my baby, he don't talk sweet, he ain't got much to say
I'm working on a "dream cast" post for Nora Roberts' Three Sisters Island trilogy. The cast is done, so hopefully I'll have the graphics done tomorrow and will be able to post it, if anyone is interested!
Also. It's been a long time since I've felt the need to do any sort of good long in-depth television post. Actually, whether I've ever written a good television post is probably up for debate. It's been long enough that I can't even remember any examples with which to defend myself.
But lately I've been thinking thoughts regarding some shows that I'm starting to fall out of love with, and other shows I'm starting to fall in love with.
I can't promise these thoughts are going to be focused or coherent (and I can promise they aren't going to be spoiler-free, or profanity-free, for that matter), but they're things that I need to say.
Fucking sexist stupid show.
Ahem. Now that I've gotten that out of the way. I don't really understand how I can disagree with/despise nearly every "big picture" thing this show is doing and still enjoy watching it. The writers are doing a good job dialogue-wise lately, and I'm enjoying how unapologetically evil Klaus is (and how unapologetically bratty Rebekah is), but there is just so much going on here that I despise. The fact that the majority of characters who have died and stayed dead are female, the fact that this show seems to get off on torturing Caroline, the fact that people are complete Damon apologists.
While I'm on the subject of Damon: i have seen so many people shipping him with Caroline in a sincere way lately, and one of their little examples that keeps popping up on Tumblr is the fight scene at the Lockwood mansion. To these people, I have but one thing to say:
Fuck. you.
Damon raped Caroline. Have we forgotten this?? She was being compelled when she was with him. That means she did not consent when they were having sex, or when he was feeding on her.
It was forced by compulsion. It's rape. Rape is not romantic.
Oh, and Delena shippers? He did the same thing to your precious Elena. When he forced his blood on her before the ritual so that Klaus couldn't complete it, that was essentially rape. He forced it on her. He didn't give her a choice. He took that choice away from her. Just because he didn't force himself on her sexually doesn't negate that.
But no. We can't possibly remember any of that about Damon, because these days he's Elena's perfect hero.
Look. I'm not denying that he's being good to her. I'm not denying that there is good in him. But peoples' flaws cannot be blatantly ignored, and that's what is happening with Damon lately, in the writing, but especially in fandom, no matter how many times they bring up how Elena is trying to 'make him be like Stefan'. Blah blah blah. Those are words. And what the fuck is so wrong with wanting someone you're spending time with NOT TO KILL PEOPLE??
And-- oh!-- guess who is still paying for her so-called "flaws"? That would be Caroline Forbes. First, there's the drama with her mother finding out. Then she's kidnapped by a werewolf, tortured by werewolves, and losing trust in her best friend the werewolf. And once she finally gets that back and is finally happy and living her life like the normal teenager she wants so badly to be, she's betrayed by yet another person she trusts and cares for-- her own father. He, too, tortures her, relentlessly-- but his is worse, because he believes what he is doing is right.
I'm sorry.
Let me get this straight.
Elena wanting Damon not to kill people-- and just sort of expecting him not to do it-- is so fucking unreasonable.....but Caroline's father torturing her (even though she doesn't kill people) is perfectly okay? I know that Liz confronted him. But he wasn't punished for what he did at all. Damon's compulsion didn't work, he remembers everything, and is totally capable of coming back in the future to repeat his actions. Caroline even told Tyler not to kick his ass.
Right. Okay. I see where the priorities lie in this show.
I just can't even talk about this anymore without wanting to throw up. There's a ton of other things I have thoughts on-- Matt, the Bonnie/Jeremy/Ghost!Anna triangle that it seems they're setting up, the wasted potential that is Katherine/Damon, Alaric possibly (hopefully) going back to his hunter roots and no longer excusing Damon's behavior (HE FUCKING KILLED HIM AND ACTED LIKE RIC WAS THE ONE IN THE WRONG FOR BEING UPSET ABOUT IT, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE)....but I don't feel like going into a massive rage blackout tonight.
Right. On to happier things.
