, which is beautiful written and gives voice to so many emotions, and yes it made me cry

Fics posted in 2017: I posted five fics last year, all of which were gifts for other people. Good job I had that as an incentive I think. All Marvel fandom; two Clint/Nat and three Clint/Nat/Bucky.

( 2017 fics )

Life Things in 2017:
( life things in 2017 )

That counts for online friends too – thank you for the fandom chats with me, talking with me about your ideas, prompts, and WIPs, posting new things for me to enjoy, commenting on any of my creative works, and in general being your lovely selves. Sometimes those little things help a big deal *hugs*.

And now it’s 2018! Lots of things to look forward to – starting with a trip to Budapest next week with franztastisch and alphaflyer! What were your 2017 highlights and favourites? Things that you’re looking forward to in 2018?

I watched Thor Ragnarok last night. IT IS WONDERFUL AND MADE OF WONDERFUL THINGS AND I NEED TO SEE IT AGAIN. ANOTHER. HOLY SHIT. No, but really, I called franztastisch at a train station with @TricksyLiesmith so we could 'OH MY GOD' at each other before I ran for a train. I am in a DM (private message) threat of British people on Twitter FLIPPING OUR COLLECTIVE LIDS.

The non-spoiler overview: if you like Director Taika Waititi's sense of humour (try Hunt for the Wilderpeople) then you're going to love this. I laughed until I cried, constantly, for the whole film. Right from the start this film is given space to be funny, room for the jokes to breathe, and, when you get home and calm down a little, room for them to have layers. Thor: Ragnarok has a relatively straightforward plot. The cleverness comes in all of the little details, emotions, shout outs to previous Thor films and MCU films, to the comics and the myths, to character development and world building, and the jokes aren't seperate to that. They're funny because you know the history, or because the situation is hilarious, or because of the aciting and the facial expressions, and then you look again and there's more going on underneath. So much more. I'm still digging through them and I need to watch it again - hopefully this weekend. And then there's the themes. Which I can't spoil you for. But, oh my Thor, YES. Visually it's really colourful with some interesting choices, the music just works, everything is quote worthy, and everyone in the cast looks like they enjoyed the hell out of themselves making this film.

PS. I seem to know a lot of people who like Loki? Even though I live in the Assassins corner of the Internet? I blame @TricksyLiesmith. But apparently if you are a Loki and Thor fan this film is for you ;)

So where does this sit with the rest of the MCU? For me Winter Solider is the best in terms of plot. For humour Thor: Dark World and Gaurdians of the Galaxy. Then I just love all the ensemble films, especially for dialogue and banter, and I love Civil War. Thor: Ragnorak is easily the funniest film for me. The plot...Winter Solider still comes out top for me, for how timely and on point it was/is, how well it juggled everything, and the complete shake up of the MCU. Thor: Ragnarok shows how simple can be wonderful though, and shines in it's layers and themes. Beautiful layers and themes. After one viewing? Thor: Ragnarok is definitely the best Thor film and easily one of my favourites in the whole MCU.

Extras: look, we all know by now to stay until the end of a Marvel film, so pin your butt to that seat. There's a mid credits scene and an after credits scene. Oh, and there's some amazing cameos and who knows how many Easter eggs - I'm waiting for YOU so you can tell me what I've missed :D

I watched Thor Ragnarok last night. IT IS WONDERFUL AND MADE OF WONDERFUL THINGS AND I NEED TO SEE IT AGAIN. ANOTHER. HOLY SHIT. No, but really, I called franztastisch at a train station with @TricksyLiesmith so we could 'OH MY GOD' at each other before I ran for a train. I am in a DM (private message) threat of British people on Twitter FLIPPING OUR COLLECTIVE LIDS.

