gdp's Comments

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': S05E10 - Into The Woods

Wed, 16 May 2012 05:44:03 +0000

<img src="http://www.deadlantern.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Screenshot33.jpg"> I'M SO GLAD THAT YOU AGREE THAT DONNIE PFASTER IS THE MOST TERRIFYING X-FILES VILLAIN EVER WHEN I FIRST WATCHED THIS EPISODE I BASICALLY YELPED AND JUMPED A FOOT IN THE AIR AND THEN HID UNDER MY COUCH

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': S05E02 - Real Me

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:09:51 +0000

Hahahaha. Hahahahahaha. Hahahahahahahahahaha. I'm sorry, I just can't say anything else. You are so in for it, Mark.

Mark Reads : Help choose Mark Reads Bad Fanfic / Bad Novels

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:01:54 +0000

I went to my GoodReads account and looked at things I had rated one star in order to come up with suggestions. You already read Ayn Rand, so I would like to see you read a Dan Brown novel. a) The Lost Symbol b) Dan Brown c) 509 pages (this is way too many pages, it only needed like 200) d) Mystery? Historical thriller? e) Oh my god your library probably has like a hundred copies Basically I decided on The Lost Symbol because the writing is EVEN WORSE than The Da Vinci Code and it has a way less intriguing mystery as the central plot. There are about 200 chapters because they're all half a page long for some reason, the dialogue is ridiculous, and it's totally full of racefail. (Like, characters who are not white men are continually referred to as "the African-American man" or "the small Asian woman" over and over again so Dan Brown can be proud of his diverse cast of characters or some shit.)

Mark Reads : Mark Reads Bad Fic #2 - The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 07:31:26 +0000

Mark, I just love your complete and utter exasperation at all of this.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer': S02E20 - Go Fish

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:40:33 +0000

Cordelia's speech when she thinks Xander is the monster in the pool is one of my favorite things ever. "I'll do everything I can to make your quality of life better, whether that means little bath toys or whatever. " LITTLE BATH TOYS! Ha!

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer': S02E17 - Passion

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:54:58 +0000

It's so UNSETTLING the way Angel stalks and harasses Buffy and her friends, and like you I am really glad that the show intentionally portrays it that way. I also love that when he approaches Joyce on the front lawn she is having NONE. OF. IT. He tries to be all charming and I-just-want-to-talk-to-her and Joyce basically tells him to fuck off. She is such a good mom.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer': S02E11 - Ted

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:30:23 +0000

Ugh, I remember when I watched this episode for the first time I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. My mom married her Ted, and it hasn't really gotten any easier to see her with him because he's still a gigantic asshole, but now I don't have to live with them anymore. But the very mannerisms were eerily familiar -- the way he would be charming and generous around Joy and then turn threatening once her back was turned. My now-stepfather once backed me into a corner when I was 16 and was yelling down into my face about how he wanted to smack the shit out of me, because I talked back to him. I wished he would, so I could call the cops. And my mom was downstairs, she heard everything. That was the worst part -- that she knew and that she chose to be with him anyways. That's why I felt so much for Buffy in this episode, because she obviously wanted her mom to be happy, but how do you let someone you love choose someone like that?

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Sherlock': S02E02 - The Hounds of Baskerville

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:40:56 +0000

Actually, I saw this gif posted on Tumblr with the caption "WE DON'T HAVE THESE IN THE SHIRE" and it fucking killed me.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Sherlock': S02E02 - The Hounds of Baskerville

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:11:49 +0000

Mark, I am shocked that your review was not just this gif a hundred times: <img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxi3shSgu41qc3759o1_500.gif"> <img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxi3shSgu41qc3759o1_500.gif"> <img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxi3shSgu41qc3759o1_500.gif"> <img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxi3shSgu41qc3759o1_500.gif"> <img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxi3shSgu41qc3759o1_500.gif">

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer': S01E04 - Teacher's Pet

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:45:42 +0000

Oh my god, that headband Buffy's wearing! I used to have so many of those.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'The Hobbit': Chapter 1

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:32:15 +0000

I don't think Hobbits really look like Cabbage Patch potatoes, unless you're talking about the animated movie. <img src="http://www.majorspoilers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/BilboInTheHobbit.jpg"> I also don't think the Hobbits would have a problem with you getting sidetracked to talk about tater tot fields. I bet Hobbits would FUCKING LOVE tater tots. That said, I've never actually finished this book, though I've started it a few times and started The Fellowship of the Ring a few times, too. I always get stuck somewhere in the middle, because as you've noticed, Tolkien is sometimes impossibly verbose. It can make the books pretty hard to get through. Maybe if I read along with your reviews that'll help to keep me from getting stuck again! Oh, and fun fact: JK Rowling based the Hufflepuff common room on a Hobbit-hole.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'A Feast For Crows': Predictions

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 03:14:17 +0000

SOME OF THESE ARE RIGHT AND SOME OF THESE ARE WRONG. Though I think you may have made more correct predictions than I did about this book. (Which isn't saying much.) Also, are you SURE you want a chapter from Ramsay Snow's perspective? He's... ugh.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'American Gods': Chapter 8

