A little money and tomorrow’s underwear

Watched Os 1 with subs. Still don’t like the OP. :D

In general terms, there’s not that much I actually missed when I watched the raw. One thing was that Eiji slept through the chaos at the start because was drugged, not because he’s a flaky slacker. Also, that there will be consequences to using the belt.

As for things that are clearer on a subbed watch: Biggest thing is that through his own words, Ankh made it exceedingly clear that his intention is to use and manipulate Eiji for his own ends… I mean, I assumed, but I didn’t know 100%. I like how he totally lies to Eiji’s face about how he’s impressed with him and that that’s why he’s going to help him.

Things that I forgot to mention on the previous post: The beginning of the episode itself, although much goofier, definitely reminded me of Kuuga and Agito. In fact, now that I’ve rewatched and thought about it, I’ve gotta wonder if, the obvious trappings linking it to Kabuto aside, it might not actually owe a lot more to Agito and especially to Kuuga, at least as far as the hero goes. The more I think about it, the more that Eiji reminds me of Godai. Food for thought, I guess.

One last thing. In light of the fact that our protagonist has no attachments and thus no desires, I find the Greeed’s line about how the Yumy is the embodiment of a human’s desires (and thus their true self) very intriguing.

And finally, if when analyzing a certain type of hero, we talk about “Christ figures”, would it be appropriate to speak about Buddha figures when talking about a certain other type of hero? Ultimately I have to admit Eiji himself, from this angle, was one of the things I found most intriguing from the press release before the series started. :D

Obligatory Kamen Rider Os first impressions

And so it begins. Watched episode 1 raw, so obviously I will have missed things. :D

The first episode kind of already confirms the impression I got from the press releases and character descriptions: that many elements of Os are very obvious nods in the direction of past Riders. To be fair, Kamen Rider is a franchise that relies on a specific, limited set of tropes; but what I’m talking about isn’t that exactly. A trope is an archtype basically, something honed down to its basic elements; what I’m talking about is the specific ways in which those archtypes are explored. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, particularly if one liked what is referenced, and it’s all revisited in a way that revamps the ideas.

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Laurie and Cumberbatch in Fortysomething

Been watching Fortysomething, because I was looking for more Cumberbatch, and it’s got him and Hugh Laurie, so how could I refuse? :D

So the first thing I have to say is that much as I love what House can be at its best, watching this I realize Hugh Laurie has such amazing comedic timing that he’s kind of almost wasted on a drama. I mean, yes, House’s snark is funny, but seeing him in Fortysomething you realize that’s just a fraction of what he can do. Because Fortysomething is ridiculous and hilarious, and although it’s got a great cast, Hugh Laurie is a huge part of why it’s so funny.

Well, Hugh Laurie, and his Proud Banana, and the front lawn decorated with blowup dolls, and “My wife… is in a park with a lesbian. And ducks!” and Stephen Fry as a disapproving fishmonger, and just all of the hysterical situations these characters are put in.

As for the great cast, I love Paul (Hugh)’s relationship with his wife Estelle (Anna Chancellor). It’s funny, and he’s ridiculous, but they also have great chemistry, and the sense that there is affection there, and yes, also love in spite of the whole “Paul Slippery can’t remember the last time he had sex with his wife” thing. Ultimately, for all the ridiculous antics of the series, this marriage comes across as very real.

The youngest son, Edwin is hilariously evil, the middle son Daniel is a bastard, but an amusing bastard, and the eldest son Rory is Benedict Cumberbatch, and given my current obsession with Sherlock, that should be enough, shouldn’t it? And it is, but I’m still going to say it: Rory is adorable. Long-suffering, the “nice” one while his brother Daniel is the “hot one” (debatable, personally I think Benedict is much better looking) who steals his girlfriend, possesses a certain self-effacing humor. Sure, we might go for the “bad boy” when we’re young and stupid, but in the long run I think most women will pick Rory over Daniel (that’s kind of a tangent, the series’ handling of that particular situation is just spectacularly funny, though). And seeing Sherlock playing House’s son is really amusing, for obvious reasons.

Anyway. Screencaps of Benedict as Rory, because that is the reason I wanted to check out the series. :D

Sherlock recs!

This post will be periodically updated with new recs.
Last updated: 10/30

It has been a long long time since a show has grabbed my attention the way Sherlock has, to the point that I’ve been completely neglecting, well, pretty much anything that is not Sherlock related. So I thought I’d just rec links related to this awesome little show that has pretty much just eaten my brain the past few weeks.

Sherlock blogs/communities
Probably anyone that is into Sherlock fandom knows these, but oh well…

  • Fuck Yeah Sherlock – Tumblr blog! Awesome for picspams, videos, etc.
  • SherlockBBC extremely active, very awesome LJ comm for Sherlock. Obviously, there’s a ton of fanfic (slash, gen, cracky crossovers, what have you), but it’s also a great place for actual discussion and meta.
  • CumberbatchFans – if in the past 3 or 4 weeks you have developed, like I have, the most ridiculous crush on Benedict Cumberbatch, then check out this comm.
  • his name is better than yours – Tumblr dedicated to Benedict Cumberbatch. Because there can never be too much Cumberbatch.
  • Fuck Yeah Martin Freeman – As the name suggests. Tumblr. Martin Freeman.
  • Rupert Fucking Graves – Tumblr. Rupert Graves. :D/

Fanfic recs
Many of these are slash/pre-slash. ;D

(I should maybe mention that as far as I’m concerned, Sherlock is canonically asexual. This doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy slash, though).

The Thermodynamis series – by [ljuser]entangled_now[/ljuser]. This series is hands down my favorite Sherlock fic(s). It’s cute in exactly the way Sherlock fic should be cute: with a bit of awkwardness, matter of fact, very amusing; and also sexy in exactly the way Sherlock should be sexy, which includes acknowledges the fact that he’s most likely asexual, and works organically with that, and it ends up being integral to how delicious the whole thing is.

Other fic:

Other stuff

untouchable; john & sherlock – by starbrights90. I don’t anticipate embedding very many videos in here (and will put them behind a cut if I do embed any more!), but this one in particular is just beautiful.

“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”

This is an extremely belated post about A Study In Pink, which means that it’s actually more about the episode in the context to the rest of the series.

Really, if you start thinking about the fact that there will be more Sherlock in the future, then it’s easy to guess that eventually we’ll look back on these episodes and that primarily all three, not just the first one, are about how Sherlock and John’s very unique relationship began and started to develop. It’s actually so obvious that it might not even merit mentioning, except for how in the course of just three it begins, grows, changes, starts to crack around the edges, and ultimately deepens so much.

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“A Study In Pink” screencaps

So I went and decided to just do a quick check to see what there was in the way of Sherlock fanfic, and four days later I’ve neglected this blog in favor of reading MOAR FIC.

To make up for it… screencaps from A Study In Pink! By which I mostly mean lots of Benedict Cumberbatch, because, well, yes.

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