The non-spoiler overview: if you like Director Taika Waititi's sense of humour (try Hunt for the Wilderpeople) then you're going to love this. I laughed until I cried, constantly, for the whole film. Right from the start this film is given space to be funny, room for the jokes to breathe, and, when you get home and calm down a little, room for them to have layers. Thor: Ragnarok has a relatively straightforward plot. The cleverness comes in all of the little details, emotions, shout outs to previous Thor films and MCU films, to the comics and the myths, to character development and world building, and the jokes aren't seperate to that. They're funny because you know the history, or because the situation is hilarious, or because of the aciting and the facial expressions, and then you look again and there's more going on underneath. So much more. I'm still digging through them and I need to watch it again - hopefully this weekend. And then there's the themes. Which I can't spoil you for. But, oh my Thor, YES. Visually it's really colourful with some interesting choices, the music just works, everything is quote worthy, and everyone in the cast looks like they enjoyed the hell out of themselves making this film.

PS. I seem to know a lot of people who like Loki? Even though I live in the Assassins corner of the Internet? I blame @TricksyLiesmith. But apparently if you are a Loki and Thor fan this film is for you ;)

So where does this sit with the rest of the MCU? For me Winter Solider is the best in terms of plot. For humour Thor: Dark World and Gaurdians of the Galaxy. Then I just love all the ensemble films, especially for dialogue and banter, and I love Civil War. Thor: Ragnorak is easily the funniest film for me. The plot...Winter Solider still comes out top for me, for how timely and on point it was/is, how well it juggled everything, and the complete shake up of the MCU. Thor: Ragnarok shows how simple can be wonderful though, and shines in it's layers and themes. Beautiful layers and themes. After one viewing? Thor: Ragnarok is definitely the best Thor film and easily one of my favourites in the whole MCU.

Extras: look, we all know by now to stay until the end of a Marvel film, so pin your butt to that seat. There's a mid credits scene and an after credits scene. Oh, and there's some amazing cameos and who knows how many Easter eggs - I'm waiting for YOU so you can tell me what I've missed :D

I was looking after my sister this weekend, so the first cinema trip I've gone on this year ended up being The Space Between Us, as it looked suitable for the sister and interesting enough for me. The overall verdict is that we both enjoyed it.

The Space Between Us starts with the first trip up to establish a colony on Mars, in a joint effort by Genesis Space Technologies and NASA, when it turns out a female astronaut is accidentally pregnant and dies giving birth on arrival. The problem is that the baby won't be able to survive the journey back to Earth, or Earth's gravity (true - they researched their shit), and they're worried that if they let people know about this and it's a PR disater it could cause problems for the programme, meaning no funding, meaning everyone comes home and the baby doesn't survive. So they keep it a secret.

Sixteen years later Gardener Elliot wants to come to Earth, to try and find his dad and to meet a girl called Tulsa from Colorado who he's been secretly in contact with online. She thinks he can't leave his house because he has a brittle bone condition. She's a street wise kid, lovess music, has been in foster care since she was four and is looking forward to getting the hell out of dodge when she turns eighteen soon.

A few adults support Gardener, saying he should get to go to Earth and he's old enough that they can do something about his health, so that happens. What follows could be corny and cringe-worthy, but the acting keeps it sweet. There's a lot of things that could have been explored and in greater detail, and the female characters orbit the main character Gardener without us ever getting to know more about the tantalising details dropped in about their lives, but overall I enjoyed it. It's had some far from great reviews online, but it's a nice little PG story about how wonderful Earth can be, and how interesting space travel can be, and people, with some nice comedy moments and first romance moments. It made me and my sister smile.

Then again, you all know I have a thing for space and found family, right? *grins* Um, and now I have notes on a fic that would be coda for this film set over a decade later... Oops.

Wrapping up my 2016 film reviews/comments, because I was on top of these until we hit December, heh.



First up: Arrvial. This film has Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, it's about languages and science, it's about the importance of and the difficulties inherent in communication, it's about first contact with aliens, I was predisposed to like this film, okay? Except then it was smart, educational, funny, and had a rare (at least in Western media, to my experience) type of ending where instead of it being BOOM BIG ENDING there were events and information that put into context everything in the film that you'd already watched, that brought everything into focus. And what reveals! If you're looking for an explosive alien movie with blowing things up and landmarks going up in smoke, this is not the film you're looking for. It's more like Contact, it's thoughtful scifi, and it's bloody brilliant.

