This post is, astonishingly, not about writing.

[dragojustine]

Fannish round-up

Pushing Daisies: This show is made of a sparkling black-humor gemstone in a 24-carat genius-plated absurdity setting and hung on a necklace of shiny.

Dexter: This season of Dexter is FREAKING ME THE FUCK OUT. Seriously. We've seen Dexter actually shove the knife in a couple times this season, which we never did before, and the one shot of him feeling the victim's pulse as the guy bleeds out? Shivery-creepy. And Miguel Prado is creeping me the hell out too- a fabulously complex character, who I am fabulously confliced about, and Jimmy Smits is hitting it absolutely OUT OF THE PARK acting-wise. And Debra is still one of the most interesting female TV characters I've ever seen (though it looked for about two episodes there like Anton was going to be the bad guy, which... sorry, but no woman has luck THAT bad. Two serial killers in three years? So I am glad they're not going that route. I don't think).

Chuck: Okay, the Chuck/Casey is starting to just slay me. They've built it up so slowly and surely, with lots of banter and snark and actual protectiveness and genuine care underneath, and then this episode Casey gave him that wink. And then they did the "thin plot contrivance made them do it!" and were just self-aware enough about how ludicrous it was for me to love it. That whole bit felt very fanficcy to me. And I will not believe for a moment that Adam Baldwin doesn't know damn wel that he's feeding the slashers.

And now who is writing the Chuck/Bryce, Jill/Bryce, Casey/Bryce, Sarah/Bryce, Chuck/Casey fic where Bryce is obviously the biggest slut of the CIA and Casey has to get Chuck to figure that out and get over it? Because I want to read that one.

SGA: SGA fills me flailing, wild, flappy-handed, dolphin-pitched squee. I am not sure how any other show will ever measure up for pure character awesomeness and love combined with tongue-in-cheek self-aware meta. It more than made up for Clip Show Fail.

Poor Jason Momoa looks like crap this season. If he really couldn't stand the hair any more, why didn't they just write Ronon cutting his hair into an episode? I mean, it could have been an actual Ronon-centric episode that included clues about Satedan culture and his character arc... Instead, we just get a freakishly gorgeous man who looks like his head is getting eaten by a space monster. Aren't wig makers better than that these days?

But I love how much Ronon loves kick-ass women. You noticed that? The minute he sees a woman can fight, he gets all starry-eyed. And this new chick? She can fight without wearing a leather corset! I know, you didn't think that was possible, did you? And Ronon is so ruthlessly competent in his own area and so take-charge when situations require it, and he has such a great sly sense of humor and was so totally fucking with Woolsey, and it takes all of them working together to save the city, and Teyla is so Catwoman to John's Batman... *dissolves in SGA love*

Why the hell does Teyla not have a sling or something for that baby? Really. Also, Rachel Luttrell, how are you so hot?

Any episode where Radek mumbles in Czech and rolls his eyes is a good episode. I have missed him so. And I have this irresistible urge to pet his hair. ALL THE TIME. Worse than Sheppard's. One day I WILL get my John/Rodney/Radek fic.

John in command mode makes me all shivery. Lorne in any mode makes me all shivery. This show is so not helping my military kink problem.

The little RC-car racing bit? I laughed 'til I cried. Oh, Rodney, give it up. You won't stand a chance against Sheppard. But their geeky-teenage-boys-in-their-clubhouse love is so canon! They just hang out together, and it's perfection itself. And Rodney's shaft needs lube. Canonically, so really, now we absolutely KNOW they are messing with us.

And they are so married, and so very meta about the little "I can't do it! It's a million to one odds!" / "Okay, so, ten minutes then?" bit, because John really believes Rodney can do ANYTHING. I love that. And so very meta about "It's a suicide mission!" / "Well... isn't that sort of... what I do?" I mean, seriously, Rodney. Telling John it's a suicide mission is a little like dangling string in front of a kitten, isn't it? And acknowledging that doesn't take away from the drama, for me, because I see that as such a basic point of conflict in the slash goggles- that John always feels the need to be a hero and Rodney is so conflicted about that basic fact about John.

And how much do I love them coming out of wherever they were on the peir and seeing the central tower? One of my big regrets is how this show very early on lost the sense of wonder at the city- the sheer size and strangeness and grandeur and glory of it. I miss the city being a character in her own right, and I love that in fic, and I love episodes that stay in the city.