Now this is a show that I can get behind. Sure, it's not the most brilliant, innovative thing to ever exist. But really, people-- this is the CW. What were you expecting? LOL.
My favorite thing about this show is watching people in fandom go "THIS SHOW IS STUPID! PEOPLE DON'T REALLY ACT LIKE THAT IN REAL LIFE!".
Um, hi. My name is Hannah and I've lived in Georgia my whole life, and I'm here to tell you that there are a shit-ton of people who live their entire lives exactly like that. Sure, things are exaggerated for television. But I can promise you that those Southern Belles with their perfectly coiffed hair and their Lilly Pulitzer sundresses and their Junior League meetings and their petty small town drama are so very real that I can literally name five specific ones off the top of my head that I'd love to kill with a poisoned mint julep on Derby Day.
Actually, Derby Day is too far away. I'll just lace the moonshine on New Year's instead.
On to specific thoughts regarding the show and characters-- something that I really love about this cast is the chemistry between absolutely everyone. No interaction seems forced-- unless it is supposed to be forced.
Zoe and Lavon have managed to fall into this friendship that seems to be as natural to them as breathing. He gives advice, she chooses whether or not to take it, and he laughs at her and supports her and generally is the guard standing between her and the rest of the town. In turn, I feel like she's providing a really good platonic female presence in his life that he seems to be lacking (because the biggest other interaction we see is he and Lemon). The tension between Lavon and Lemon doesn't seem manufactured-- it feels real, and visceral, and like it's something she's actually struggling with, which is something I'm not sure you really see in most so-called "love triangles" anymore. This actually feels like it has something at stake for her-- there's George, who she's always loved, who she's comfortable with, who she feels she's supposed to love, who she knows how to love; and then there's Lavon, who seems to scare the hell out of her with the rawness of what she feels, who she has no idea what to do with, and who is a chance that she can't bring herself to take even though she knows she's going to regret not taking it. Zoe and George, the other side of this weird little two triangles shoved sort of together to not quite make a square, have a really nice connection and I always really enjoy watching their scenes, but as any sort of long-term/endgame pairing I'm just not sold. Possibly it's that I know they're the ones kinda being "pushed", and I sometimes tend to resist that, being so contrary. Or possibly it is because....confession time?
I am a sucker for boys like Wade Kinsella.
This isn't my only reasoning, of course, but it's why I went into this having a soft spot for him from the beginning. In the pilot, I didn't actually like the idea of he and Zoe as a couple. I was like "eh" about their car makeout scene, but hey-- it was a pilot. Only one chance to get picked up. Why not showcase your multitude of chemistry you have in your cast and throw her at every hot guy in town?
But then he kissed her in the second episode and for some reason, I was sold. And he made the gumbo for her in episode 3, and I just melted a little more. But I still couldn't figure out what my reasons were for wanting them to be the ones to come out of this in a long-term sense, other than "Hey, this is unconventional in terms of CW dramas and they seem really fun!")
Tonight I figured out specifically why.
It's the way he looks at her. Specifically when she isn't looking back. Like she's pulled at something inside him that isn't connected to just his groin and turned what he expected to be a hot flirty bantering partnership into something entirely and he has no idea what to do with her.
That little half-smile he was doing tonight. Something tells me Wade Kinsella hasn't ever quite looked at a girl like that before.
And at first, when she left after it started raining, I was disappointed, but thinking about it in a more big-picture sense, I'm glad they're drawing it out. Especially since they got a full-season pickup. I'm just selfish and want lots of pretty.
One last thought: Rose Hattenbarger. Where has she been?? I was delighted with her in the first two episodes, and McKaley Miller is the cutest thing I've ever seen. And I really liked her dynamic with Zoe. Although-- did she feel to anyone else like she just jumped right out of a Gilmore Girls episode?
I was going to write about last week's Criminal Minds (and this season in general) as well, but this took way longer than I anticipated and I am sick (A-FUCKING-GAIN, although I let them give me a shot this morning without even crying (BECAUSE I AM A MOTHER FUCKING ADULT, to steal a phrase from my bff) and I'm on an antibiotic, so that should kick in soon. But I am sleepy. So the BAU will have to wait.