The alien language was beautiful. I loved the constant idea throughout that we progress by helping each other, by working together, culminating in the reason for the aliens' visit being that we're to be able to help them in the future. The idea of langauge and understanding as a gift! Time travel, the fourth dimension, as a lived experience! "I just found out why my husband left me," oh my heart, right in the feels. You think in the language you learn. Just. THIS FILM. I REALLY, REALLY LIKED IT.



Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. Possibly unpopular opinion time: I thought the Harry Potter films were pretty, and creative, and some of those actors and actresses will forever be the face of their characters for me, but. They cut so much of the books in the earlier films that it damaged the plot and they could just never touch the books. My hope for Fantastic Beasts that as a film not based on a pre-existing story it would be forced to have a stronger plot in order to stand on its own merit. It did have stronger plot, and the creatures and magic were as magical as expected. It's not one I'm going to rave about, but it was enjoyable, I'd watch it again, some good funny moments and nice little details, I'd love to adopt a niffler and a bowtruckle, and the inside of Newt's suitcase was very well done.

I did fall into the trap of thinking that the little girl was the Obscurus host and I liked that it was Credence instead. And it had some lovely details and jumping off points - if I still wrote Harry Potter fanfic I would be enjoying the hell out of playing with those *grins*.

On the downside, I'm not sure how I feel about the Grindlewald reveal, mostly because to me Fantastic Beasts wasn't the introduction to a war story, but a war recovery story, with Newt and Jacob, but also other characters, finding their feet and discovering - literally in Jacob's case - magic, in discovering wonder and joy again. If this is just a nod to the wider world, well okay then. But if this is going to be a war franchise... we'll see. Also, um, what happened to diversity? There's a shot at the end of the female, character of colour head of MACUSA surrounded by a pack of all white, male auorors that slammed it in my face that despite two women as well as two men heading the cast (although the focus is on the guys; i'd be interested to see the screentime) there's a distinct lack of racial diversity that, especially considering there's no story source material and they could have done anything they wanted, is damn sad.



Well then. Rogue One. I'm not a fan of Star Wars as such; I consider myself to be more an enjoyer of Star Wars as someone who likes Things Set In Space. But even I appreicated how this prequel to A New Hope adds wonderful details to the existing 'verse and casts A New Hope in a new light. It's a good space-heist movie, there's some fun and humour very reminiscent of the original films which I enjoyed, and I appreicate the many shades of grey the film explored. And then that ending. I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THAT ENDING. As such, I think this is a good film but I'm going to need some time before I do any rewatching. To recover.

The ending? Everyone dies. We're talking major major character death. But it works so well. When they first started going I jumped to the thought that characters dying would be a good explaination for why none of them then show up in the three films that follow it, but I was still holding onto a silm hope that maybe some of them would be allowed to survive. Because this film had managed to make me care about them. And then there was the moment where the Death Star plans are being passed from hand to hand by rebel soldiers as they're persued by Darth Vader, these nameless background characters dying to pass these plans on, a human chain, and that, THAT MOMENT, was for me the context of the whole film.

Rogue One is the story of nameless background characters, who have their own story and thing going on, who contribute to the big plot lines but we never see it. And I am a sucker for stories about background characters being brought into the foreground. I didn't expect to see that in a big franchise film. Bravo! And, as is the way with Redshirts (sorry, I know, wrong Stars :P ), they did. Tragically. Sadly. But this time we know their names, we know their stories, and it gave me all the feelings, but the moment that my eyes leaked? Those nameless characters persued by Darth Vader, their exit door closing, passing the plans through the slim remaining gap onto their fellow rebels, dying for it. Because I didn't know their names, or their stories, or anything about them, but the characters of Rogue One had given me direct empathy and for the first time I can remember I had leaky eyes at the death of background characters. Damn you Star Wars, you and your feelings.

