I don't have a terribly appropriate icon at the moment for this. But I need to record my reactions a little. I saw The Force Awakens this morning with my sister and iibnf (and many children, it was a 9:30am session, but pretty well-behaved, thankfully). Haven't really read any reviews/discussions yet, so this might be totally repetitive to what everyone is saying. And my thoughts are very scattered, if I try to make them coherent I'll never get around to posting.
So, you know (or those of you have drunk deep of the kool-aid) know there's lots of stories (I'm particularly thinking AUs) where Derek and Stiles meet, and Derek realises (sometimes, EVENTUALLY) that they are mates. Sometimes he pursues Stiles, sometimes he's in denial, sometimes there is pining, sometimes there are mate-finding festivals and so on. But I have a sudden deep need for a story where they meet, in an AU where werewolves are a known thing, and human!Stiles is like BOOM! WE ARE MATES AND I'M GONNA WOO THE SHIT OUT OF YOU. And Derek is like "fuck my life". And Laura, because I like stories where she's around (and maybe the rest of the family) are like lol.
Or am I crazy and just remembering story(ies) I've already read? Ok, those are two not mutually exclusive things.
Also, speaking of mates and Teen Wolf stuff, people who tend to like stuff I like should read this and wait with me for more :D
Meanwhile, both my nice boss and my unpleasant boss have been made redundant, and the CEO has announced retirement. No wonder I'm talking about this other stuff!!!
Yo, what are some good examples of queerbaiting / slashbaiting fans (eg shows/TPTB try to have their cake and eat it too, by appealing to fans who want to see non-heterosexual characters/couples/storylines, but without actually, you know, making it canon)?
Looking for both specific stuff within narrative or external (interviews/cons/promos etc), any help appreciated :)
[insert mandatory remarks about how I don't post here nearly often enough, and comments about the rapid passage of time]
So, the beginning of June, all I knew about Teen Wolf (the tv show, I'd seen the 80s movies of course) was that it wasn't very good but the guys were frequently shirtless (this knowledge mostly came from passing references on After Elton, I believe). Since I've never had a particular interest in werewolves, I had no reason to seek it out. Nothing particularly against them, but I rarely even read werewolf AUs in fandoms I like.
But then, meelie pimped season 1 at Sinpozium (impression afterwards: still didn't look great, but the shirtless guys were frequently homoerotic with each other, and there were some potentially interesting things about the show). And I was like "hmmm, I dunno, I have many high or medium quality tv shows I should get around to finishing (or starting)." I poked at some fic that she and alasen recommended, and then they somehow managed to make me come down sick soon after Sinpozium, and when I was off-work, I somehow decided it was a good idea to download and watch the entire of season 1 and the first two episodes of season 2 in one day (all that had aired thus far). 14 episodes of Teen Wolf in one day. I blame mind control, or possibly drugs. I did make use of the ffwd button for especially tedious Scott/Allison moments.
And my thoughts were becoming more specific: "this show has HUGE pacing problems", "some of this CGI makes Smallville look good", "oh my god, Scott is so boring and/or annoying, no wonder no one talks about him", "wow, Derek's life sucks SO MUCH", "why does Allison put up with Scott anyway?", "how is Lydia so fucking flawless?", "why isn't Danny in this show more?", "Martouf!", and most importantly, "STILES I LOVE YOU! WHY ARE YOU NOT THE MAIN CHARACTER!!1!"
But despite the fact that many of those are complaints, the season had ended strongly, and there was stuff I was intrigued by, and not just so I could keep up with show references in fanfic. Plus, I'd fallen for some of the characters (most especially Stiles (and his dad), Derek and Lydia). And the guys really are shirtless more often than not (except, tragically, Stiles).
The show is also very easy to just keep watching, despite the flaws, because it's basically all one on-going storyline. Episodes often pick up right where the last one left off (or cliffhangered), and the entire show has actually only taken place over a couple of months (when full moons are a plot point, its noticeable).
So I've kept watching, and 2x09 airs tomorrow. And now I'm fairly hooked on this show, in that I care about the characters and am genuinely interested in the plot. I'm...still not sure how that happened - I was just here for the porn!. But season 2 is just so much better than season 1, in terms of making the main character and his relationship sympathetic, in terms of plot and pacing, they've expanded the cast (it's still pretty damn white, but improvements are improvements), and I think their budget is bigger. I can't think of another show that I've seen improve so much, addresssing many of the major legit criticisms of itself. It's still not Buffy, but damn, it'd really like to be some of the time. Plus, there's canonical undercover-in-a-gay-bar.
And at this point, I'm just sitting back and enjoying the crazy ride that is the show's interaction with fandom. Because they not only acknowledge the major slash pairing, Derek/Stiles (it gets asked about it a lot by fans), they are now using videos of the actors cuddling to bribe fandom into voting for the show at the Teen Choice Awards - and it worked! And the out showrunner claims he is considering it within the show. I don't care, they can keep messing with us, so far, it doesn't make me uncomfortable the way show/fan interaction often does.
So, who else is watching it? I see you on twitter and/or tumblr (or at least I see it spreading amongst the Aucklanders like a plague). Talk to me about the wonder that is Stiles, or Lydia, or Derek's pecs, or whatever. (ps - am spending more time on my tumblr lately, but mostly just reblogging amusing Teen Wolf, Marvel-verse and Glee (plus misc assorted other) stuff that I want to keep.)
One of the many reasons I try to avoid spoilers - when you inadvertantly learn something interesting, that you can't wait to see, and your anticipation builds throught the week, you might be let down when it doesn't turn out as you thought.
Or you might be distracted from an otherwise good episode because you're waiting for something to happen WHICH NEVER DOES. And you realise it must be a spoiler from a future episode and you have to wait longer!!! >:(
Though it could be worse...the Glee alternative is to be let down when even after something gets used in promos, it gets left on the cutting room floor and isn't in the episode, and you only ever find out the context because fans raise thousands of dollars and buy the script at a charity auction. Glee >:(
yay, I'm going to the last preview performance (day before the "real" performances begin, so they better have their shit worked out *g*) of Legally Blonde the Musical, with alasen, meelie and eponymous. Tickets are only $70 for all seats, all preview performances (the ones I bought would normally be $120).
If it can be of use to anyone, the link to buy preview tickets is here.
iibnf (and many children, it was a 9:30am session, but pretty well-behaved, thankfully). Haven't really read any reviews/discussions yet, so this might be totally repetitive to what everyone is saying. And my thoughts are very scattered, if I try to make them coherent I'll never get around to posting.