Somewhere Different Now

Hello y'all!

I added a whole bunch of new friends and then abruptly vanished from LJ for a month and a half for no good reason.  Sorry about that.  I hope you are all well.  I haven't yet tried to catch up on reading my flist, but hopefully I'll get to that soon.  In the mean time, rather than writing an entry about what's actually been going on in my life, I want to tell you about something frivilous that's been making me happy.

Marvel's Avenger Academy is a delightful Avengers high school AU (or possibly college AU...the exact ages are never specified, and they do spend a lot of time in a club with a bar, though it's possible they're just drinking soda) in the form of a mobile game.  I'm not at all a gamer, but the fun dialog, intriguing storyline, cute animation, and wonderful fannish ridiculousness of Avengers Academy have reeled me in.  The basic idea is that you send your young heroes on quests, some of which are actually related to training to be a superhero (e.g. firing repulsors at the blasting range, practicing flying), while others are related to school (studying) or having fun (dancing...so much dancing).  Some of the things I love about this game:

-Natasha is my favorite with her deadpan attitude, vaguely goth look, suspicion of authority, and focus on getting things done.  She often feels like she's surrounded by idiots, but it's clear that she really has a big soft spot for her classmates.  I am intensely amused that when you send her on the "look for clues" action, she has this body language like an 8 year-old pretending to be a detective, all exaggerated peering around on tip-toe.

-Kamala Khan is a very close second though.  I finally managed to recruit her this weekend, and everything about her is great from her using her stretchy superpowers to take super selfies to her intense squee about getting to hang out with her heroes.  Although I think the best part may be when Nick Fury and Hank Pym (mysteriously still adult) were discussing recruiting her and this happened:
( Most of this post under a cut due to number of screenshots )

-The storyline involves the school being surrounded by something called Time Fog, which is full of ruined buildings and occasionally eerie stuff like a cracked Iron Man face plate from a suit that Tony has only designed, not actually built.  It's clear that Fury and Hank Pym, the adults in charge of the school, are hiding something.  Characters have mentioned a sense of deja vu, like another version of themselves has been here before and experienced something terrible.  I am intrigued by the implication that this isn't just an ordinary AU where they're all teens for no reason.  I want to know more.

In summary, if you like the Marvel Avengers characters and enjoy having a fairly low-key game on your smartphone or tablet, I highly recommend Avengers Academy.  Is anyone else out there playing? 

I've been feeling rather down about my life and the world lately, but rather than whine about it here is a list of things I've enjoyed lately:

Books/Comics
-Dust and Shadow:  An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lyndsay Faye.  This is a marvelous pastiche.  Lyndsay Faye (of the Baker Street Babes podcast, although I think that came after she published this book) has Watson's voice down perfectly.  She keeps the element of humor present in the original stories, but also takes Holmes to a darker emotional place than Sir Arthur generally allowed.  That's a wise choice given the horror of the subject matter.  The OC's are interesting and well-drawn.  I don't know much about Jack the Ripper, but the book appears meticulously researched.  The plot was exciting enough that I skipped intentions I had to leave the house in order to stay home and read.

-Captain Marvel:  In Pursuit of Flight by Kelly Sue Deconnick.  I don't read a lot of comics, but I've been dabbling a tiny bit in Marvel lately after enjoying the Avengers movieverse fandom.  I picked this one up after hearing good reviews and because Kelly Sue seems really cool.  Despite knowing absolutely nothing about Carol Danvers before starting, Captain Marvel:  In Pursuit of Flight made me happy in so many ways.  I was able to follow the plot despite my newbie ignorance.  There's time travel, one of my favorite tropes.  Not only is this a female superhero comic with a costume that covers her full body, drawn in a way that generally eschews gratuitous sexy posing (though she is clearly very attractive), but it also resoundingly passes the Bechdel test.  In fact, the large majority of the secondary characters are women.  Here are women competing over flight records and super powers instead of men, women working together to fight aliens or to fight cancer, women stepping up to embrace their power and potential, women mourning, women rejoicing, women who were put on Earth "to punch holes in the sky."  There's this one full page panel with Captain Marvel flying to the edge of space, looking powerful, and the line "...and we will be the stars we were always meant to be" that I honestly stared at for several minutes because the combination of the art and the sentiment was just so satisfying.  I loved Dexter Soy's art in the first four issues.  Emma Rios's art in issues 5 & 6 wasn't quite so up my alley, but still good.

TV
-I've been catching up on Elementary and very much enjoying it.  All I have left is the season finale.  Joan Watson is a magnificent individual.  Also, we need more Ms. Hudson.

-I finally got around to watching To the Ends of the Earth on Netflix.  I recommend it for all members of the CumberCollective, plus people interested in period naval drama.  It's more of a drama that happens to be set on a boat than a high-seas adventure, though there is certainly an element of danger.  Also, I was amused by how many actors in the show I recognized but couldn't place without a trip to IMDB.  The radical thinker who wants to shoot an albatross?  It's Dr. Grant from Jurassic Park!  The captain of the other ship they meet at sea?  Tywin Lannister!  The girl Cumberbatch's character gets a crush on?  It's that woman who spent most of Love Acually nearly naked with Martin Freeman!  And most impressively, the captain of the main ship?  It's FUCKING MORIARTY (from the RDJ film).

Fanfic
-Exclusive by copperbadge. This is an utterly delightful Avengers-fic told in the form of a long magazine article after they decided to go public with some identity information.  It's hilarious but also has plenty of emotional heft.  It fits beautifully into canon.  The outsider POV and article format are utilized to perfection.  There are great insights into all the characters, with especially interesting Bruce, and lovely team dynamics.  There's also a splendid twist, which apparently took most readers by surprise, though I saw coming a long way out (but I really enjoyed having my theory proved right).  Highly recommended for anyone who ever reads Avengers-fic.  Gen.

-Bel Canto by bendingsignpost.  Sherlock/John.  It's finished now, but when I was following this fic as a WIP the updates were one of the highlights of my week, even when I knew it would put my heart through the wringer.  This is a fusion of Sherlock and The Phantom of the Opera, though I suspect you could read and enjoy it without knowing or caring much about Phantom.  Do you like stories with intense emotions?  Characters having believable conflicts where neither is entirely in the wrong?  Mrs. Hudson, Molly, and Irene being amazing?  Secret identities?  Danger and excitement?  Period settings?  Beautifully done imagery?  This fic has all of these and more.  It's a 16-chapter epic that will sweep you off your feet and carry you away like some Angel of Music Fanfic.  Heed the warning in the header, though.  D:

What about you, friends?  What in the worlds of fic, film, or print has been making you happy lately?

I saw The Avengers this weekend.  This is the obligatory squee post:

SQUEEEEE! 

That's how you do an ensemble action film, folks.  Exactly like that.

( SPOILERS and further thoughts under cut )

-I hope the success of this project gives Joss the clout to do whatever he wants most for his next project.