Sun, 2 Oct 2011 16:32:40 +0000

Shadow's race is meant to be pretty ambiguous. He's literally the everyman. He blends in everywhere and is forgettable. That's why there's never really any description of his physical features. So he's probably light enough to pass as white, dark enough to pass as black. I hope you read Anansi Boys after this - it's set in the same world as American Gods, but isn't a sequel, and I think you'll find the way Gaiman depicts race in that book really interesting.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'American Gods': Chapter 1

Sat, 1 Oct 2011 03:51:22 +0000

I am late to the party, but OH MY GOD MARK I AM SO EXCITED YOU'RE READING THIS. Can you even believe Gaiman is British? It's amazing how he captures small-town America. He moved over here after spending time traveling the country doing research for this book.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Avatar': S03E13 - The Boiling Rock, Parts I & II

Wed, 6 Jul 2011 21:06:17 +0000

I FUCKING LOVE MAI AND TY LEE SO MUCH IN THIS EPISODE. I cheer every time! FUCK YOU AZULA, YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Avatar': S03E08 - The Puppetmaster

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:16:05 +0000

I was fucking blown away by this episode the first time I watched it. I wondered, after we met the water-benders who could use the water in plants to control them, if people could be controlled in the same manner. BUT I NEVER EXPECTED IT TO BE SO FUCKING CREEPY. This is one of the creepiest episodes of television I've ever seen, and that includes "Blink" and episodes of The X-Files like "Home" and "Irresistible".

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'The Subtle Knife': Chapter 2

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:03:10 +0000

but I wanted to talk more about the way that Pullman treats gods in this book. It seems that there are systems of gods for different creatures, and that it’s not mutually exclusive for them to all exist at the same time. I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything like this, and I think it’s kind of neat. Mark. MARK. You HAVE GOT to read Neil Gaiman's American Gods. It's about what happened to gods of different cultures when their followers immigrated to America, and how different gods rise and fall. YOU WILL LOVE IT.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Avatar': S03E05 - The Beach

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 23:04:51 +0000

Really? Nobody likes The Beach? I liked this episode a lot and figured it would be a popular one since it focuses on the Fire Nation teens and all. What I really like is that we get some insight into Ty Lee and Mai. I love Ty Lee's outburst about how just because she's pretty, it doesn't mean that her feelings are less valid. It's easy to write a pretty, flirty, cute character like Ty Lee and just make her into a ditzy caricature, so I love that Ty Lee gets to be more than that. I also unabashedly love how even these Fire Nation kids, who are our villains and have amazing powers and skills, are so. Fucking. Emo. They still have all these angsty feelings, and I love Mai and Zuko being all "disaffected teen" and Azula trying to FLIRT. SO MANY LULZ. I agree that the ending is weird, though. I didn't really get it, either. I mean, I guess they were like, "Hey, let's bond with each other by going and getting back at that guy!" Property damage never seems to be a big concern for anyone on this show, maybe because it's a cartoon.

Mark Watches : Mark Watches 'Avatar': S03E04 - Sokka's Master

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 23:33:23 +0000

Wrecked with hunger, filthy, and alone, he has no shame left to feel. Each day, Warden Poon visits the disgraced and ruthlessly insults him. Iroh simply takes it quietly, concerning himself more with food than anything else. Unlike what his nephew would do in the same situation, he never once lets his pride even touch the surface. I actually interpreted Iroh's actions differently. It seemed to me that Iroh was acting the part of a prisoner who has no dignity left, scrabbling on the floor for food like an animal every time a guard was present. But once the guard left, he always composed himself, sat upright, pushed his hair back, and ate slowly. Iroh's dignity wasn't based in pride or how he looked to others, but it was for himself. (I think he also hid how well he was actually staying composed because that way no one would suspect he'd been hulking himself up.) Now on to the SPACE SWORD. Sokka has the coolest fucking sword ever. Space sword is cooler than any other sword, even Godric Gryffindor's sword. And I'm so glad Sokka finally got this episode, where he gets his own master and someone validates him and he gets to be awesome. I feel like Sokka is the Ron or the Xander of this show, and it's always satisfying to me when that character gets to stand out.

Mark Watches : Mark ACTUALLY Watches 'Doctor Who': S06E07 - A Good Man Goes To War

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 01:04:26 +0000

I feel the same way about waiting for the other shoe to drop. I think the titular "war" is only beginning. Madame Kovarian said that she's been fighting a long, bitter war against the Doctor, and I think in a way he just started it. But then he's going to go back in time (probably to the Gamma Forests when Lorna was a little girl) to the "beginning" of the war. TIMEY WIMEY WIBBLY WOBBLY. I also got the impression that River might have been raised in the Gamma Forests, the way she spoke about their language and because of the fact that she took on the name River Song rather than Melody Pond. So maybe that's where Kovarian took her, or where she ended up after escaping the Silence? But I've seen a lot of people hating on this episode (and the season in general), and I just don't think we can judge it yet because it's clearly just a piece of the puzzle. I think making this a mid-season finale might have hurt the show, because people might have been expecting more closure. And my favorite line? <img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F4oGsRpvc5M/TeskFtJ2jhI/AAAAAAAAB9w/xF0iSSJAyt4/607_melodypond.gif"> BECAUSE DUH, SHE REALLY IS.