Supernatural: Jensen's wildly overacted fear? Hilarious. Sam's wibbly angst on finding out that angels are not actually very fluffy, and Dean's desire to somehow restore that faith to him even though Dean himself doesn't buy it? Heartbreaking. Seeing Dean converse with a suicidal teddy-bear? Priceless. That moment when we see Dean needing -- STILL, after four years, still, needing reassurance that Sam wouldn't choose to leave, doesn't want his old life back? Again, heartbreaking. Sometimes our boys fail to really see each other, and I think those are some of the most interesting relationship moments. And I kind of love Castiel a LOT.

And oh, shit. Oh, GOD. The final conversation about Dean's memories of hell. Jesus. Brutal, and awful, and I'm finally really believing that the Dean's PTSD storyline will be well done, and oh... wow. Jensen. You are amazing.

Do I have anything to say about SPN that everybody on my flist hasn't already said? *thinks* No? Okay, then. OMG SPOILER ALERT: The boys are pretty! Yaay pretty boys!

Yuletide: I got my assignment, and it's like it was custom-tailored for me. SERIOUSLY. Something I never would have written on my own impetus, but the minute I saw the details I was all "OMG I WANT TO WRITE THIS SO BADLY IT WILL BE AWESOME!" I'm torrenting the fandom now, and I have, you know, a season to watch and RESEARCH to do and NOTES to take. *cracks knuckles*

Life round-up
Short version: Lonely, depressed, broke, not wanting to talk about it. I think major changes need to be made, but I don't know what they are yet and I think I am going to be skating through Christmas on my savings. Just... it all seems pretty insurmountable. That's all.

Comments

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

1) I think Ronon's hair is about the still as unreleased action figure. I believe this! They made an action figure and so poor JM must continue to look like that until its out!

2) What do you mean--if they're BUILDING the cars, Rodney's going to kick John's ass! (THey implied that they'd built them, but they did look like bad store-bought cars, didn't they? MUCH cooler if they'd built them, so in my head, that's what they did!)

3) YAY CITY!!

4) Re: life, I give you a drive by hug and all the good karma I can spare, because you are awesome.

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Well, they aren't so much building them as MODIFYING them, I think. Souping them up. But STILL. John will not be out-driven by Rodney any more than he will be out-piloted by Rodney! I mean, maybe if it was a straightforward engineering test- just, you know, a straight shot down one length of hallway- but they were taking corners and U-turns and shit! No way Rodney wins.

(That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!)

Thank you for the hug. It was needed.

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

SGA this week made me smile so wide. Love, love, and yes, a thousand times yes on the hair. We've seen Satedans with short hair; Ronon can trim it. Sheesh; people in rl get hair cuts; it's what they do.

Teyla rocks like a whole mountain of granite. And needs a stroller. They fold up! They wouldn't take any space on the next ship in.

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

Separate post for the you not feeling good bit; so sorry, honey and I hope things turn around for you very soon :;hugshugs::

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. *hugs*

[ariadne83]

I see that as such a basic point of conflict in the slash goggles- that John always feels the need to be a hero and Rodney is so conflicted about that basic fact about John.

Yes. Absolutely. That's why I think episode-tags for Midway are missing a goldmine for exploring their relationship. Rodney knows that what he's about to do will kill John but he does it anyway, because he has greater responsibilities. I can't help but think that John would love him for that - for the fact that he can trust Rodney to do his job even at such a high cost, and for the fact that Rodney allows *John* to do his job too. I've said elsewhere that John is one of those characters who takes "I'll kill you if I have to" as a declaration of love.

And vice-versa, I'm sure Rodney would rather it wasn't *necessary* for John to risk his life, but he'd never stop him, and he wouldn't respect him anymore if John did put himself first. John's heroism is something Rodney responds to immediately and tries to emulate, going back to Hide and Seek. Now that I think about it, it's one of the things that makes the pairing so interesting: one the the aspects that draws them together is the thing that might kill one or both of them. They both know it, they both accept it, and they carry on making the most of what they have without letting the fear overwhelm them.

In short, Prodigal was awesome.

P.S. How great was it that John was the damsel in distress this week?

[ariadne83]

And I hope things look up for you soon *sends hugs*

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Yes.

(And so my two biggest fandoms right now are the one where Rodney would allow John to die to save innocent bystanders, and the one where Dean would rather the literal end of the world and hellfire and brimstone and Lucifer walking among us than see Sam hurt. There are so many DIFFERENT ways for our woobies to be fucked up! I kind of love that)

And John makes an ADORABLE damsel in distress, which is good, because he isn't actually all that good at being a big damn hero. Though he tries. *pets him*

[hilarytamar.livejournal.com]

I've said elsewhere that John is one of those characters who takes "I'll kill you if I have to" as a declaration of love.

