Rachel Manija Brown's Blog, page 39

Eega

Since Baahubali and RRR were so great, I decided to look up S. S. Rajamouli's other movies. This is how I spent two and a half hours watching a movie about a housefly taking revenge on a human. No regrets.

Let me attempt to recap the absolutely batshit premise of this movie. It's framed as a child's bedtime story and all I can say is that I wish mine were this entertaining.

Bindu (Samantha) is a micro-artist who makes things like carved hearts that can only be enjoyed with a magnifying glass. She also works at some sort of charity and is pursued by men. Nani (played by Nani) is her stalker extremely persistent suitor who follows her like a golden retriever hoping to some day get thrown a ball. Sudeep (played by Sudeep) is some kind of businessman who's either also a gangster or just behaves like one. Whenever he sees Bindu, a chorus of LAVA LAVA LAVA starts playing, along with lyrics like "I am a volcano waiting to explode on you."

Sudeep gets mad when he sees Nani flirting with Bindu. (LAVA LAVA LAVA!) So he kidnaps Nani and steps on him to death with his bare foot.

If you watch enough S. S. Rajamouli movies, you will get the distinct impression that he has a thing for a barefoot person pressing their foot onto someone else's body, stalking is romantic, and sheer awesomeness.

Nani is reincarnated as a CGI housefly. After a series of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids type adventures, he recovers his memories and goes on a mission of vengeance. As a fly.

The rest of the movie explores exactly how a fly can destroy a man's life. It's inventive and hilarious and I don't want to spoil it for you, except that I have to say that Fly Nani has a lot more chemistry with Bindu than Man Nani and I finally started rooting for that crazy couple, especially once her being a micro-artist suddenly became plot-relevant, and that at one point Fly Nani writes I WILL KILL YOU on Sudeep's windshield.

Eega probably didn't need to be quite as long as it was, but it's hilarious and bonkers and 100% commits to its premise. If you've ever wanted to see a fly taking revenge, it's a must-watch. Also, I need to object to the English word "fly" being nowhere near as fun to dramatically proclaim as "eega." EEGA!

Available on Netflix. At least, it is in the US.

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My First Hang-Gliding Lesson

I have a recurring dream in which I can do weightless leaping like you see in wuxia movies: I jump, and glide for a long way, then land and jump again. In the dream, this is something I'd always been able to do, but I'd forgotten how and am only now remembering.

Of course, I think. Of course I can fly. I just need to remember how to do it.

When I wake up, there's always a period in which it's very hard for me to believe that it's not that I've temporarily forgotten how to fly, it's that it's physically impossible. It always feels as if I should be able to.

I recently learned that there is a paragliding and hang gliding launch site a five minute drive or one hour hike from my house. I've always wanted to try it, so I contacted a local hang gliding instructor, Dan. He was dubious due to the season (winter is mostly too rainy or snowy) but I asked him if he'd let me know if there was a clear day when he was available.

The day before yesterday I hiked to the launch site just in time to spot a paraglider coming in for a landing. I went and chatted her up, and she strongly recommended a tandem flight to see if I like it.

I was (and am) a bit nervous about a tandem flight. I get motion sick in boats, I get motion sick in the back seat of cars on windy roads, I got put off flying small aircraft for years and years because I got sick in a small (two person) plane after begging to be given a flight, and a tandem flight seemed more likely to be a problem as I wouldn't be controlling it. But I said sure, maybe in a couple weeks when the weather is better and I've had time to experiment with Dramamine.

Then I hiked back home. It's a 4-mile, 2 hour hike up a very steep hill, and I was carrying a weighted backpack because I was trying to train for carrying a glider. I got home and found a text from Dan asking if I was interested in doing a hang gliding lesson on the training hill in San Bernardino. Tomorrow morning. I texted back YES PLEASE.

Yesterday I drove to the training hill in San Berarndino and met Dan and his adorable dog Beena. We drove around in an ATV and set up his glider while he told me all the names of the parts, 90% of which I've now forgotten; I shall study a diagram. The actual setup is a little awkward, largely because a glider or at least this particular glider is BIG, but not that complicated. I was using a student glider, which has landing wheels and is designed to be easy to fly and forgiving of crashes.

