Killjoys + Snowflake Challenge, days 2-5
An assortment of fannish things!
1) fandom_stocking extended its deadline to Wed, 1/11. I am usually impatient to see all the goodies revealed, but this year I'm greatly relieved, because between the stockings going up pretty late, crazy work, holiday, and feeling sick, I haven't actually managed to do anything yet, beyond browse and take notes, and this way maybe I'll actually manage something.
2) egelantier succeeded in a miraculous feat: getting me to watch a TV show! I noted down her rec of Killjoys earlier, and then forgot about it, until she brought it up again in my end-of-year post with fannish goals. And now I've watched all of season 1 (which is 10 episodes, apparently the perfect length for a TV show to be for me to actually get through it), because I was feeling under the weather and this was something I could do without thinking too much or leaving my warm cocoon. It is exactly the tiny, lovely, Firefly-esque sci-fi show I was feeling like in the wake of my Wayfarers read -- likeable ensemble cast with interesting backgrounds and complex bonds between them, dark but engaging worldbuilding, story that's both funny and poignant (and a very catchy intro song).
It took me about 3 episodes to get from "entertaining so far, let's wait and see" to knowing I'd finish out what there was of the show, which is similar to Firefly, actually, as I recall. It's not as hilarious as Firefly, and while I like everybody in the main + recurring cast, I only full-on love one character (vs multiple ones on Firefly), but aside from the rather unlikely bar I keep comparing it to, it's a show that exceeded my expectations and that I am liking A LOT. The character I do love is Johnny, who is an adorable dork with just a biiit of a martyr streak, who, despite his job as a bounty hunter, is determined to either talk or engineer his way out of most sticky situations. (Also, because I'm apparently never letting go of the Firefly comparisons -- I'm honestly trying, OK! -- he is something like Wash and Kaylee squished into one heartwarming marshmallow of a person.) (On a similarly random note, I was glad I was not the only one who did a double-take to make sure Johnny wasn't being played by Chris Pratt, but funnily enough, he worked so much better for me than any of the Chris Pratt heroes I've seen so far...) I like Dutch and D'av, too, but, I'll be honest, mostly for their relationships with Johnny, and through Johnny's eyes. I also love Lucy the ship's AI (and the fact that Johnny is her favorite; Lucy has good taste, but also Johnny is everybody's favorite), and like the various periodic allies of different degrees of unsavoriness: especially Bellus the retired killjoy/reclamation agent/bounty hunter turned warrant broker, but also Pree and Pawter. And that antagonists are rather well done, too, interesting and occasionally even sympathetic.
It took me a while to figure out the thematic arc of the show (probably because I had to get used to the worldbuilding first; I appreciated the way things start off pretty much in media res with regards to Quad politics. I don't think there were any awkward infodumps about the relationship between Qresh, Leith, and Westerley, and I'm still not 100% sure what "the J" is), but at this point I'm on board, although, honestly, I prefer the lighter, more caper-y episodes to the excavating past trauma / resistane against overwhelming odds ones, which I'm worried will be the bulk of season 2. But looking forward to season 2 even so.
Episode by episode reactions, with SPOILERS:
episode 1 -- I like the hinted-at worldbuilding, the grunge and sort of... cheerful violence that reminds me of Firefly indeed. Dutch's dress is a really pretty color, and I'd been eyeing her necklace and wondering if there was more to it, so was unsurprized when there was. Dutch in general is pretty to look at, and I like Johnny's determination to talk his way out of everything (which doesn't seem to go particularly well for him, judging by this episode anyway). I like the brief glimpses of some of the secondary characters, too, especially Bellus the broker, and Pree the bartender seems fun, too. And I'm duly intrigued by the red box and Dutch's backstory with the white-haired guy (*looks up on Wikipedia* Khlyen). Anyway, it's pretty and fun, and the dialogue isn't really Firefly-worthy but it's easy enough to watch, so I'm continuing on, without committing myself to a full season, though.
