swatkat

Legend of the Seeker, 2.04: The new title sequence is hilarious. HILARIOUS.

( the episode is called touched. because there is a lot of touching, you see. )

So, this Lurker Amnesty Day thing: are you a lurker? Have you found yourself here for whatever reason? Do say hi! If you want to, that is.

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Legend of the Seeker, 2.01-02: I have questions. Like, why must everything happen in 'a thousand years'? How is Kahlan so pretty? Why is everyone naked in the Underworld? Where is all the Cara/Kahlan fic? Why does Richard not wash his hair?

Further Legend of the Seeker, now upto 1.20: Oh ho, show, was that moral complexity you were trying to achieve? Aww. *pets show*

Kahlan, though, continues to be fabulous, and at this point I am totally watching the Awesome Kahlan, Magnificent Zedd and their Eager Little Sidekick with the Magic Sword aka. the Seeker show. At this point, the show seems to be writing the Awesome Kahlan, Magnificent Zedd and their Eager Little Sidekick with the Magic Sword aka. the Seeker show. I've also discovered that the show is x100 funnier if you pretend the D'Haran soldiers are actually the Roman soldiers from Asterix (Darken Rahl = Caesar?). It certainly explains their, er, competence.

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Meanwhile, a couple of spoiler-y things from the last House episode: ( spoilers under cut )

Legend of the Seeker, 1.15: Frak, the show just got a whole lot darker, didn't it? But Kahlan is made of awesome, awesome, and as judhora keeps saying, I LOVE this show for letting her do these kind of things. And Darken Rahl is shaping up to be a wonderful villain. Those vests he insists on wearing are also excellent.

Legend of the Seeker 1.11: Kahlan is a w00bie and I love her, in case you didn't know that already. Also I ♥ her wibbly face and the fact that she'll never let herself forget.

Why don't I have a LoTS icon yet? *frowns*

History without Oppression by naraht -- a post which might be of interest to those of you interested in Regency romances/AUs, especially here:


You can interrogate oppression, subvert it, attack it, analyze it, satirize it, wearily accept it, ignorantly accept it, happily accept it, ignore it, brush it aside or try to hide it. All of those are options when you're writing historical fiction. But I don't believe it's possible to create an oppression-free society within a given recognizable historical context. Escapism can only ever go so far.

Because, yes, THIS. Last night I was reading Georgette Heyer's Cotillion (which is not as awesome as advertised, sorry flist), and the characters were discussing the merits of muslin. Muslin, of course, was imported from India -- the present day Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, if I recall correctly, and the famous Dhaka muslin, from Dhaka in present day Bangladesh. According to stories -- which may or may not be hyperbolic in nature, I'm not sure -- the best Dhaka muslin was so fine that you could slip a full-length sari through a small ring. Dhaka muslin trade suffered tremendous after the East India Company wanted to sell Manchester cotton, and also after it wanted the planters to cultivate indigo instead of that other stuff, like food and cash crops (er, I'm simplifying a bit here). There is no place for this in the story Heyer is telling; Freddy, kind and good-hearted and practical though he is, is also mostly ignorant of things that do not pertain to clothes and is somewhat shallow (this, in the context of the book is supposed to be charming; I didn't think so -- but I'm probably not the ideal reader here? give me Mr. Darcy any day). And there does not necessarily have to be, because I'm willing to believe that little things like muslin traders in the faraway colonies would not be of any interest to Freddy or Kitty (although I'd like some information on where the Legerwood fortune comes from). But it's important to acknowledge -- even in your average escapist fare -- that this pretty Regency universe comes with in-built Problems that require very careful handling if you choose to engage with them.

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And okay, if of all the comic/books you read and all the television shows/movies you watch, there isn't a single female character you find 'interesting', you're doing it wrong.

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Further LoTS questions after 1.07: Why does Richard hold his sword like a baseball player handling a cricket bat for the first time? Why is the priest wearing a sherwani? Have they spent all the show's styling budget on Kahlan's hair, thereby leaving none for poor Richard and his really unfortunate hair? How dare they make Kahlan (almost) cry?

Levarage is back! I have nothing spoilery to say about the episode except that it was fun, as always, and I just love how they all love each other and how each and every member of the team is respected. ( okay, a little bit spoilery here ) It's such a relief, coming after a lot of other things. *glares at Merlin*

Meanwhile, I've been watching The Legend of the Seeker. I'm only up to the third episode of the first season. It's... very pretty, cheesier than Merlin and possibly as incoherent (I haven't watched much, so I wouldn't know yet), and has women who get to do things. Richard is adorably noble and dim, Kahlan is fabulous and Zedd is insane but scarily competent. And did I mention that Kahlan gets to do things?

I'm quite charmed. (Morgana would fit very well into this universe. Zedd could teach her a thing or two about magic, for instance. I'm just saying.)

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Past in Present: This is a festivids entry, based on the movie Chak De! India. It's an underdog sports movie, featuring a women's hockey team and their coach, and I don't have words for how much I love it. This vid does justice to the movie, to the spirit of the characters - please watch it. ♥