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chocolatepot) wrote2012-05-31 07:18 pm
chocolatepot) wrote2012-05-31 07:18 pm
Entry tags:
Monster post
So, I think my schedule for Dress U is going to be:
Saturday: Survival of the Fittest (most important of all, for reals); Lazarus Dress; Taming the Stash; lunch; Dressing for the Titanic; The Dark Dress of Tim Burton; Late 16th/Early 17th Century Embroidered Jackets
Sunday: Characteristics of Civil War Era Fashion; Telling the Mistress from the Maid; Good Movie, Bad Costume
I haven't decided what I'm doing on Sunday morning, it's tough to pick when nothing is the absolute MUST MUST MUST like some of the classes. Part of me wants to do the extant gowns class, but part of me thinks I can see extant gowns pretty much any time I want, I ought to learn how to use the fashion-mag patterns instead.
You'll notice I'm not doing any events - next year I will, once I've met people IRL and it's more comfortable (and once I have a stable of costumes to make a good showing with, ha). I know my limitations when it comes to social events, I want to be sure I'm not going to sit in a corner before I pay $30 to do it.
---
So I've been watching Cake Boss lately on Netflix and it's awesome? I always thought it was more about drama but no, it's just making awesome cakes. My mom should get Netflix, she'd love this.
---
I got a (free?) book on Amazon called The Five Sons of Charlie Gisby. It's essentially a genealogical research paper, and it's fairly good - I didn't expect to enjoy it that much, to be honest, but it does illustrate the time period and place well, I think. It's making me want to write a research paper on Ruth, Ella, and Mertis, although I think Margate is a better place to be researching than Susquehanna County, PA.
---
I love the free promotions on Amazon. I also just read Wallflower, the first book in the Old Maids Series, by Catherine Gayle. Well, the fact that I finished it when I normally heave gusty sighs and delete/return romance novels these days should say it all. It's not on par with the Duchesses series (THE DUCHESSES ARE THE BEST) and there were some significantly ????? moments, but these were balanced out by the awesome climax.
Heroine: Tabitha, overweight, who pledged with two of her cousins, Jo and Bethanne, to remain old maids forever like their cool aunt. Her father wants her to marry and keeps raising her dowry, which just makes her more attractive to fortune hunters. Courted at the beginning by Lord Oglethorpe, a creep.
Hero: Noah, kind of bankrupt because of his father's spending and the dowries he's given to his several sisters. Tabitha's brothers, Toby and Owen, encourage him to court Tabitha to solve his money problems and because they get along. While writing up the bet in the book at White's, he and the guy who likes Jo see that Oglethorpe has a bet on with a friend over which can seduce Tabitha and thereby force "the Cow" to marry him. They don't tell Toby or Owen, but it spurs Noah on to win her affections before that can happen.
Okay, so. The two problems are that the male characters are dicks so much of the time, and that Tabitha can be really stupid in the plot-driving way that so many romance characters are.
- At no point does Noah inform Tabitha that this incredibly offensive bet is going on; instead, he fumes when she pays attention to Oglethorpe to spite him and rushes around after her when she goes out with O.
- Toby is constantly low-grade obnoxious to Tabitha, but they're twins so okay. But then after she's been making out with Noah in their own sitting room, the level of WELL NOW YOU MUST GET MARRIED YOU ARE RUINED is kind of stupid. Like, yes, period attitudes, but nobody outside the family saw and they know Noah's not going to go telling everyone, there is no threat to her reputation at all. (This is about 63% in.)
- But then Tabitha's reason for refusing to marry him is that "I will not marry a man who wants my money more than he wants me." Okay, come on, he was sucking on your nipple in your house, when anyone could and did walk in. He is constantly popping boners in ballrooms over your boobs. He wants you, you moron.
- She discusses with Jo what they could do, if she has to run off on her own. Jo says she can handle the finances and Tabitha can be a prostitute. This is kind of funny! But then Jo is saying she shouldn't have created the stupid pact, because she let Tabitha believe she "the horrible things your father and brothers said about you, that no man would have you if not for your money because you were plump." What total assholes.
- When Tabitha is like, let's sit down and talk about all of this, Noah is really reluctant to talk to her about the financial situation, which sucks. But her financial acumen in the discussion is excellent, so that is good.
- When he proposes again, she's still going "I want you to seriously court me and let me figure out if you want me or my money," and, see, this is just silly. It's extra silly for something set in the 1810s, but it's silly any way you look at it.
- Her father's up there with the worst of them. After there's this big mix-up -
- he's just like, go to your room, and yes, I do always say I want period mindsets, but there's enough fuckery from Toby that I think most people would be pissed at him as well. And you know what he says later? "You know we only want what is best for you. Even when it is sometimes not what you want." Boo.
