"what kind of a name is STOVE?"

[falulatonks]

Right, okay. Rundown of some things that gave me serious feelings in the last two months. We should talk about them at length in the comments!!

1. Captain America
   
   Favourite superhero movie in years? I think they focused on all the right things and all the good things and everything really, really worked for me. I was a little worried about Captain America himself because I thought maybe the movie and the character would lean towards over-the-top patriotism and "in the name of America!" war cries, but I ended up adoring the fuck out of this character because the root of his character is him, the fact that he is good and kind and honest, the fact that he defies military orders to save his best friend, the fact that his choice of "weapon" is a shield. I generally have a weird soft spot for good people, as long as they're written well and aren't preachy or over-the-top or uninteresting, and as long as we understand that this goodness isn’t reflexive or something that’s rooted in innocence and idealism but that is a choice - they are aware of easier things, but choose to be better. Leslie Knope is one of those people. Steve Rogers registered that way for me pretty quickly, too. It helps that I think Chris Evans was kind of fucking perfect as Steve, because he could’ve been naive and simple, but there was always a hint of steel to him, and I adored it. (Also Chris Evans is a charming bastard.)
   
   Other positive feelings, though: Peggy Fucking Carter, magnificent and smart and wonderful and good at punching idiots and shooting. Hayley Atwell was wonderful, and Peggy, oh Peggy, I love you so much. Steve/Peggy, brilliant and simple and still heartbreakingly effective. I am not over how hard I came to 'ship them. Steve-Bucky, friendship!! Friendship!! Old-school effects, simple stories, intelligent and competent minority representation (multilingual black dude!!).
   
   The last five minutes felt rushed, but what made it worse was him waking up IN A DIFFERENT CENTURY. I mean it’s depressing enough that I’m losing so much of what got me invested in this movie and these characters (PEGGY, will I never see you again!?!), but Steve Rogers is a person who loves and is loved and imagine how much he lost in those seventy-odd years. fucking breaks my heart, you guys. I didn’t think I’d feel this strongly, but this movie did so much good for that. I hate it. and by that I mean I love it so much.
   
   What do you mean, what about The Avengers? That's not a thing.


2. Bridesmaids
   
   Around forty minutes into this movie this movie made me cry - not cry laughing, like it had been doing, but actually crying? Something about Kristen Wiig’s character Annie and her friendship and her jealousy and her rage and how terrible she was being to herself struck me, and it stung. Clearly I’ve never been where she was but she was weirdly relatable to me, and I adored that.
   
   My feelings about that one shitty scene that nearly everyone talks about is that it needn’t have happened, but the climax of it did actually make me cackle. I’m a little annoyed that Paul Feig urged Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo to put the scene in, though, because yeah, I’m sure that was something dudes found funny, but in terms of comedic set pieces that worked in the movie weren’t therescenes like the one at the bridal shower and (my absolute favourite) the one in the plane? EVERY LINE in the scene on the plane was fucking fantastic, you guys. Every line.
   
   A lot of things made me laugh a lot, though!! And I thought it was emotionally effective without being manipulative, and I thought the movie gave all the ladies something ridiculously funny to do without being unkind, and I adored the hell out of Annie and Lillian’s friendship (and their awesome scene during breakfast talking about needing to fix their teeth), and I also liked Annie and Nathan the Cop a lot? I was worried Nathan would lean towards Nice Guy and I think he kind of did because I still don’t know if I’m supposed to be annoyed with him or with her during that morning-after scene (I’m annoyed with him, mostly) but at the same time I think we got a decent amount of them both being stupid, so. AND THEY WERE CUTE. villainies did this annoying thing where she made me ‘ship Annie and Helen and you guys, think about it, do their characters not work perfectly together?!
   
   Other positive feelings: Melissa McCarthy!!! but also ALL OF THIS CAST! Kristen Wiig! Rose Byrne! Maya Rudolph!! magnificent ladies whose names I don’t want to list because I’d have to arrange them if it were a list and I don’t want to rank~ them.
   
   I enjoyed this movie a lot, basically. Maybe some of the tearing up came from getting fantastic, funny, smart, ridiculously talented ladies be exactly all of those things, all at once.