As we set it up, Dan explained a lot about aerodynamics, most of which went over my head. After all the time I spent memorizing pitch, roll, and yaw, I was slightly disappointed that none of those came up. Instead, I got a lot about the "angle of attack" which I'm still not sure I fully understand despite having read about it before, getting a whole lecture on it, and looking it up afterward. Hopefully it will make more intuitive sense once I manage to get a glider in the air for more than three seconds at a time.

This is how you launch a glider:

1. Lug it up a hill. We mostly did that in the ATV.

2. Clip in and lock the carabiner. Make sure you're clipped in and locked. Make sure again.

3. Balance the glider on your shoulders. This is difficult and awkward, especially if you're short like me.

4. Take a step downhill, then walk, then jog, then run. If you keep the glider balanced while doing this, it will lift off your shoulders, then lift you off your feet.

5. You're gliding! Move your hands to the control positions if you haven't done so already. You can now control the glider. In theory.

6. Once you're leveled out over flat ground, push the control bar up to flare. The glider will stall and gently drop, and you will land gracefully on your feet.

This is how it actually went:

1 - 3: This went basically as above.

4. A few crashes when I didn't go fast enough and failed to achieve lift-off.

5: Me (mentally): I'M FLYING, I'M FLYING, THIS IS THE BEST THING EV--

Dan (over radio): "Flare! Flare!"

Me: Oh righ--

Glider: CRASH!

I did not manage a decent (ie, deliberate) landing once, out of maybe eight or so launches.

On the last one I managed to crash into a mud puddle, the glider skidded and dragged me all the way through it, and I twisted my knee and bruised my foot and ankle.

So that was it for the launch part of the lesson, since I could no longer run. However, it was supposed to be three hours and when I left I found that it had been four, so I don't think I missed too many launch chances.

Hopefully my knee will be OK after a few days. I'm giving it the RICE treatment. This morning my knee is a bit better, but I'll stay off my feet as much as possible for the next day or so. A giant storm is coming, so it's not like I can do another lesson for another week anyway.

Also this morning, I feel like I got hit by a train. Literally everything hurts, including weird places like my upper inner thighs, which I've only ever experienced before after horseback riding, and under my arms, which I think is bruising from holding the glider balanced for launch.

Flying is amazing. For the three seconds I was in the air before I crashed, that is. The first time I managed to get airborne, I don't think I heard a single thing Dan said to me for the next five minutes because the inside of my head was completely occupied by I FLEW! I FLEW! I WAS IN THE AIR AND I WAS FLYYYYYYYYYING!

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Chocolate Box is NOT running this year! Candyhearts is the substitute exchange!

In case anyone missed it, this is a public service announcement to inform you that Chocolate Box is not running this year. Instead, there is a substitute, this-year-only exchange, candyheartsex . It's identical to Chocolate Box, except that you have the option of requesting only one fandom. (Chocolate Box had a three-fandom minimum.)

CandyHeartsEx, like Chocolate Box, is a relationship-based fic and art exchange for any type of relationship - romantic, friends, enemies, etc - with a 300 word or one sketch minimum.

Tomorrow is the last day to sign up. The tag set is huge, the minimum is tiny, and it's the biggest exchange after Yuletide. It's also the last exchange I'll be doing for a while as I need to focus on my original writing, so if you want me to write for you, this is your chance.

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Dragon Coast, by Greg van Eekhout

The third book in the Daniel Blackland trilogy is the best. It has fewer bizarre plotholes and dropped plotlines (though not none), way better character relationships in general, an excellent storyline for my favorite odd couple Gabriel and Max, and also manages to get me interested in Daniel's own storyline, which was a first. (I did not care for Sam's storyline, but it was the shortest.)

There are three plotlines which intertwine but I will describe them separately. They're all spoilery for the last two books, so everything goes under a cut. Above the cut, I will just say that the giant thing with zero follow up from book one never gets any follow up, but this book does pick up some of the dangling threads from book two.

