sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
heyyyyyy it's yuletide season again, and once again I have barrelled my way through a truly astonishing number of fics in order to bring you a rec list of 10 of my favourites before the anon period is over! I hope you enjoy some of them too!


Rabbi Shaina Cohen Shows Great Patience And Fortitude
Yudah Cohen series by Rebecca Fraimow, gen, OCs & Yudah Cohen

Futurefic for the series, taking place in discussions on twitter, reddit, email, and texting about Yudah Cohen, past and present, and everything about it is just a total delight!


You Say Bark, I Say Bite
Sunshine by Robin McKinley, f/m/m, Con/Mel/Sunshine

Pre-OT3 from Mel's pov, this feels so right for them, and it's perfectly captured the eerie vibe of Con, from Mel's pov.


The Magic In The Making
Smoke series by Tanya Huff, m/m, Lee/Tony

I love the way this fic built up more of Lee's history and used it to show the deepening relationship between him and Tony, as well as the strong sense of the community with the rest of the characters, I had many feelings.


Notes on a Nondescript Vegetable
Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, m/m, Jack/Stephen

Stephen discovers a plant that seems to have sex-pollen-like effects. And oh my gosh I was blown away, the writer's grasp of the characters and their voices, the delicious narration with its incredible ability to evoke a mood, I love this fic SO MUCH. Jack and Stephen!!!!!!!!


(next year it'll be clear) this was only leading me to that
10 Things I Hate About You, m/f, Kat/Patrick

Following Kat and Patrick and the way their relationship develops over the years post-movie. I finished with such a smile on my face. I love how much Kat and Patrick have this trust and confidence in each other, and how much it shows in everything they do!


Bamboo Ambitions
Chinese history RPF, gen, Xiao He & Zhang Liang & Han Xin

Set during the time of the Chu-Han Contention, and tbh I had to google some things (like.....the chu-han contention) because I don't know enough about chinese history, but this fic was worth it! I really enjoyed the way the characters and their experiences are both humanized and also clearly a part of a greater story, in the way it was framed and told.


Kay the Scribe
Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner, m/m, Costis/Kamet & OC

Set during the time when Kamet and Costis are undercover in Roa, and I loved this outside pov on the two of them! Laris is a delight, and the way he's able to see things and piece together what's happening, and carefully make sure Kamet knows he's got his back, I love it. And you can really see how very much Costis is important to Kamet, even while he's barely on screen.


This Episode Brought To You By
Mr Queen, m/m & m/f, Bong-hwan/Cheoljong & So-yon/OC

Another fandom where I had to google things to follow along because I only know this show from having a friend explain it once and have never seen it, but it's so great! How much Bong-hwan feels the need to pose as a Cool Guy but obviously still feels very earnestly about things, how Cheoljong is fascinated by Bong-hwan and pays so much attention to trying to really understand the heart of him, how So-yon does her best to figure out how to be herself, whatever that looks like -- and how Bong-hwan and So-yon are both ultimately better off in each other's lives, each other's worlds. And the through-line of food tying it all together!


Only one question that can be answered
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin, gen, Genly Ai

Post-canon, Genly decides to retire to Gethen. And ahhhhhh this is so lovely and bittersweet and perfect.


honesty (is such a lonely word)
Nirvana in Fire, m/m, Mei Changsu/Prince Yu

Aaaaand a fandom that I know only from reading a bunch of fic, but hadn't previously had much exposure to the character of Prince Yu lol. But I loved getting his pov here, the ways Prince Yu both does and doesn't understand, and how captivated he is by Mei Changsu, and how clear it is that even if Mei Changsu is opposing him, it's not because Mei Changsu hates him or doesn't care about him, MCS just....has different priorities.

Vid recs

Mar. 29th, 2020 12:24 pm
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
One of the things I've been doing lately is rewatching older vids, so I thought I'd take the time to share some of the ones that have hit the spot recently.

(This is not intentionally a themed rec set, except that the kinds of vids that have hit the spot recently do....tend to fall in one of a few specific categories. As you might notice.)