- For some reason Toby insists on possibly dueling Noah for ruining Tabitha, to take place after Noah duels Oglethorpe, wtf? Nobody in the book gets it either. Toby also talks disparagingly about Tabitha's "antics" when she says they shouldn't be illegally dueling
- Noah is described as making everyone feel worthwhile and being wonderfully kind. Tabitha is described as having immense inner beauty. I'd love to read a romance between these two angels and what problems they could have that weren't stupid and easily solvable, but neither of these things come off from the text.
Here's what I liked:
- Noah gets disgustingly drunk on whiskey and can't even stand the smell of it for the rest of the book. After that hangover I insisted I didn't have in Scotland, I was the same way about wine for months and months, so it made me laugh.
- Jo tricks Noah into believing the the one thing Tabitha really wants is for someone to write poetry for her and recite it in front of her family. He's kind of dumb for falling for it, but: excellent job, Jo.
- Tabitha once had a sexual affair with a footman; it turned out that he was doing it to get into the family areas and steal things. He called her a "fat wench" which played into her stereotypical inferiority complex, but it's so rare for Regency heroines to have had sex with a non-true love, especially a non-aristo.
- Noah's got not idea how to work a pistol, and he starts shaking horribly when one gets put in his hand. Again, not common, and I loved it.
- Right before the shooting can start at the duel TABITHA RIDES UP ON A WHITE HORSE, TAKES NOAH'S PISTOL, THREATENS HIM WITH IT, ENDURES SOME TAUNTS FROM OGLETHORPE, AND THEN SHOOTS HIM IN THE ARM.
- Lol then in their vows he asks the priest to put in "and will you promise never again to draw a pistol on him".
Just a couple of historical nitpicks:
- They specifically discuss how they're not getting a special license because it will look bad, but they get married a week after they first call the banns. Last time I checked, you either got a license that meant you didn't need any banns, or you had the banns called three times.
- Really, there are hardly any mentioned of clothes that are specific enough to be correct or incorrect. But at the end, when he's undressing her, it pretty much says, "he took off her dress and left her standing in her shift and stockings." I don't mind (a lot) if you just don't go into a lot of detail about removing a corset or how it gets in the way when you're having sex, but you can't pretend that your pudgy Regency heroine is just not wearing one. To her wedding.
---
Two links:
Fantastic Voyage, on Community and Doctor Who.
The Mommy Wars Redux: A False Conflict, on "stop framing the issue about working vs. ubermothering as being a fight between women, the problem is the patriarchal society that makes the conflict existyou idiots."
Saturday: Survival of the Fittest (most important of all, for reals); Lazarus Dress; Taming the Stash; lunch; Dressing for the Titanic; The Dark Dress of Tim Burton; Late 16th/Early 17th Century Embroidered Jackets
Sunday: Characteristics of Civil War Era Fashion; Telling the Mistress from the Maid; Good Movie, Bad Costume
I haven't decided what I'm doing on Sunday morning, it's tough to pick when nothing is the absolute MUST MUST MUST like some of the classes. Part of me wants to do the extant gowns class, but part of me thinks I can see extant gowns pretty much any time I want, I ought to learn how to use the fashion-mag patterns instead.
You'll notice I'm not doing any events - next year I will, once I've met people IRL and it's more comfortable (and once I have a stable of costumes to make a good showing with, ha). I know my limitations when it comes to social events, I want to be sure I'm not going to sit in a corner before I pay $30 to do it.
---
So I've been watching Cake Boss lately on Netflix and it's awesome? I always thought it was more about drama but no, it's just making awesome cakes. My mom should get Netflix, she'd love this.
---
I got a (free?) book on Amazon called The Five Sons of Charlie Gisby. It's essentially a genealogical research paper, and it's fairly good - I didn't expect to enjoy it that much, to be honest, but it does illustrate the time period and place well, I think. It's making me want to write a research paper on Ruth, Ella, and Mertis, although I think Margate is a better place to be researching than Susquehanna County, PA.
---
I love the free promotions on Amazon. I also just read Wallflower, the first book in the Old Maids Series, by Catherine Gayle. Well, the fact that I finished it when I normally heave gusty sighs and delete/return romance novels these days should say it all. It's not on par with the Duchesses series (THE DUCHESSES ARE THE BEST) and there were some significantly ????? moments, but these were balanced out by the awesome climax.
Heroine: Tabitha, overweight, who pledged with two of her cousins, Jo and Bethanne, to remain old maids forever like their cool aunt. Her father wants her to marry and keeps raising her dowry, which just makes her more attractive to fortune hunters. Courted at the beginning by Lord Oglethorpe, a creep.
Hero: Noah, kind of bankrupt because of his father's spending and the dowries he's given to his several sisters. Tabitha's brothers, Toby and Owen, encourage him to court Tabitha to solve his money problems and because they get along. While writing up the bet in the book at White's, he and the guy who likes Jo see that Oglethorpe has a bet on with a friend over which can seduce Tabitha and thereby force "the Cow" to marry him. They don't tell Toby or Owen, but it spurs Noah on to win her affections before that can happen.