( Read more... )

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Dear Candyhearts Creator

Thank you for creating for me! If you have any questions, please check with the mods. I am a very easy recipient and will be delighted with whatever you write for me. I have no special requirements beyond what's specifically stated in my DNWs. I'm fine with all POVs (i.e., first, second, third), tenses, ratings, story lengths, unusual formats, etc.

My AO3 name is Edonohana. I am open to treats. Very open. I love them.

While I didn't specifically request art in this exchange, I do love art and would be thrilled with an art treat for anything I requested.

I love hurt-comfort, action/adventure, domesticity, unexpected tenderness, worldbuilding, evocative descriptions, camaraderie, loyalty, PTSD, trauma recovery, difficult choices, survival situations, mysterious places and weird alien technology, food, plants, landscape in general, X-Men type powers, learning to love again or trust again or enjoy life again, miniature things or beings, and animals. And many other things, too, of course! That list is just in case something sparks an idea.

( General DNWs )

( Biggles series - W. E. Johns )

( Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin )

( The Tillerman Cycle - Cynthia Voigt )

( True Detective )

( Worrals - W. E. Johns )

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Worrals on the War-Path, by W. E. Johns

"Could you find me a sheep, a live sheep, my old ferret?" asked Worrals.

This atmospheric Worrals book is set in the Cévennes and Camargue of France. The former is mountainous, the latter has flamingoes, and both sound AMAZING. (I had previously heard of Camargue in the context of its wild white water horses, but sadly those don't appear in the book.)

Worrals comes up with a brilliant idea to create a plane refueling station in the Cévennes, and she and Frecks are dropped there to make it happen. There they make contact with members of the French Resistance and have to create and run the station while Nazis are combing the countryside looking for them.

It's a really fun book with some outstanding Worrals badassery and excellent supporting characters, including two members of the French Resistance who I suspect are boyfriends, plus an old guide Worrals knew back when whom she addresses fondly as "My cabbage." I have been informed that is an actual French endearment. However, she also calls him "My walrus," "My ferret," and so forth, which I think are probably just Worrals-isms.

I also enjoyed this, to go along with all the possibly unintentional innuendo in the Biggles books like "A silence followed Biggles' quiet ejaculation." After the first shock of finding a girl in charge of operations he made hilarious love to Worrals for ten minutes while the machine was being refueled.

In addition to the French Resistance, Worrals and Frecks are also backed up by Bill, who supports them from the home front. It's Worrals/Frecks forever as far as I'm concerned, but I do like Bill. After all, "Bill will do what I tell him to do," announced Worrals firmly.

Regarding that live sheep...

As a matter of detail she had a shock which Worrals escaped, for in taking off one of the wheels missed the forlorn little sheep by inches; had it struck the animal the machine might never have got off the ground. ... At that critical moment the last thing Worrals was thinking of was her wooly accomplice.

I want an icon reading "Her wooly accomplice."

( Read more... )

You can download the book for free at The Faded Page

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Yuletide Reveal Post

I wrote seven stories this Yuletide! (Two of them were short.)

Don't Need To Know Canon

Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin

What you need to know: Yarrow is a teenage girl who has a pet harrekki (a tiny dragon), Vetch is her older brother who's a wizard, and magic works by knowing a thing or person's true name.

Shelter From the Storm for kisatsel .

Tags: Spells & Enchantments, Comfort Food, Wizards, Bats. 3981 words.

Yarrow finds a lost creature in a storm.

Yarrow is one of my favorite characters in Earthsea. Toward the end of A Wizard of Earthsea, she shows up, a 14 year old girl with a pet miniature dragon and no magical skills though she's very good in the kitchen, and absolutely steals the show. I always enjoy writing about her, but I think this was the first time I've ever written her as a main character or from her POV. This story was inspired by raspberryhunter 's wonderful Yarrow and Vetch story, The Minnow and the Dragon.

I really like bats. The bit about Earthsea bats not transmitting diseases to humans was necessary or the whole story wouldn't happen, but it was also a bit of wish-fulfillment. I once very carefully rescued a baby bat (it survived) but I never touched it. I would love to pet a bat.

Worrals - W. E. Johns

What you need to know: Frecks and Worrals are young female pilots who transport airplanes during WWII - when they're not parachuting into occupied France, uncovering traitors, and punching Nazis, that is. The books are extremely out of print, but you can download them for free at The Faded Page

I intended to write a full-length treat for each Worrals requester and uhh that didn't happen. But I did manage to write them each a short treat!