episode 2 -- Oh, and I meant to say on the previous ep that I liked Lucy the ship -- which I like even more after the second one. She seems to hit a good balance between "actual personality" and believable AI. Team developments continue nicely. The thing I don't feel like I've made any headway with is trying to get a feel for the, mmm, moral framework of this universe, I guess. The Company seems rather awful, everybody working against the company (except the religion/revolutionary guy in the first ep) does not seem any better, and the Rack is not a particularly fluffy organization either, obviously. Which is fine, I'm just having a hard time figuring out, so far, what drives these people on the larger scale.
episode 3 -- another thing I'd wanted to mention earlier -- the creepy cheery messages/electronic banners in the background which are giving me Soviet banner feels, albeit with a futuristic aesthetic, of course. My first favorite quote of the show: "I have a headache, a badge, and a gun. Behave." Followed by: "Also, stop being friends with everyone you sleep with, it's weird." XD (Johnny continues to be adorable, and my favorite.) And I like Pawter, who I'm assuming will be a periodic addition to them ensemble:
Pawter: You think I'm crazy?
D'av: A little, yeah.
Pawter: I've been told that by saner men than you, D'aven Jaqobis.
This was the point where the show hooked me (probably by virtue of being the most Firefly-esque, or at least the most like my favorite Firefly episodes), and I was pretty sure I would finish out the season.
episode 4 -- "We're bringing him in. Somebody get a shovel" -- ok, I feel bad, but LOL. I'm enjoying the brotherly bickering between John and D'av, and "Your secrets? We've just met, and I know your blood type and why you don't like pie." This was a neat episode visually, with the vessels in their bright pastel dresses, and I was sad about Jenny's sacrifice, but liked how much agency the girls had throughout given their roles and how circumscribed their lives were. And Delle Seyah is interesting, too, and, on a shallower note, I like her outfits.
episode 5 -- OK, so this is the creepy abandoned/haunted ship episode which is apparently de rigeur for sci-fi shows? But this was a neat one, if a bit too much on the horror side. My favorite was probably Lucy opening the airlock when Dutch yelled "John's in trouble". Of course he's her favorite!
episode 6 -- So Johnny knows about Khlyen, or at least recognizes his name and that he's a danger as soon as Dutch mentions it at the end, which makes me wonder if his "don't know, don't care" conversation with D'av early on was protecting Dutch's privacy, or not trusting D'av, or just not wanting to get into it without Dutch's permission, or what. But I liked that she finally came clean with them, and both of the boys' reactions, although I'm not really looking forward to the arc involving him, because I seem to have more fun with the episodic episodes which are on the lighter side.
episode 7 -- I do like D'av's approach to dealing with feelings (i.e. "why shoot the shit when you can shoot AT shit" XD), but the D'av/Dutch thing is rather unnecessary and extraneous to my enjoyment of the show (although the warrior princess line and Dutch's revelation about bing a royal widow was quite interesting). Anyway, I'm solidly with Johnny on this one: "don't plow our sister". D'av's attempt at a naked high five was pretty hilarious, though. Also, it was rather aww-worthy that the main reason Johnny is upset by walking in on the two of them is that they will fuck it up and then he'll have to pick a side (and also cute that both Pree and Johnny himself are absolutely certain he'll pick Dutch). Aaand then stuff got dark real fast, and I felt so sorry for poor D'av in the end. But it was lovely to see how absolutely everyone rallied around Johnny, precious marshmallow person that he is, including Lucy developing independent thought just because she loves him that much. On a different note, I liked the way Doctor Jaeger was played, from beginning to end.
episode 8 -- "Oh great. Teambuilding." XD But it doesn't seem out-of-character at all for Johnny to engineer an elaborate, mechanically-driven thing involving Lucy to try to get D'avin and Dutch to solve their problems by talking -- and that it DOESN'T WORK, and they knock over and stomp on the thing. I think my favorite moments were Bellus taking the free shot at D'av (and him being indignant about it: "It's really more of a gesture.") and, of course, the last part, where Johnny is reading his "consolation prize" comic book to Dutch, complete with funny voices. Also, this bit:
John: "And junkie or not, you're the best doctor on this shitty moon.
Pawter: (plaintively) "It's a pretty low bar."