If you actually read all that.....I owe you something. LOL.
The rest of the middle-of-fic-meme ficlets should be up soon!
Also. It's been a long time since I've felt the need to do any sort of good long in-depth television post. Actually, whether I've ever written a good television post is probably up for debate. It's been long enough that I can't even remember any examples with which to defend myself.
But lately I've been thinking thoughts regarding some shows that I'm starting to fall out of love with, and other shows I'm starting to fall in love with.
I can't promise these thoughts are going to be focused or coherent (and I can promise they aren't going to be spoiler-free, or profanity-free, for that matter), but they're things that I need to say.
Fucking sexist stupid show.
Ahem. Now that I've gotten that out of the way. I don't really understand how I can disagree with/despise nearly every "big picture" thing this show is doing and still enjoy watching it. The writers are doing a good job dialogue-wise lately, and I'm enjoying how unapologetically evil Klaus is (and how unapologetically bratty Rebekah is), but there is just so much going on here that I despise. The fact that the majority of characters who have died and stayed dead are female, the fact that this show seems to get off on torturing Caroline, the fact that people are complete Damon apologists.
While I'm on the subject of Damon: i have seen so many people shipping him with Caroline in a sincere way lately, and one of their little examples that keeps popping up on Tumblr is the fight scene at the Lockwood mansion. To these people, I have but one thing to say:
Fuck. you.
Damon raped Caroline. Have we forgotten this?? She was being compelled when she was with him. That means she did not consent when they were having sex, or when he was feeding on her.
It was forced by compulsion. It's rape. Rape is not romantic.
Oh, and Delena shippers? He did the same thing to your precious Elena. When he forced his blood on her before the ritual so that Klaus couldn't complete it, that was essentially rape. He forced it on her. He didn't give her a choice. He took that choice away from her. Just because he didn't force himself on her sexually doesn't negate that.
But no. We can't possibly remember any of that about Damon, because these days he's Elena's perfect hero.
Look. I'm not denying that he's being good to her. I'm not denying that there is good in him. But peoples' flaws cannot be blatantly ignored, and that's what is happening with Damon lately, in the writing, but especially in fandom, no matter how many times they bring up how Elena is trying to 'make him be like Stefan'. Blah blah blah. Those are words. And what the fuck is so wrong with wanting someone you're spending time with NOT TO KILL PEOPLE??
And-- oh!-- guess who is still paying for her so-called "flaws"? That would be Caroline Forbes. First, there's the drama with her mother finding out. Then she's kidnapped by a werewolf, tortured by werewolves, and losing trust in her best friend the werewolf. And once she finally gets that back and is finally happy and living her life like the normal teenager she wants so badly to be, she's betrayed by yet another person she trusts and cares for-- her own father. He, too, tortures her, relentlessly-- but his is worse, because he believes what he is doing is right.
I'm sorry.
Let me get this straight.
Elena wanting Damon not to kill people-- and just sort of expecting him not to do it-- is so fucking unreasonable.....but Caroline's father torturing her (even though she doesn't kill people) is perfectly okay? I know that Liz confronted him. But he wasn't punished for what he did at all. Damon's compulsion didn't work, he remembers everything, and is totally capable of coming back in the future to repeat his actions. Caroline even told Tyler not to kick his ass.
Right. Okay. I see where the priorities lie in this show.
I just can't even talk about this anymore without wanting to throw up. There's a ton of other things I have thoughts on-- Matt, the Bonnie/Jeremy/Ghost!Anna triangle that it seems they're setting up, the wasted potential that is Katherine/Damon, Alaric possibly (hopefully) going back to his hunter roots and no longer excusing Damon's behavior (HE FUCKING KILLED HIM AND ACTED LIKE RIC WAS THE ONE IN THE WRONG FOR BEING UPSET ABOUT IT, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE)....but I don't feel like going into a massive rage blackout tonight.
Right. On to happier things.
Now this is a show that I can get behind. Sure, it's not the most brilliant, innovative thing to ever exist. But really, people-- this is the CW. What were you expecting? LOL.
