寻觅你最明媚的四月天

I've seen Star Trek Beyond three times since it's come and and twice in the past week, and love it a little more each time. I'm awash in an ocean of feelings about starship families and the captain Jim Kirk has grown into. The 2009 movie has always been a favorite, a comfort movie of sorts, of delightful tropes and characters and a wealth of potential for this universe that holds them. I was entertained when I watched Into Darkness but now have no recollection of it: did it contain any coherency of the plot or consistency of character development? But Beyond brings me back to all the initial feelings of well-loved characters and relationships and their stories of adventures through space. The feelings I have for the starship Enterprise are practically tangible too, as much a part of that family as any of the crew.

And I love to see how Chris Pine has aged over the years as Kirk, because it correlates to the growth of Kirk as a captain. I love seeing the new lines in Kirk's face (and the new hair!) because time has passed in universe too, and he's three years into that five-year mission, no longer the brash cadet who gave Starfleet the finger while at the same time becoming its youngest ever captain. He's learning to be a good captain while remaining so fundamentally Jim Kirk -- a little reckless, still brash, but responsible now. Still afraid he's not good enough, but overcompensating less with swagger and bravado, learning instead to rely on his crew, their talents and their determination. And they've got his back; they don't fail him.

I also love the way the Kirk and Spock relationship has matured, evidenced in their few exchanges in the latest movie, and I love seeing the support and camaraderie of the entire crew working together, in whatever pairings. Infinite diversity in infinite combinations.

I've been going back to fandom classics and drowning myself in Star Trek AOS fic, and feelings, with all the action plots and romantic tropes I can get my hands on. I cannot fathom anything but Kirk/Spock despite adoring the many shades of their respective relationships with other characters. But after Beyond, I have a very particular version of Captain Kirk in my head. I know now how to recognize whether that's the one I'm reading and it can be jarring if it isn't (but sometimes I'll read it anyway).

I...have a lot of feelings about Kirk getting beat up, because he is really pretty when he is in pain, either physically and emotionally. Oh, that angst. But at the same time he's so unmistakably the best parts of being human: full of feelings, fear and joy, irrational and reckless, intuitive, tempered now with a little more sense of accountability, of taking care of more than himself, and wanting the best for others.

And, damn, but I absolutely find Chris Pine so much hotter as Kirk as he gets older (both actor and character). This is really, really doing it for me.

I figured I should make this post before April was over and I was even further behind! As it stands, travel and hosting visitors and general work/life obligations have set me back on my list of things to read and watch. It just keeps getting longer, not shorter!

( Books, January-March 2016. )

Separate from all this, I watched Zootopia and adore it. Thoughtful and timely in its message, but also hilarious and sweet. Great, great characters, funny little tributes and shoutouts, and Shakira's song is great.

Saw The Book of Life yesterday and it is absolutely charming. The visuals are absolutely stunning: so lively and colorful, and the crazy amount of detail put into each character and background is truly impressive. The animation to make characters look like lovingly hand-painted puppets with real wear and tear is remarkable, seriously. That's a lot of work. It's just so full of joy, all these explosions of color.

The story is simple but sweet: a tried and true theme of "true love conquers all", the selflessness of true courage and heroism, struggling to step out on your own from your family's expectations. But still it's an old story with old themes told in a very charming way, particularly with the art and music. Oh the music! Very fun and always fitting. Plus, there are lovely updates: I promise you, no one has to save the girl. She is no damsel in distress. And the romantic rival? Not a villain with no redemption! True friendship remains throughout.

I will note that I couldn't unhear Channing Tatum's voice, though, and that made Joaquin both weird and hilarious to me. The framing device is not my favorite; I felt that it could've been done better (Christina Applegate's narration just did not work for me for some reason). But overall the movie is a light, charming story with breathtaking visuals and details that's really the treat of the film. It's not a deep, weighty movie, but it is definitely beautiful and sweetly entertaining.

(There's already spates of great fanart on Tumblr!)

Current life theme: Fall Out Boy's "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark". This is partly the fault of hockey and its love affair with this song, but damn, it's also just catchy.

Speaking of hockey, I'm going to three games in the space of a week. Saturday I was in Philly at the Oilers game (wherein Giroux 1) got a swift shoulder to the head and 2) finally scored a goddamn goal, much to the standing ovation pleasure of the Wells Fargo Center), Tuesday I'm doing the Blue Jackets @ Caps game to introduce a couple longtime friends to the joys of live hockey, and then this coming Sunday the boy and I are in nice seats for his hometown Blues against the Caps.

(Speaking of the Blues, Broshie continues to light up my life.)

(And speaking of the Flyers and Oilers: BRYZ TO THE OILERS? I'd laugh, but then I'd also vindictively wish that he's phenomenal -- he can't be any worse than their current goalies, lbh -- and win a Vezina. Fuck you, Philly. I agree with the top comment to this article.)

It's a lot of hockey, but I'd be lying if I said I weren't excited. Although I'd be more excited if the Canes managed to pull themselves together. Canes, Canes, Canes. I have so many feelings about them, and about the way hockey media (writers, analysts) write about them, but whatever. They're my team and I get defensive about them and I want them to do better. That about sums it up.

In non-hockey news, the early sunsets are depressing, I hate pants but need tights that don't cut off circulation, and I want to see Frozen, the new Disney movie. :D If for nothing more than new amazing Disney songs.

That being said, Lilo & Stitch = forever favorite.

Sometimes BuzzFeed makes me shake my head. Sometimes their pictures and lists entertain me (or make me want to visit Taipei again).

This time, they shared a collection of beautiful words found on Craigslist, of all places:

The Most Beautiful Missed Connections You'll Ever Read

The comments are baffling in their literal interpretation and rejection of the story, and they distress me. I know not everyone appreciates words the same way, but have we forgotten how metaphors and allegories work?


In other news, Free! continues to delight me and overwhelm me with MakoHaru feelings. The ship has great, great art and not enough fic (I'm still working on mine...because I've forgotten how to write). But seriously, this pretty much encapsulates the entire thing I'm trying to write. Can't someone else write it and make it 10,000 words of glorious UST and just let me read it?!

So apparently Now You See Me is getting a sequel due to international box office success, which makes me laugh and facepalm because my god, for how much I love the cast and premise, that was a shitty film with shitty writing. But I will take another movie with Jesse Eisenberg in it, no lie.

Here's hoping Pacific Rim gets a sequel too! On that note, here is Kikuchi Rinko being the most adorable thing via peachpastische for all your Mako Mori needs.