swim through the fires to stay in this world

This rant is kind of all over the place: bear with me.

So lately I've noticed that I am less and less into fanon couples*. By which I mean, the less canon interaction a pair has (especially if there is a canon love interest) the less invested I am in them. Which might be partially due to exhaustion - I am damn sick of getting super-invested in something I know won't happen and then watching it, you know, not happen.

In the same vein, there was a quote from the writers(?) of NCIS: LA about how season two really explored Kensi and Deek's relationship and it made me ridiculously happy. I'm not sure if in the back of my mind I thought all the conversations about their relationship partnership and that 'thing' they have were accidental or what, but hearing that there was deliberate thought put into their relationship (romantic or not) made me super-happy. As did this cute little article where the comparison is made to Bones and Daniella Ruah (Kensi) says that the comparison is flattering but that she wants to make sure that the relationship between Kensi and Deeks stays unique and its own thing. To which I snorted mentally and went, 'in that case, how about you just have lots and lots of sex while using birth control like rational human beings?!?!?!'

Which brings us to Bones. My mom watched the finale last night and I finally got to bitch about that pregnancy storyline to her (seriously, I have been holding that in for months). She was much forgiving of that plot twist, given that she still has a lot of fondness for Booth and Brennan and likes the idea of them having a kid. But even she was like, 'really? is that the ONLY plot twist writers know how to do with a female character who's been on for a couple of seasons?'

Honestly, at this point I think pregnancy in a show might be a straight-up dealbreaker for me. Because I hate it. I hate how it limits the storylines of these female characters I love and I hate how none of these women get abortions, ever. And you know what? The actress getting knocked up is no fucking excuse for writing a baby into a show. PLENTY of pregnant actresses have avoided getting their characters in the family way as well and it's not like the costuming department and the camera isn't going to be working around the baby bump for episode after episodes even if they do write the baby into the show.

Basically, I hate fictional babies and I want them to stop showing up in shows I watch (or have watched and am still kind of invested in). Because god knows, I really like IPS but have no desire whatsoever to get caught up on the last three episodes I haven't watched. Chances of me watching Bones next season? Less than zero. Do I care about the upcoming half of DW's season? Eh.

*This is in no way a statement about which is better - this is my own personal preference at this point in time.

I cannot get over how much I adore ( Read more... )

TV has been so disappointing lately. Seriously, so many shows have either been a half an hour of blah to get to ten minutes of awesome or 20 straight minutes of horrible. Speaking of the latter, I finally watched Community 2x20 and it was terrible. Seriously, there was about one funny thing in that episode and the rest was just offensive and mean. To make matters even worse, my mom did not get ANY of the jokes, so I had to stop and rewind and explain, prolonging the experience. And then the latest Doctor Who episode was like the sucky, less awesome version of Vampires In Venice. Breaking the pattern, the first episode of In Plain Sight's season four was really solid, even if I am still braced for an upcoming plot point that I am going to loathe.

I found last week's fannish5  really apropos, given the discussion that The Cape sparked. So before I answer last Friday's question, a word on pilots: I find it perfectly acceptable (and do) judge a show by it's pilot. A pilot is like the first line of a story, the first chapter of a book – it should introduce us to the world, the characters, and show us why we should care and why this show is going to be worth the viewers time. If the writers/showrunners can't do that... well, that's not a great sign for the show as a whole. That is probably why about 90% of the shows in my tag list have decent-to-amazing pilots; that's part of what it takes to get me watching. Some beyond outstanding pilots: Alias' (I've rewatched that episode about six times), Veronica Mars', Wonderfalls, and Soul Eater's (which hooked me and gave me an OTP by the time I'd finished watched the teaser and the opening credits).

Now, on to the fannish5 question:

Five favorite tv series that started with bad pilot episodes.

1.) Legend of the Seeker

2.) Dollhouse

3.) The Vampire Diaries

4.) In Plain Sight

5.) Criminal Minds

Right now, I have too fantastic (and extensive) comment memes in open windows. So to keep track of the fics that I want to be able to easily re-read, I'm going to be compiling links for my favorites. Which means that my lucky flist gets quick access to some of the best. (FYI, if you visit this post in a week, there will be more fics than there are now.)