1. Landsailor, by Raven
multifandom
"We're gonna need a bigger boat." I only know one of the fandoms that goes into this vid, but it does a clear job telling the story/stories such that you don't actually need to be familiar. It's so beautiful and optimistic about the things people do together to make things happen.

2. Soon Love Soon, by usuallyhats
Master and Commander
"To be a part is to be truly whole." I mean. That. And it does an amazing job of building the song and visuals together to create something really moving.

3.  Change You Like a Remix, by bessyboo
The Lego Movie and lego of all types and fandom as a whole
"No, I think it looked a little better on me." A fascinating vid that starts out looking like a vid about the Lego Movie, then moves into being about Lego media in general and then into, like, fandom. About creativity and creation and being inspired to do things.

4. Work This Body, by cherryice
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
"Maybe the real Jumanji was the friends we made along the way." IDEK I just am endlessly charmed by this vid, which I watched well before I ever saw the movie. It's fun and upbeat and great, and I watched it an unconscionable number of times even before I ever saw the movie.

5. Do You Dance?, by AurumCalendula
Pride & Prejudice
"Do you dance, Mr. Darcy?" Rare for me in that it's a lyric-less vid that I nonetheless really enjoy.I love the mirroring of their movements in the dance to the movements of their relationship throughout the movie, as the two are interwoven.

6. All In Together, by odessie
The Great British Bake Off
"Celebrate your oddities, your art, your own insanity." This vid was delightful when I first watched it, before I'd ever seen GBBO, and now that I've obsessively watched many seasons' worth it's even more delightful. The vid manages to capture in just a few minutes so much of what's lovely about the show.

7. Parachute, by thingswithwings
Leverage
"I don't need a parachute, baby, if I've got you." I love this ot3 a lot (Hardison/Parker/Elliot) and this vid is wonderfully them. So lovely. I love how much of the focus of the vid is on them being there for each other and supporting each other.

8. C'mon, by rhoboat
Inside Out
"What would my head be like?" Many feelings. Very yes.

9. Even If It Hurts, by pollyrepeat
Star Wars sequel trilogy
"It's darkest before the dawn." Focuses on Poe, Paige, Rose, Finn, Rey, and Leia, facing the hard things as they do what needs to be done.

10. Show Me your Teeth, by Dogstar
Hieronymous Bosch
"Tell me something that'll save me." Look, it's a vid about the weirdness of Hieronymous Bosch's art. It's weird and amazing.

Money

Nov. 19th, 2013 08:43 pm
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
On this reread of Les Miserables I’m paying a lot more attention to the money than last time because it is INTERESTING. Also I happen to be in the middle of Hugo glorifying Marius’ voluntary poverty and I am annoyed so I am writing this instead of continuing to read.

Here are some of the things I have noticed. Probably I’m not saying anything surprising here. I’m just documenting for myself my observations:

Marius makes about 2 francs a day. Feuilly, on the other hand, who fandom often thinks of as “the poor one,” makes 3 francs a day - so that’s actually a very livable wage Feuilly is making. Bahorel’s allowance comes to a little over 8 francs a day.

One cannon shot costs 6 francs to fire. (Hugo mentions this when discussing the waste of the formal shots that are a sign of respect within the navy, and the amount of money wasted.) This is really interesting to me, because a recurring theme within the Aubrey-Maturin novels is the importance of captains having to supplement their stores of powder because the allowance from the government is not enough to get your crews really practiced at firing accurately. So all of a sudden I have a bit more of a sense of HOW MUCH MONEY it costs to do all of that practicing.

Fantine, after she is fired from the factory, makes 12 sous a day, which is then reduced to 9 sous a day - which is around a quarter of what Marius makes when Marius is poor. (20 sous per franc is the conversion.) Of course, there’s a decade or so (I think) between those two time periods, and the value of money may well have changed in that time; and also there’s the difference in cost of living in Paris versus the small town of M-sur-M. But it gives one an idea of how little Fantine was living on - especially considering she had to send 10 sous of that 12 to the Thenardiers for Cosette, so she was living on 2 sous a day, which is ONE TWENTIETH of what Marius lives on.
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
Well, two more books to add to my read list, but I'm afraid my reviews of them are uninspired.