3. Castle
   
   I don’t know when it happened (it started near the end of S3, probably) but everything about this show slotted into place in the most glorious way and I adore it so fiercely now. I love it so much. I love the characters and I love their stories and I love their chemistry and friendships and I love their feelings and the feelings I get because of those feelings, but also, most of all -
   
   Castle/Beckett, holy fuck, when did you become maybe my favourite ‘ship of all time? My (mildly hysterical) tagging on C/B posts on tumblr has started to include “everything otp”, because every aspect of them works so beautifully for me. every aspect.
   
   On one level, shallow-type: They are attractive together and clearly find the other attractive. They like flirting with each other. They share a sense of humour!
   
   Next level: they enjoy each other’s company a lot. And they don’t bother hiding the fact that they enjoy being with each other. They don’t have all the same interests, but they do share some, and even when one of them doesn’t get what the other is excited about, they enjoy seeing them really loving something (and that is one of the most functional parts of them, to me). They both get crazy-excited when they’re on the same wavelength and are getting into something, especially when it’s a case, and that’s not just about them getting closer to answers, but also about them talking someone who gets it and is just as fucking thrilled to be there.
   
   Both of them call each other by their first and last names!! And with usual procedural-like shows it feels so strange, and I think it’s because the first and last name divide usually separates two sides of one character, the professional from the personal, but with Castle the shifts feel so natural, not just because their first names aren’t complex (back when I liked Bones I looked for fic and reading about them calling each other “Temperance” and “Seeley” while making out or doing it was a major turn-off, what.), but because I feel like both Kate Beckett and Richard Castle know both sides of each other so well?
   
   And then finally: they ground each other. Nothing about either of them overtly fixes each other’s flaws, I don’t think, but they pull each other back enough that they become more aware of these flaws and try harder to step away - they guide them out of it. And they’re not weaker or less than without the other, but there’s a gorgeous, quiet support system there. I think it's significant to note that neither of them are broken, which means neither of them are incapable of being themselves fully, but what this relationship does for them is that it changes both of them so much (though so gradually!) that they'd rather be with each other than not? And maybe I'm being sappy, but is that not love? I don't need huge transformations and their lives don't need to revolve around each other's. I like the smaller changes - being willing to change parts of yourself to fit someone else's and being better for it.
   
   And then I take this glorious 'ship and fix them within canon, within all of these stories, and everything about them is about progress - about relaxing into each other, about not just feeling for each other but knowing it and acknowledging it. about talking to each other sometimes about what they are and trying to be firmer about where they stand with each other. I love every move they make towards each other because watching them get there is fantastic (another thing I love - every move they make towards each other is so permanent - there’s never any moving back), but they’re also already there, somehow?
   
   It helps a lot that I think both parts of this ‘ship are fucking wonderful - Kate Beckett is magnificent and fascinating and I love how strong and intelligent and funny and warm and brave and still crazy she is, and I love that she’s a fierce badass lady cop who is powerful and adored and still likes wearing heels and looking good because why the fuck not. I love that she can be sharp and stubborn and wrong. I love that her mother’s case both drives her and shuts her down, but it’s okay. She’ll be fine. She’ll get there. She is fantastic.
   
   And the fact that I love the man in the ‘ship as much as I love her is significant because I tend to love the fiercest ladies the most, but I honestly haven’t loved a fictional man the way I love Richard Castle. CHARACTER PROGRESS - charming proud rich boy who is first a novelist who loves parties and having fun, to charming proud man who hasn’t changed completely (which is the best part) but is smarter about what he does and fiercer about the people he loves, who is becoming more of a cop? Emotional maturity! Taking relationships seriously. Throwing himself into things he loves (as he always has) but also starting to fight for them. He’s funny a lot, he gives us comic relief, but there is so much more about him! He is a total guy but he also surrounds himself with strong ladies, because he does adore them. And he is a good person, and a good friend, and his mother is right, she raised a good man. And I love good people!! All of you know this!!
   
   S4 for them as a ‘ship has been fucking great so far because it’s been all about them knowing they’re getting somewhere, and getting ready for it. And the assurance and confidence in that has led to me weeping by the end of each episode so far, so, you know.
   
   Basically: I don’t know what to do with my feelings, because I’ve started feeling too much for this show for me to be able to deal with anything.
   
   Everything is great. OK, done.