( side note - rant about taking small kids into 12A films )

So, that was 2016. Up in 2017: I really, really want to watch Hidden Figures! And I am, of course, looking forward to Spiderman Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Thor Ragnorok. Not sure what else is coming out yet. What films are you looking forward to in 2017?

I watched Morgan on Thursday night. The premise is that a corporate Risk Management Consultant is sent to an old building in the middle of picturesque nowhere because there has been an incident with an arficial, or synthetic, humanoid experiment and her job is to decide whether or not it should be terminated.

I do love a good robot or artificial intelligence story, but the set up for Morgan is more like a sci-fi thriller or horror, with the house in the middle of nowhere populated by a scientific team that may or may not be too attached to their creation, or may or may not have gone stir crazy, or may or may not be what they seem. And that's before we meet the titular Morgan. There's lots of creepy atmosphere and jumpy moments, and then plenty of flinch-worthy violence - or at least for my tastes. I've read reviews where it's said to be too predicatable or generic, but then I don't generally watch things that verge into horror territory.

But I liked the nods to things happening behind the scenes, the whys of Morgan's creation and the idea of whether or not artifical intelligence should be created with emotions and what the implications of that would be. Contrasted with how the hell do humans deal with emotion anyway?

( HUGE SPOILER FOR THE ENDING BEHIND CUT ) So an Ex Machina style think piece it is not, but it gave me thinky thoughts and I enjoyed it for what it was. We also enjoyed figuring out where we recognised the cast members from.

Also, there's a reference to a past incident at Helsinki that made us think of Orphan Black - do people just like the name of the place or is it actually a major centre for genetics research? Heh.

And if you like robots and AI, excuse me whilst I throw a rec at you for the comic Descender. I recently read volumes one and two of the trade and am impatiently waiting for the third. It's a good story and the art is freaking gorgeous.

Two films watched on Friday, because it was a bank holiday with a cheeky Firday off to make it a long weekend and I treated myself :)

First up: Swallows And Amazons. A family of kids go on holiday in the Lake District, camp out on an Island, and meet some pirates. I loved the books as a kid, but the stories grow up with the protagonists and the first book is a decidedly young story so for this adaption the writers tried to add a bit of spice. ( SPOILERS - specifically they... ) This could have worked, but it doesn't really gel with the childhood summer adventure, like they have genres they tried to mash up and it didn't quite work. The performances are average and overall the film is nothing special, but it's visually lovely and a nice, nostalgic slice of childhood - I always wanted an Enid Blyton adventure as a kid, but Arthur Ransome adventures felt more attainable, even if I didn't know the first thing about sailing.

On the other hand I saw a little girl watching it with her mum who gave me the widest grin when we were leaving that I couldn't help beaming back at her. So maybe for the intended age range it's much more magical.



Next up: Nerve. Based on a YA novel - that I haven't read, unusual for me! - so I can't tell you how it compares to the book. The story revolves around an online game where people complete dares, as voted on by their watches, for money and the ones with the most watchers and who complete the hardest dares end up in a final. Our protagonist is a teen who isn't a risk-taker and ends up partnered with a stranger.

It's a good, well-paced story, the dares escalate in a way I found believable, all of the characters are three-dimensional and shades of grey which kept any of them from being boring, it made me laugh at times, and there were some nerve-wracking moments. The ending felt...somewhat obvious in some ways, but it also had a twist that I didn't see coming. It'd be interesting to see how the book ends - my cinema buddy @TricksyLieSmith is on that. Overall I enjoyed this one, more than I thought I would.

Upfront, I am not a DC fan, of the comics or the movies, although I do like a bunch of stuff that falls under the Vertigo imprint and the Heath Ledger Batman movie was excellent. But I like to think I went into Suicide Squad on Friday night with a reasonably open mind and, following the trailer, a sense of optimism. However I'm sorry to report that it's just...not a good film.

It lacks plot, motivations, character development...and yep, it's sexist and racist. It feels like a bunch of YouTube videos, with punchy soundtracks, strung together - admitedly a few good videos and there's some nice colours and cinematography in there - but that does not a movie make. It's not edgy, it's not what it wants to be, and it's just not good.

