![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blood and ink and scotch tape / serenity prayer
Today, my nose was repierced and my scissors were tattooed on my left wrist (see this post re: scissors).
My nose was originally pierced in about 1990. I had wanted to do it for awhile but needed someone to help me. See, at that point in time, doing it oneself seemed just as viable an option as trying to find someone who could do it professionally - tattooists were common, but experienced piercers were few and far between. My assistant of choice was my friend/girlfriend, Lisa, who wasn't really very enthusiastic about the prospect of sticking things through parts of my face and/or blood. However, I pestered and pestered until she agreed to help. It happened very spur-of-the-moment, basically when she decided she had the stomach for it. I stuck part of a wine cork in my nose, held a huge mess of frozen-together icecubes against the outside of my nostril, and watched Lisa sterilize a sewing needle with her lighter. My nose was very numb by the time she was ready to stick the needle in, and I really didn't feel much more than pressure. I was bleeding quite profusely, however, which was much more disconcerting to Lisa than it was to me. Struck with sudden, severe squeamishness, she begged off, so I finished the job myself. There was a strange, elastic pop as I got the needle all the way through, and I was as giddy as if it had been the popping of a champagne cork.
I had no problems with the piercing, but I took the stud out about three years later when I was attempting to start my own business and thought I needed to look "professional." As it turned out, my business went nowhere (no surprise, considering my lack of enthusiasm), but my nasal mucosa had healed over within a day or two of removing the stud, leaving only a sort of giant pore effect on the outside. I've been vaguely wanting to repierce it for several years now, but not enough to actually go out of my way to actually get it done. However, since I was already in the skin-marking, hole-poking shop today, it was easy toask for more pain go ahead with the procedure.
I was expecting the wrist to be really, really painful, but it wasn't too bad. There were a couple of moments when I winced, but it was otherwise very tolerable. The nose, on the other hand, was brutal. I had scar tissue from my old piercing and I wanted to pierce through that same spot. I had expected this to be painful, but it was much worse than I'd imagined. So, it balanced out. Right now, I have a slightly swollen nose with a tiny silver dot on its left surface and a completely normal-feeling left wrist that is wrapped in gauze and...scotch tape. Whatever. The tattoo looks beautiful. It's small, about an inch and a half long and, while visible, seems relatively demure, IMO.
This was taken by Mr. G right before the tattooist put the bandage on, so it's all raw and swollen and slimy with unguents, but I still think it looks rather nice, so I'm sure I'm going to be very pleased with the final, non-abused looking version.
The Mr. and I saw Serenity Friday night. This was a good thing, of course, made especially good because it was actually the Mr.'s idea, and he never wants to see movies in the theater.
Non-spoilery thoughts: I loved it. I went into the theater with the understanding that *hopefully* there would be people who hadn't seen the series attending the movie at some point during its run, so I was prepared for it to be much more expositiony than it actually turned out to be. There's enough detail given that a viewer new to the 'verse will at least understand that these people weren't always together, and haven't always gotten along. This is done as sparely and naturally as possible, and the details are provided over the course of the film, rather than in a big, boring glob. I've seen that some are concerned that this might just be a TV movie blown up really big, but it actually does look like a "real" movie and obviously there was thought put into using the larger screen and the theatrical sound systems to the film's advantage, i.e., it's bigger, scarier, and more exciting than anything you'll see on your TV.
Okay, now to the spoilery stuff...
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
I'd read part of a review on salon.com, but stopped when the writer indicated that someone would die. I was therefore not surprised when Book was killed. Although I wasn't happy about it, it made sense and, frankly, I was relieved that it was Book and not a character I had a deeper fondness for. At this point, I relaxed a bit, thinking that the character death portion of the show was over. Of course, I was wrong.
The series never really felt focused on River, per se, although her presence on the ship was certainly what propelled the action. However, River is definitely the center of the film and, although she's still crazy, her pronouncements are less cryptic, less open to misinterpretation - and felt less frequent, too - and she seems more grounded in the physical. It is notable that she seems to see Simon as more of a beloved obstacle than a savior.