There was going to be Parks and Recreation feelings but that’s probably better for another post, this one is too long as it is!

However, TV I am watching this season - Parks and Recreation, Castle. The Good Wife, Happy Endings. The Office (but why. damn it, self), Downton Abbey. Up All Night, Suburgatory, Pan Am, Prime Suspect. Fell hard for the main ‘ship in Free Agents, but it was cancelled and everything sucks!

I don’t know where I’m getting the time for all this, other than all that travelling I’m doing to and from classes, but wow, Rachna.

I think I shall watch Thor soon. and catch up with Fringe, but I’m worried I’ll love the show too much without Peter, yikes.

-- rachu

Comments

[sonni89.livejournal.com]

I'M ONLY HALFWAY THROUGH YOUR CASTLE FEELINGS BUT I'M ALREADY CRYING FROM THE FEELINGS OVERLOAD. DAMN YOU, RACHU. WELL NOT REALLY, BUT WHYYYYYYYY?

OKAY. DONE. Basically, everything you said about Castle and Beckett is completely accurate and they are the greatest. I loved Castle from the beginning and I shipped Castle/Beckett from the beginning, but oh if only I'd known last October what I was getting myself into. The second half of season 3, but mostly all of season 4 so far has been SO GOOD to them and their individual characters and their relationship and everything is wonderful and I'm hoping they keep that up.

I'm so glad you said that Castle/Beckett have made it to the top of your list of favorite ships of all time, because they are quite possibly/definitely my #1 favorite ship of all time. I don't think I've ever been this happy about the way a ship was written in canon.

And yes to all your feelings about Beckett, and yes to loving Castle just as much because they are both wonderful people and wonderful characters and the way they've progressed is a thing of beauty and fdglkjdfg MAKE ME SHUT UP ABOUT THIS SHOW.

[falulatonks]

because they are quite possibly/definitely my #1 favorite ship of all time
ahh, Sonni, honestly, I don't think anyone understands the "DROWNING IN MY EMOTIONS FOR THIS STUPID 'SHIP I DON'T KNOW WHEN THIS HAPPENED TO ME" side of my Castle/Beckett feelings the way you do right now. The next time my heart hurts with crazy love and I'm keeling over, incapacitated by 'shippy feelings, I'm going to come straight to you.

basically NO I WON'T MAKE YOU SHUT UP ABOUT THIS SHOW BECAUSE a) I need someone to feel EVERYTHING with me and b) IF I KNEW HOW TO SHUT YOU UP I WOULD'VE SHUT MYSELF UP, LET'S BE REAL.

(OK, really, these feelings took me so much by surprise that I don't even have an LJ icon for them?! oh my god.)

[sonni89.livejournal.com]

Heh, it's true! You're also my go-to person for shippy Castle/Beckett feelings because I KNOW YOU GET IT.

HOW ARE THESE TWO REAL?

AND OKAY, AS LONG AS YOU DON'T SHUT UP ABOUT THEM, I WON'T SHUT UP ABOUT THEM EITHER. BECAUSE I COULD TALK ABOUT THEM AND HOW PERFECT THEY ARE FOREVERRRR.

[imprinted-soul.livejournal.com]

hi! i'm finding it extremely hard to focus on work tonight. i got more fairylights for the room and economics is just not working out.

i think i will go to sleep soon and mayhaps tomorrow will be a more productive day.

i am not pleased.

but hehe bridesmaids! i liked it enough, but i was sorta expecting something a little different. didn't quite love all the jokes or anything, but i think i'm just not big on apatow movies

[falulatonks]

The whole of today has been me being useless, girl. I don't even have anything I attempted to do. :|

I'm not a fan of too many Apatow movies, but I think Bridesmaids wasn't that Apatow-y! I guess I just react more strongly to comedies.

[imprinted-soul.livejournal.com]

failed attempts and not attempting aren't that different, all things considered.

and now i am too full of lunch. meh.

#procrastination till the end of the dayyyyy

[century-fox.livejournal.com]

I LOVE YOU AND YOUR CASTLE FEELINGS.

[falulatonks]

AND I LOVE YOU.

[jessm.livejournal.com]

What scene did Paul Feig urge Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo to put in the film?

[falulatonks]

The food poisoning scene, I'm pretty sure!

