Heart Full of Elves

Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Top Ten OTPs

1:29 am meme, top ten tuesday, tv & movies

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week is a Valentine's Day themed freebie: Top Ten Books That Would Make Great Valentine's Day Reads (or anti-Valentine's day reads), Top Ten OTPs, Top 10 fictional crushes, top ten great love declarations in fiction, swoony quotes from books, etc.

I thought and thought about what topic I'd pick for my list, but since I'm not a romantic at all, except when it comes to my ships, I went for the boring but hopefully relevant option. So here are my top ten OTPs, mostly from TV (again). Warning: there is little heterosexuality on this list.

1. Xena & Gabrielle (Xena: Warrior Princess)

I'm a bi girl from New Zealand who was born in the mid-late 90s. No further explanation necessary. My mum saw some pictures of these two on my phone recently and asked if they were a couple. To paraphrase, I said, "Sit down and let me tell you a thing..."

Yeah... "subtext"...

2. Achilles & Patroclus "Patrochilles"

A love that has lasted millennia. The Iliad is an amazing story, and to anyone who thinks these two were not lovers: their ashes were mixed together! That is not a symbol of friendship!

BTW, if you haven't already, read The Song of Achilles. Now.

3. Agron & Nasir "Nagron" (Spartacus)

I don't know how to talk about these two without having a massive fangirlish ramble so let's leave it at "they're adorable and hot together". *Spoilers* In a show where everyone dies, they survive. Wise decision, Steven DeKnight.

Look at these adorkable cuties.

4. Gaia & Lucretia (Spartacus)

Two beautiful, intelligent, manipulative Roman women. The hair and the costumes alone are shippable. What's brilliant about their relationship (apart from the insanely hot sex scenes *fans self* (it is an R18 show, peoples!)) is that it has a huuuge impact on Lucretia's character development. Because darker versions of characters are always better.

Insanely hot, I tell you.

5. Piper & Alex (Orange Is the New Black)

A relationship that's totally not healthy but I love it all the same. I just want them to be together, is that too much to ask?

Why can't they just be happy and together? At the same time.

6. Leia & Han Solo (Star Wars)

Probably my first ship, long before I knew what shipping was. I was attracted by the love-hate relationship, and I still love it every time I watch the original Star Wars trilogy. By the way, I haven't watched The Force Awakens yet, so please no spoilers!

Is it just me or does Leia look bored?

7. Joel & Maggie (Northern Exposure)

Would you look at that, another love-hate relationship! Theirs is classic. They have this tension season after season and it's amazing. Too bad the last season of the show was terrible.

8. Clara Oswald & Jane Austen (Doctor Who)

This one is a little bit of a crack ship, but it has canon foundations! In the ninth series of Doctor Who, Clara has a couple of lines that suggest a romantic relationship with the writer Jane Austen. Cue the headcanons and fanfiction.

Gif source

The one line that started it all.

9. Jack & Ianto "Janto" (Torchwood)

Over the past few months I've been moving on from this show, but Janto was a huge part of my life for about 18 months and it would be wrong to leave them off this list. Their relationship is Tragic and has too many parallels with Patrochilles to keep a fangirl sane.

Caption that.

10. Alec & Magnus "Malec" (The Mortal Instruments)

Likewise, these two have similarities with Janto. I wish I'd watched Torchwood when I saw Cassandra Clare at the 2011 Readers and Writers Festival, because then I would've asked her if she based Magnus and Alec's relationship on Jack and Ianto's.

This post ended up way longer than expected. That's what happens when you let me get started on my ships. Moral of the story: don't let me do it.

Top Ten Historical Settings I Love

8:59 pm historical, meme, top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Historical Settings You Love/Top Ten Historical Settings You'd Love To See or Top Ten Futuristic Books You Love/Ten Futuristic Societies I'd Love To Read in Books. I adore historical fiction, and I love reading and watching things set in these eras.

In a very loose order, these are my ten favourite historical settings:

Ancient Egypt
Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome
Regency England
French Revolution
Victorian
1920s/Prohibition
Renaissance Italy (especially Venice)
Medieval
Elizabethan England

I'd love to know what historical settings you guys love, as I'm always up for discovering more! Reading a book set in a new era is always interesting.

Totally Should've Book Tag

10:15 am book tag, meme

I can't remember where I saw this book tag, but it was on someone's blog that I stumbled across. Feel free to do it yourself and say I tagged you!

1. Totally should've gotten a sequel

Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle #4) by Christopher Paolini

I know the series was long enough already, but the ending just wasn't satisfying.

2. Totally should've had a spin off series

Adaptation by Malinda Lo

A spin off TV series would be good. I'm imagining a cross between Torchwood and The 100.

3. An author who totally should write more books

Madeline Miller! (author of The Song of Achilles)

4. A character who totally should've ended up with someone else

City of Flowers (Stravaganza #3) by Mary Hoffman

I liked Luciano and Georgia, but it was not to be.

5. Totally should've ended differently

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

But since it's based on a true story, it had to end that way.

6. Totally should've had a movie franchise

Piratica by Tanith Lee

The whole trilogy.

