all made up with nowhere to go

Thanks to work I have a whole bunch of DVDs I will probably never watch! (You may think I'm joking, but I have a stack I bought in CEX in 2017 and I have not watched a single one of them yet).

But I finally have Monty Python and the Holy Grail! \o/ Which I probably will watch soonish because I think it's my favourite Python film (I love Arthurian myth, in case you didn't know, which you probably didn't because I don't mention it much, if ever). Although I doubt much of it has aged well, there's a bit I'm not looking forward to having to sit through, and let us not forget that some of the Pythons turned out to be colossal tools so YAY*.

I also have most of the Fast & Furious films, as I have a friend who adores them, so her enthusiasm has rubbed off on me over the years, and I thought I would give them a go.

And I have the first three Underworld films as I decided to give them a chance since baby!me was an idiot, basically (although I was very tired of the "vampires versus werewolves" thing when the first film came out, because that was all supernatural fiction was at that point, so I'd just hit saturation).

And then finally, I have a boxset of the Indiana Jones films, so now I can watch The Last Crusade! \o/ Fun fact: I actually saw said boxset when I was buying that stack of DVDs back in 2017, but didn't buy it at the time and regretted it. But not enough to go looking for it, however.

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In case you were wondering about my sore neck, I solved the problem by spending most of the day in bed, playing NEO: TWEWY and not moving much.

I am enjoying the game, although I think right now it's more because I'm playing a TWEWY game on a big screen than it is the plot (which is mostly making me go, ehhhhhhh a lot, but then again, I'm not that far into it).

( everything else is spoilers! )

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The final thing I have to say is about books!

I finished reading The Last Vampire, and it ends on a cliffhanger, which is not much of a cliffhanger now, considering there are eight other books after this one. I don't know if I care enough to continue reading the series, but I haven't put them away again, so we'll see in the future.

I was going to reread Lords and Ladies afterwards, but I changed my mind and am now reading Equal Rites. There is a reason for this that basically boils down to: some TERFs said Terry Pratchett would've been on their side, had he still been alive, and Rhianna Pratchett tore them a new one by essentially saying evidently none of them had ever read her dad's work because that was patently untrue.

And then I also saw his official twitter account had posted a quote from Equal Rites:

They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.

Which was obviously also in response to the situation.

And I thought, "I've never read this book, even though I've owned it for nearly thirty years, I should rectify that!" So that's what I'm doing.

(I also dug out Small Gods, as my mum bought me that at the same time as Equal Rites and, again, I've never read it, because I am the world's worst Discworld fan).

I am not very far into it, but I have already sniggered a fair bit, so it's safe to say I think I'll enjoy it.

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*Yesterday on my way home from work, I was trying to remember if Eric Idle was all right, as I can't remember him saying anything stupid lately (if at all). I'm pretty sure Michael Palin is, because he's the world's nicest person (Keanu Reeves aside), but John Cleese and Terry Gilliam can get in the bin.

My brain decided the other day that we are going to read ALL of Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings books, y'all.

I have fourteen of them - I am missing two of the Rainwilds books. (My library service has the two I'm missing, but they are still - sensibly - shut, and they're not available as ebooks).

It's a shame my mum is not here because she'd love this turn of events. She'd been trying to get me to read these books twenty years ago (her main selling point was the Liveship trilogy and she was coming at me from the angle of "these ships are alive! Like Moya in Farscape!" and it piqued my interest a bit, but that was it). And also Robin Hobb was one of her favourite authors, which is why it kind of surprises me that I'm missing some of the books*. I can only assume she wasn't so keen on the Rainwilds quartet? Obviously I will never know for sure, since she isn't here to ask.

(I kind of like that this is a series, yet it can be split into chunks of different trilogies/one quartet).

I might not even get as far as the books I'm missing, but I want them for completeness' sake.

(I'm on book two of sixteen, why is my brain like this??? But that said, I actually think this is the sort of thing I want from a fantasy story, rather than what you'd expect from a typical one? *shrug emoji*)

I had a whole bunch of déjà vu while reading Assassin's Apprentice, which I can only think must've come from a time when mum was reading it, and I'd idly skim over a couple of pages to see what the fuss was. (I say this because I don't remember massive sections, or the plot, so I don't think I've read/tried to read it before, but I used to do this sometimes with stuff she was reading out of curiosity, because occasionally our tastes in reading material overlapped).

I keep feeling guilty about sitting down and just reading, which is weird. I used to read for hours and hours and not ever feel like this. I think it is, in part, because of looking after mum, so I feel I should be doing something "useful" instead. PPPPPBBBTTTTTT. (My weasel brain is gradually letting go of this, but it's taking its damned time about it).

ANYWAY. Have any of you read any of Robin Hobb's books? What did you think? NO SPOILERS, although I already know a couple, but I'm not going to say them because that's unfair.

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Unrelated, and sorry it's reddit, but the replies (the non-racist ones) to this post complaining about character names in fantasy stories are golden.

Especially this one: The American energy from this post is palpable. I'd love to read the LOTR OP would like: Fred, Sam, Gary, Lyle, Harry, Greg and Barry set off to destroy Saul's magical golden ring. Along the way they meet Steve-o-man the white wizard and get chased by the Nasty-gals Saul's evil henchmen.

And this comment re: Terry Prachett: I think Terry Pratchett does a great job of using obscure names or random words for character names. It makes them fantastical, but also easy to pronounce. Carrot, Angua, Mustrum, Rincewind, Moist, Adorabelle, Havelock, to name a few off the top of my head.

(But PTerry would've been aware of fantasy naming conventions because let's not forget, Discworld is parody in its roots, and I think he did go there a few times, but not often (it's been a while since I read any DW books). So I actually think his naming someone Carrot, for instance, is actually subversive on purpose).

And finally: Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Chalchiuhtlicue and Tlaltecuhtli all demand you re-think your idea of "realistic."

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Streams:

Luke plays AC:NH - Shark Fishing! Weddings!

Jane, Mike, and Andy play Totally Reliable Delivery Service for charity (raising money for NAACP, as was Luke)

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*That being said, it took a long time for her to get a copy of Forest Mage, and only then because I spotted it in a discount book shop - I remember talking to her on the phone about it and asking if she wanted it since I was there.