The Old Kit Bag, for cyphomandra . 619 words.

Tags: Wartime Romance, Dessert & Sweets, Mild Hurt/Comfort.

It was, Frecks thought gloomily as she lay between white hospital sheets, a deeply embarrassing injury. Not that there was anything terribly wrong with a broken ankle. That could happen to anyone. It was the manner in which she’d broken it.

Never Fight Alone, for cephyr . 556 words.

Frecks and Worrals share a chocolate bar and an intimate moment in the air.

Tags: Airplanes, Flying, World War II, Chocolate, Kissing.

I did an absurd amount of research on WWII airplanes, the WAAF, the ATA, British sweets during WWII, and food rationing for these stories, and a fair amount actually appears in it.

The big surprise I got was that the WAAF did not let women transport airplanes! The organization that did was the ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary). Johns basically combined them for the Worrals series. Eventually, female ATA pilots were allowed to transport fighter planes. One thing that was really interesting but not relevant to the story were the WAAF plotters, who were mostly women and basically did wartime air traffic control. There's a vivid first-hand description of them here - page down to Fighter Command Filter Rooms.

Troach drops are real.

Need to Know Canon

Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey

An Unexpected Catch, for slashmarks . 3704 words.

Tags: Fishing, Cooking,Impression, Female Friendship, Traditions Fire Lizards, Beaches, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence.

Lessa and other Benden women visit Southern Weyr to help out with a fishing tradition; things don't go as planned.

This was a Pinch Hit of the Apocalypse that came up after the collection had closed. I missed the pinch hit, but asked the mods if under the circumstances, they would re-open the collection so I could post a late treat, and they kindly agreed. I spent the entire day writing it. If only I could write that many words in one day for my pro writing!

I think this was my first time writing Lessa as a main character or from her POV. It was a lot of fun, especially when I got to have her seethe over Kylara flirting (Lessa is very BEC about Kylara) while failing to notice exactly who Kylara is flirting with...

The Leftovers TV

IP, YEVRAG NIVEK, for myrtlebroadbelt . 2843 words.

Tags: Resurrection, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Film Noir, Afterlife, Liminal Spaces.

Kevin Garvey makes another visit to the hotel.

This was my assignment. It will make NO sense if you're not familiar with canon. I rewatched a lot of the show, which was a great experience, and I packed it full of Easter eggs and references. My recipient had a fantastic request, which was that she wanted to see more of Kevin at the hotel which is a sort of bizarre afterlife/dream dimension. Those episodes of the show are fantastic, and I wanted to write a story where you could imagine the whole thing as one of those episodes, shot by shot and line by line, and so see it filmed in your head. I was very happy with how it came out.

The Long Walk - Stephen King

The Road, for scioscribe . 1180 words.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hand Jobs.

scioscribe 's prompts for this were so inspiring that I took two. One is "Garraty accepts the hand job that McVries canonically offers him, yes really." The other is more spoilery.

Smokescreen - Dick Francis

The Fabric Shears, the Plastic Chair, for sholio . 2237 words. Tags: Bathing/Washing, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Post-Canon

Evan and Conrad take care of Link immediately after the events of Smokescreen.

The book is a mystery/thriller with a satisfying ending that leaves the protagonist in a good place overall, but... Let me put it this way, here's the prompt: "Really, any further aftermath in which Link finally TAKES A BATH and otherwise gets TLC would make me very happy!"

There were two Smokescreen stories this Yuletide. Both were tagged "Bathing/Washing." Great minds...

I did an absurd amount of research on luxury bungalows at Skukuza for this story. The only part that actually appears is the fact that they exist.

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Yuletide Recs, Part 3

Don't Need to Know Canon

The Bone Key - Sarah Monette

The pull quote below tells you most of what you need to know. The rest is that the narrator is a shy museum archivist, Ratcliffe is an archaeologist who knew him as a schoolboy, and they had chemistry when they met as adults to investigate a haunting.

The Past Still Lives in Memory. 7738 words.