John: "It is a pretty low bar."
The Black Rain execution which had been alluded to previously is really horrible, but what especially got me was the scene of the people in haz-mat suits placidly hosing off the posts/stakes at the end. But the thing that has stayed with me the most from this episode, I find, is Johnny getting to the end of his rope after all the effort he put into resolving the situation peacefully, and shooting the bad guys. Indeed, to quote Kingkiller Chronicles, 'There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.'
episode 9 -- Iiinteresting. The Khlyen = Level Six revelation is interesting, and despite everything, I do find the relationship with Dutch, on his side, really, really interesting, because he does actually seem to care about her, in a profoundly fucked up way. All the Dutch and Johnny moments were lovely, especially them reminiscing about how they met. And I laughed out loud at :
D'av: "You're a creeply little dude."
Alvis (creepily): "Thank you."
episode 10 -- Lots of things happened in this episode (seriously, so many different things that I have to check for myself whether it was all the same ep -- that doesn't seem possible!), but it was too cliffhanger-y to be satisfying for me, and none of the developments -- more Level Six stuff, the secret base on Arkyn or whatever -- are really what I was hoping to see more of in season 2. The parts I actually enjoyed were the bits with Delle Seyah being all over Dutch and rolling her eyes at Johnny's presence and using him to run errands, Johnny restraining her after she sets off the bomb ("I don't hit women but I have a partner who does."), and the stuff with Hills, whom I've kind of liked thorughout the season, choosing to do the right thing on the small scale, and pouring himself a drink in Pree's empty bar as everything shakes from the carpet bombing. I teared up at that scene, and the one between Dutch and Johnny, talking back to their first meeting.
So, Killjoys! On to season 2. :D
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Catching up on Snowflake Challenge, days 2-5:
Day 2: In your own space, share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life. Something that impacted on your consciousness in a way that left its mark on your soul.
I talked about LotR for this in 2014, and... well, it's still my One True Fandom (and now I have a shirt that says exactly that, thanks, ikel89! :D)
Harry Potter led me to Livejournal, which was, of course, also life-changing. ASOIAF led me to westerosorting and a significant part of my flist (♥ for both those present and those missed). A good case could be made for Asimov's robot stories (especially Caves of Steel), Strugatski (Monday Starts on Saturday and Roadside Picnic), for Bulgakov's Master i Margarita (all read in Russian in the years B.T. -- Before Tolkien). Discworld is a surprisingly late but undeniable addition.
But I saw people in the comments of the Day 2 post doing something interesting -- listing a foundational 'fandom' for each medium, which I thought was an interesting way to change things up. So, obviously, book(s) are covered above.
TV show: At first I thought the obvious answer would be Babylon 5, and it totally is *a* show that impacted on my soul (or whatever), but I was going to say that it was the first TV show I watched both obsessively and for the pleasure of sharing it with a friend, but actually that's not true. That distinction goes to He-Man (the 80s one, which I watched on USA in 1990 -- my friend R introduced me to it, and it was so RIDICULOUSLY my thing, and I liked and felt sorry for Skeletor, and I poached bits and pieces of worldbuilding for the Magnum Opus, although at this point one probably couldn't tell. Also, just now reading the Wiki article, I learned that "It is also noted for featuring early script-writing work from J. Michael Straczynski" -- a) AHAHA, and b) well, I guess that's one way to get B5 into this answer after all, and c) I need to tell this to R immediately! XD
Movie: It was hard for me to think of a movie, because I'm generally not a movie person, but there actually is one: Enemy Mine. It was one of the crop of Western blockbusters that started showing up in the USSR in the late 1980s, I think just before we left -- I watched this, Short Circuit, and King Kong (this one, maybe?), and so on. I liked those movies, too -- the CGI and the types of stories were SO different from what I was used to from domestic movies, it was eye-opening -- but Enemy Mine *really* stuck with me. I dunno if it tapped into a kink for the 'enemy mine' trope, or created one, but it was definitely the first time I remember shipping that particular configuration, but most definitely NOT the last.