We already knew she was a weapon, and we'd seen a little of what she could do on the series, but she's a real bad-ass here. River's two major fight scenes are dances between her and clumsy, cue-missing partners who receive elbows to the throat and kicks to the chin against a soundtrack of fractures and meaty impact. In the first, she's vicious and without purpose, simply responding to a trigger and attacking without emotion. In the second scene, fighting the Reavers, there's a sense of joy and righteousness in the bloodshed - no confusion, no regret. Maybe that's just me, but they really did seem worlds apart emotionally for the character, not just for the audience.
The death of Wash was completely unexpected, and I've read a couple of other responses where people thought it unnecessary. For viewers of the series, it was probably unnecessary, but his death allowed new viewers to see exactly what these characters are made of. Even for people who know the series well, this was a deepening of Zoe's character and a demonstration of how committed she is to her mission, whatever that might be. She's lost comrades, has killed and been wounded, and she obviously has a lot of emotion about the Serenity Valley battle, but this was her biggest possible loss...and she did her damn job anyway. I adored Wash, but I also see that he was expendable (as was Book) in a way the others are not: his usual role was to stay with the ship while the others had big adventures. Should there be a sequel film or (my preferred option) a second attempt at a TV series, they have both Mal and River to fly the ship for the time being, as well as an opportunity to rework the dynamics with a new cast member or two. However, all that said, I really wish Wash hadn't died.
Quibbles: I loved the assassin, and I loved how he was introduced, but I really don't believe he would have been so swayed by the evidence that the Alliance had created the Reavers. He was perfectly okay with his duties, i.e., killing innocents on a grand scale, because he believed his actions were supporting the Alliance's goals. I suppose the lines about creating a better world were meant to make a distinction between killing innocents for big-picture ideals vs. turning innocents into killers in the process of pursuing that ideal. It seems more likely that he'd incorporate this into his worldview and want to cover it up/eliminate Reavers in support of that "better world" concept rather than being horrified and wanting to expose the Alliance's wrongdoing. He was shown to be a cold-blooded killer capable of elaborate philosophical balancing acts, yet his response was unconvincingly naive. Still, I'm willing to go along with this, if only for the sake of more, i.e., another movie or a series.
My nose was originally pierced in about 1990. I had wanted to do it for awhile but needed someone to help me. See, at that point in time, doing it oneself seemed just as viable an option as trying to find someone who could do it professionally - tattooists were common, but experienced piercers were few and far between. My assistant of choice was my friend/girlfriend, Lisa, who wasn't really very enthusiastic about the prospect of sticking things through parts of my face and/or blood. However, I pestered and pestered until she agreed to help. It happened very spur-of-the-moment, basically when she decided she had the stomach for it. I stuck part of a wine cork in my nose, held a huge mess of frozen-together icecubes against the outside of my nostril, and watched Lisa sterilize a sewing needle with her lighter. My nose was very numb by the time she was ready to stick the needle in, and I really didn't feel much more than pressure. I was bleeding quite profusely, however, which was much more disconcerting to Lisa than it was to me. Struck with sudden, severe squeamishness, she begged off, so I finished the job myself. There was a strange, elastic pop as I got the needle all the way through, and I was as giddy as if it had been the popping of a champagne cork.
I had no problems with the piercing, but I took the stud out about three years later when I was attempting to start my own business and thought I needed to look "professional." As it turned out, my business went nowhere (no surprise, considering my lack of enthusiasm), but my nasal mucosa had healed over within a day or two of removing the stud, leaving only a sort of giant pore effect on the outside. I've been vaguely wanting to repierce it for several years now, but not enough to actually go out of my way to actually get it done. However, since I was already in the skin-marking, hole-poking shop today, it was easy to
I was expecting the wrist to be really, really painful, but it wasn't too bad. There were a couple of moments when I winced, but it was otherwise very tolerable. The nose, on the other hand, was brutal. I had scar tissue from my old piercing and I wanted to pierce through that same spot. I had expected this to be painful, but it was much worse than I'd imagined. So, it balanced out. Right now, I have a slightly swollen nose with a tiny silver dot on its left surface and a completely normal-feeling left wrist that is wrapped in gauze and...scotch tape. Whatever. The tattoo looks beautiful. It's small, about an inch and a half long and, while visible, seems relatively demure, IMO.