Might you be willing to point me to this 'elsewhere'? This is a fascinating reading (and – now that you've pointed it out – one of the most compelling explanations of their relationship I've come across).

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

I'm a little interested that you haven't seen this reading before- to me it seems almost ridiculously obvious. I suspect, in retrospect, that that's because I'm coming from SPN where "Do you love him enough to kill him?" is the central character relationship question for a whole season (and a much more interesting question than "Do you love him enough to die for him?" which is a foregone conclusion. Ah, that show...)

[fakymcfakerson.livejournal.com]

*cheerleads for you*

I haven't had a chance to watch anything you've been talking about recently, really. Well, that's not true- I never think of it when I *do* have time. But I look forward to seeing what you mean. :)

And- am I to understand correctly that they, er, put a WIG on Ronon? Fake dreads? Someone really made that choice? I mean, Teyla's bad enough, but... really?

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

I know! A wig on Ronon... evidence of some pretty ludicrously bad decision-making.

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

They did writing Ronon cutting his hair into an episode at the beginning of the season for Jason, but TPTB up the line vetoed it. :-( Instead, he now has to wear the dread wig that has the weird-ass orange bangs that fly up in the front WTF is up with that?

I also wondered about Teyla not having a baby sling. She's a fighter--keep those hands free for action!

So have you read the outrageously hot John/Radek/Lorne/Rodney fic by Shusu, Passing Shot?

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

I love you FOREVER for that rec.

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

One of my all-time favorites! Toppy!Radek just totally does it for me.

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

I mostly adore the fanon of Radek being at the center of the Atlantis-wide black market and gambling ring. I mean, there's no canon basis for it at all, but OF COURSE *g*

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

It is a pervasive fanon take on him, and I love it, too!

[hilarytamar.livejournal.com]

I, uh... I probably should have known better than to click that link right before I had to leave for work. Um. That is indeed a doozy of a fic. It hardly seems adequate to thank you for the rec, but thank you.

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

Sorry if you had to change your panties before work. *is totally not sorry*

:-D

[princessofg.livejournal.com]

i got nuthin' re your fandoms (one-trick pony, here), but as far as real life: *HUGS*

hang in there.

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much.

[mindyfromohio.livejournal.com]

And I will not believe for a moment that Adam Baldwin doesn't know damn wel that he's feeding the slashers.

Adam Baldwin loves us and wants us to be happy.

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

That is really the only explanation for the wink. *nod*

[hilarytamar.livejournal.com]

Telling John it's a suicide mission is a little like dangling string in front of a kitten, isn't it? […] because I see that as such a basic point of conflict in the slash goggles- that John always feels the need to be a hero and Rodney is so conflicted about that basic fact about John.

This is why I love your meta: it always make such damned sense. Which is to say, it makes sense of what's on the screen as well as of what ought to be on the screen, if the show treated the characters as seriously as we do and actually followed out the implications of their portrayal.

I miss the city being a character in her own right, and I love that in fic, and I love episodes that stay in the city.

Absolutely, and that's one of my favorite things about "First Contact", which I continue to adore with an unholy glee (and, oddly, not especially for its Daniel/Rodney snark, though for what I can't yet pinpoint). More relevantly, have you seen the Sentient Atlantis fic table? I haven't checked it in ages -- a little too daunting even for me (but Lord do I approve of the impulse that created it), and there's apparently an updated version here, and an even more updated version here. (*clutches the maintainer as a kindred cataloging spirit*)

Re: the life round-up: I'm so sorry. That always feels to me like an especially frustrating place to be, which in turn always seemed so unfair: depression is one thing, depression + knowing what, in theory, might help (if only in the abstract) just makes everything worse. (Feel free to ping me on AIM or Twitter if you'd like to talk, or, alternately, if you'd like to very specifically not talk.) *hugs* *and hugs again*

[dragojustine.livejournal.com]

Holy cow- I will need to save those links. Where would fandom be without crazy librarian types?

Thank you so much for everything *hugs back*

Oh, and if my feelings about John's hero impulses make sense to you, read MVP (http://trickster.org/speranza/cesper/MVP.html) by cesperanza. It's the best working-out of that idea in fic I've seen, and Rodney realizing John's disposability/lack of worth is really heartbreaking.

[sothcweden.livejournal.com]

I just want to thank you for all the meta you do. I'm new here (just got an LJ account last week), but I've been stopping by to read your stories and meta for the last couple of months. I love your take on the SGA characters, and now I really can't wait until S5 is out on DVD so I can watch,too...