year in fandom meme + fringe reaction post!

[wanderlight]

(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.

Comments

[such_heights]

eeeee!!! FRINGE. BROYLES. OLIVIA. FUCK YEAH. So glad you're all caught up too!

Also I think you should write Doctor Who or A:TLA fic for me because I'm selfish like that. :D Though I would also be thrilled to read this Remus/Sirius story!

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

ASD;LJFSL;DJ YES. THANK YOU FOR FLAILING SO MUCH ABOUT IT. MY LIFE IS A MUCH BETTER PLACE WITH FRINGE IN IT! ♥

I would if I could! :D I'm 99% sure I'll never be able to write A:TLA fic -- I get this weird feeling of ... disjunction, whenever I think about it? -- though there's maybe a tiny bit of hope for Who? I don't even know what I would write about, though; I'm so happy with the way Moffat is running things, and I don't usually write unless I feel the need to push canon in some way ...

[liketheroad.livejournal.com]

YOU BELONG WITH ME.

Also, YES to all your other reaction thoughts. Walter is devastatingly human.

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

PRETTY SURE THAT WILL BE ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PHRASES FOR QUITE A LONG TIME! :D

[virginia-bell.livejournal.com]

Snagging your songs of 2010! I am always up for new music, especially during exams week. (And I would have something to say about fandoms if I had, um, done anything fandomy at all this year. :/)

♥

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

Yay! I am glad you have the postgrad stuff out of the way (as far as I understand it?), now good luck with exams! :) ♥

[virginia-bell.livejournal.com]

Alas, no, just one postgrad thing -- I've got another thirteen or fourteen places to which I must still submit applications, which is a task for my so-called winter "break." >.>

This term really cannot be over quickly enough, though, fortunately, I only have to struggle through another 30 hours or so!

[czechpoint.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm so glad you also love Fringe!

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

You too! & it is hard not to love! I thought I'd enjoy it, but I didn't know the character would end up captivating me so totally. Can't wait until January. :)

[two-if-by-sea.livejournal.com]

no one else i know reads the vintner's luck and manna francis

*_____*

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

as;dlfjasldjfsd do you actually?! ♥
*clings to you*

I just ordered myself The Administration series from The Book Depository, as an undeserved early Christmas gift. Now I'm trying to figure out how to rec it to all of my friends without scaring them, ahaha.

[two-if-by-sea.livejournal.com]

I DO ACTUALLY, I OWN ALL THE ADMINISTRATIONS SERIES IN BOOK FORM, but I also read them when they were just internet novellas and i had them so memorized that the first time around, I could actually tell the minor grammar tweaks she made in the book a;sfldkjasd;f

God, I'm that person who gets a sunburn and thinks of Warrick and Toreth in Greece and Warrick is like DID YOU GET MUCH SUN and Toreth is like YOUR KINKS ARE WEIRD AS SHIT

And it's surprisingly easy! My college roommate, who was like, open to slash but not actually a slasher? I found her once curled up in bed reading the first one hahahah and i was like WHAT ARE YOU DOING and she's like SHUT UP IT IS GETTING INTERESTING!!

[jibrailis.livejournal.com]

*raises hand*

I do...? :D

[two-if-by-sea.livejournal.com]

NANCY OF COURSE YOU DO. *weeps in your arms*

[glass-icarus.livejournal.com]

... there is new Evangelion stuff?! I've barely managed to start watching the old stuff!! Clearly my to-watch list is doomed to be neverending omg.

Also, I managed to finally watch Inception this weekend! I was sort of distracted at the beginning because I was attempting to talk Yuletide, but hahaha that conversation got derailed pretty fast.

I selfishly want you to come play in A:TLA with me (because fix-it fic! and gaang shenanigans! and backstory and alternate scenarios and reconstruction and and and), but I'd be happy to read pretty much anything you write, so. ;) &hearts

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

Yeah! In addition to the original series + the movies, there's a new set of films out. The first couple follow/rework the old canon material, and then it starts going off into AWESOME NEW DIRECTIONS and reaches unmitigated levels of epic!

Hee, yay! How did you like it? (It's not my favourite movie ever, but it is quite good in many ways, and it makes for a great fandom jumping-off point.)

I really want to play in A:TLA, but for some reason even reading in that fandom seems strange to me. I have no idea why, because I love the source material and I want more stories. :( :(

[allothi.livejournal.com]

*grabs music* *notes down book recs*

Thank you!

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

Belatedly -- you are very welcome! :) Let me know if you ever get round to reading any of those books; there are never enough book discussions.

[jibrailis.livejournal.com]

Call Me By Your Name ♥♥♥

Lena Headley ♥♥♥ Actually, one of my biggest disappointments of this year (or was it last year? I don't remember when it happened) was Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles getting cancelled because I loved that show. All the shows that I love get canceled. Hold me.

