summer full of pretty boys
Aug. 21st, 2011 03:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sundaydriverMy summer has been a bit crazy with the continuing, (hopefully will end soon), job search, my writing, trying to find a new roommate, and figuring out how I'm going to pay my bills.
A few quick pop culture things:
-Loved the new Harry Potter film and Captain America. I can not wait for the Avengers film next summer, as well as the new Spiderman movie, (my crush on Andrew Garfield has reached stupidly high proportions and I'll probably be asking for his films on DVD for my birthday. My friend has a crush on Jesse Eisenberg and she joked that watching Social Network YT vids would probably make the both of us cry. Basically TSN is our crack). ;)
-Watching and loving the second seasons of Pretty Little Liars and Haven this summer. I continue to adore Spencer, Toby and Hanna on PLL and Audrey and Nathan on Haven. I can't wait to find out how Audrey, Nathan and Duke are really connected to the overall arc/history of the Troubles.
-Panic! at the Disco are my favorite band of the moment/year/all time. Their concert in May was fucking amazing and I've been loving all the crazy stuff that's come out of the other concerts on their summer tour. I wish they didn't also have to deal with some bad RL stuff, but it's amazing to see how their senses of humor and their friendship has gotten them through the bad days. Brendon's cover of (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding is fantastic and Brendon and Spencer's friendship will always make me smile. :)
-I also re-watched the first three seasons of Merlin to get caught up before the fourth season starts and my opinion regarding a few things has changed slightly.
1. The Arthur/Gwen relationship doesn't bug me as much as it once did. Upon re-watching the first three seasons, I realize it was the rather blatant push of the relationship in Season 2 that turned me away from the whole thing. My favorite pairing in fandom is Merlin/Arthur, but I know that's not going to happen on the show and so it wasn't that aspect that prevented me from liking Arthur/Gwen. I also have always liked the character of Gwen and think she should have a more important role on the show. I think it was the direction taken with Arthur and Gwen, (could we cut it out with the back-lit scenes of romance, show? Please?), and some of the dialogue, (which was a little OTT in the second season, but I think improved a little bit by the 3rd season), that bugged me. Something clicked for me this time around and I actually found myself happy that those two crazy kids had found a way to be together by the end of the 3rd season. So much so, that I'm not sure if I should be worried for the angst that I'm sure is going to come in the 4th season.
2. Arthur's treatment of Merlin in the 2nd and 3rd seasons. *sigh* I'm still not super thrilled that Arthur continues to throw things at Merlin, but I've resigned myself to the fact that the producers/writers must think that is just part of those two being "stupid boys", (though the whole "using Merlin as a lance target" scene still bothers me. It's a definite parallel to the first time Merlin and Arthur meet and that's not a part of Arthur I really liked). I don't agree with the idea that Arthur has been abusing Merlin for the past two seasons though. Upon my re-watch, I realized that Arthur is flailing a lot, what with dealing with his father's expectations, Morgana disappearing/reappearing, his new feelings for Gwen, and his responsibilities to the people of Camelot. I give a lot of credit to Bradley James, because he brings a nuance to Arthur's struggles that makes me sympathize with him, even when he is acting like a prat. I think the fact that Merlin has always been there for him, has never wavered in his loyalty, makes him take Merlin for granted. Is that right? No, of course not, but it just points to Arthur being human and not always recognizing Merlin's importance. Of course you can't discount the fact that to Arthur, Merlin is still just a servant and, as far as we know, still has no idea of Merlin's power or what he's done in the past. I do think Arthur likes Merlin, listens to him, (definitely more so toward the end of season 3), and depends on him to be there during those dark moments of his life. Sometimes the writing doesn't always reflect Arthur's concern for Merlin, but it does exist and I can't wait to see what happens the closer we get to the time when Arthur finds out about Merlin's magic.
3. Colin Morgan's facial expressions are gold. Pure gold. He is such an amazing actor and I love how he can express so many different feelings, sometimes in a scene that may only be 30 seconds. Love him!!
4. Bradley James is more than just a pretty face and he plays off of Colin Morgan like a dream.
5. The Knights!! Yah, Arthur will finally have knights fighting along side him that don't let him do all the work and/or run away, (except for Leon of course. He's always been awesome!)
6. I'm still annoyed at the utter fail of Morgana's characterization. They should've done so much more with her in the second season, including showing her dealing with her magic and the consequences of keeping it a secret from Uther. I feel like her fall into Morgana, "Evil Smirk Is My Default Expression" Pendragon would've made more sense/been less annoying in the third season, if the writers had done more with her character.
7. Finally, I'm loving all the spoilers for the 4th season. I think we are going to see a shift in Arthur's character, what with dealing with Uther's fall from power, Morgana's probable revenge, his uncle's arrival at Camelot and, I'm sure, his evil intentions, and the issues concerning Gwen and the Knights. Also, I see Merlin making more trouble for himself by going out of his way to help Arthur/stop certain people from hurting Arthur and having that backfire on him. I think both Arthur and Merlin will mature this upcoming season, (they have to at this point, writers! Don't disappoint me!), and will struggle a bit, before finally coming to a point where Arthur will officially become King and Merlin will become the great sorcerer, Emrys.
