Fan Girl Friday: Once Upon a Time a Tree and a Raccoon Made Me Cry.

Groot and Rocket.

Rocket and Groot.

I spend a lot of time thinking about these two.

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How Rocket has to remind Groot not to smile during jobs or drink fountain water or worry about losing limbs because they’ll just grow back. How Rocket does not mock or belittle Groot’s vocabulary when explaining the way his friend speaks to the other Guardians. How Rocket is the only Guardian who can understand Groot. How Rocket worries when Groot takes the battery out too early in their plan, because he knows that he’s unable to protect his friend without a firearm of sorts. How Rocket runs at Ronan after losing Groot, not even caring how unpredictably powerful Ronan’s become, because all he can think is that Groot is dead. How Rocket, who you would never expect to see cry, openly weeps when he assumes he’s forever lost his best friend. How Rocket beams with pride as he holds his little potted plant at the end of the film.

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Art by deviantart’s zzigae

How Groot grows his body as a literal and physical shield to protect Rocket during fights. How, when The Collector’s place is about to blow, the first thing Groot does is grab Rocket and get the hell out of there. How Groot stands by his friend in every scuffle and situation, but is also not afraid to tell Rocket when he doesn’t agree with him. How Groot allows Rocket to climb up onto his shoulder during fights, to give him more of a physical advantage. How Groot, the gentle giant that he is, forcefully attacks Drax after he insults Rocket by calling him “vermin”. How Groot gave his life for all the friends he’d made, but especially Rocket. How Groot starts out so big and strong, and in the end is smaller than a raccoon.

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Art by deviantart’s Wetrilo

How much they equally take care of each other. How much they need each other. How they are perfect compliments.

How these two idiots would not last five seconds without the other.

How I really really REALLY need a Rocket and Groot BROTP movie. Like, yesterday.

Just… just shut up and give me that movie.

Give me that movie now.

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Fan Girl Friday: Genie, I’m Gonna Miss You.

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Celebrity deaths don’t normally hit very close to home for me. Don’t get me wrong, when a beloved celebrity passes on I take time to reflect on their work, on their life, and on life in general. It’s always sad … Continue reading 

Fan Girl Friday: Amazing Female Characters pt. 1

I’ve always had an affinity for strong, well-written female characters, and I shouldn’t have to explain why. When I think of amazing females in literature/film/television, I think of Hermione Granger, Ellie Sattler, Eowyn, Korra, Skylar White, Miss Piggy, Buffy Summers, Leslie Knope, Sansa and Arya Stark, Toph, River Tam, Rose Tyler, the entire cast of Orange is the New Black and Orphan Black, and the list goes on and on.

Needless to say, I’m interested in writing about these female characters and what makes them so well-written – covering their strengths and weaknesses; perfections and flaws.

So I thought I’d start with a female character I adore who, well, isn’t exactly well known.

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This is Annie Sawyer. She was played by Lenora Crichlow on the BBC television program, Being Human, and was a central character on the show for the first four series.

Since it’s not a super well known show (which is a shame, because it’s got some damn good writing and some of the best philosophizing I’ve ever seen), I’ll summarize. It’s a show about a vampire (Mitchell), a werewolf (George), and a ghost (Annie) sharing a flat together in the present day, and how they learn to cope (well, most times, fail to cope) with their supernatural powers and try to justify why they’re just as much human as the people around them. It’s funny, suspenseful, gore-filled, heartbreaking, infuriating, and one of the best shows you’ve probably never watched.

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(It’s also currently streaming on Netflix so, really, what’s your excuse for not watching it??)

(Also-also, it’s gonna get a bit spoilery from here on out, so I’ll try to be as vague as possible.)

I really came to love Being Human quite a lot – in case you haven’t noticed – when I discovered it a year and a half ago. I began watching because Aidan Turner, who plays Kili in The Hobbit trilogy, plays Mitchell, but I stuck around for so many other reasons. Like other supernatural shows, such as The Walking Dead and Buffy, the core of this show really comes down to humanity and what makes us, in spite of everything, human.

So. Annie Sawyer. Why am I writing about her?

annie3Without giving too much away, I will say that going into the fourth series of Being Human I wasn’t particularly looking forward to what lay ahead. Due to actors leaving the show, there was a sense of comradeship missing between the three flatmates. I did like the couple new characters they brought in, but it took me a while to time adjust to seeing them around so often.

However, what really made the fourth series work for me was Annie. Well, Annie and Eve. Annie is, in my mind, one of the most well-written characters in television that I’ve ever come across. Sure, George may be my favorite Being Human character by far, but Annie… there’s just always been something about Annie, y’know? And with her whole plot line with Eve, well, it really heightened her role on the show for me. When the fourth series came to its end, I was both disappointed and glad to see her go. While I knew I’d miss her as a character, I also knew it was for the best. I was just quite pleased that her storyline came to a rather beautiful end.

Also? Possibly my favorite George-Annie moment of the entire series:

I just want to take a moment to reminisce about what an amazingly well-crafted character Annie Claire Sawyer was on this show. She was peppy, enthusiastic, optimistic, and happy, despite the heartbreaking way of how she ended up as a ghost. Not only that, but she was trusting, caring, and kind to just about everyone. Was she perfect? Good lord, no. She certainly drove other characters a bit nuts at times, and even George hated her in the first couple episodes. Yes, she could be annoying and over persistent, and yet you couldn’t help but love this girl; the tea-making ghost who saved the world.

annie2Of the original trio, to me, Annie will always be the strongest. She grew so much over the course of her four series; much more than Mitchell and George ever did. At the start she was a mere dead girl, not really sure what to do with herself, but by the end she became a force to be reckoned with, because she was Annie Sawyer and no one was going to mess with her or her friends or take “her fucking baby” (her words, not mine). She became so very strong, not just in her powers as a ghost, but in mind and soul as well. She toughened up and learned how to take care of her own, but at the same time she never lost any of that peppy, happy-go-lucky nature we first saw in her all the way back in episode one.

