year in fandom meme + fringe reaction post!
(1) Your main fandom of the year?
INCEPTION. ♥ I also read a lot of Sherlock fic, some fantastic Merlin stories, and a little bit of RPF.
Your favourite film watched this year?
Imagine Me & You makes me smile and smile and smile. (I'll never get enough of Lena Headey, although the fact that she's been cast as Cersei Lannister confuses me?) Alternately: the new Evangelion stuff is EPIC.
Your favourite book read this year?
This is always such a hard question. Probably André Aciman's Call Me By Your Name, a novel which manages to deconstruct love without ever using the word itself. It's intimate, defamiliarising, unflinching, devastatingly precise, and probably my favourite love story of all time. Runners-up include Blindsight by Peter Watts, The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox, and everything Manna Francis has ever written.
Your favourite album or song to listen to this year?
I'll do ( yet another) albums post soon, but meanwhile, here are my songs of 2010.
Your favourite TV show of the year?
FRINGE. FRINGE. FRINGE. Also, um -- Caprica, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Nikita, Modern Family, and Community. I also watched A:TLA and Veronica Mars this year, though they aired some time ago, if that counts.
Your favourite LJ community of the year?
therewerecracks, which posts daily Doctor Who screencaps; absolutely gorgeous.
Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
Is Joseph Gordon-Levitt a fandom?
Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
Caprica being cancelled. Or Merlin, which broke my heart so badly that I had to stop watching it. Though maybe we can reconcile sometime. Or Supernatural, which I finally gave up on.
Your TV boyfriend of the year?
PHILIP BROYLES. HOLY FUCK.
Your TV girlfriend of the year?
How is that even a question, when Olivia Dunham exists?
Your biggest squee moment of the year?
"You have to come back -- because you belong with me."
The most missed of your old fandoms?
THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES. Though I will never not miss HP! *clings* In September I finished a Remus/Sirius story that I've had on my hard drive for two years. It was just for personal satisfaction, but I like it so much that I might actually post it sometime.
The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
I don't know. I wouldn't mind another fandom to write in, though. I am vulnerable and open to suggestion, so go on. Convince me. :)
Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?
inception_bang stories, and being able to join the weekly Fringe flail, now that I've seen all of the aired episodes.
Also, I have three-and-a-half more Inception stories which are yelling at me, wanting to be finished, so maybe those will eventually show up?
(2) I finally caught up, and -- spoilers --
FRINGE REACTION POST
-- up to 3.09.
01. Let's just get this out of the way first: Anna Torv, holy fuck you are a gorgeous creature of steel and grace and a voice that makes me shiver.
Olivia is one of the most compelling characters I have come across in a long time. I love her intriguing balance of coldness and warmth. I love the fact that whenever she feels emotionally vulnerable, she just channels it into being badass. I love the way she deals with so much shit and just locks it all down and gets the job done. Competence really turns me on, and nnngh.
I think I really fell for her in 1.11 "Bound," the ep where she's kidnapped, has to go through a spinal tap, and then fights her kidnappers and escapes right after that. I mean, that's pretty badass. Or possibly when she faced down Broyles early into S1 and basically said: Yes, I do get emotionally involved in my job. And it makes me damn good at what I do. So stop trying to discount me by pulling the "women are too emotional" crap and fuck off. (And thus began a beautiful relationship of grudging, absolute respect and mutual trust!)
It's pretty fascinating how Olivia's been characterised through juxtaposition in the third season. alt!Olivia (what's fandom calling her, by the way?) is a great foil. Though, interestingly, we never get to know her. We get alt!Olivia-playing-Olivia, and Olivia-thinking-she's-alt!Olivia, but never a pure expression of alt!Olivia herself. I ... don't really know where I'm going with that.
02. Peter/Olivia is my new Sydney/Vaughn. The way he's there for her, the way he smiles at her (who wouldn't want that?). Olivia's fear, the distance she keeps. It's all very simple stuff, but beautifully realised -- their love spans universes, asdl;kjals;dkjf.
I loved the beautiful, slow burn of the first two seasons, but ever since the Olivia switch in S3, my feelings are a mess. What it did to their relationship -- I can't articulate it, because it hits too close to home right now. Or ... not, actually, ahaha. Because Peter slept with Olivia's doppelgänger from an alternate universe and that doesn't really have an equivalent in real life. My point is, there is love, and betrayal, and a girl trying to cope with the consequences of a mistake a boy made, and that's enough to break me at the moment.
03. Even though I'm dedicated to Peter/Olivia, I kind of ship Olivia/everyone? This might just be because I want to sleep with Anna Torv, but think about it! Olivia/Broyles would be HOT AS FUCK together. Imagine the aesthetically appealing angry!sex. And I can't get over the quiet, doomed wistfulness of Olivia/Charlie. And I think that office scene in "Brown Betty" made everyone ship Olivia/Astrid, really.