“I had a lover,” I said. Such a simple, bald-faced truth. It was easier to say than I’d have expected. “Not a man. A—a creature. A demon. He loved me a great deal, I think. He couldn’t help it. He would have consumed me entirely before much longer, but I realized in time what was happening, and I made him go away. And then I forgot him.”

Very touching and realistic aftermath-of-incubus/get together; also very hot.

Worrals - W. E. Johns

All you need to know is that Worrals and Frecks are WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Air Force) pilots in WWII.

Sky High! Or, Worrals Gets The Girl. 13,170 words.

13K of Worrals and Frecks having an extremely canon-typical adventure with bonus femslash - so, exciting, funny, plenty of flying and spying and clever twists, but with added kissing.

The books are extremely out of print, but you can download them at The Faded Page

Need to Know Canon

Daniel Blackland series - Greg van Eekhout

Merry Midwinter

A few months after Gabriel pulled Max out of the kennels and changed the course of both their lives, Max wants to know if his new responsibilities come with gift-giving obligations, and Gabriel just wishes people would stop trying to kill him all the time.

A sweet, funny story about two weirdos in love.

Everything Everywhere All At Once (Movie)

Making Nothing. 2597 words.

Joy and Evelyn attempt to make everything bagels the old fashioned way.

Really captures the tone and themes of the movie; funny and weird and heartfelt.

The Lion Hunters - Elizabeth Wein

our hearts like doors. 1020 words.

The journey back to Aksum after Empty Kingdom.

Telemakos and Medraut and Turunesh and Athena and dogs take a trip and do some family bonding and have a good time. That's it, that's the story. If you've read the books you know why I pounced on it like a lion... oh wait, never mind.

The Red Tree - Caitlin R. Kiernan

Time Winds Tight (Like a Rope). 2032 words.

This is a ghost story.

Excerpts of Constance Hopkin's only interview after her experiences with the Red Tree.

Absolutely phenomenal understated horror story, completely in keeping with the novel.

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Yuletide Recs, Part 2

This is a great Yuletide year. I'm having such a good time reading stories and watching rain fall. I am behind in commenting; if I recced your story without doing so, that's why.

The Biggles and Worrals fic is GREAT. I'm going to attempt a dedicated Biggles & Worrals post later.

Don't Need to Know Canon

Chalice - Robin McKinley

There are two stories in the collection for this, both excellent and readable as original fantasy. What you need to know: In this land, a pair of magic users are bound to the land and keep it whole and healthy. One is the Master, a wizard. The other is a Chalice, a woman who makes potions with some drinkable liquid, usually water.

triptych. 8058 words.

Three Chalices. Three portraits in brine, milk, and blood.

Fascinating fantasy with three very different settings and problems the Chalices are trying to deal with.

Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin

Some Fragments Concerning the Island of Bereswek. 1177 words.

There's a saying: “Rules change in the Reaches.” That certainly seems to be true on this island.

Intriguing worldbuilding about an island of Earthsea, in a style reminiscent of A Wizard of Earthsea but with some concerns typical of the later books.

Into the Woods - Sondheim & Lapine

The Tale You Tell. 2991 words.

She never pretended to be the hero of this particular story.

The backstory of the Baker's Wife - touching, clever, and excellent dialogue that really catches the tone of the musical. All you need to know is that Into the Woods is a metafictional fairy tale mashup, but the story does have spoilers for the outcome of the Baker's Wife's story.


Need to Know Canon

Andor (TV)

There Is A World Beyond This Place. 1081 words.

Twelve things Cassian Andor misses most in prison.

What it says on the tin; insightful and heartbreaking.

The Long Walk - Stephen King

Impossible Objects. 3716 words.

"Some people got up the nerve to go inside, but I don’t know if anyone ever lasted the night. There were murmurs that you could make certain trades there, in contact with the dead. Take your supplication to the ghosts, and whisper to them your secrets."

Heartbreaking post-canon story with some fascinating worldbuilding and folklore.

The Perfection (Movie)

What's Expected of Us. 1789 words.