And compassion. Oh my god, Annie embodied compassion. She just had so much love to give, so much so that she almost couldn’t go through with saving the entire planet because it meant hurting the one she loved most. Yet, it was love that allowed her to do what she had to do. For the love of her friends, for the love of mankind, and for the love of her baby (because, in the end, Eve really was hers, wasn’t she?). She would not let Eve go through the hell of living as the War Child, of watching the world burn around her just because of what she was, which was how Annie made the hardest choice a mother could ever make, and she did it all out of love.

annieMy favorite moment of the entire series is the last shot of Annie at series four’s end. That look that overtakes her face as she opens her door and sees what’s on the other side, oh god, the way she just lights up at the sight of whatever it is tugs at my heartstrings. I’m so glad the creators of Being Human didn’t show us what was waiting behind her door, because, honestly, we as the audience already know what’s there. It’s written all over her face.

As I wrap up this love letter to a truly amazing character, I’ll leave this entry on this one last note: it’s pretty clear to me that George was the brains and Mitchell was the brawn, but Annie?

Annie was the heart.

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Fan Girl Friday: My New Zealand Reading List.

To say I love books is a bit of an understatement.

I was the kid who got in trouble for reading Clifford books in second grade instead of paying attention to Ms. Voltz. Who got her copy of To Kill a Mocking Bird taken away in Chemistry by Mrs. Daschel. Who always keeps a book in her purse, just in case of emergencies. Who was on the Battle of the Books team four years in a row when younger. Who participated in the Summer Reading Program until surpassing the age limit. Who owns over five hundred books. Who can’t walk into a library without leaving with five or more books. Whose airport ritual is to go to the tiny Powell’s Books in PDX and buy one book.

Okay, okay, you get the gist.

Anyway, I’ve been doing some reading since arriving in New Zealand, so I figured I’d just talk a little about all of the books I am reading / have read /plan on reading. Enjoy!

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Fan Girl Friday: Julia Rants about Shrek The Musical.

I decided to bring FGF back, because they’re fun to write and they make me happy.

Let’s get the messy business out of the way first, shall we? I now have an apartment with Cheryl, as already mentioned in Monday’s entry, but now I also have a brand spanking new job (cue the standing ovation). I don’t want to write on it just yet though; not until I start next Monday. I will say that it’s a sales job and I get paid on a commission-type basis, but it’s more of a collecting-money-type deal than selling things. I’ll talk about it on a later date once I’ve, y’know, actually started.

So at first I thought I’d spend this Fan Girl Friday talking about my trip to Hobbiton with Kathleen some odd weeks back, seeing as I keep putting that one off, and then maybe I thought I would talk about all the books I’ve devoured in the last week (because the Wellington library is my best friend), but nah. Let’s talk about something not really relevant to my travels in New Zealand. Let’s talk about something virtually no one but myself cares about because, hey, I’m really good at ranting about my strange interests.

Let’s talk about Shrek.

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Fan Girl Friday: Weta Cave at Last.

It was only a matter of time before I had an entry on here (majorly) devoted to the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. Honestly, I’m surprised it hasn’t come sooner.

You want me to go on an adventure with you? Where do I sign??

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Fan Girl Friday: Eight Favorite Disney Soundtracks.

In preparation for this trip, I’ve been reminded of the following items:

  1. Pre-travel stresses me the hell out (which results in stress eating and stress crying).
  2. I always say I’m not going to save things to do till the last minute, but I always do anyway.
  3. I am the worst at packing.
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“I can totally fit all of that into my backpack,” she said delusionally.

But my last week here in the States – with the exception a mega stress eating/crying breakdown yesterday – has been a good one. I’ve gotten the chance to spend some time with my family, I’ve seen a slew of friends (and am seeing even more tonight), I got a lot of prep work for my travels out of the way, and I got to go to the beach this Wednesday. All in all, not a bad way to spend your last week before taking off traveling for an entire year.

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I didn’t like the way he was looking at me.

Anyway, for this week’s Fan Girl Friday, I thought I’d do another simple list. This week I’m gonna focus on eight of my favorite Disney soundtracks. All of them should really be a give in, but it was fun to write up nonetheless. Enjoy!

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Fan Girl Friday: Five Fictional Places I’d Never Want to Live.

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Hello and welcome to my first Fan Girl Friday!

Basically the general gist of Fan Girl Fridays will be I’ll share a list of my favorite (or, in this week’s case, least favorite) geeky things, go on a rant about this or that, pontificate about television, maybe share some .gifs or awesome pictures, all that good stuff.

I wanted to spend this first Fan Girl Friday talking about my top ten obsessions of all time; however, I just got done with a long day of garage sale-ing over at my cousins house. Despite the fact that I spent the majority of the day sitting on my butt, rereading The Princess Bride. and eating all the food my cousin kept offering me, I’m exhausted. Probably has to do with haggling with strangers and interacting with my cousin’s five year old how-are-you-so-full-of-energy-at-this-time-in-the-morning daughter all day long.

Due to this, my first Fan Girl Friday is going to sort of be a cheat. I’m taking a list I posted over at my old blog a while back and just using it (with a tweak here and there). Hopefully I’ll be a little more motivated (and prepared) in the future.

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