Song: Now, mostly I'm not fannish about songs, but there is one I most definitely am fannish about -- Tam Lin. I only encountered the real ballad at uni (the Folklore class I took with Professor N), but it became an instant favorite, because it tapped into all kind of tropes I'd loved from the fairy tales I grew up on. I've pretty much yet to encounter a retelling of Tam Lin that doesn't at least intrigue me (Pamela Dean's is a favorite of mine, of course, and I've read some good short stories, pro and fannish), and I like it lot when elements of "Tam Lin" come up in works that aren't retellings, either -- e.g. the end of Foxglove Summer, to pick the first example that comes to mind.
Poem: I'm not fannish about poetry, except insomuch as I write fan-poems instead of fan-fic, but there is most definitely a poem that has left its mark on my soul. It is Philip Larkin's beautiful and depressing "Aubade", my favorite poem of all time. I wrote down my thoughts about it here (...10 years ago. O.o). I've read it quite a few times since then, and have introduced it to a lot of people -- and every time I read it, the lines still give me shivers.
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Day 3: In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private.
Recycling from last year with additions and revisions:
- Read at least 52 books. This is generally doable for me, but how easy varies from year to year.
- Read/watch at least 3 things from the updated "to try" list below (which should be kept updated as I keep forgetting things I want to read)
- Make progress on at least 3 "in progress" backburner book series (this is a new goal this year, because I find that I've started a bunch of things and am stalled out on them despite enjoying them)
- Read at least 1 book in Russian (new goal; I met it this year, but am slowing down and want to make sure I still do this)
- Read at least 1 non-genre book; non-fiction counts for this (new goal, replacing the reading bingo one, because I don't think I want to do a full-blown bingo/reading list again, but without it I don't seem to read anything but genre, and it's nice to have SOME balance)
- Finish watching s2 of Angel
- Post at least one new thing to AO3
- Actually comment on AO3 (I did this pretty well last year, but I feel like I didn't actually read much fic after making that goal, so, let's try again with maybe more fic)
To "try" list:
Books:
- Child of a Hidden Sea (Dellamonica)
- Fire and Hemlock (DWJ)
- The Coldfire Trilogy (C.S.Friedman)
- Daniel Abraham's novels, probably The Long Price quartet
- Something by Ginn Hale, who has now been recommended to me several different times in different contexts
- Someting else by Seanan McGuire in the faint hope that third time is the charm
- I don't expect I'll like them nearly as much as the Dresden Files books, but I do want to give Butcher's steampunk thing a shot.
TV:
- Farscape
- Almost Human
Backburner book series:
- Sapkowski's Witcher*
- Imperial Radch*
- Wayfarers
- Alex Verus
- Three Body Problem*
- Oxford Time-Travel Universe*
- Iskyrne
- Guy Gavriel Kay books
- Kate Daniels
- Philosopher Kings* (something else by Jo Walton also counts)
- Matthew Swift-verse* (something else by any of her aliases also counts)
- Elemental Logic*
- The Magicians
- Cloud Roads*
- Craft Sequence*
- Elantra*
- Volha
- Seraphina book 2
- Toby Daye*
- Inda*
* = I'm more than 1 volume behind
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Day 4: Comment to someone you haven't ever interacted with before or introduce yourself to someone you've interacted with and friend/follow them.
Went and did that on the posts from Day 2 (so many lovely Tolkien tributes!) and also on some fics from the rec lists for day 5 (the advantages of doing this late :P)
Day 5: In your own space, post recs for at least three fanworks that you did not create.
Argh, I had everything written up and coded and then got distracted C&Ping or something, and then had to restart my computer, so had to do it all over again. OK!
Still haven't made much headway on this year's Yuletide stories, so these are a mix of recent things I've read / things which were recently posted --
Rivers of London: three-body problem (15k, Mature, Peter/Beverley and Peter/Nightingale poly from Bev's POV, post-Hanging Tree) -- another one of the really good RoL longfics this year's Yuletide produced. Peter/Beverley isn't even my ship, but I enjoyed seeing Beverley's loving and occasionally exasperated view of him, and Bev herself. The Rivers are my least favorite part of RoL's worldbuilding, ironically, but I liked them in this fic.
