there will be a fish

I found this text file squirreled away on my computer. It dates back to when we still had Captain America playing at my theater every day, and I kept coming home with yet another random thought about the movie after watching various scenes for the fifteenth time. Et voila:

( more thoughts on Captain America. spoilers for the Iron Man movies as well )

- This is not spoilery at all, so I'm putting it outside the cut. You know that section in the credits for assistants? Well, one of the people credited as "assistant to Mr. Evans" is, I kid you not, named Zachary Jarvis. Zachary. Jarvis. WHAT. That a) is the biggest coincidence in the world, b) he was hired because someone thought it would be awesome, or c) someone in the credits department over at Marvel Studios is having a good giggle right now. Possibly all of the above. I mean, seriously.

And finally, you should all go check out this HQ scan of a recent EW article on the Avengers movie. I have been alternating between excited and nervous about Joss Whedon directing, but this has landed me firmly on the excited side of the fence. Also, I cannot wait for all of the stories from the shoot that are bound to trickle out over the next year. :D

Good new article about fanfiction in Time

I saw this when celli linked to it -- I think it's probably the best mainstream article I've yet seen on fanfic/fandom, in the sense of being factual accuracy and even-handed as well as respectful and insightful. I didn't feel insulted even once! And it even made me giggle (the bit about sex pollen, hee). I'm linking here, since I know a few people around here are less clear on this whole fanfic thing (*waves at ersatzemma & co*), and this is a good fic-ambassador piece.

I also learned that Tetris fanfiction exists in the universe. So now I'm going to go find it. :)

For some reason, at one point I seem to have amassed a bunch of links related to the Victorian Era and/or Sherlock Holmes. Let me now post them in one big chunk. You're welcome.

1. Merlin fic rec: Drawn To Any Good (Merlin/Arthur)
This story is actually somewhat ridiculously romantic. I would call it over-the-top, if not for the fact that it actually works for me for once, because it totally matches the Victorian sensibilities the POV character (Arthur) would have. It's also set very early in the Victorian Era (one line refers to the "new queen"; Victoria was crowned in 1837), so there are touches of Regency romance in there as well -- best of both worlds! There is courting, okay. And wooing, and waltzing, and flowers, and writing letters. It's incredibly endearing and I very much enjoyed it. I was a bit uncertain about it at first, because I find that most fic where a mutual declaration comes early (as it quickly is clear that it will in this one) rapidly devolve into rambling pointlessness without the trusty romantic plot to fall back on, but this one manages to avoid that pitfall. I may be a somewhat biased, though, as there is an entire chapter comprised only of letters, and I am the world's biggest sucker for epistolary romance. The salutations alone were enough to win me over. :D

2. Poetry about Sherlock Holmes: 221B, by Vincent Starrett. It is always 1895. ♥

3. It is hard to read Sherlock Holmes (or watch Sherlock) without running into a London cab or fourteen, whether the modern version or the kind featuring horsepower in the literal sense. Reading on their history, and on The Knowledge (the incredibly rigorous tests that London cabbies have had to pass ever since 1851, to prove they know London streets inside and out, something which I find fascinating as an American and former New Yorker):
- BBC article "The History of the London Black Taxi Trade"
- article on The Knowledge
- PBS article
- Wikipedia article
- Official PDF for The Knowledge applicants
- Excerpt from book on Victorian and Edwardian horse cabs
- List of principles of policing held by various commissioners of the Metropolitan Police (including Sir Richard Mayne, who instituted The Knowledge, and thus tangentially relevant)
- A Handy Book of the Law of London Cabs and Omnibuses from 1867. Thank you, Google Books. :)

4. The Language of Flowers, sortable by flower or by meaning. I've mostly heard about this Victorian practice in context of the romantic meanings, like red roses mean "I love you". I find the platonic ones much more interesting – like "ambition of a scholar" (hollyhock) or "I mourn your absence" (zinnia; I would be lying if I said this didn't make me think of Holmes and Watson during the Great Hiatus). It's loads of fun in the same way that astrology is fun. The site is additionally interesting for the way it uses several different Victorian-era sources and shows the slight changes in meanings over time.

5. Poverty Map of London, 1898-99. This map is so cool. It depicts color-coded levels of poverty in different areas of London just before the turn of the century. *nerds*

6. A Study In Motherfucking Scarlet. AHAHAHAHA. katieupsidedown linked me to this ages ago, and I practically busted a rib laughing. It basically takes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study In Scarlet and paraphrases/modernizes it. Plus vigorous cursing. And acknowledgment of how much of a motherfucking badass John Watson is (I concur!). And completely overturning the politeness of the Victorian prose/subtext in favor of contemporary bluntness. Plus art. I giggle madly. :D

7. Not a link, but...I wonder sometimes about 221*A* Baker Street. I mean, who the hell lives there? What do they think of Holmes and Watson? Do they get people mistakenly knocking at their door all the time, making them wonder why the heck is up with the weirdos in London? Are they friends with Mrs. Hudson? Anyway. I'm just curious.

Hi everybody. My sleep cycle is totally fucked, my uterus and ovaries are conspiring to kill me (again), and I missed watching the US-Algeria game due to the above. And then our oven decided to drive Katie insane last night. Not on.

But that's okay! There are other things in the world making me happy. Like the Life (the TV show, not The Game Of) fic that thespatz posted yesterday. It's called Here, and it's a quiet little piece of post-finale gen, and it just makes me really happy. It's all sunshine and painful memories, and partners, and you should all go check it out. ♥

Speaking of Life, I've been meaning for ages to link to this article from the New Yorker: Is solitary confinement torture? (It can be hard to read at points, fair warning.) I started reading it mostly because I was curious about the solitary confinement backstory in Life and doing research, but the article turned out to be really eye-opening for me on a lot of other levels, and I highly recommend it to everyone, whether you're interested in Charlie Crews or not.

Fucking computer viruses. (I don't wanna talk about it. *grumbles*)

Here's a link to an interesting NYT article about depression. (Warning: some people may find article triggery for depression/mental health issues.)

I was going to discuss it more in depth when I linked, but it seems to be somewhat more controversial than I at first thought it would be, and I just consumed several margaritas while watching Criminal Minds episodes, so perhaps I will leave the in-depth and emotional discussions of my mental health past and present for a more coherent hour...

ETA: It's raining outside, and the train is hailing us from across the valley as it passes. I love the sound of it with the drainpipe at the corner of the house, right outside the window next to my bed. It makes me think of my sophomore year of college, when I shared an attic room with sloping ceilings one of my closest friends, and a gutter ran beneath our windows like a creek every time it rained. I was miserable that year, especially in the spring, right before I took my year off, but I loved that room and my friend and that gutter. I have a candid picture of her standing out there (we almost got in so much trouble), eight floors up, studying her old, beaten-up copy of the Torah, and it's one of my favorite things I've ever done with a camera.

(link stolen from marinarusalka's journal)

Italian soldiers floored by 77-year-old Japanese woman.

Make sure to click through all the pictures; you don't want to miss out on her beating someone up with a big stick. :D

How cool must she be? I love awesome old ladies. I sincerely hope to be one someday.