it's a spoonerism

Jeff is sick (or plagued by allergies or simply exposed to the sun too long), the poor scratchy-throated dear. I was sick before the beach, our dog went to the beach with an ear infection, so I suppose it was meant to be his turn. Still, despite his trials, Ludo was very happy to go out on the sand:



And Jeff felt well enough to start digging into season 2 of Farscape, which housed one of the first scenes to get a real "WHOA!" out of him, to my utter delight (Nilaam and D'argo's foreplay in S02E02). He's really enjoying the character-driven episodes and the 'Something's wrong with Crichton' arc, and Aeryn remains his favorite character (for good reason). We also finally started in on Schitt's Creek (like every other grieving gay after The Magician's finale).

While I was at the beach I attempted to read The Great Starship Race by Diane Carey


I was expecting something light and hilarious and it was more...too serious for what it should have been. I got about halfway through before I gave up entirely. The opening that sets up the stories with the Romulans was interesting, but the moment I got to the Federation and the race I set myself to be biased against it, which I didn't expect. There's a woman, early on in the story, Nancy Ransom (with the typical ex-Starfleet-Cadet-maybe-ex-flame-of-Kirk's-maybe-just-jealous backstory), the lone female captain in the crowd (or if she wasn't they did a poor job showing otherwise) who joins the side of the detractors against Kirk. There are those against the Federation in general; they have faster ships, better tech, etc. Kirk makes a grand speech and they're off to the races. It's all standard stuff, delivered in the tone that you're meant to believe Kirk and co. are a bit in the right with a lesson to learn along the way. But Ransom is talked down to in a way none of the men are and it's just so out of place in this universe of THE FUTURE. This book was written in 1993, so I think it speaks more to the idea that a woman writing about an equal society in theory still can't wrap her head around the practical applications therein.

And I've been able to slug through books like this before, but its biggest sin is it's boring. I think I was expecting more 'Kirk leads Spock and Bones gleefully into danger' so my apologies to Diane Carey that this just didn't do it for me.

I'm currently digging through Kingsman fic by zebraljb  and she has a real talent for dialogue. I also need to rec (again) Bal's fantastic True Detective fic, The Circle Loom. Whether the show was one that interested you or not, it's a fascinating take on the "lovers drawn together through time travel" trope and weaves back and forth between warm intimacy and the terror of being known (to yourself and others).

I posted to my Black Sails AU after an 11 month hiatus so time to make myself write more (wish me luck).