Dresden Files: Winter Service (gen, 500 words ficlet, Harry & Thomas, post-Cold Days) -- adorable Christmas-themed banter by aletheiafelinea that I got to read months ahead of everyone else, mwahaha.
Firefly: We Measure Our Seasons Anyway (600 words, gen, ensemble) by travels_in_time -- poignant but hopeful autumnal ficlet in which both the character voices and the tone felt spot-on for the show.
19th C Paleontology RPF: The Ballad of Cope and Marsh (Edward Drinker Cope / Othniel Charles Marsh, general audiences, actual ballad) -- in delightful verse! with crazy rhymes of scientific terms and hilarious real events, just how I like my cracky verse to be. This was actually the product of last year's Yuletide, but I only discovered it this year because it was podficced as a gift for the author this year.)
And my newest fandom:
Killjoys: hands fall together by egelantier (teen, 4k, pre-canon Dutch and Johnny) -- lovely fic with everything I like best about the relationship between the two of them, funny and piercing lines in a plot that feels very fitting to an episode of the show.
1) fandom_stocking extended its deadline to Wed, 1/11. I am usually impatient to see all the goodies revealed, but this year I'm greatly relieved, because between the stockings going up pretty late, crazy work, holiday, and feeling sick, I haven't actually managed to do anything yet, beyond browse and take notes, and this way maybe I'll actually manage something.
2) egelantier succeeded in a miraculous feat: getting me to watch a TV show! I noted down her rec of Killjoys earlier, and then forgot about it, until she brought it up again in my end-of-year post with fannish goals. And now I've watched all of season 1 (which is 10 episodes, apparently the perfect length for a TV show to be for me to actually get through it), because I was feeling under the weather and this was something I could do without thinking too much or leaving my warm cocoon. It is exactly the tiny, lovely, Firefly-esque sci-fi show I was feeling like in the wake of my Wayfarers read -- likeable ensemble cast with interesting backgrounds and complex bonds between them, dark but engaging worldbuilding, story that's both funny and poignant (and a very catchy intro song).
It took me about 3 episodes to get from "entertaining so far, let's wait and see" to knowing I'd finish out what there was of the show, which is similar to Firefly, actually, as I recall. It's not as hilarious as Firefly, and while I like everybody in the main + recurring cast, I only full-on love one character (vs multiple ones on Firefly), but aside from the rather unlikely bar I keep comparing it to, it's a show that exceeded my expectations and that I am liking A LOT. The character I do love is Johnny, who is an adorable dork with just a biiit of a martyr streak, who, despite his job as a bounty hunter, is determined to either talk or engineer his way out of most sticky situations. (Also, because I'm apparently never letting go of the Firefly comparisons -- I'm honestly trying, OK! -- he is something like Wash and Kaylee squished into one heartwarming marshmallow of a person.) (On a similarly random note, I was glad I was not the only one who did a double-take to make sure Johnny wasn't being played by Chris Pratt, but funnily enough, he worked so much better for me than any of the Chris Pratt heroes I've seen so far...) I like Dutch and D'av, too, but, I'll be honest, mostly for their relationships with Johnny, and through Johnny's eyes. I also love Lucy the ship's AI (and the fact that Johnny is her favorite; Lucy has good taste, but also Johnny is everybody's favorite), and like the various periodic allies of different degrees of unsavoriness: especially Bellus the retired killjoy/reclamation agent/bounty hunter turned warrant broker, but also Pree and Pawter. And that antagonists are rather well done, too, interesting and occasionally even sympathetic.
It took me a while to figure out the thematic arc of the show (probably because I had to get used to the worldbuilding first; I appreciated the way things start off pretty much in media res with regards to Quad politics. I don't think there were any awkward infodumps about the relationship between Qresh, Leith, and Westerley, and I'm still not 100% sure what "the J" is), but at this point I'm on board, although, honestly, I prefer the lighter, more caper-y episodes to the excavating past trauma / resistane against overwhelming odds ones, which I'm worried will be the bulk of season 2. But looking forward to season 2 even so.