( some more comments WITH SPOILERS behind the cut )

So. People who're more DC fans than me might like it more, but then again you might be more disappointed if your favourite characters are stuck in this mess. You'll have to let me know. In the meantime I will try and remain optimistic for Wonder Woman.

Watched this one on Friday and damn but there are some good films this year.

It's a solid plot with humour and lots of banter, the special effects are of course great, and it's just really good fun. And the cast interactions, the writing and the acting of them, sell it. Also it feels more like the writing has gone back to Star Trek basics, where it's about being curious about the universe and figuring out clever solutions to problems - which are often off the wall considering the crazy situations that they get into. (If you had concerns after seeing the trailers, forget about them, because they spliced some stuff together there that ahahaha NO.)

This is my sister's fandom and I love watching her engage with these films: there was laughing outloud, giggles of glee, her hands went to cover her mouth, she was grabbing my arm, there was a fist pump in there at some point, and we stayed until the very final notes of the after credits music. Not for extra credit scenes - because there aren't any, although the space credits are pretty - but just because Star Trek. I'm gonna have to take her again :D

And at the end is In Loving Memory of Leonard Nimoy and For Anton.

Okay, so I vaguely remember things about the original Ghostbusters but I can't actually remember ever watching it? But I have a friend - @TricksyLiesmith - who loves 80s films, so I was prepared to go along with her and thought I'd probably find it fun. Then there were all those noises about having women play the lead characters and the guys being jokes and, ugh, how awful this was and it must be stopped...and I admit in the face of this my brain went: film, take my money. So, disclaimer if needed, that's where I stood when we went to the pictures yesterday.

Folks, this is film is hugely enjoyable. I was not prepared to like it this much. I laughed A LOT. And it's just fun. Yes, there's some feminism in there, but it's average 'this is what all ladies put up with' feminism and some amusing jokes about and around being a woman; no man-hating, in your face, explosive feminism as bemoaned by internet boys. Lots of in your face ghosts and slime though. And jumpy moments, clever moments, comedy. I'd like to watch this again some time, yes please.

And @TricksyLiesmith told me that as a huge fan of the original film she really loved it and thought all the Easter eggs worked really well. So love all 'round.

Also, I know most people on my f-list will have been trained by Marvel, but just in case, if you go to see this do stay until the very end because there's lots of extra credit scenes and amusing credits and an end-end extra credit scene. Like, ALL THE EXTRA CREDIT SCENES. Enjoy :D

I was having a geek out over The Martian on twitter today and I thought I'd share here too :)

So, The Martian, if you haven't heard of it, is an excellent book by Andy Weir about a man, Mark Watney, left behind on Mars when a storm strikes the Ares III mission. The plot is whether or not he can survive, and whether or not he will be rescued. But for all that it's a feel good, uplifting story about solving one problem at a time, people helping each other, and the sense of humour of the characters has you laughing. There's now also a film, staring Matt Damon, which is missing some of the book's content but captures the tone of the film wonderfully and makes me smile a lot. There's an extended edition being released with extra footage and two new deleted scenes, which unfortunately is US only. Which brings me back to twitter, because I promised some friends links to the extras that I'd found online. And then I also shared some recs. And we had a gif war. Because reasons.



( links to fun Martian things and have some gifs )

I watched X Men: Apocalypse yesteday. Non-spoiler reaction: oh my gosh, this film is ridiculous rubbish, but I had so much fun watching it. No, really, plot holes you can drive a bus through, fridged ladies, obvious plot exposition, cheesey dialogue, and yet all fun to mock. And amongst the mess some really nice moments and really amusing moments. If you enjoy X Men, yes even at least parts of the thid film, and yes even the Wolverine films, then I'm sure you'll find something to enjoy in this one too. I did.

( WARNING FOR SPOILERS BEHIND THE CUT - a couple of thoughts )

And now I feel the urge to reread old X Men fanfic, but the first set of films and comics fanfic, before all the Charles/Erik and back in the days when there were lots of X Kids shenanigan fics.

