Birdwings

I dragged my feet over this one, because last time I watched it, I only knew one of the guest stars (Lindsay Crouse from Buffy) and that gave the episode a fun aspect, what with watching Maggie Walsh get to be a reasonable human being. Unfortunately, since that viewing, I've watched a season of White Collar, and now recognize Tim DeKay. Watching lovable G-rated G-Man Peter Burke be a sleazy college professor gave me the ick, which, when combined with the villain of the week's horrific backstory, made me rather reluctant to sit down with this one a second time.

It actually gets quite fun once the investigation gets underway, though. ( Read more... )

I found this fun graphic on Tumblr of obvious parallels between Buffy and Teen Wolf characters, indicating that the latter took a lot of influence from the former (or else that teen drama archetypes are indeed fairly archetypal). Anyway, for fun, I decided to pick my winner for each category, although some characters are included twice and Angel complicates things a little.

Buffy vs. Scott (average teen turned hero). I really want to do the dark horse pick, because people are forever dunking on Scott, and I don't think he did anything wrong. But Buffy is one of the greatest protagonists ever, and her journey (even if I were to limit it to the high school years) is filled with incredible layers. Also, the writers did a fairly good job of not forgetting her various traumas when convenient. I can't say the same for poor Scott. BtVS: 1; TW: 0

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Challenge #2: Pets of Fandom

Loosely defined! Post about your pets, pets from your canon, anything you want!

I took this challenge to involve canon pets, and it ended up being half about my writing choices, and half some Highlander meta.

Because of the difficulties of working with animals, they rarely feature in shows, especially older low budget fare. Pets appear and then disappear, written off quickly (or years after being forgotten, as in the case of Miss Kitty Fantastico). Theo has a cockatoo in one episode of Jeremiah, but it is tragically killed. Kurdy considers adopting a puppy, but decides against it right before credits roll. All because it is difficult to feature animals. This is understandable, but it also means there are gaps in the worldbuilding that fanfiction is perfect for exploring.

Generally I like to add in mentions of pets and animals both wild and domesticated whenever possible, because it adds verisimilitude. In the post-apocalyptic landscape of Jeremiah, for example, redomesticating livestock should be high on every sensible person's agenda. Jeremiah shouldn't wander through town without stumbling over a flurry of chickens. So I add in details like an OC slowly taming an untrusting pair of dogs, for the natural alarm system they offer.

However, the only proper pet I have written about is Prada, Lydia Martin's adorable papillon from Teen Wolf. Teen Wolf did a better than average job remembering that animals exist. Scott's job at a vet clinic features in several scenes: Falling for Allison over an injured dog, scaring all the cats in the clinic after he's bitten, teaching Isaac how to take a dying dog's pain away (one of the most heartfelt scenes in the show). And unlike all the other characters, Lydia has a pet, who is only depicted during season two, but who gets mentioned a few times afterward before finally vanishing altogether. So whenever I write a scene taking place in Lydia's house, I figure out where Prada is likely to be and mention him wherever possible, because he's part of the family and WOULD feature. She would cuddle him when upset and seeing him waiting at the screen door would brighten her day.

Also, an evil detecting dog is a great horror trope, and it's easy to lean on that in a place like Beacon Hills.

And now, some Highlander meta, because that's a different and rather unique scenario. This show depicted horses in its flashbacks with great frequency, but only one horse was ever treated as "important" - the beautiful and lucky Double Eagle (in the best comedy episode of the show). However, I have always believed that Immortals of a certain age are not only knowledgeable about, but deeply love horses. None currently living would be so if they hadn't been saved countless times by the flight of a nimble steed. Truly, an Immortal would have to be deeply far gone to lose that attachment, although the show never addressed this in any way.

It's partly the same reason I think Immortals were probably over the moon about the personal automobile. It's why Corey loves his Packard, and Richie will always adore motorbikes. Heck, would Brian Cullen have been singing a staggeringly wasted 'Danny Boy' if he'd been approaching Richie on foot? No way. Immortals spend half their time running away from their fellow headhunters. Before the car, and for far longer, there was the horse to facilitate this. It's a concept the show never really spells out, but it seems right to me.

On the other hand, it is notable that modern Immortals are never depicted owning pets. Cats, dogs, birds, all are unfair to own. It is perhaps another part of how Immortals end up cut off from humanity, as they have to not only raise stakes quickly, but they could always lose a fight and not come home at all. Helpless dependents are at risk from their lifestyle, so it makes sense they would rarely indulge in keeping one (although a few Immortals have raised orphaned children, which is also insanely risky without some secondary caregiver, so perhaps a compelling enough case would make one adopt a forlorn animal as well). And so the horses they once were required to travel with might have been many an Immortal's only real experience with something akin to a pet, an experience now cut off as horses no longer aid but hinder the mobility they need to survive. Of course they would be wistful and affectionate when faced with them.

I wonder how many Immortals quietly own a fully-staffed stable somewhere...

1. My mother gifted me the complete Penny Dreadful on DVD. Judging by trailers, I will definitely not be watching this while I'm eating, but it looks very promising. Please chime in with opinions if you've seen it!

