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virtuous but tired
Today, I took my 93-year-old grandmother to vote for Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte. ♥ (this was actually a tad surprising, since she is *also* the kind of person who listens to Rush Limbaugh, but apparently the abortion debate cranked her off enough to take up the opposition. Atta girl, Granny.)
My other pasttimes lately have been avoiding my email and other forms of communication with people while watching the entirety of Lewis, and consequently falling prey to all the Oxford scenery and doing my annual re-read of Gaudy Night. I haven't even considered Yuletide yet. Ack.
I continued on to re-read Murder Must Advertise, which is my favorite of the non-Harriet novels, and was struck once again by how acutely, almost depressingly perceptive Dorothy Sayers was. Her cynical observations about advertising still ring true 80-odd years later, as do vast swathes of Gaudy Night -- the discussions about women and education, the scene where Annie's daughter proclaims her intention to run a garage and drive a motorcycle, Harriet's thoughts about partnership, profession, and marriage.... Aside from loving the cases and the shenanigans and Peter's piffle, I get something new out of her books every time.
Anyway. Lewis! Man, it is strange getting into a fandom while a brand new season that radically changes the character dynamics of the show is airing. So now I'm in the weird position of having read alllll the Lewis/Hathaway fic and also passionately shipping Laura/Robbie because they are fucking adorable now that they figured their shit out. Luckily, I am perfectly happy to friendship Lewis and Hathaway as well, so those two awkward turtles figuring out their new relationship delighted me to no end. Even before they paddled off intothe sunset the credits in a fucking canoe in the premiere. ♥
I was getting pretty worried for Hathaway at the end of Lions of Nemea -- he seemed really depressed, although Lewis was thankfully there and adorably supportive. He was in some ways worse in Entry Wounds, where he barely cracked a smile and to my recollection didn't quote anything (a sure sign of existential flu in the wild Hathaway). No wonder Maddox got a bad first impression. Thankfully, the end of the season saw him doing better, even though it was a rough case. Ugh, that fight Lewis and Hathaway got into was so good. They always do a great job of making their fights equal -- i.e. they have genuine, plausible reasons to disagree, and the audience sympathizes with both of them. Plus, they know each other so well that their arguments are full of brutally honest insights and counterstrikes. It's awful to watch, and so good.
I could have wished for more character development for Maddox, since she's still a bit of a cipher personality-wise. Perhaps next season, if there is one. Still, it was almost like outsider-POV fic at times, getting her perspective on the boys. I have a plot bunny. We shall see.
I don't think I talked about Laura Hobson or Jean Innocent in my previous posts - probably because it was still early days, and it took them until S2 to stop playing Innocent as Obstacle!Bureaucrat and switch her into friend mode. But I adore Innocent now: it's very rare to find a boss character who is anything other than one-note Oppressive Authority in procedurals, and they walk that perfect line with her of "I am here to keep you from doing stupid avoidable things that will cause repercussions for the rest of my people and the poor bastards who have to prosecute your case; also, I will deflect bullshit from above provided you are not deserving of it, and also I will be a friend and dispense some common sense upon suitable occasions." She had a distinctive, valid approach to their work, and is a damn good manager and a genuine friend. ♥
And then there's Laura. Ugh, I love her. Apparently a sassmaster since day one on Inspector Morse, Clare Holman is also just so great. She's got the same charm as David McCallum, where I have no problem listening to their exposition for hours, and then they knock it out of the park when they have a character scene with anyone. (also, odds that Laura knows Ducky from NCIS? There's no way they haven't met, Ducky knows everyone.) I like the patience the show had with Laura and Robbie's relationship -- and the warmth of their friendship before they got together. And Laura is perfectly, beautifully capably of smacking Lewis down when he gets dumb, without being OOC or naggy or a plot device. She's always very much herself. I love her a lot.
My other pasttimes lately have been avoiding my email and other forms of communication with people while watching the entirety of Lewis, and consequently falling prey to all the Oxford scenery and doing my annual re-read of Gaudy Night. I haven't even considered Yuletide yet. Ack.
I continued on to re-read Murder Must Advertise, which is my favorite of the non-Harriet novels, and was struck once again by how acutely, almost depressingly perceptive Dorothy Sayers was. Her cynical observations about advertising still ring true 80-odd years later, as do vast swathes of Gaudy Night -- the discussions about women and education, the scene where Annie's daughter proclaims her intention to run a garage and drive a motorcycle, Harriet's thoughts about partnership, profession, and marriage.... Aside from loving the cases and the shenanigans and Peter's piffle, I get something new out of her books every time.
Anyway. Lewis! Man, it is strange getting into a fandom while a brand new season that radically changes the character dynamics of the show is airing. So now I'm in the weird position of having read alllll the Lewis/Hathaway fic and also passionately shipping Laura/Robbie because they are fucking adorable now that they figured their shit out. Luckily, I am perfectly happy to friendship Lewis and Hathaway as well, so those two awkward turtles figuring out their new relationship delighted me to no end. Even before they paddled off into
I was getting pretty worried for Hathaway at the end of Lions of Nemea -- he seemed really depressed, although Lewis was thankfully there and adorably supportive. He was in some ways worse in Entry Wounds, where he barely cracked a smile and to my recollection didn't quote anything (a sure sign of existential flu in the wild Hathaway). No wonder Maddox got a bad first impression. Thankfully, the end of the season saw him doing better, even though it was a rough case. Ugh, that fight Lewis and Hathaway got into was so good. They always do a great job of making their fights equal -- i.e. they have genuine, plausible reasons to disagree, and the audience sympathizes with both of them. Plus, they know each other so well that their arguments are full of brutally honest insights and counterstrikes. It's awful to watch, and so good.
I could have wished for more character development for Maddox, since she's still a bit of a cipher personality-wise. Perhaps next season, if there is one. Still, it was almost like outsider-POV fic at times, getting her perspective on the boys. I have a plot bunny. We shall see.
I don't think I talked about Laura Hobson or Jean Innocent in my previous posts - probably because it was still early days, and it took them until S2 to stop playing Innocent as Obstacle!Bureaucrat and switch her into friend mode. But I adore Innocent now: it's very rare to find a boss character who is anything other than one-note Oppressive Authority in procedurals, and they walk that perfect line with her of "I am here to keep you from doing stupid avoidable things that will cause repercussions for the rest of my people and the poor bastards who have to prosecute your case; also, I will deflect bullshit from above provided you are not deserving of it, and also I will be a friend and dispense some common sense upon suitable occasions." She had a distinctive, valid approach to their work, and is a damn good manager and a genuine friend. ♥
And then there's Laura. Ugh, I love her. Apparently a sassmaster since day one on Inspector Morse, Clare Holman is also just so great. She's got the same charm as David McCallum, where I have no problem listening to their exposition for hours, and then they knock it out of the park when they have a character scene with anyone. (also, odds that Laura knows Ducky from NCIS? There's no way they haven't met, Ducky knows everyone.) I like the patience the show had with Laura and Robbie's relationship -- and the warmth of their friendship before they got together. And Laura is perfectly, beautifully capably of smacking Lewis down when he gets dumb, without being OOC or naggy or a plot device. She's always very much herself. I love her a lot.