My favorite thing about this show is watching people in fandom go "THIS SHOW IS STUPID! PEOPLE DON'T REALLY ACT LIKE THAT IN REAL LIFE!".
Um, hi. My name is Hannah and I've lived in Georgia my whole life, and I'm here to tell you that there are a shit-ton of people who live their entire lives exactly like that. Sure, things are exaggerated for television. But I can promise you that those Southern Belles with their perfectly coiffed hair and their Lilly Pulitzer sundresses and their Junior League meetings and their petty small town drama are so very real that I can literally name five specific ones off the top of my head that I'd love to kill with a poisoned mint julep on Derby Day.
Actually, Derby Day is too far away. I'll just lace the moonshine on New Year's instead.
On to specific thoughts regarding the show and characters-- something that I really love about this cast is the chemistry between absolutely everyone. No interaction seems forced-- unless it is supposed to be forced.
Zoe and Lavon have managed to fall into this friendship that seems to be as natural to them as breathing. He gives advice, she chooses whether or not to take it, and he laughs at her and supports her and generally is the guard standing between her and the rest of the town. In turn, I feel like she's providing a really good platonic female presence in his life that he seems to be lacking (because the biggest other interaction we see is he and Lemon). The tension between Lavon and Lemon doesn't seem manufactured-- it feels real, and visceral, and like it's something she's actually struggling with, which is something I'm not sure you really see in most so-called "love triangles" anymore. This actually feels like it has something at stake for her-- there's George, who she's always loved, who she's comfortable with, who she feels she's supposed to love, who she knows how to love; and then there's Lavon, who seems to scare the hell out of her with the rawness of what she feels, who she has no idea what to do with, and who is a chance that she can't bring herself to take even though she knows she's going to regret not taking it. Zoe and George, the other side of this weird little two triangles shoved sort of together to not quite make a square, have a really nice connection and I always really enjoy watching their scenes, but as any sort of long-term/endgame pairing I'm just not sold. Possibly it's that I know they're the ones kinda being "pushed", and I sometimes tend to resist that, being so contrary. Or possibly it is because....confession time?
I am a sucker for boys like Wade Kinsella.
This isn't my only reasoning, of course, but it's why I went into this having a soft spot for him from the beginning. In the pilot, I didn't actually like the idea of he and Zoe as a couple. I was like "eh" about their car makeout scene, but hey-- it was a pilot. Only one chance to get picked up. Why not showcase your multitude of chemistry you have in your cast and throw her at every hot guy in town?
But then he kissed her in the second episode and for some reason, I was sold. And he made the gumbo for her in episode 3, and I just melted a little more. But I still couldn't figure out what my reasons were for wanting them to be the ones to come out of this in a long-term sense, other than "Hey, this is unconventional in terms of CW dramas and they seem really fun!")
Tonight I figured out specifically why.
It's the way he looks at her. Specifically when she isn't looking back. Like she's pulled at something inside him that isn't connected to just his groin and turned what he expected to be a hot flirty bantering partnership into something entirely and he has no idea what to do with her.
That little half-smile he was doing tonight. Something tells me Wade Kinsella hasn't ever quite looked at a girl like that before.
And at first, when she left after it started raining, I was disappointed, but thinking about it in a more big-picture sense, I'm glad they're drawing it out. Especially since they got a full-season pickup. I'm just selfish and want lots of pretty.
One last thought: Rose Hattenbarger. Where has she been?? I was delighted with her in the first two episodes, and McKaley Miller is the cutest thing I've ever seen. And I really liked her dynamic with Zoe. Although-- did she feel to anyone else like she just jumped right out of a Gilmore Girls episode?
I was going to write about last week's Criminal Minds (and this season in general) as well, but this took way longer than I anticipated and I am sick (A-FUCKING-GAIN, although I let them give me a shot this morning without even crying (BECAUSE I AM A MOTHER FUCKING ADULT, to steal a phrase from my bff) and I'm on an antibiotic, so that should kick in soon. But I am sleepy. So the BAU will have to wait.
If you actually read all that.....I owe you something. LOL.
The rest of the middle-of-fic-meme ficlets should be up soon!