2. More of The Raven and the writers clearly decided Nick was not going to fit the Duncan mode after all, as his appreciation of culture clearly died with Claudia and in the two following episodes he's a total dick. He's rude and belittling, heavy-handed, oafish, angry, uncouth and occasionally drunk. He breaks down Amanda's door and then doesn't even hold his gun properly on entrance (I laughed, and I don't think I was supposed to). His bangs keep getting in his eyes. He bitches and moans and is stubborn as a mule and won't listen to reason. He's been catapulted into a world whose rules no longer make sense and he is Not Happy about it. He's hysterical to watch. I want popcorn.

Then there's episode four, where the writing steps up and Nick's interactions with Amanda become less eyebrow-raising and more human. Plus: Amanda showing off her emotional perceptiveness. Minus: Amanda not winning her swordfight on screen. I wanted to know what New Age Abacus Man's last words were.

3. Just watched the 2015 Doctor Who Christmas special 'The Husbands of River Song.' I got choked up three times, and the final scene... I don't do happy-sad crying (or at least I never used to, but who knows now). The only episode which has ever wrung such a response from me was 'The Prom' on Buffy. 'Husbands' attains the same rank. Quite striking, as it goes from screwball comedy to an acknowledgement that happy endings do not last but are still profound experiences. River treasured the memory of their night on Darillium and the Doctor doesn't try to take that away from her, honoring her final moments and (even without memory of Clara) her refusal to have her memories removed. Everything ends, and he's able to deal with that in a healthy manner for... Possibly the first time in NuWho?

I needed this episode.

I've got a couple recommendations today.

Passion of the Nerd finally reached 'The Gift' in his Buffy videos. I've watched all of them as they've rolled out, and while he occasionally gets too caught up in philosophical minutiae even for my liking, with this episode? He really nailed it, and it was a very impactful watch for me personally.



It also helps encapsulate so many of the reasons I feel season five is both the best season of the show, and the one which feels the most different in tone. There is something powerful and mythic in season five. It is not my favorite season to revisit because it is just so heavy, but it is the show at its most accomplished and textured. Almost otherworldly at points.

Meanwhile...



I've only read a couple Agatha Christie books, but this study of her life by a thoughtful forensic psychologist was really interesting. I've watched a few of his previous videos and he always delivers. I like that he doesn't settle for recapping other opinions like a warmed-over wiki article, and seems to actually sift various sources and draw his own conclusions, even if those conclusions are not always particularly dramatic. He does not do biographical clickbait. And it was totally enjoyable to hear about Agatha Christie's life, which I knew very little about outside of the disappearance.

I'm trying to get through this show quickly, so that I can finish mapping and structuring the remaining story I (so help me) need to write. Now I'm in season four and it's Not Good. So Very Not Good. But 3B was strong.

I'll start by saying I can understand the hype for this season quite easily. It was creative and played to all of the show's strengths, and although I'm gonna say it did not fix any of the problems, at least it avoided tripling down on them. It's always Teen Wolf and it always makes no actual sense, but I continue to love it. ( Read more... )

A post was still needed to cover the bulk of the season, so here are my thought. A lot to love, and a small but significant portion to hate, but most of that I covered in previous mini-rants (Carson, Kolya and the "Irritable" two-parter).

Plenty of stuff I liked, though! ( Cut for length and overuse of parentheticals) )

Season three continues to be pretty great.... except it has this weird hangup with Lucius, the creepy sitcom roofie guy, who reappears, getting a whole second episode dedicated to his "hijinks." Being less revolting, I did watch this outing all the way through and was "rewarded" by this being the episode which wraps up the ferocious feud between Sheppard and this show's most effective recurring human villain.

Concluding a multi-episode high stakes arc with an episode in which he felt like an afterthought.

It was a lot like if Xavier St. Cloud showed up and was beheaded during 'The Ransom of Richard Redstone.'

Or if Buffy staked Drusilla during the last three minutes of 'Go Fish.'

It's just fundamentally unsatisfying to me.

This got long, so I'll cut. ( Read more... )

These are just some of my favorite or most memorable stuff I heard and watched this year, starting with songs embedded in the stories themselves, transforming their original meaning in all manner of pleasant ways going forward.

12 Monkeys was especially good at this task, and made excellent use of incidental music throughout. 'Arms of Mine' turned into my second favorite Otis Redding song because of it, and 'Don't You Forget About Me' by Simple Minds has been granted permanent rotation in my playlist. More impressively, this show elevated songs I hadn't found more than indifferently tolerable before, like Foghat's 'Slow Ride.' I always thought of it as a dumb hard rock song - not the worst but far from the best. This year, whenever it comes on the radio, it carries the charming image of Cole in sunglasses and a bad 70s shirt. This makes a huge difference in my outlook. Even a song I utterly loathe, 'I've Had the Time of My Life' (by... no idea, and I sure ain't looking it up), has been positively affected, in that while I still think the song is annoying, the last time it came on the radio at work I got a gigantic grin on my face in memory of Ramse.

Those were songs I already knew in other contexts. Meanwhile, Hard Core Logo introduced me to the Headstones (Hugh Dillon's band), and I went cruising around YouTube discovering that I liked the film version of 'Sonic Reducer' considerably more than the Dead Boys original (sorry) and that the Headstones did a powerful rendition of 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' in 2019 which is much faster than the original, and done with great passion and a beautiful music video (also, Hugh Dillon is remarkably handsome without the mohawk).



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