04. BROYLES. NNGH. FUCK. In short: I have a type. He is it.
I have been a fan of Lance Reddick's magnetic, hotass intensity ever since watching season one The Wire. I can get no further with The Wire, for reasons that have nothing to do with how amazing the show is and everything to do with leftovers from stupid friend drama. I have to admit: I started watching Fringe partially because faeriemaiden and such_heights and nekare kept telling me to, but, uh, 90% because I wanted more Lance Reddick. Which I got, and am very pleased with.
05. Peter fascinates me, from a writing perspective. The entire mytharc revolves around him: the rupture between worlds created when Walter saved him, his role in healing/destroying the multiverse (well -- dualverse?). (And yeah, we get it -- what's with your Jesus/redemption metaphors, JJ? Does the sketch of the Doomsday machine remind anyone else of the Rambaldi sketches?)
Anyway, my point: Peter is, arguably, the locus of the story, but ironically, he has very little agency. Most of what he does is in response to what's been done to him, and character-wise he's developed primarily in relation to other characters. I'd say that Olivia, Peter, and Walter are Fringe's main characters; while Olivia and Walter could be uprooted and transplanted into other shows, and still come across as who they are, I'm not sure that Peter could. A lot of his character would be lost without the weight of the Bishop family history, and his role as Olivia's love interest.
06. Lastly: oh, Walter. You are so fucking human, it kills me. ♥
I am sorry that my reaction post is so very overdue, nekare! :D It got long, so I'll stop here, and do the other half of what I wanted to talk about later. Meanwhile, here is a tiny, non-spoilery summary of my headspace for cherise and everyone who's still in S1 or S2: I love everything about this show. I love Olivia fucking Dunham, who's a total BAMF and possibly one of my favourite characters of all time in any medium. [Insert more superlatives here.] I love Broyles and the irrepressible Walter and Peter and Astrid and Charlie and Nina, which is to say, everyone. I love Charlie's aviators and "Astro/Aspirin/Asterisk" and Walter's lab and Peter being protective and alternate universes and asdljflskdfjs Peter/Olivia in their long black coats, wandering around crime scenes and determinedly not smiling together. I am so emotionally invested in this show that it's ridiculous. And now it's moved to the Friday timeslot of death. I am a curse unto TV shows.
INCEPTION. ♥ I also read a lot of Sherlock fic, some fantastic Merlin stories, and a little bit of RPF.
Your favourite film watched this year?
Imagine Me & You makes me smile and smile and smile. (I'll never get enough of Lena Headey, although the fact that she's been cast as Cersei Lannister confuses me?) Alternately: the new Evangelion stuff is EPIC.
Your favourite book read this year?
This is always such a hard question. Probably André Aciman's Call Me By Your Name, a novel which manages to deconstruct love without ever using the word itself. It's intimate, defamiliarising, unflinching, devastatingly precise, and probably my favourite love story of all time. Runners-up include Blindsight by Peter Watts, The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox, and everything Manna Francis has ever written.
Your favourite album or song to listen to this year?
I'll do ( yet another) albums post soon, but meanwhile, here are my songs of 2010.
Your favourite TV show of the year?
FRINGE. FRINGE. FRINGE. Also, um -- Caprica, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Nikita, Modern Family, and Community. I also watched A:TLA and Veronica Mars this year, though they aired some time ago, if that counts.
Your favourite LJ community of the year?
therewerecracks, which posts daily Doctor Who screencaps; absolutely gorgeous.
Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
Is Joseph Gordon-Levitt a fandom?
Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
Caprica being cancelled. Or Merlin, which broke my heart so badly that I had to stop watching it. Though maybe we can reconcile sometime. Or Supernatural, which I finally gave up on.
Your TV boyfriend of the year?
PHILIP BROYLES. HOLY FUCK.
Your TV girlfriend of the year?
How is that even a question, when Olivia Dunham exists?
Your biggest squee moment of the year?
"You have to come back -- because you belong with me."
The most missed of your old fandoms?
THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES. Though I will never not miss HP! *clings* In September I finished a Remus/Sirius story that I've had on my hard drive for two years. It was just for personal satisfaction, but I like it so much that I might actually post it sometime.
The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
I don't know. I wouldn't mind another fandom to write in, though. I am vulnerable and open to suggestion, so go on. Convince me. :)
Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?
inception_bang stories, and being able to join the weekly Fringe flail, now that I've seen all of the aired episodes.
Also, I have three-and-a-half more Inception stories which are yelling at me, wanting to be finished, so maybe those will eventually show up?
(2) I finally caught up, and -- spoilers --
FRINGE REACTION POST
-- up to 3.09.
