I spent some QT at DeviantArt today, and realized that I haven't done a Rachel-goes-to-DeviantArt post in two years!

• Remember my search for non-rage-inducing Wonder Woman art? Check out this redesign of Diana's costume by overgrownbat. Now with 100% more pants! (Also check out the boob-window-less Power Girl costume.)
  
• A lovely Golden Age Wonder Woman by trisaber.
  
• A plethora of Robins by overgrownbat: Jason smoking, Tim, and Steph all grown up.
  
• Genderbent Bruce, also by overgrownbat. (I would enjoy reading this AU, jus' saying.)
  
• Batman and Robin by northernbanshee.
  
• I love the faux 3D effect on ratscape's Flash.
  
• Look, kids, Captain America!
  
• Rikki Barnes as Nomad by Rafael Albuquerque. (Okay, I haven't followed Marvel for some time now, so first I saw this picture, and then I googled who the hell it is. What you need to know is: cute girl + double-breasted shell jacket + goggles = Maybe I need to get back into Marvel.)
  
• To continue a theme, a fly girl by fortheloveofpizza.
  
• Jack and Stephen (of the Aubreyad) having a laugh by Steampunk-Girl. (Check out her gallery for lots more Jack/Stephen art.)
  
• Because TF2 and Cooking Mama needed to be crossed over.
  
• An awesome art deco scene (conveniently wallpaper-sized!) by ekster.

A long time ago, I bought the first Queen and Country TPB, but I ended up selling it because I didn't like the art. Now I'm ready to give the series another chance, simply because Rachel keeps pimping it. Recently, I found out that she likes Ex Machina, so now I've got to catch up on that (I've only read through #29). And in the same interview, she rec'd Identity Crisis, so I might have read that, too. (Life so hard.)

I've been watching a lot of TV lately. I'd like to thank bessemerprocess for convincing me to give The Unusuals a try. I devoured it, and it is easily one of the best ensemble dramas I've ever seen. As much as I like Nathan Fillion, it is a goddamn crime that Castle was renewed but The Unusuals was not. My issues with Castle, let me tell you them:

Kate Beckett is not a real character; she is a glorified plot device. She matters in one way: she resists Castle's charms. Unless the writers make Kate believable as something other than a reluctant romantic interest (and having her come to work looking like a raccoon and execute arrest warrants in heels does not make her believable as a cop), the series is untenable. Barring an early cancellation, one day she will cease to be reluctant, and how can you write about a couple when one member is defined by not being a part of said couple? But more than that, the prospect of her relinquishing her reluctance disturbs me. Let me quote this fantastic review of It Happened One Night:

In the Platonic ideal of this type of romantic comedy, two likeable (yet flawed) people come together and clash, but then each of them grows a little, straightens out their flaws while preserving key elements of their individual selves, and learns something key about the other person, whereupon both of them can then meet in the middle, in a conclusion that's essentially egalitarian in spirit. It Happened One Night, however, is not that film....[T]he only character who really has to change her tune is Ellie. There is no meeting in the middle: she's the one who has to "come around" to liking Peter, not vice versa.

Castle is impetuous during investigations, but he keeps being rewarded for this, so it's not as if he has to modify that behavior. Furthermore, we are shown early on, via his relationship with his family, that he is a good man. What, then, is left for him to change? No, the only one who has to change is Kate, and I am not interested in watching her will being worn down to accommodate his.

I've also been watching Boston Legal. I've been wanting to read somniesperus' crossover with DWP, and now I want to cap Candice Bergen when she 's crackverse age and maybe make manips oh help me. ANYWAY, Boston Legal is rather pathetic in comparison to The Unusuals: despite the large cast, so far (through 1x09 "A Greater Good") it only has two real characters, Alan Shore and Denny Crane. The fact that all three female characters either are, have been, or want to sleep with Alan is...execrable. If Candice is not awesome (I haven't gotten to her introduction yet), I will die.

More recommended free MP3s from Amazon:

• Billie Holiday - All of Me
  
• Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed

Title: Love Is Like a Bottle of Scotch
Pairing: Murphy Brown/Linda Ellerbee
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: As may be inferred from the presence of one Murphy Brown, this is a work of fiction and does not purport to be a factual representation of Linda Ellerbee's life. Murphy, meanwhile, was created by Diane English.
Summary: ...but a bottle of Scotch is not like love. Episode tag for 1x20 "The Summer of '77."
Notes: I started this before I finished Holding Pattern; consider it part of my canon for that Murphy. Title/summary ripped off from Stephin Merritt.

( 541 words )

I posted my lgbtfest fic! Read Holding Pattern (Murphy Brown/Rachel Maddow, PG-13). Do the kids still say "mad props"? Because I would like to give bessemerprocess mad props for submitting such an awesome prompt.

This seems like an opportune time to watch Rachel Maddow mix the...

• Bijou
  
• Cherry Julep (text)
  
• Gin Sling (text)
  
• Jack Rose (alternate link)
  
• Manhattan, Martini, Old Fashioned, Stinger, Daiquiri, Champagne Cocktail
  
• Perfect (text)

Bonus: Dale DeGroff mixes Rachel the Mint Julep, Whiskey Smash (text)

brown_betty was kind enough to give me a Dreamwidth invite. I haven't used it yet, because I'm not sure if I should register thatfangirl, as I did at JF and IJ, or choose a new handle. I've used this one for sevenish years, but...I've been feeling kinda ambivalent about it, lately. Thoughts?

MJ: Since you have expressed your love for both classic cocktails and comic books, I'm wondering if you could name a few, and maybe even a pairing.

RM: There's a really good graphic novel called American Born Chinese, which I could recommend. Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, obviously, is really great. I'm a big fan of the series that's called Queen and Country. That's my one true love; if graphic novels were in an orphanage and the orphanage were on fire, I'd rush in and save Queen and Country.

MJ: And you'd read Queen and Country sipping a...?

RM: That's a very good question. There's a great drink called a purgatory, and Queen and Country is all about emotional and bureaucratic purgatory. It's 100-proof rye, Benedictine, and Chartreuse. It's a kick in the teeth. It's perfectly balanced and wonderful, and it's super-alcoholic. I like big drinks that aren't afraid of the alcohol in them. Not big in size, but in flavor, and the way I can allow myself to enjoy them is by making them in very small quantities. I make tiny glasses of very big drinks.

MJ: Any cocktail you think is particularly overrated?

RM: I don't drink vodka. I don't think vodka is useful. I think it's for people who don't like alcohol, in which case, you probably shouldn't be drinking it. I also don't drink any flavored spirits. I realize there is a move among ambitious cocktail people to infuse their own spirits, but I just can't be bothered. I feel like if the ingredient existed in 1895, I'm interested in it. If not, I'm not interested in it.

Rachel Maddow interviewed by Clara Jeffery in Mother Jones

Possibly she also said something about news and politics.

This may be a good opportunity to appeal to you to beta my Rachel Maddow/Murphy Brown story for lgbtfest. Please?