Episode by episode reactions, with SPOILERS:
episode 1 -- I like the hinted-at worldbuilding, the grunge and sort of... cheerful violence that reminds me of Firefly indeed. Dutch's dress is a really pretty color, and I'd been eyeing her necklace and wondering if there was more to it, so was unsurprized when there was. Dutch in general is pretty to look at, and I like Johnny's determination to talk his way out of everything (which doesn't seem to go particularly well for him, judging by this episode anyway). I like the brief glimpses of some of the secondary characters, too, especially Bellus the broker, and Pree the bartender seems fun, too. And I'm duly intrigued by the red box and Dutch's backstory with the white-haired guy (*looks up on Wikipedia* Khlyen). Anyway, it's pretty and fun, and the dialogue isn't really Firefly-worthy but it's easy enough to watch, so I'm continuing on, without committing myself to a full season, though.
episode 2 -- Oh, and I meant to say on the previous ep that I liked Lucy the ship -- which I like even more after the second one. She seems to hit a good balance between "actual personality" and believable AI. Team developments continue nicely. The thing I don't feel like I've made any headway with is trying to get a feel for the, mmm, moral framework of this universe, I guess. The Company seems rather awful, everybody working against the company (except the religion/revolutionary guy in the first ep) does not seem any better, and the Rack is not a particularly fluffy organization either, obviously. Which is fine, I'm just having a hard time figuring out, so far, what drives these people on the larger scale.
episode 3 -- another thing I'd wanted to mention earlier -- the creepy cheery messages/electronic banners in the background which are giving me Soviet banner feels, albeit with a futuristic aesthetic, of course. My first favorite quote of the show: "I have a headache, a badge, and a gun. Behave." Followed by: "Also, stop being friends with everyone you sleep with, it's weird." XD (Johnny continues to be adorable, and my favorite.) And I like Pawter, who I'm assuming will be a periodic addition to them ensemble:
Pawter: You think I'm crazy?
D'av: A little, yeah.
Pawter: I've been told that by saner men than you, D'aven Jaqobis.
This was the point where the show hooked me (probably by virtue of being the most Firefly-esque, or at least the most like my favorite Firefly episodes), and I was pretty sure I would finish out the season.
episode 4 -- "We're bringing him in. Somebody get a shovel" -- ok, I feel bad, but LOL. I'm enjoying the brotherly bickering between John and D'av, and "Your secrets? We've just met, and I know your blood type and why you don't like pie." This was a neat episode visually, with the vessels in their bright pastel dresses, and I was sad about Jenny's sacrifice, but liked how much agency the girls had throughout given their roles and how circumscribed their lives were. And Delle Seyah is interesting, too, and, on a shallower note, I like her outfits.
episode 5 -- OK, so this is the creepy abandoned/haunted ship episode which is apparently de rigeur for sci-fi shows? But this was a neat one, if a bit too much on the horror side. My favorite was probably Lucy opening the airlock when Dutch yelled "John's in trouble". Of course he's her favorite!
episode 6 -- So Johnny knows about Khlyen, or at least recognizes his name and that he's a danger as soon as Dutch mentions it at the end, which makes me wonder if his "don't know, don't care" conversation with D'av early on was protecting Dutch's privacy, or not trusting D'av, or just not wanting to get into it without Dutch's permission, or what. But I liked that she finally came clean with them, and both of the boys' reactions, although I'm not really looking forward to the arc involving him, because I seem to have more fun with the episodic episodes which are on the lighter side.
episode 7 -- I do like D'av's approach to dealing with feelings (i.e. "why shoot the shit when you can shoot AT shit" XD), but the D'av/Dutch thing is rather unnecessary and extraneous to my enjoyment of the show (although the warrior princess line and Dutch's revelation about bing a royal widow was quite interesting). Anyway, I'm solidly with Johnny on this one: "don't plow our sister". D'av's attempt at a naked high five was pretty hilarious, though. Also, it was rather aww-worthy that the main reason Johnny is upset by walking in on the two of them is that they will fuck it up and then he'll have to pick a side (and also cute that both Pree and Johnny himself are absolutely certain he'll pick Dutch). Aaand then stuff got dark real fast, and I felt so sorry for poor D'av in the end. But it was lovely to see how absolutely everyone rallied around Johnny, precious marshmallow person that he is, including Lucy developing independent thought just because she loves him that much. On a different note, I liked the way Doctor Jaeger was played, from beginning to end.