The Ionian Mission, by Patrick O'Brian
As always I am falling over myself to compliment Patrick O'Brian. Really I don't ever have anything new to say about these books, it feels like -- each one is just YEP PATRICK O'BRIAN CONTINUES AWESOME, THE END. I am such an O'Brian fangirl. NO REGRETS.

Dealing with Dragons, by Patricia C Wrede
Charming, not particularly deep, and a comfortable reread! Also a VERY fast read, wow. It took me something like six lunchtimes to read The Ionian Mission and this one I got three quarters of the way through in a single lunchtime. I'd forgotten how short the books in this series are!
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
I have MORE THAN ONE book to post about having read recently, even though I haven't been on vacation or anything? THE SHOCK.

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter, by Astrid Lindgren

I picked this one up after reading [personal profile] skygiants' post about it, because she made it sound excellent. And she was right! I found it SUPER CHARMING and rather wish I had stumbled across it when I was a kid instead of being under the vague impression that the Pippi books were the only things Astrid Lindgren had ever written!

Some spoilers to follow )


The Fortune of War, by Patrick O'Brian

Okay so this is one of those books that sat beside my couch with a bookmark halfway into it for I DON'T EVEN WANT TO KNOW HOW LONG and I finally decided recently to just BUCK UP AND START FROM THE BEGINNING AGAIN because it's not like I remembered the first half well enough to be able to properly follow the second half.

And then I was reading, and reading, and reading, and realized slowly that waaaaaiiiit a minute I'D TOTALLY ACTUALLY FINISHED THIS BOOK BEFORE, and WHO KNOWS WHY I'D LEFT THE BOOKMARK IN. But by the point of this realization I was far enough in that I finished reading it anyways. I have no clue whatsoever when I finished it the first time, so I'm going to count it as a first read for this year's end-of-year count, since it clearly never made it into the stats for any previous year.

ANYWAYS MY THOUGHTS ABOUT IT. It was super excellent LIKE ALWAYS OF COURSE, oh my god I spend every single Patrick O'Brian book just staring at the pages going "PATRICK O'BRIAN HOW DO YOU WRITE SO WELL. HOW. HOW." He's just such a good writer, y'all! I can't get over it! And I hope I never do!

Some spoilers )
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
Hmmm yes this is a good time for an update on the books I am reading! I STILL HAVE A BACKLOG OF POSTS TO MAKE ABOUT THAT, surprise surprise. So today you get my thoughts on the most recent two Patrick O'Brian books I've read! In a shocking twist, my thoughts pretty much boil down to "PATRICK O'BRIAN ILU"

#4: The Mauritius Command )

#5: Desolation Island )

books!

Jun. 11th, 2012 05:07 pm
sophia_sol: photo of a 19th century ivory carving of a fat bird (Default)
Yeah, so there's a lot of books I've read in the last little while when I haven't been posting regularly, so there's a bunch to report back on! Some I have more, uh, extensive thoughts than others. I'll start with a compilation post for a number of the books for which I had less to say. But after posting this I am taking my beloved computer off to the repair shop to get a serious overheating problem looked at, so my presence may be erratic until the repairs are complete! (depends on how often Mara needs her computer, how often I go to the library, and how often I decide that the frustrations of internet via iPod are worth facing :P)


The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You, by S Bear Bergman )

Tooth and Claw, by Jo Walton )

Magician's Ward, by Patricia C. Wrede )

H.M.S. Surprise, by Patrick O'Brian )

Dragonbreath, Dragonbreath: Attack of the Ninja Frogs, and Dragonbreath: The Curse of the Were-Wiener, by Ursula Vernon )

Drystone Walling Techniques and Traditions, by The Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain )

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