asra

( extremely negative reaction )

( spoilers for episode 6 )

On a far more positive note, I thought Next of Kin was fabulous: not just the parts set in England but also those in Lahore. There was also some (very brief) f/f content. From reading reviews, I know many viewers were unhappy with the idea of a Muslim family affected by terrorism, which seems the worst kind of cliché, but Archie Panjabi and Jack Davenport were both as amazing as they always are, and I thought the story was sensitively told. (Take notes, Chibnall, for pity's sake.)

Ugh, Doctor Who is suddenly making me feel so awful. This is one of those times I'm just going to tell myself that it's just TV; no need to get upset about it. But still.

( Read more... )

Speaking of anti-speciesism, I've been reading on ecopsychology (for my research project, and also because I'm supervising a marvellous student dissertation on the subject), and I came across a lovely point in one of the books on the topic. It says that maybe our very definition of 'sanity' needs to be revisited in the context of the world today. Why is it that so many of us suffer from depression and anxiety? When you think about it, isn't it perfectly natural to be 'mentally ill' when the world is anything but healthy and at peace? There's more, but I don't recall all of it, and the book's with my student, who took it home for the semester break. Will post more on the topic once we resume, I suppose. Lots to say about what I'm teaching next semester; but I guess it's mostly tl;dr. Have a couple of pics.

( The X-Files, just because )

( SO MUCH LOVE )

This was a good, solid episode of Doctor Who. The TARDIS! ♥

I don't really have anything to say about SPN. I didn't expect to, given that 14.2 was written by the Terrible Duo. Onward.

( spoilers ahoy )

I'd seen somewhere, on Shabana Azmi's twitter iirc, that Jack Davenport has worked with her, but I sort of blanked out on it. Now that I've refreshed my memory, I'll go look for the series, which stars Archie Panjabi and Jack. Here's an interview with him. I love how he fanboys over Shabana Azmi, and I must say I agree completely with the interviewer's description of his responses, on the very difficult subject of terrorism, as "precise" and "eloquent".

( Read more... )

I don't think there are any JackDav fans remaining on my flist, alas. Doctor Who fans may know him as Michelle Gomez's husband. (As an aside, just how cool would it be to see the first female Master meet the first female Doctor?) *I* know him as the gorgeously gay Peter Smith-Kingsley from The Talented Mr Ripley and, of course, Commodore James Norrington. ♥

In other news, I randomly discovered that Photobucket is working again. I spent a few happy hours going through all my old stuff. To celebrate, here's a (non-colour) colourbar I made for Peter, back when people on LJ still used colourbars.

( Read more... )

Speaking of the Doctor: IT'S TODAY, IT'S TODAY! See you on the other side. *g*

I watched A Very English Scandal without reading the book first, and I'm kind of glad I did, because I don't think I want to read it after all. It's by Russell T Davies (and Eve Myles plays a character named Gwen, lol), with Hugh Grant as the politician who wants to get rid of his former lover, played by the always-incredible Ben Whishaw. Maybe because it's based on true events, it's very bleak. (What else should I have expected from RTD?)

Fic reveal time; I wrote these:

- Gwen/Morgana ficlet, post-series, for Everywoman;
- Pre-series Sam and Dean fic, outsider PoV, originally posted here at

spn_summergen;
- SPN Masquerade fill, Sam/Dean, for a wonderful prompt that I just couldn't resist.

Things to write in the near future include: SPN Cinema (I've chosen Before Sunset in the hope that I can write a sequel to my trans!Jared fic based on Before Sunrise); SPN-J2-Xmas; Yuletide; SPN Reverse Bang - for gorgeous art by the lovely

dizzojay. Will also probably do

public_call, as well as

snapecase (if I can manage to figure out how it works). Okay, that's a ~lot of writing.

Less than a week to go for Doctor Who! ♥

Janice Pariat's The Nine-Chambered Heart is the sort of book that has my students in raptures and has me going... uhhh, what am I missing? It was a quick read, which does say a lot about the author's ability to engage the reader, and I also loved the premise: we see the protagonist through the points of view of nine characters she's been in sexual/romantic relationships with. (It's a really good premise for a fanfic, am I right?) Predictably, the part I liked the most was the one with the female roommate, although, alas, it's pretty much the only 'relationship' in the novel that doesn't actually turn into a relationship.

Only a few more Fandom Studies classes to go before the semester ends next week. There's SO MUCH I wanted to introduce my students to, and not enough time. At least I've got most of them hooked on Doctor Who/Torchwood (although it was my duty to warn them that the latter comes with a huge 'be prepared to have your heart torn out and stomped on' warning). Here's a (fan-made) video I posted for the class today.

One of the students has just submitted a Sam-centric Stanford-era fanfic. BRB OFF TO READ.

Working on the syllabus for my fantasy course! I have some questions that I'm hoping my flist will be able to help with.

1. Suggestions for critical essays or articles. So far I have Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories", Ursula Le Guin's "The Critics, the Monsters, and the Fantasists", extracts from Rosemary Jackson's 'Fantasy: The Literature of Subversion', and an article on Harry Potter by Richard Bernstein.

2. Films to watch. So so many, so little time! I'm thinking Fellowship of the Ring, Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Neverending Story. Good/not good? Better options? Maybe The Hunger Games? PotC: Curse of the Black Pearl?

3. BOOKS. The Hobbit, Goblet of Fire (not sure about this one -- Philosopher's Stone may be better?), H G Wells' short story "The Inexperienced Ghost". Should I include Earthsea? Will 18-19 year olds be able to relate? Any suggestions for works/extracts from Gaiman? I want to include Philip Pullman, but His Dark Materials is too long to read/discuss as part of the course, and the film version of 'The Golden Compass' does very little justice to the book. Maybe just the first chapter of the book?

4. TV shows:

- I'm thinking maybe one episode each from Buffy and Merlin. Would the pilot episodes work? Or maybe there are better options among later episodes?
- Possibly SPN? Although all the good episodes I can think of need context to understand. "Roadkill" is a good one, right? Something people who don't know the show will still be able to appreciate (given the awesome twist at the end)? Possibly "Dead in the Water", since it's creepy and atmospheric enough for the genre, and has some wonderful characters as well as great writing? Any other suggestions?
- I know Doctor Who is sci-fi rather than fantasy, but I can think of a couple of episodes, such as 'Blink' and 'A Christmas Carol' (the flying fish are completely awesome!), that might be fitting? Good idea?
- Game of Thrones. Definitely unsuitable to screen on campus, but I'm thinking maybe I can focus on one character (possibly Daenerys and her dragons) and show some clips that could be discussed? I really want to include GoT somehow.

Class is so good!

_profiterole_ had already given it the thumbs-up, so I went into it confident that it wouldn't disappoint, and did it ever deliver. So. much. equal. representation.

Kind of gif-heavy (and one gif is probably NSFW).

( Buffy meets SJA )

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