7. Totally should've had a TV show

Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore by Stella Duffy

8. Totally should've had only one point of view

Opposition (Lux #5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

9. Totally should have a cover change

Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness, #1)

10. Totally should've kept the original covers

Derby Girl by Shauna Cross

11. Totally should've stopped at book one

Fracture by Megan Miranda

Top Ten LGBTQ Characters

9:30 pm lgbtqia characters, meme, top ten tuesday, tv & movies

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week is freebie week, where you pick a topic "near and dear to your heart". Since LGBTQ representation is extremely important to me, I thought I'd pick my ten favourite characters belonging to this group. 70% are from TV, the rest from books and movies. (By the way, sorry about the lack of T in this list, but I know barely any transgender characters. They're out there, I just haven't come across them.)

1. Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess, played by Lucy Lawless)

2. Lucretia (Spartacus, also played by Lucy Lawless)

3. Agron (Spartacus, played by Dan Feuerriegel)

4. Saxa (Spartacus, played by Ellen Hollman)

5. Jack Harkness (Torchwood, played by John Barrowman)

6. Ianto Jones (Torchwood, played by Gareth David-Lloyd)

7. Achilles (The Iliad by Homer & The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (not the Troy version, despite the image I've used!))

8. Lisbeth Salander (Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson)

9. Piper Chapman (Orange Is the New Black, played by Taylor Schilling)

10. Alexander the Great (Alexander (2004), played by Colin Farrell (yes, the movie kinda sucks, but he's my second historical fave so we'll let that slide))

Since this is a topic close to my heart, comments are more than welcome!

Just a head's up

4:53 pm

I'm in the process of changing the colour palette of my blog theme, so if it looks weird for a while that's why. (I changed some of the colours today but I got tired and stopped.) I'm not too familiar with the HTML of Blogger themes so I have to use the age-old method of trial and error. It's quite exhausting.

Top Ten 2015 Releases I Meant To Get To But Didn't

8:11 pm meme, top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's theme is Top Ten 2015 Releases You Meant To Get To But Didn't. I was terrible at my book-reading in 2015 (I failed my reading challenge by 3 books, noooo!) but I got a new library card today so I'm hoping that will encourage me to get on with my to-read list this year. I've already placed holds on some of these, which is a start.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray

The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium Trilogy #4) by David Lagercrantz, Stieg Larsson (Creator), George Goulding (Translator)

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

Murder & Matchmaking by Debbie Cowens

Anything Could Happen by Will Walton

Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales

Illusionarium by Heather Dixon

10.

The Flywheel by Erin Gough

A Reread of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

5:08 pm classic, fiction, four stars, jane austen, pride and prejudice, review

Date finished: 28 November 2015

I first read Pride and Prejudice five years ago (not as long ago as I thought, actually, when I checked Goodreads) and gave it a 3-star rating. 13-year-old me didn't understand the language, but 18-year-old me found it much easier and more enjoyable to read the second time around.

I enjoyed the plot about as much as I did the first time, but as most of you will know, there isn't much to it. The story is very simple, though it is slightly more interesting than some of the other Austen novels (I say this as someone who had read all her works at 16). It's entertaining enough, but it lacks the complexity that I would expect from a classic.

What I got more out of by reading this five years later was the humour. Jane Austen wrote comedy and said herself that she couldn't sit down to write a serious novel if she tried. I didn't understand the wit as a 13-year-old as I found the archaic/formal/euphemistic language very difficult, but I appreciated it a lot more as an 18-year-old and even laughed out loud once or twice. I'm not sure whether it's due to Austen's style or characterisation that makes it so, or a mixture of both, but some of the dialogue is hilarious. While some of the ideas may not be relevant for 21st Century readers, the humour is timeless.

Something I found worth reconsidering while rereading was the characters. Elizabeth Bennet is supposed to be intelligent, while I think she is a very average woman who makes some quick remarks. That's not to say there's anything wrong with her or that I can't sympathise with her as a character, just that in this day and age she would be ordinary, not the special snowflake she appears to be in her society. Mrs Bennet and her three youngest daughters are unbearable, and Mr Bennet, who is meant to be sensible and intelligent as a contrast to his wife, is not much better. In today's society he would be a horrible sexist, and Mrs Bennet even comments on the unfairness and strangeness of his will that prohibits any of his female descendants from inheriting his property. However, while Mr Darcy's rudeness makes it hard to engage with him, his unconventionality and sense of family honour make him one of very few likeable characters in the novel.

The setting of the novel is so well-known I won't go much into it. Suffice to say, it is interesting to analyse from a feminist perspective: the women of the Regency era have very little options and decisions to make on their own, and are expected to marry as soon and as well as possible. This seems very unfair. But when you think about their society, the men have similar restrictions placed upon them, along with other expectations such as serving King and Country. So I won't make a final statement on whether this is a sexist setting or not. Also, we can't force our ideas on a society from 200 years ago as they just didn't have concepts like sexism in the same way we do.

Pride and Prejudice lacks the depth to be great literature but is instead chick lit. However, it's funny and light and has entertained readers for two centuries. Most importantly, it improves on the second reading.