I leave you with one of my favourite X vids, an oldie but a goodie: these are the days (of miracle and wonder) by kaydeefalls. (Password is just above the vid.)

Second viewing of Age of Ultron was on Tuesday for thinky thoughts and third viewing was this afternoon for trying to memorize quotes and checking a few things for fic purposes *grins*. So I bring you further, hopefully more coherent, thinking. Be warned: SPOILERS FOR ALL THE THINGS. Also it’s kind of long and detailed, sorry not sorry ;)

Also, I’m going to be making quote icons. Because reasons. So if you have favourite quotes comment with them – I’ve got a bunch, but I’m not convinced they’re entirely accurate and there’s that much in the film that I’m bound to have missed a ton anyway. QUOTE AT ME. You might get icons out of it. (And if my quotes aren’t right in this either, yell!)


( here be lots of words on Age of Ultron )

EDITS:
- also as-complete-as-I-can-remember plot summary in the comments
- also interesting meta on Natasha from thedancingcow on tumblr - critical of how she was written in AOU without being critical of her character

This film, I like it! Another!

Which is to say I’ll be watching it again on Tuesday night before I get detailed, but I’ve put together some first reactions, including my Clint and Natasha views. The non-spoiler reaction is: I enjoyed the hell out of this film :D

( Be warned: massive spoilers behind the cut. Also squee. And lots of Clint and Natasha thoughts )

> I watched X Men: Days Of Future Past with the geek group yesterday. I think this is my favourite X Men film of the lot!

( SPOILERS BEHIND CUT )

...and now I have nostalgia for the X Men fandom.

> The other week I also watched Transcendence. Trailer here. It's a thinky film on artificial intelligence, how far we can/should go to change the world, and love. I enjoyed it, although there are some plot holes you could drive a truck through.

> I was also introduced to anime this week by my other half and a friend of his. Amusingly the film that they chose to start with, Ghost In The Shell, was far from as good as they'd remembered and they had sad faces afterwards. (Which I wish I'd photographed for posterity.) They're now searching for 'the good stuff' to redeem the genre.

> And have a bunch of fic recs:
Embiggen by thingswithwings (Gen) is Ms Marvel and America Chavez being brilliant.
It's All There in the Handbook by TrespassersWill (Gen) is an amusing set of graphics, which is the actual Stark Industries handbook with Pepper trying to get Tony to approve it.
Going Underground (Or: Five People Who Helped Save London, Even if They Didn't Know It) by CloudAtlas (aka franztastisch (Gen) is the missing scene/s of how Thor actually manages to make it to Greenwhich on the Underground. I should disclaimer that I beta read this, but it's hilarious and perfect, go read!
Escape Velocity by miss_pryss (Gen) is Lilo from Lilo and Stitch training to be a space adventurer as she grows up and, no, seriously, give this one a try.

> Free Comic Book Day on Saturday! We went to the travelling comic fayre and I got some bargains - the first GN of Y: The Last Man, the next two Walking Dead GNs, and a bunch of Image comics to try. (I am now collecting Revival; I blame @TricksyLiesmith.) We went to Travelling Man and watched window art happening. We went to Forbidden Planet, we went for food, and we went to watch Amazing Spider Man 2. When it opened with the gears inside the watch and the decisive tick me and @TricksyLiesmith gasped in realisation. This time we spotted all the time and clock references. Well done film! And it still hurts.

> scribble_myname has made a fantastic fanmix here on AO3 for my fic Failsafe! Clint/Natasha wonderfulness!

> I've been doing a bit of beta reading and ideas storming with people this week, and folks? You have really good fic in your future. I'm excited about these :D

> I installed a new internet router yesterday. Our internet has now miraculously improved.

> In about an hour I will be watching Tracks! Trailer here. (I have watched so many films this year, and more multiple times than before. Mutual enablement with @TricksyLiesmith is going to be the bankruptcy of us both lol.) Shout out to the Australians - this one is set where you are.