[jessm.livejournal.com]

Haha, go figure! Also, I neglected to mention that you completely convinced me to see Captain America when it comes out on DVD (in four days!).

[falulatonks]

YES, that's all I wanted to do!! I hope you enjoy it!

[anoel.livejournal.com]

I loooove Bridesmaids. Totally blew me away with not only the funniness but the realness and the relationships between the women. I actually loved the scene I think you're talking about, I thought it was funny in a I can't believe they just went there way. But the plane scene was the BEST! I saw it the second time and didn't think it could live up to my expectations but it reeeally did. Help me I'm poooooor LOL.

[annakovsky.livejournal.com]

I still don’t know if I’m supposed to be annoyed with him or with her during that morning-after scene (I’m annoyed with him, mostly)

I am not totally sure on the intent of the scene either, but I felt like to me, it was really obvious that he was trying to be nice but doing the exact wrong thing, and that she didn't want to be a bitch to him but the whole baking thing is so bruised for her she couldn't stand it -- anyway, I just read it as being nobody's fault exactly and everybody's fault. And I thiiiiiiink that was probably the intent, though I'm not totally sure either.

[villainies.livejournal.com]

villainies did this annoying thing where she made me ‘ship Annie and Helen and you guys, think about it, do their characters not work perfectly together?!

RUDE

Okay I was just going to leave it at that but you wrote such a great post with feelings!!! and all I did was (rightfully) insult you SO. Steve Rogers is perfect, tiny!Steve best of all. THE GRENADE SCENE, MAN. "Is this a test?" ♥___♥ god what is even the point of a Captain America franchise if we're just going to lose Peggy? SHE IS COOL AND COLLECTED AND BADASS.

also re: Bridesmaids if we don't get Annie/Helen fic out of Yuletide, I'm quitting fandom.

[cold-campbells.livejournal.com]

I have all those same feelings and initial concerns about Captain America too. Like I never really found Chris Evens all that appealing until this movie where in which he totally proved me wrong with all his charmingness.

That is all.

[falulatonks]

(HI!!!)

And yes, right? Somehow from just looking at him there's nothing about him that appeals to me, and he isn't even my usual 'type', but Captain America changed that completely for me and I'm so charmed by him. I like him a lot.

[goobalicious.livejournal.com]

(hi this is diktynna!)

I generally have a weird soft spot for good people, as long as they're written well and aren't preachy or over-the-top or uninteresting, and as long as we understand that this goodness isn’t reflexive or something that’s rooted in innocence and idealism but that is a choice - they are aware of easier things, but choose to be better.

YES. I am always wary of Captain America stuff because he is this kind of liberal starry-eyed character, and I worry about people forgetting that because he's named Captain America. Honestly, this movie might as well have been called Steve. It was about him and what a hero he was (even before he bulked up.)

AND CAN I JUST SAY that my favorite Steve/Peggy moment was after she believed him dead and she opened the case file and stared longingly at little Steve? She loved him before his arms looked like balloons! I just want to live in a world where the serum didn't work and he and Peggy married anyway and he spent the rest of his dancing while standing on her feet.

[shimmeryshine.livejournal.com]

OMG THIS GLORIOUS WALL OF CASTLE TEXT.

And then finally: they ground each other. Nothing about either of them overtly fixes each other’s flaws, I don’t think, but they pull each other back enough that they become more aware of these flaws and try harder to step away - they guide them out of it.
UGH THIS IS SUCH A GREAT POINT. They both have baggage, but it's never treated as the thing that they want to fix about each other, it's always like YOUR BAGGAGE IS WHY I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! I mean, he's sad about her mom's case and the way she can't crawl out of it sometimes, but he wants to get in there with her so she's not alone, rather than being like "get over it". And no matter how many times she rolls her eyes at his comments or puppy dog enthusiasm, those are the things she totally misses the most when she's not with him.

And oh godddd your whole paragraph about Richard Castle as a character. MY FEELINGS EXACTLY. I can't believe that this show, this silly, goofy, crime procedural is the show to DO THIS TO US. It handles these relationships and these people with such care, it's mind blowing. Going back and watching season 1 or season 2 (or season 3 even already!) and how far they have come is so insane, because sometimes it's so organic and flawless you never even realize the changes that are happening so significantly, but when you go back it's like WHOA HOW DID THEY EVEN DO THIS?!

