the mermaid cafe

I slept for nearly nine hours last night, and I am still as tired and bleary-eyed as on Monday, when I'd only slept four, and I so don't want to do any work. Ugh.

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on bethbethbeth's recommendation, I recently read The Company We Keep by Robert and Dayna Baer, a memoir of their time in the CIA. The first half is really interesting, dealing with CIA training and actual spycraft; the second half basically made me side-eye them - especially him - the whole time, especially the part about their foreign adoption (and also, the fact that he has two daughters and the son, and guess which kid is apparently the only one he cares about, since he's the only one who gets a name and a part in the story?). So read it for the first half and then roll your eyes through the second, I guess, or stop when they leave the CIA.

I also read Blood Spirits by Sherwood Smith, the sequel to Coronets and Steel. I liked it, though not as much as the first book, which has that whole Prisoner of Zenda plot going for it. I had some trouble remembering how people were related for the first part of the book, and also, ( spoilers )

And then apparently yesterday, all of the comics I actually pay for were released, so let's do that rundown:

Avenging Spider-man 11 made me sob, but that is a given, I think, since he was teamed up with Aunt May in this issue, which basically covers a trip to the cemetery to see Uncle Ben. I thought it handled the idea of reassessing how you got where you are while still looking forward pretty well, but you know, I am easy for Peter and May Parker and their strength and resilience. I didn't love the art, but eh.

Journey Into Mystery 642 - this was kind of heartbreaking - apparently no matter what Loki does, it all goes to shit, even when his intentions are noble. The best part is how much Thor loves him (see this tumblr post about their relationship, which basically encapsulates my kid!Loki feels and also why Thor is awesome. Spoilers, obv.)

I know they're wrapping up kid!Loki's time as the protag of this book (soon it will be Sif!) and kid!Loki will be hanging out with Billy Kaplan? (Or something? Nerds of the Nine Realms unite?) and I really hope they don't just drop him or re-age him to adulthood and villain status, because I really like what they're doing with him. Because a trickster should straddle the line between good and evil, playing them off against each other for his own benefit and/or amusement, and there's as much creation in trickster mythology as there is destruction, because you don't get one without the other, and Loki as straight up villain is just boring.

Captain Marvel 3 - this is where my irritation with serialized storytelling is at its peak, because goddammit, GIVE ME THE REST OF THE STORY. I don't feel like the cliffhanger was particularly effective and I don't feel like there was enough story here to be considered a full issue. I liked the part where ( spoiler )

Otoh, the serialization aspect worked for me with Winter Soldier 9 because ( spoilers, no I really mean it )

So that was pretty freaking awesome.

And you've all heard about the SHIELD tv show Joss is producing for ABC, right? Given the corporate synergy there, hopefully it won't get cancelled after five episodes. I still would have preferred a Heroes for Hire show, but maybe this will be about Maria Hill being a BAMF.

But maybe you don't know - I didn't, until devildoll just told me - that Avengers is being re-released over this Labor Day weekend in the US, and that there is a specific reminder to stay through the credits so... footage from IM3? Another short? I guess we'll find out! I'll be out on the island this weekend so I don't know that I'll have a chance to go again, but maybe I can talk the kids into it. Hmm...

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Ugh, work today was stupidly, unexpectedly busy, meaning I had no time to write, so I still don't know what I'm doing for my birthday story. I know all y'all don't care, so I shouldn't fuss about it, but I like to post a story on my birthday. Sigh. there's still time.

In other news, I did in fact like A Week to Be Wicked more than I liked A Night to Surrender, and after reading the excerpt, I feel like the third book, A Lady By Midnight, will also hit my personal bulletproof narrative kinks. Sadly, it doesn't come out until September. Sigh.

I've also been reading The Mighty Thor, at least, whatever volume this is that started fairly recently. Mostly because I wanted the Thor-kid!Loki reunion I was denied in Journey Into Mystery, which I didn't quite get. I've been enjoying it, though Thor on the page doesn't have the same wry adorableness that Chris Hemsworth gives him in the movies. I still like him, though. And Volstagg is a hoot.

Last night, I read the third installment of Spider-Men, and ( spoilers )

I also read Avenging Spider-Man whatever number, the new one with Carol Danvers. The 'villain' lady kind of reminded me of Misfit. I kept waiting for her to shout DARK VENGEANCE.

I still want a book about Steph and Cass and Charlie and Black Alice, and maybe Tam can come along for the ride, too.

Anyway, I am considering buying the new Captain Marvel on an ongoing basis just to support a book with a female lead, because they like to spout some bullshit about how female characters can't carry books or movies and then they tell us they're making Ant-man, which, just. No. SAY NO TO ANT-MAN. HE IS A WASTE OF SPACE. GIVE ME A BLACK WIDOW MOVIE INSTEAD. Or a Black Panther movie with Chiwetel Ejiofor as T'Challa. Or a Heroes for Hire movie. With Idris Elba as Luke Cage and Daniel Henney as Danny Rand.

I might have a lot of feelings about this. Ahem. Stupid comics. I always knew it would be an awful thing to get involved with. I avoided it for years. Sigh. I still blame Jensen Ackles.

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