Okay, so. The two problems are that the male characters are dicks so much of the time, and that Tabitha can be really stupid in the plot-driving way that so many romance characters are.
- At no point does Noah inform Tabitha that this incredibly offensive bet is going on; instead, he fumes when she pays attention to Oglethorpe to spite him and rushes around after her when she goes out with O.
- Toby is constantly low-grade obnoxious to Tabitha, but they're twins so okay. But then after she's been making out with Noah in their own sitting room, the level of WELL NOW YOU MUST GET MARRIED YOU ARE RUINED is kind of stupid. Like, yes, period attitudes, but nobody outside the family saw and they know Noah's not going to go telling everyone, there is no threat to her reputation at all. (This is about 63% in.)
- But then Tabitha's reason for refusing to marry him is that "I will not marry a man who wants my money more than he wants me." Okay, come on, he was sucking on your nipple in your house, when anyone could and did walk in. He is constantly popping boners in ballrooms over your boobs. He wants you, you moron.
- She discusses with Jo what they could do, if she has to run off on her own. Jo says she can handle the finances and Tabitha can be a prostitute. This is kind of funny! But then Jo is saying she shouldn't have created the stupid pact, because she let Tabitha believe she "the horrible things your father and brothers said about you, that no man would have you if not for your money because you were plump." What total assholes.
- When Tabitha is like, let's sit down and talk about all of this, Noah is really reluctant to talk to her about the financial situation, which sucks. But her financial acumen in the discussion is excellent, so that is good.
- When he proposes again, she's still going "I want you to seriously court me and let me figure out if you want me or my money," and, see, this is just silly. It's extra silly for something set in the 1810s, but it's silly any way you look at it.
- Her father's up there with the worst of them. After there's this big mix-up -
Tabitha has sex with Noah at Vauxhall. Oglethorpe starts telling people had had sex with her at Vauxhall. Toby storms in and asks her in front of gossipy company whether she had sex at Vauxhall and she says yes. After the gossips leave to spread it around she finds out that Toby thinks she confessed to sleeping with Oglethorpe.
- he's just like, go to your room, and yes, I do always say I want period mindsets, but there's enough fuckery from Toby that I think most people would be pissed at him as well. And you know what he says later? "You know we only want what is best for you. Even when it is sometimes not what you want." Boo.
- For some reason Toby insists on possibly dueling Noah for ruining Tabitha, to take place after Noah duels Oglethorpe, wtf? Nobody in the book gets it either. Toby also talks disparagingly about Tabitha's "antics" when she says they shouldn't be illegally dueling
- Noah is described as making everyone feel worthwhile and being wonderfully kind. Tabitha is described as having immense inner beauty. I'd love to read a romance between these two angels and what problems they could have that weren't stupid and easily solvable, but neither of these things come off from the text.
Here's what I liked:
- Noah gets disgustingly drunk on whiskey and can't even stand the smell of it for the rest of the book. After that hangover I insisted I didn't have in Scotland, I was the same way about wine for months and months, so it made me laugh.
- Jo tricks Noah into believing the the one thing Tabitha really wants is for someone to write poetry for her and recite it in front of her family. He's kind of dumb for falling for it, but: excellent job, Jo.
- Tabitha once had a sexual affair with a footman; it turned out that he was doing it to get into the family areas and steal things. He called her a "fat wench" which played into her stereotypical inferiority complex, but it's so rare for Regency heroines to have had sex with a non-true love, especially a non-aristo.
- Noah's got not idea how to work a pistol, and he starts shaking horribly when one gets put in his hand. Again, not common, and I loved it.
- Right before the shooting can start at the duel TABITHA RIDES UP ON A WHITE HORSE, TAKES NOAH'S PISTOL, THREATENS HIM WITH IT, ENDURES SOME TAUNTS FROM OGLETHORPE, AND THEN SHOOTS HIM IN THE ARM.
- Lol then in their vows he asks the priest to put in "and will you promise never again to draw a pistol on him".
Just a couple of historical nitpicks:
- They specifically discuss how they're not getting a special license because it will look bad, but they get married a week after they first call the banns. Last time I checked, you either got a license that meant you didn't need any banns, or you had the banns called three times.
- Really, there are hardly any mentioned of clothes that are specific enough to be correct or incorrect. But at the end, when he's undressing her, it pretty much says, "he took off her dress and left her standing in her shift and stockings." I don't mind (a lot) if you just don't go into a lot of detail about removing a corset or how it gets in the way when you're having sex, but you can't pretend that your pudgy Regency heroine is just not wearing one. To her wedding.
---
Two links:
Fantastic Voyage, on Community and Doctor Who.
The Mommy Wars Redux: A False Conflict, on "stop framing the issue about working vs. ubermothering as being a fight between women, the problem is the patriarchal society that makes the conflict exist
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