01. Let's just get this out of the way first: Anna Torv, holy fuck you are a gorgeous creature of steel and grace and a voice that makes me shiver.
Olivia is one of the most compelling characters I have come across in a long time. I love her intriguing balance of coldness and warmth. I love the fact that whenever she feels emotionally vulnerable, she just channels it into being badass. I love the way she deals with so much shit and just locks it all down and gets the job done. Competence really turns me on, and nnngh.
I think I really fell for her in 1.11 "Bound," the ep where she's kidnapped, has to go through a spinal tap, and then fights her kidnappers and escapes right after that. I mean, that's pretty badass. Or possibly when she faced down Broyles early into S1 and basically said: Yes, I do get emotionally involved in my job. And it makes me damn good at what I do. So stop trying to discount me by pulling the "women are too emotional" crap and fuck off. (And thus began a beautiful relationship of grudging, absolute respect and mutual trust!)
It's pretty fascinating how Olivia's been characterised through juxtaposition in the third season. alt!Olivia (what's fandom calling her, by the way?) is a great foil. Though, interestingly, we never get to know her. We get alt!Olivia-playing-Olivia, and Olivia-thinking-she's-alt!Olivia, but never a pure expression of alt!Olivia herself. I ... don't really know where I'm going with that.
02. Peter/Olivia is my new Sydney/Vaughn. The way he's there for her, the way he smiles at her (who wouldn't want that?). Olivia's fear, the distance she keeps. It's all very simple stuff, but beautifully realised -- their love spans universes, asdl;kjals;dkjf.
I loved the beautiful, slow burn of the first two seasons, but ever since the Olivia switch in S3, my feelings are a mess. What it did to their relationship -- I can't articulate it, because it hits too close to home right now. Or ... not, actually, ahaha. Because Peter slept with Olivia's doppelgänger from an alternate universe and that doesn't really have an equivalent in real life. My point is, there is love, and betrayal, and a girl trying to cope with the consequences of a mistake a boy made, and that's enough to break me at the moment.
03. Even though I'm dedicated to Peter/Olivia, I kind of ship Olivia/everyone? This might just be because I want to sleep with Anna Torv, but think about it! Olivia/Broyles would be HOT AS FUCK together. Imagine the aesthetically appealing angry!sex. And I can't get over the quiet, doomed wistfulness of Olivia/Charlie. And I think that office scene in "Brown Betty" made everyone ship Olivia/Astrid, really.
04. BROYLES. NNGH. FUCK. In short: I have a type. He is it.
I have been a fan of Lance Reddick's magnetic, hotass intensity ever since watching season one The Wire. I can get no further with The Wire, for reasons that have nothing to do with how amazing the show is and everything to do with leftovers from stupid friend drama. I have to admit: I started watching Fringe partially because faeriemaiden and such_heights and nekare kept telling me to, but, uh, 90% because I wanted more Lance Reddick. Which I got, and am very pleased with.
05. Peter fascinates me, from a writing perspective. The entire mytharc revolves around him: the rupture between worlds created when Walter saved him, his role in healing/destroying the multiverse (well -- dualverse?). (And yeah, we get it -- what's with your Jesus/redemption metaphors, JJ? Does the sketch of the Doomsday machine remind anyone else of the Rambaldi sketches?)
Anyway, my point: Peter is, arguably, the locus of the story, but ironically, he has very little agency. Most of what he does is in response to what's been done to him, and character-wise he's developed primarily in relation to other characters. I'd say that Olivia, Peter, and Walter are Fringe's main characters; while Olivia and Walter could be uprooted and transplanted into other shows, and still come across as who they are, I'm not sure that Peter could. A lot of his character would be lost without the weight of the Bishop family history, and his role as Olivia's love interest.
06. Lastly: oh, Walter. You are so fucking human, it kills me. ♥
I am sorry that my reaction post is so very overdue, nekare! :D It got long, so I'll stop here, and do the other half of what I wanted to talk about later. Meanwhile, here is a tiny, non-spoilery summary of my headspace for cherise and everyone who's still in S1 or S2: I love everything about this show. I love Olivia fucking Dunham, who's a total BAMF and possibly one of my favourite characters of all time in any medium. [Insert more superlatives here.] I love Broyles and the irrepressible Walter and Peter and Astrid and Charlie and Nina, which is to say, everyone. I love Charlie's aviators and "Astro/Aspirin/Asterisk" and Walter's lab and Peter being protective and alternate universes and asdljflskdfjs Peter/Olivia in their long black coats, wandering around crime scenes and determinedly not smiling together. I am so emotionally invested in this show that it's ridiculous. And now it's moved to the Friday timeslot of death. I am a curse unto TV shows.