Emma Jones @milkwithginseng - Tumblr Blog

What are you reading rn, why are you reading it, and what format are you reading it in (physical book, ereader, on your phone etc)

#Emily Wilson’s translation of the Odyssey #wanted to read the first translate by a woman #and because of Nolan’s film #in the rather nice paperback

jlinebeck

oldbookshop

this being the default image associated with the star city tag is FRYING ME thank you @rebiesque

vulpes-aestatis

Baby sphinx trying to be like mama and waylaying travelers, but all its riddles are completely non-sensical like the ones a 1st grader would tell

thecactifindahome

drops-of-universe

don’t play it cool, be passionate and insane

isbtwneotsfbous

edgarallennope

important-animal-images

@important-animal-images

tinsnip

Pokémon evolutions

lilkakow

"Time forward! Five-year plan 1966-1970", Soviet poster, 1967

Star City Ep 5 Thoughts

tired: escape the country

wired: escape terrestrial gravity

Realising what Valya’s plan when he called Pavel back, I have to respect the hustle. To be honest I thought the Venera mission would be scuppered before it could launch so this is an interesting development. It does make more sense how they’ve confirmed it’ll be a manned flyby with the equipment going to the surface but even so Ifans is amazing at being quite unhinged about it because it’s their only shot and if they get caught they’ll be sent to the gulag, said with the conviction of a man who has already been there.

Now we are almost certainly getting Lenya’s birth, juxtaposed with Sasha’s death. That in turn would be a neat reversal of FAM s1 finale, Ed grieving Shane as the capsule is burning around him is such a powerful image I wouldn’t begrudge the showrunners wanting to replicate that. If indeed they do.

But Anastasia ending on bad terms being left with the love letter, Valya’s a dead man either way and Chadha is the poor unfortunate who gave her life for science. They’re drama to be had there.

Speaking of recently incarcerated, Sergei I just wanted to give him a big hug in the scene after he got out.

Anna Maxwell-Martin is similarly incredible, which was to expected after Line of Duty but the menace in her interrogations is chilling.

I remember now that I first Agnes O’Casey in Ridley Road, which was spy-adjacent, and Irina slowly getting ice in her veins to save Tanya is great.

I know that Raskova alludes to Irina’s privilege, she’s got the poshest accent on the show and I did notice she stuck her pinky out when drinking tea which I thought was a nice touch, but judging from the eyebrows on that man, is he suppose to be Brezhnev? He must be powerful enough and recognisable enough for Tanya to react in way she does. If so, no wonder Irina spends the rest of her life couping the subsequent premiers regardless of faction.

#star city #star city spoilers #for all mankind spoilers

retro-scifi-and-fantasy-art

Soviet Union Space Propaganda (Mockba, 1958)

Star City Episode 4 Thoughts

I’ve finally had a chance to watch this episode. I was busy, so it wasn’t out of apathy like For All Mankind, because I loved this episode. I’ve been loving this show for the most part.

I was a little confused at the opening. I’ve started reading Hurricane Room, which is the latest James Bond novel. It’s obviously not only a spy thriller, but this one is set in Russia, so I was wondering whether the spy at the beginning was MI6, before I remembered us Brits were playing the Soviets.

But when it comes to Bond, there is a hint of Rosa Klebb and Tatiana about Lyudmilla and Irina, although Irina is the one providing the toxic yuri. ‘Black tea, that should’ve told me something’: had we not already known Irina was evil, that would’ve been the final confirmation.

Probably a stretch to say Anastasia in her undies is like Red Grant sunning his glistening skin by the pool. I wasn’t angling for eye candy going into this show, but I’ll take it.

No, I mean Englert is amazing at showing Anastasia’s sadness with a haunting look, and her resorting to drink and engaging in this reckless hedonism is both tragic, and you want her to grab any happiness where she can.

Which obviously leads to her hate/love relationship with Sasha. Interesting, have we just seen the origin of baby Lenya? The mission to Venus being nine months feels especially intentional in that regard.

If exploring the fame of the space race is something I wanted the show to explore, then the guilt of failure is also something I’ve put on Ellen in my fic writing as a neat parallel to Bush Sr., so having Nastya’s other half take that up was great to see.

What was also great to see was the arrival of Priya Kansara, whom I absolutely loved in Polite Society. I must give it a rewatch. And this is a real trial by fire for Lakshmi from the jump: her certain death on Venus… sorry, our certain death on Venus.

