Meanwhile, in Rivendell . . .

"What's your name, darling?" "Agent." My feminist soul, grabbing anyone who'll listen and shaking them by the shoulders:  "hAVe YoU eVer HeARd aNYtHinG sO glORioUS iN YoUr LIFE ?!?!" As you may have guessed, I recently finished watching Marvel's Agent Carter television series.    AND I FLIPPING LOVED IT OKAY AND I'M SO EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT IT WITH YOU. But before I do so, I first have to share what will probably turn out to be a rather lengthy recap of my history with Marvel — both in general and in particular as relates to the Captain America universe. I feel it incumbent upon me to warn you that Unsavory Revelations may follow.  I may be about to say Hurtful Things about Beloved Characters.  (I am definitely going to.)   Ideals may be about to be shattered.  You may never think of me in the same way again.  I'm telling you like it is so that, when the time comes, you'll be prepared. Okay.  Now that we're all on the same pag...

Several of you voted for this post; I didn't know these were so popular, but I ain't mad about it! 😜  Let's crack open some summery books.  ————— The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman I know you've probably already heard of this one, and I know that if you have, you've probably also heard about the Soul-Crushing Emotional Potency of the plot.  So . . . I get it if you don't actually want to read it, lol.  But if you do feel like getting your heart twisted around a bit, this one's got you covered. (okay in all honesty "Soul-Crushing Emotional Potency" is a bit of an exaggeration and I don't want to overhype the book but it does get under your skin and stay there)   The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys To be honest, Sepetys's latest didn't wow me like some of her others.  However, I think a lot of that is due to personal preference, and either way, the aesthetic is immersive and perfect for summer.   In My Father's House b...

Well, hello.   It appears that "Olivia angrily ranting about problems within the modern American Church" is turning into a series.   Tbh, I'm down for that. #noregrets Do y'all remember this post ?  The one in which I vindictively gracefully addressed some of the negative aspects of Christian literature, specifically?  I mentioned in that post that I wasn't going to delve very deeply into Christian film, because that was A Whole Other Deal. Welp, today, my dudes, we are going to dive headfirst into that Whole Other Deal.   That's right!  I'm going to talk a bit about the world of Christian cinema: a couple of the trends I'm seeing that concern me, as well as some of the exceptions to the rule that give me hope.  (#Positivity!) Here we go. I want to keep this post reasonably short [edit from future Olivia:  I failed] , so I'm going to restrict my remarks to the primary issue I have with Christian media right now.  There are several, but here'...

Yes, I changed the blog look again.  No, I don't know what I'm doing.  The look I just had was nice, I get that.  For some reason it just wasn't working for me right now. *shrugs*  Anyway, what think you? my muse @ me So, I'm feeling a bit unmotivated when it comes to blogging.  I have plenty of ideas, but I think with everything else that's going on right now (a pandemic, school concerns, necessary discussions of racism), I don't have much emotional bandwidth left, I suppose.  Still, blogging can also be cathartic for me.  Talking to you guys, whether the topic be frivolous or profound, can be therapeutic.  So we're going to make it our goal to keep working on some new posts. 😜  In that vein, I thought I'd gauge your interest level for a few different posts I currently have either already in drafts or percolating in mah brain.  You take a look-see and let me know which strikes your fancy, will you?  I can't guarantee that'll be th...

Featuring:  Eight Fictional Ships That Should Have Sailed and The Girl Who's Still Mad That They Didn't.   (Which I guess means that you could consider this whole post one big SPOILER ?  Idk.  It's your call.) ⎼ ⎼ ⎼ You know what I'm talking about.  We all have those couples who needle at the back of our brains because they didn't get the ending we thought they deserved.  And sometimes the best way to cope with the injustices of a cruel team of creative directors fate is to just thrash it all out. So here we are. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it does cover the couples who've been most actively milling around in my mind lately.  And I gotta say, I've loved writing this post, delving back into all the reasons why I love them and why, in MY fictional universe, they all live happily ever after. ♡ (I defy you to watch some of these fanvids and not agree with me.) ⎼⎼⎼⎼ ❀ Rey & Poe ❀ "You know what you are?" "What?" ...

Dark Waters ● 2019 Technically, I probably only saw about half of this, all told.  But I still felt as though I'd gotten the full story, and I thought it was very good.  The last line made me feel a couple of #emotions, which I hadn't really planned on.  (And then the credit song was "I Won't Back Down," and Johnny Cash is just a solid idea in most situations, so, you know, I appreciated that.) Instant Family ● 2018 Stronger language than you're expecting in a "family" movie like this, but it was cute and well-done and seemed less cliché than most of its kind.  Byrne and Wahlberg were excellent, as usual.  So were Octavia Spencer and Tig Notaro. (Also, may I just say, the scene where the parents Go After the pedophilic janitor was very satisfying.) Life as We Know It ● 2010 *SPOILERS (I guess? you don't really care)*   This bothered me because I felt like the doctor was objectively a better fit for Holly than Messer was.  And on multiple l...

I got this idea from Eva , who often does these kinds of posts.  I always enjoy hers, and I'm excited to try my hand at some of my own.  [Yep, planning on possibly making this a series of sorts. 😜] So let's dive in!  Ranking all the Emma adaptations I've seen so far, from my (current) least favorite to my (current) favorite.  [Y'all ain't gonna be happy. 😆] These are ranked solely according to personal enjoyment.   I'm making no statements about historical accuracy; I'm not commenting (much) on fidelity to the book.  Keep your corsets on. [Also, I enjoy all of these adaptations for different reasons.] ⎼ ⎼ ⎼ ⎼ ⎼ #6.  the Alicia Silverstone ( Clueless ) This is fun enough.  Rudd and Silverstone have a cute, flirty chemistry, and some of the lines are pretty iconic.   #5.  the Gwyneth Paltrow (1996) I really like the chemistry between Paltrow and Northam in this one, too.  [Knightley's little addendum...