This was taken by Mr. G right before the tattooist put the bandage on, so it's all raw and swollen and slimy with unguents, but I still think it looks rather nice, so I'm sure I'm going to be very pleased with the final, non-abused looking version.
The Mr. and I saw Serenity Friday night. This was a good thing, of course, made especially good because it was actually the Mr.'s idea, and he never wants to see movies in the theater.
Non-spoilery thoughts: I loved it. I went into the theater with the understanding that *hopefully* there would be people who hadn't seen the series attending the movie at some point during its run, so I was prepared for it to be much more expositiony than it actually turned out to be. There's enough detail given that a viewer new to the 'verse will at least understand that these people weren't always together, and haven't always gotten along. This is done as sparely and naturally as possible, and the details are provided over the course of the film, rather than in a big, boring glob. I've seen that some are concerned that this might just be a TV movie blown up really big, but it actually does look like a "real" movie and obviously there was thought put into using the larger screen and the theatrical sound systems to the film's advantage, i.e., it's bigger, scarier, and more exciting than anything you'll see on your TV.
Okay, now to the spoilery stuff...
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
I'd read part of a review on salon.com, but stopped when the writer indicated that someone would die. I was therefore not surprised when Book was killed. Although I wasn't happy about it, it made sense and, frankly, I was relieved that it was Book and not a character I had a deeper fondness for. At this point, I relaxed a bit, thinking that the character death portion of the show was over. Of course, I was wrong.
The series never really felt focused on River, per se, although her presence on the ship was certainly what propelled the action. However, River is definitely the center of the film and, although she's still crazy, her pronouncements are less cryptic, less open to misinterpretation - and felt less frequent, too - and she seems more grounded in the physical. It is notable that she seems to see Simon as more of a beloved obstacle than a savior.
We already knew she was a weapon, and we'd seen a little of what she could do on the series, but she's a real bad-ass here. River's two major fight scenes are dances between her and clumsy, cue-missing partners who receive elbows to the throat and kicks to the chin against a soundtrack of fractures and meaty impact. In the first, she's vicious and without purpose, simply responding to a trigger and attacking without emotion. In the second scene, fighting the Reavers, there's a sense of joy and righteousness in the bloodshed - no confusion, no regret. Maybe that's just me, but they really did seem worlds apart emotionally for the character, not just for the audience.
The death of Wash was completely unexpected, and I've read a couple of other responses where people thought it unnecessary. For viewers of the series, it was probably unnecessary, but his death allowed new viewers to see exactly what these characters are made of. Even for people who know the series well, this was a deepening of Zoe's character and a demonstration of how committed she is to her mission, whatever that might be. She's lost comrades, has killed and been wounded, and she obviously has a lot of emotion about the Serenity Valley battle, but this was her biggest possible loss...and she did her damn job anyway. I adored Wash, but I also see that he was expendable (as was Book) in a way the others are not: his usual role was to stay with the ship while the others had big adventures. Should there be a sequel film or (my preferred option) a second attempt at a TV series, they have both Mal and River to fly the ship for the time being, as well as an opportunity to rework the dynamics with a new cast member or two. However, all that said, I really wish Wash hadn't died.
Quibbles: I loved the assassin, and I loved how he was introduced, but I really don't believe he would have been so swayed by the evidence that the Alliance had created the Reavers. He was perfectly okay with his duties, i.e., killing innocents on a grand scale, because he believed his actions were supporting the Alliance's goals. I suppose the lines about creating a better world were meant to make a distinction between killing innocents for big-picture ideals vs. turning innocents into killers in the process of pursuing that ideal. It seems more likely that he'd incorporate this into his worldview and want to cover it up/eliminate Reavers in support of that "better world" concept rather than being horrified and wanting to expose the Alliance's wrongdoing. He was shown to be a cold-blooded killer capable of elaborate philosophical balancing acts, yet his response was unconvincingly naive. Still, I'm willing to go along with this, if only for the sake of more, i.e., another movie or a series.