episode 8 -- "Oh great. Teambuilding." XD But it doesn't seem out-of-character at all for Johnny to engineer an elaborate, mechanically-driven thing involving Lucy to try to get D'avin and Dutch to solve their problems by talking -- and that it DOESN'T WORK, and they knock over and stomp on the thing. I think my favorite moments were Bellus taking the free shot at D'av (and him being indignant about it: "It's really more of a gesture.") and, of course, the last part, where Johnny is reading his "consolation prize" comic book to Dutch, complete with funny voices. Also, this bit:
John: "And junkie or not, you're the best doctor on this shitty moon.
Pawter: (plaintively) "It's a pretty low bar."
John: "It is a pretty low bar."
The Black Rain execution which had been alluded to previously is really horrible, but what especially got me was the scene of the people in haz-mat suits placidly hosing off the posts/stakes at the end. But the thing that has stayed with me the most from this episode, I find, is Johnny getting to the end of his rope after all the effort he put into resolving the situation peacefully, and shooting the bad guys. Indeed, to quote Kingkiller Chronicles, 'There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.'
episode 9 -- Iiinteresting. The Khlyen = Level Six revelation is interesting, and despite everything, I do find the relationship with Dutch, on his side, really, really interesting, because he does actually seem to care about her, in a profoundly fucked up way. All the Dutch and Johnny moments were lovely, especially them reminiscing about how they met. And I laughed out loud at :
D'av: "You're a creeply little dude."
Alvis (creepily): "Thank you."
episode 10 -- Lots of things happened in this episode (seriously, so many different things that I have to check for myself whether it was all the same ep -- that doesn't seem possible!), but it was too cliffhanger-y to be satisfying for me, and none of the developments -- more Level Six stuff, the secret base on Arkyn or whatever -- are really what I was hoping to see more of in season 2. The parts I actually enjoyed were the bits with Delle Seyah being all over Dutch and rolling her eyes at Johnny's presence and using him to run errands, Johnny restraining her after she sets off the bomb ("I don't hit women but I have a partner who does."), and the stuff with Hills, whom I've kind of liked thorughout the season, choosing to do the right thing on the small scale, and pouring himself a drink in Pree's empty bar as everything shakes from the carpet bombing. I teared up at that scene, and the one between Dutch and Johnny, talking back to their first meeting.
So, Killjoys! On to season 2. :D
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Catching up on Snowflake Challenge, days 2-5:
Day 2: In your own space, share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life. Something that impacted on your consciousness in a way that left its mark on your soul.
I talked about LotR for this in 2014, and... well, it's still my One True Fandom (and now I have a shirt that says exactly that, thanks, ikel89! :D)
Harry Potter led me to Livejournal, which was, of course, also life-changing. ASOIAF led me to westerosorting and a significant part of my flist (♥ for both those present and those missed). A good case could be made for Asimov's robot stories (especially Caves of Steel), Strugatski (Monday Starts on Saturday and Roadside Picnic), for Bulgakov's Master i Margarita (all read in Russian in the years B.T. -- Before Tolkien). Discworld is a surprisingly late but undeniable addition.
But I saw people in the comments of the Day 2 post doing something interesting -- listing a foundational 'fandom' for each medium, which I thought was an interesting way to change things up. So, obviously, book(s) are covered above.