I always like to think about what "season 1 Beckett" would think about herself at this moment. Or could she believe she's doing the things she's doing now, because I feel like these things have always been inside of her, just shoved down so so far. I was talking to someone the other night about this new lighter, smilier Beckett from this season and feeling like this is the closest we have been to the Kate that must have existed pre her mother's murder. In love, grinning, playful, but still able to do her job exceedingly well etc etc. I sort of want her dad to eventually comment on it to Castle, that he's somehow managed to pull her out of her dark place more than anyone even realized was possible before, and he wasn't even actually trying to do that. It's just the consequence of them being around each other, and her being loved by him.

Omg this comment is getting so long I am sorry. I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS TOO AND THIS GAVE ME A PLACE TO VOMIT THEM. A+ POST RACHNA.

[sonni89.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry for butting in here, but I'M WEEPING AT THE PERFECTION OF THIS COMMENT and about your point about Castle bringing out the Beckett that must've existed before her mother's murder without even really trying to do that. GREATEST.

[torigates.livejournal.com]

I love what you said about Castle and Beckett knowing each other so well, and knowing both sides of themselves and that's why they can go from first to last name so easily. IT'S PERFECT. I want to draw hearts around that idea forever.

[hmsharmony.livejournal.com]

Captain America was so good. So good. I was wary of seeing it because I've never been too big on superhero films, but ughhhh, loved everything about it, for all of the reasons you listed. I am GUTTED over what happened between him and Peggy. CRUEL. TOO CRUEL.

not cry laughing, like it had been doing, but actually crying? Something about Kristen Wiig’s character Annie and her friendship and her jealousy and her rage and how terrible she was being to herself struck me, and it stung.

The exact thing happened to me. I expected to go into this movie laughing the entire time, but it was honestly the hardest I've cried during a movie in a LONG time. I still loved it, but holy crap was it painful at times (probably because I went through a period in high school when my bff grew incredibly distant because of a guy, and I guess it hit home in a way?). So you're not alone at all!

[lissomelle]

RACHNA. RACHNAAAAAAA. IF I COULD TWIRL THIS POST AND HUG IT CLOSE TO MY HEART, I WOULD. Skipping the Castle stuff for now because I'm still not quite caught up yet but I might swing back here for more word-vomiting once I am.

Your description of Steve's goodness is so on point that it actually hurts a little, because fuck yes. I love love love how his physical transformation only served to facilitate and amplify his inherent heroism, that it wasn't just the muscles that made the man. Steve's story was about the little guy from Brooklyn who wanted so badly to have a chance to contribute to the cause, who got it, and who fought not to seize glory for himself or even for his country but to do good. It's simple but poignant, and human in a way that I wish more people connected with because then maybe they wouldn't be so dismissive of it. And I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Chris Evans in this role because I've seen him in other things and was fairly indifferent to him as an actor.

I've already rambled to you about everything else so I'll just say that I wholeheartedly agree with everything you mentioned and I'm finding it difficult to be anything but sulky about The Avengers and the setting for Captain America 2. And the fact that Sebastian Stan has apparently been signed to multiple movies whereas Hayley Atwell probably won't make another appearance and aslkdjas;ldkjasldkj I HATE EVERYTHING SO MUCH.

As for Bridesmaids, oh man, I was not expecting to weep as much as I did. Maybe it's because of where I am in my life right now, but all of the friendships and Annie's hurt really pierced me with their realism. Not to mention the fact that I love how the ladies in the film felt like women I'd know in real life. And, as you mentioned, how these actresses got an entire movie to showcase their chops. I do wish we'd gotten seen Annie find more of a sense of direction in terms of resolving her personal problems (bake out of your mom's kitchen and sell your wares online! It could work!), but I really adored her conversation with Megan and its bottom line of you are your problem -- and your solution.

[zombie_boogie.livejournal.com]

Your paragraph on Captain America is so perfect I want to weep. I feel the same way about good characters. I have a hard time loving heroes a lot of the time because of the preachiness or self-righteousness or just plain blandness that often comes with the package, but damn genuinely good people who choose to be good just get to me. Leslie Knope and Steve Rogers comparisons! Taste my feelings! And yes, you know my fuck The Avengers feelings quite well by now I think.