***
Off to do a bit of writing and to catch up with my emails. If there are any good publishing/editing/writing/assistant type jobs in NYC that you've heard of recently, please pass along the links. I need all the help I can get. ;)
A few quick pop culture things:
-Loved the new Harry Potter film and Captain America. I can not wait for the Avengers film next summer, as well as the new Spiderman movie, (my crush on Andrew Garfield has reached stupidly high proportions and I'll probably be asking for his films on DVD for my birthday. My friend has a crush on Jesse Eisenberg and she joked that watching Social Network YT vids would probably make the both of us cry. Basically TSN is our crack). ;)
-Watching and loving the second seasons of Pretty Little Liars and Haven this summer. I continue to adore Spencer, Toby and Hanna on PLL and Audrey and Nathan on Haven. I can't wait to find out how Audrey, Nathan and Duke are really connected to the overall arc/history of the Troubles.
-Panic! at the Disco are my favorite band of the moment/year/all time. Their concert in May was fucking amazing and I've been loving all the crazy stuff that's come out of the other concerts on their summer tour. I wish they didn't also have to deal with some bad RL stuff, but it's amazing to see how their senses of humor and their friendship has gotten them through the bad days. Brendon's cover of (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding is fantastic and Brendon and Spencer's friendship will always make me smile. :)
-I also re-watched the first three seasons of Merlin to get caught up before the fourth season starts and my opinion regarding a few things has changed slightly.
1. The Arthur/Gwen relationship doesn't bug me as much as it once did. Upon re-watching the first three seasons, I realize it was the rather blatant push of the relationship in Season 2 that turned me away from the whole thing. My favorite pairing in fandom is Merlin/Arthur, but I know that's not going to happen on the show and so it wasn't that aspect that prevented me from liking Arthur/Gwen. I also have always liked the character of Gwen and think she should have a more important role on the show. I think it was the direction taken with Arthur and Gwen, (could we cut it out with the back-lit scenes of romance, show? Please?), and some of the dialogue, (which was a little OTT in the second season, but I think improved a little bit by the 3rd season), that bugged me. Something clicked for me this time around and I actually found myself happy that those two crazy kids had found a way to be together by the end of the 3rd season. So much so, that I'm not sure if I should be worried for the angst that I'm sure is going to come in the 4th season.
2. Arthur's treatment of Merlin in the 2nd and 3rd seasons. *sigh* I'm still not super thrilled that Arthur continues to throw things at Merlin, but I've resigned myself to the fact that the producers/writers must think that is just part of those two being "stupid boys", (though the whole "using Merlin as a lance target" scene still bothers me. It's a definite parallel to the first time Merlin and Arthur meet and that's not a part of Arthur I really liked). I don't agree with the idea that Arthur has been abusing Merlin for the past two seasons though. Upon my re-watch, I realized that Arthur is flailing a lot, what with dealing with his father's expectations, Morgana disappearing/reappearing, his new feelings for Gwen, and his responsibilities to the people of Camelot. I give a lot of credit to Bradley James, because he brings a nuance to Arthur's struggles that makes me sympathize with him, even when he is acting like a prat. I think the fact that Merlin has always been there for him, has never wavered in his loyalty, makes him take Merlin for granted. Is that right? No, of course not, but it just points to Arthur being human and not always recognizing Merlin's importance. Of course you can't discount the fact that to Arthur, Merlin is still just a servant and, as far as we know, still has no idea of Merlin's power or what he's done in the past. I do think Arthur likes Merlin, listens to him, (definitely more so toward the end of season 3), and depends on him to be there during those dark moments of his life. Sometimes the writing doesn't always reflect Arthur's concern for Merlin, but it does exist and I can't wait to see what happens the closer we get to the time when Arthur finds out about Merlin's magic.
3. Colin Morgan's facial expressions are gold. Pure gold. He is such an amazing actor and I love how he can express so many different feelings, sometimes in a scene that may only be 30 seconds. Love him!!
4. Bradley James is more than just a pretty face and he plays off of Colin Morgan like a dream.
5. The Knights!! Yah, Arthur will finally have knights fighting along side him that don't let him do all the work and/or run away, (except for Leon of course. He's always been awesome!)
6. I'm still annoyed at the utter fail of Morgana's characterization. They should've done so much more with her in the second season, including showing her dealing with her magic and the consequences of keeping it a secret from Uther. I feel like her fall into Morgana, "Evil Smirk Is My Default Expression" Pendragon would've made more sense/been less annoying in the third season, if the writers had done more with her character.
7. Finally, I'm loving all the spoilers for the 4th season. I think we are going to see a shift in Arthur's character, what with dealing with Uther's fall from power, Morgana's probable revenge, his uncle's arrival at Camelot and, I'm sure, his evil intentions, and the issues concerning Gwen and the Knights. Also, I see Merlin making more trouble for himself by going out of his way to help Arthur/stop certain people from hurting Arthur and having that backfire on him. I think both Arthur and Merlin will mature this upcoming season, (they have to at this point, writers! Don't disappoint me!), and will struggle a bit, before finally coming to a point where Arthur will officially become King and Merlin will become the great sorcerer, Emrys.
***
Off to do a bit of writing and to catch up with my emails. If there are any good publishing/editing/writing/assistant type jobs in NYC that you've heard of recently, please pass along the links. I need all the help I can get. ;)