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

YOU SHARE MANY OF MY OBSCURE TASTES AND NICHE FAVOURITES AND I LOVE IT. ♥ ♥ ♥

Have you watched Imagine Me and You? If not, I highly recommend it! Lena Headey is not at all like Sarah Connor in it, but there are girls kissing and happy ending and it is one of my favourite things. :)

*holds you*
I'm almost afraid to fall in love with new shows now because they end up cancelled within a year. I'm like a death curse. It's very sad.

[nekare.livejournal.com]

omg, you also watched Veronica Mars? And you managed to not post OMG SO GOOD I LOVE THIS every few seconds? You're far a stronger person than I am, haha.

AND GENE THE COW, RIGHT? YOU LOVE HER TOO? :D I love this show so much. Everyone is such a rounded character and I mock heavily the people that bitched at Anna Torv's 'wooden' acting in S1. AHAHA. Olivia seriously owns my heart. She's so strong and capable and vulnerable at the same time and she is the girl that rescues herself. ♥ And I really really like Olivia/Peter. And it's gotten so twisty and interesting as of lately, oh my. I have to admit I was really into Olivia/John at the beginning, because I'm a sap like that (and because he'll always be the Captain America in my head and Olivia/Cap would be hot, thnx).

Season 3 has been, oh man. *hands* The episodes in blue episode have been fantastic as well, but the Over There ones have been something else entirely. THE LOVE.

[nekare.livejournal.com]

ALSO, so how different are the new Evangelion movies to the series? I found it very strange that they were redoing it, and then heard that it was not exactly the same, and now I'm confused. Are the changes for the better? I'm not sure it needed changing, apart from that horrible soul-sucking final movie after which I felt that I would never smile again. That's how depressing it was.

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

I never did a reaction post about Veronica Mars, did I? *adds to list* :D

Yeah, I read some reviews to that effect and was basically confused. Olivia doesn't emote all over the place like a lot of actresses do, but I've always found her performance really precisely expressive and nuanced. My theory is that people complained for the same reason they complain about Amy Pond, maybe -- that she's a nonstandard woman in that she keeps people at a distance; there's this self-contained coldness to her, in a way, and apparently mass viewership are confused by women who don't emote in a standard fashion. Which is ridiculous. /rant

Yeah, I was SUCH an Olivia/John fan at the beginning, too. In the episode where she finally lets go of him -- I cried so much, I don't even want to talk about it. And the ring, omg. But yes! I absolutely love what they're doing with Olivia/Peter. In fact, I'm so satisfied with it that I'm not even compelled to read fic about it at all, which is so rare for me!

I think I actually loved the Over There episodes more than the Over Here ones! Does that make me a bad person? D: There's just something so original about them, and the worldbuilding and the tech asldfjls;jd.

[cherise.livejournal.com]

This entire post!! I mean, just, all of the best fandoms. Oh Sherlock and Fringe and Inception, what have you done to me. I really need to get back on Caprica. :( I think I'm in denial and I refuse to believe that it was cancelled. I've downloaded your songs zip and I am incredibly excited! I've been stuck on the Ellie Goulding/Erik Hassle song for weeks now. ugh best part of my life, downloading that album. Definitely on my top albums 2010 list just for the sheer amount of adoration I have for it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Olivia Dunham, omg! And now I'm on S3, actually. :D I was so determined to finish everything by this Friday (I'm so close! I'm downloading 3.06 now) but alas, it doesn't air for a while yet. I am completely obsessed with Peter/Olivia because actually. I just changed my desktop to a Peter/Olivia wallpaper I saved before I watched Fringe, haha.

The alternate universe is just stunning and I love everything the show does because apparently I am a closet sci-fi geek, and I love Lincoln and Charlie's back! I love Peter and Walter and Astrid ♥ I love everyone. And obviously I am head over heels for Olivia Dunham. :D

[wanderlight.livejournal.com]

asdf;asdlfk you are already on season three?! \o/ Last time I talked to you, you were still in season one! Fringe is that kind of show though, hey? Everyone I know who started watching it late just marathoned it. PETER/OLIVIA PETER/OLIVIA PETER/OLIVIA. It's so rare that a television show actually writes a pairing in a way that I like so much. *clings* I love Lincoln too! And having Charlie again! I need alternate universe episodes forever -- their close-knit team of three just makes me smile forever.

And yes -- Sherlock and Fringe and Inception! ♥ I want to read fic in all three fandoms forever. And maybe try writing them, too. Writing Sherlock fic is an incredibly daunting task, but it would be fun to write about Astrid and Walter shenanigans!

... Caprica ...
*cries*
*cries some more*
I have two episodes left, but I've been afraid to watch them, because once I do the show will be over forever. :( Definitely do get back to it, though! The second half of the season consistently blew me out of the water.