Outside, a northern chill sliced a path down from Canada carrying flurries of snow. Inside was the sanctum, the center of Charlotte’s universe, clothed in polished wooden walls and warm indirect light. And elsewhere, in the place beyond the binary confines of here and there: in that place, They waited.

A cosmic horror take on The Perfection, hot and horrifying and very well-written. Mind the tags. No, seriously, MIND THE TAGS.

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Yuletide Recs, Part I

It's Yuletide, and the collection is GREAT! I have only just begun to dip into it, and I've already found a number of excellent stories.

My first three recs are my THREE gifts for the same book series, all absolutely brilliant. I felt like I'd been gifted with an incredible mini-anthology. The first can be read canon-blind as an atmospheric, non-gory horror story. The second two are for the Getting Sober at the Worst Possible Time prompt and probably are best read with canon knowledge.

Cass Neary - Elizabeth Hand

East Side Drowning. 1047 words.

The Lower East Side in the late 70s was its own thing. Pleasure above all else; find connection; getting out alive is optional.

Ghost Therapy.

“You learn a lot when you are dead, it turns out. Not really the things you expect.”

“I don’t really expect to learn anything after I’m dead. Just blank, like an overexposed piece of film.” I looked away from the phone, watching the gulls soar above the waves. Smelling the faint rot of seaweed over the salt. Letting my heartbeat slow.

There was a long moment of silence. “Yes, I felt that way too.”

The Girl Beyond Good and Evil. 1463 words.

I remembered an old punk mellowed by the heroin we shared, talking about his addiction program, and how he hadn’t felt the need until he was back in the same environment, with the same people. How he wasn’t that person anymore, until he, like liquid, was poured back into the same glass. I wasn’t sober, yet, just a person who hadn’t had a drink or taken a pill in days.

Don't Need to Know Canon

17776: What Football Will Look Like in the Future - Jon Bois

A Beginner's Guide to Octopus Football. 2190 words.

Excerpts from the Volunteer Orientation Manual of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Stadium, circa 20020: notes on modern immortal octopus culture, etiquette, and their favorite sport.

What it says on the tin. I guarantee you don't need to either know canon or care about football; I don't and I don't. All you need to know is that it's set in a far, far future in which there is no more death. It's delightful and hilarious and will warm your heart.

Chalice - Robin McKinley

Fill to me the parting glass. 1973 words.

Three first bindings, and one final Chalice.

What you need to know: In this land, a pair of magic users are bound to the land and keep it whole and healthy. One is the Master, a wizard. The other is a Chalice, a woman who makes potions with some drinkable liquid, usually water. There, now you can read this lovely fantasy fic about four unusual Chalices.

Need to Know Canon

An Episode of Sparrows - Rumer Godden

This Lovely Green. 1483 words.

"I'll have a garden or nothing at all," Lovejoy said.

The prompt was "Tell me about Lovejoy's gardens over the years." I really hoped someone would write it, and they did, and it was everything I wanted. It has a very convincing adult Lovejoy and Tip, and gardens, and beauty and joy won by hard work and determination under difficult circumstances. Which is exactly what the book is about.

The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison

dear fellow traveler. 3000 words.

The Crossing of the Bridge is a ceremony that requires each new emperor or empress, on the first solstice of their reign, to walk the entire length of the bridge over the Istandaärtha from eastern to western shore, alone save for their nonecharei, carrying nothing but a brazier of incense. We can be relatively sure that this tradition traces its roots to the very creation of the Wisdom Bridge, and that the first emperor to enact it was Edrehasivar the Seventh.

A collection of documents unravelling a historical mystery; also a very sweet outsider POV of Maia.

A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett

Magic Casements. 5699 words.

Becky is the one who rescues Mr Carrisford's monkey, and so the one whom the Magic happens to instead.

Excellent take on a premise that easily could have been done in a very preachy manner, but instead captures the beauty and sweetness of the original work. Of course it's inherently anti-classist, just not in an anvillicious way.

The Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet) - C. S. Lewis

The Hressni Who Asked Why. 2818 words.

A little girl among the hrossa of Malacandra asks questions and starts an apprenticeship program between the seroni, hrossa and pfifltriggi.

A charming story about a cultural exchange between the various beings of Malacandra.

What have you enjoyed in the collection so far?

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