And little baby boy Sergei: not the last time he’ll see a prison cell, but it certainly adds richness to his telling Margo that his leash may be long, but it is still around his neck.

I think spending the episode thinking, ‘that is just a spring, isn’t it?’, making me second-guess myself, and then Irina’s fascination with French perfume being the reason she figures it out is a really clever reveal.

I have to remind myself this is a shorter series and now we’re halfway through. I don’t want it to end. It’s nice to remember when For All Mankind made me feel that way.

#star city #star city spoilers

replicated-archive

you know what's wrong with me? i like information

timrousbeastie

sn0otchie

#cool art #we are lady parts

spockvarietyhour

Luna-16 in Star City's "The Eyes"

#star city

Star City Ep 3 Thoughts

Oh, so you did you film in the warmer weather, making the snow in the premiere just for a cheap hook?

I really liked getting to know more about Tanya, her love of music and her unfulfilled dreams.

Her realising that Sasha must've told Valya because he used his moves is a bit Challengers-esque.

And I think this episode does a really good job of making Valery a likeable character, making the ending hit that much harder. I practically screamed 'you traitorous young man'.

Maybe the Americans have some kompromat, but unlike Margo, Valya already has one death on his conscience. It's nice to finally see what was only briefly mentioned in the first series of FAM.

Now that I'm looking out for parallels, I was a bit surprised that we don't cut back to Nastya when Sasha is doing his heroics like with Pam in MOCR, but I think that speaks to their lack of feelings towards each other unlike Pam and Ellen.

I'm not saying that whenever Anastasia is not on screen, everyone should be saying 'where's Anastasia?' but I'm not not saying that. Obviously she's been sidelined by the narrative but I hope she does get more to do later in the series.

I did like that the postcards she was signing is the same design as the ones for Tereshkova, the art department has always nailed the historical details.

#star city #star city spoilers #fam spoilers

milkwithginseng

Light's Out

Going for a punny title, seemed appropriate. Finally had the time to finish 007: First Light and yeah it’s an interesting one. I think the Bond franchise’s greatest strength that it takes these familiar beats and remix them in new ways, it’s what’s kept it going for 80 years.

This most obviously takes from the unused films scripts, with the killer robots and a younger Bond being mentored by an MI6 agent, like I said IOI know their Bond.

And this Bond in particular is witty with the right amount of smarm and there are great moments of levity, it’s just a joy to play as him. I'm expecting Bond 26 to be gritty and dark as befits Denis Villeneuve's work, but this game gives it licence to.

There’s also similarities with the Double O trilogy with the AI quantum computers and endangered climate scientists, these things are in the zeitgeist to the point of cliché at this point. Maybe it is my Bond bias showing but I think they’re the best realised versions of this kind of plot.

What I thinks wonderful is that On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was seen as the black sheep of the franchise until recently where it’s had this critical reappraisal and now many people, myself included, rank it as one of (if not) the best of the series. And now the latest game and the last film references so heavily. We finally got the rooftop chase across London that was cut from the film, with a nod to Casino Royale to cap it off.

On the whole I loved it, but I do have some criticisms. Isola is by nature an enigmatic character, and clearly her story isn’t over but that pushed me away rather than drew me in. I’m also not entirely sold on dark French spy with ambiguous loyalties introduces Bond to shaken vodka martinis any more than I was in Forever and a Day, if were going for deep cuts.

Realising the scale of MI6 wasn’t merely set dressing was a nice surprise, but while I didn’t hate the siege on MI6, I am receptive to the criticism of SPECTRE that the film deflates when it goes back to London. I think it’s the case here of two many endings syndrome.

Now this is not the game’s fault, I’ve always been terrible at video games and I’m still learning to play using a keyboard but with the all the various button controls it made it a frustrating play at times. Also, I’m fine with not driving the Valhalla, that looks like it’s coming to TacSim anyway but using the weapons felt slightly anti-climactic.

But on the whole it’s an amazing entry into the Bond canon and I need the soundtrack and the art book ASAP.

milkwithginseng

Okay I had to go back in and check, I swear I was pressing WASD the first time and the car wasn't moving, but this time it did and I did the full No Time To Die, doughnuts galore, and it was suitably epic. I wish I'd done that on my first playthrough, but call that criticism cheerfully withdrawn.