Animorphs:

There Is No Such Thing As Neutral (Rachel)
We Happy Few (Rachel)

Anne Of Green Gables:

Fairy Princess

Atonement:

My Hand Is Growing Weak (Briony)

Avatar:

As To Matters Of Dress (Sokka/Suki)

Batman:

Lick Your Eyes & Then Mine (Catwoman/Batman)

Beauty & The Beast:

Hold Me Down (Belle/Beast)
Learning Humanity (Belle/Beast)

Being Human:

You Said Your Soul Would Linger On (Annie)

Bones

One Year Later (Brennan)
Turn Around Again (Angela)
Bones Break (Brennan)
Trust Not The Coyote (Caroline)
Conceptual Art Is Bullshit (Angela)
A Reasonable Explanation (Brennan)
Spent So Long Waiting Here (Booth/Brennan)

Buffyverse:

American Girls (Buffy)
Plans (Faith)
Tired Of Being Cautious (Fred)
Travel It All (Faith)
Razor's Edge (Buffy)
But You've Got The Headstone All Ready (Buffy)
There Is No Prince (Buffy/Giles)

Casino Royale:

Juggernaut Heart (Vesper)

Castle:

Takedown (Beckett/Demming)

Carmen Sandiego:

The Catch Is You Stay & See What Becomes Of Us (Carmen/Waldo)

Castle:

Fatherhood (Alexis)
The Magnificent Seven (Martha)

Community:

Do Not Go Gentle (Annie)
It's My Heart, Not Me, Who Cannot Drive (Britta, Jaye)
Take The Wheel (Britta)
On Hiatus (Britta)
My Smile Can Distract You (Annie)
Like A Child (Annie)
With The Lights Out It's Less Dangerous (Annie/Jeff)
Come A Little Bit Closer (Jeff/Annie)
Hey, Hey, You, You (Annie/Jeff)
TV Marathon (Jeff, Abed, Jeff/Annie)
In Limbo Part One and Part Two (Britta)
Sawdust (Britta/Abed)
This Could Be A Brand New Start (Britta)
Temporary (Jeff/Annie)

Criminal Minds:

Close To Home (JJ)
They Are My Own (Haley)
My Heart Has Lost It's Wind Now (Emily)
When It Doesn't Rain It Pours (Emily)
Self-Esteem Is Good For You (Garcia)
I'll Sing You All The Lullabies (They Never Sung For Me) (Elle)
Wrong Number (Garcia/Morgan)
Friday Night Goddess (Garcia, Reid)

Dark Angel:

The Tenderest Touch Leaves The Darkest Marks (Max)
Songs For Fighters (Max/Alec)

Dexter:

A Lion-Hearted Fucking Woman (Deb)
After The Deluge (Deb)

Doctor Who

I Think To Die Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure (Amy)
Climbing Back (Rose)
These Accidents of Faith and Nature (Amy)
Too Much Like A Fairy Tale (Amy)
The Good Wife (Martha)
We'll Be Their Storybook Heroes (Sally Sparrow)
Got A Sky Full of Stars (And Nothing Else) (Amelia Pond)
No Hero In Her Sky (Amelia)
First Run (River Song)
Lionesses (River Son/Liz X)

Dollhouse:

Painting The World You Want To See (Priya)

Dracula:

Phantom (Mina/Dracula)
Firefly:

Your Absence Has Gone Through Me (Inara/Nandi)
Meta (River)
Wolves (Zoe, Kaylee, River)

Fullmetal Alchemist:

Steadily (Riza)
There Goes My Gun (Riza & Rebecca)

Gilmore Girls:

A Perfect Haircut Every Day (Lane)

Glee:

Waegukin (Tina)
Inscrutable (Tina/Mike)
As If You'd Just Woke Up (Rachel/Jesse)
Fathers and Mothers (Rachel)
Linear Progression (Shelby)
Sweep The Room With A Glance (Emma)

The Good Wife

I Lost My Teeth On The Edge Of A Glass (Kalinda)
Something To Think About (Kalinda)

Gossip Girl:

Wants (Blair)
Snapshot of the Artist (Vanessa)
You Know You Love Me (Gossip Girl)
Everything Marissa Cooper Could Have Been (Serena, Summer)

Harry Potter:

On the Nature Of Hatred & It's Uses (Hermione)
Human Behavior (Bellatrix)
When Choice Means Leaving Everything Behind (Hermione)
No Take-Backs (Narcissa)
You Counting On My Failure Make Me Live (Lily/James)
It's Not A Joke (Tonks)
Blow Me Blue-Bell Bubbles (Alice)

Hercules:

Heart & Heaven (Meg)

How I Met Your Mother:

That Girl (Robin/Ted)

The Hunger Games:

REBELLION (KATNISS)

Trust (Rue)
Rise & Fall (Prim)

In Plain Sight

The Art Of Ninja Origami (Mary/Marshall)
Hard Hats (Mary & Eleanor)
Ice Cream (Mary/Marshall)

Iron Man:

The Sea Makes Your Eyes Strange (Natasha Romanova)
Dust Out The Demons (Tony/Pepper)
Fast, Thorough, & Sharp As A Tack (Pepper/Tony)
Brutality (Tony, Emma Frost, Pepper)

Labyrinth:

Missed You All Along (Sarah)
Dreams (Sarah)

Legally Blonde:

Sugar, We're Going Down (Elle)

Legend of the Seeker:

Immune To Pathos (Cara)
It Feels Like Being Broken (Cara/Kahlan)
Dress Code (Kahlan/Cara)
Contrast (Cara/Kahlan)
Life Comes With A Rush (Cara/Kahlan)
Been A Long Road To Get Here (Kahlan)
Where Goodness Used To Be (Cara)
A Friendly Assist (Cara/Kahlan)

Leverage:

I've Looked At Love (Sophie)
Kisses (Parker)
A Lie Will-Told Is Immortal (Sophie)
Translations For Broken & Breaking Out (Parker, Nate)

Life:

Pretty As A Diagram (Reese)

Merlin:

Under The Greenwood Tree (Morgana/Merlin)
Pennies In A Jar (Morgana)

Mulan:

My Story Is Not Like Yours (Mulan)

Mythology:

We Laugh Indoors (Lilith)
She Doesn't Wanna Be (Just A Little Light Turning The Key) (Lilith)

Narnia:

One of those Mink-Coated Ladies (Susan)
The Story Of An Umbrella (Susan)
Just Like The Edge Of The World (Lucy)

The OC:

Houses Out Of Cardboard Boxes (Julie)

Pirates Of The Caribean:

O The Blood And The Treasure And Losing It All (Elizabeth/Will)

Practical Magic:

Fine As A Bridesmaid (Gillian)

Push:

Drove Like Bandits On The Freeway (Nick/Cassie)
Seeing (Cassie/Nick)

Sunshine:

Story (Constance/Sunshine)

SG-1:
What I've Found (Vala)
Conflicting Mission Reports (Vala & Teyla)
5 Times Vala Threw Daniel A Birthday Party When It Wasn't His Birthday (Vala/Daniel)

Sherlock Holmes:

Play The Cards With Spades To Start (Irene)
"Damnation!" (Mary)

Star Trek:

Many Worlds (Naomi, Seven of Nine)
Lethal Poison Through The System (Uhura)
Maybe You Could've Been Something I'd Be Good At (Uhura/Gaila)

Speak:

I Cast My Face Towards The Pavement (Melinda)

Supernatural

And I Don't Owe You A Damn (Bela)
Money (Bela)
An Endangered Species (Ellen, Jo)
Ongoing Arguments (Anna, Castiel)
Fractured (Jo)
Better Find Your Ticket (Bela)
Hurricane (Bela)

Tortall:

Light Is Less (Alanna)
Risk-Taking (Alanna)

True Bood:

Lay Down Your Burden (Jessica)
Language (Jessica)
In The End I Possess My Birthplace (Tara)
Looking For Her Ordinary World (Jessica)
Remember Me When Noses Start To Bleed (Pam/Eric)
I Used To Be A Bad Girl Too (Faith/Jessica)
When Life Gives You Lemons (Tara/Franklin)

The Vampire Diaries:

Roaring Twenties (Anna)
Child Of Mine (Pearl, Anna)
Take The Safety Off (Bonnie)
Old Relations (Bonnie/Elena)
Evolution Is Corruption (Damon/Elena)

Veronica Mars:

Lies, Damned Lies, & Statistics (Veronica)
Leave The Light On (Veronica/Logan)

Wimbleton:

That's How You Know (Lizzie)

White Collar:

Put Another Dime In (Diana)

Five events in your fandom that made you happiest (fannish5 ).

Now, I have my problems with the phrasing of this question, but it's a fun one to ponder.

1.) Damon and Elena ( spoilers for TVD's finale )

2.) Leo in an alternate universe brings Cara flowers/Cara is explicitly shown to be bisexual.

3.) The dream sequences in the Buffy episode "Who Are You?"

4.) The flashbacks/backstory in "When Mary Met Marshall," particularly ( IPS spoilers )

5.) Soul Eater's original opening.

First of all, let me rec this show to my flist.

Why you want to be watching:

–A complex, abrasive, epically flawed, lead female character. (Mary Shannon is one of those roles that is so complex and difficult that it feels like someone wrote it for a man and then decided to cast a female because it would be more awesome that way).

–Hilarious dialogue. The lead actress read for the part because she laughed out loud reading the script, and it's no surprise.

–The writers. With rare exceptions, they do not do the predictable plot move. 

–Main characters verbalizing who their best friends are.

–Actual legitimate character growth. Mary and every member of Mary's family, including her long-term boyfriend (yes, think about that, a lead in a procedural with a long-term relationship and the complications therof) goes through stresses and challenges and makes choices with consequences.

How to get into this show:

Watch the second episode first. The pilot, while possessing the skeleton of the show In Plain Sight will become, is too long, sluggish in places, and introduces the two leads with a mumbling exchange that requires three viewings to understand. Go straight to "Hoosier Daddy" for a crisper, tighter show.


( IPS Up To 3x02 )
Anyway, talk to me about the awesome! Tell me favorite episodes, favorite lines, writing choices you had problems with! Favorite weird facial expressions!

( In Plain Sight )