TV show: At first I thought the obvious answer would be Babylon 5, and it totally is *a* show that impacted on my soul (or whatever), but I was going to say that it was the first TV show I watched both obsessively and for the pleasure of sharing it with a friend, but actually that's not true. That distinction goes to He-Man (the 80s one, which I watched on USA in 1990 -- my friend R introduced me to it, and it was so RIDICULOUSLY my thing, and I liked and felt sorry for Skeletor, and I poached bits and pieces of worldbuilding for the Magnum Opus, although at this point one probably couldn't tell. Also, just now reading the Wiki article, I learned that "It is also noted for featuring early script-writing work from J. Michael Straczynski" -- a) AHAHA, and b) well, I guess that's one way to get B5 into this answer after all, and c) I need to tell this to R immediately! XD
Movie: It was hard for me to think of a movie, because I'm generally not a movie person, but there actually is one: Enemy Mine. It was one of the crop of Western blockbusters that started showing up in the USSR in the late 1980s, I think just before we left -- I watched this, Short Circuit, and King Kong (this one, maybe?), and so on. I liked those movies, too -- the CGI and the types of stories were SO different from what I was used to from domestic movies, it was eye-opening -- but Enemy Mine *really* stuck with me. I dunno if it tapped into a kink for the 'enemy mine' trope, or created one, but it was definitely the first time I remember shipping that particular configuration, but most definitely NOT the last.
Song: Now, mostly I'm not fannish about songs, but there is one I most definitely am fannish about -- Tam Lin. I only encountered the real ballad at uni (the Folklore class I took with Professor N), but it became an instant favorite, because it tapped into all kind of tropes I'd loved from the fairy tales I grew up on. I've pretty much yet to encounter a retelling of Tam Lin that doesn't at least intrigue me (Pamela Dean's is a favorite of mine, of course, and I've read some good short stories, pro and fannish), and I like it lot when elements of "Tam Lin" come up in works that aren't retellings, either -- e.g. the end of Foxglove Summer, to pick the first example that comes to mind.
Poem: I'm not fannish about poetry, except insomuch as I write fan-poems instead of fan-fic, but there is most definitely a poem that has left its mark on my soul. It is Philip Larkin's beautiful and depressing "Aubade", my favorite poem of all time. I wrote down my thoughts about it here (...10 years ago. O.o). I've read it quite a few times since then, and have introduced it to a lot of people -- and every time I read it, the lines still give me shivers.
**
Day 3: In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private.
Recycling from last year with additions and revisions:
- Read at least 52 books. This is generally doable for me, but how easy varies from year to year.
- Read/watch at least 3 things from the updated "to try" list below (which should be kept updated as I keep forgetting things I want to read)
- Make progress on at least 3 "in progress" backburner book series (this is a new goal this year, because I find that I've started a bunch of things and am stalled out on them despite enjoying them)
- Read at least 1 book in Russian (new goal; I met it this year, but am slowing down and want to make sure I still do this)
- Read at least 1 non-genre book; non-fiction counts for this (new goal, replacing the reading bingo one, because I don't think I want to do a full-blown bingo/reading list again, but without it I don't seem to read anything but genre, and it's nice to have SOME balance)
- Finish watching s2 of Angel
- Post at least one new thing to AO3
- Actually comment on AO3 (I did this pretty well last year, but I feel like I didn't actually read much fic after making that goal, so, let's try again with maybe more fic)
To "try" list:
Books:
- Child of a Hidden Sea (Dellamonica)
- Fire and Hemlock (DWJ)
- The Coldfire Trilogy (C.S.Friedman)
- Daniel Abraham's novels, probably The Long Price quartet
- Something by Ginn Hale, who has now been recommended to me several different times in different contexts
- Someting else by Seanan McGuire in the faint hope that third time is the charm
- I don't expect I'll like them nearly as much as the Dresden Files books, but I do want to give Butcher's steampunk thing a shot.
TV:
- Farscape
- Almost Human
Backburner book series:
- Sapkowski's Witcher*
- Imperial Radch*
- Wayfarers
- Alex Verus
- Three Body Problem*
- Oxford Time-Travel Universe*
- Iskyrne
- Guy Gavriel Kay books
- Kate Daniels
- Philosopher Kings* (something else by Jo Walton also counts)
- Matthew Swift-verse* (something else by any of her aliases also counts)
- Elemental Logic*
- The Magicians
- Cloud Roads*
- Craft Sequence*
- Elantra*
- Volha
- Seraphina book 2
- Toby Daye*
- Inda*
* = I'm more than 1 volume behind
**
Day 4: Comment to someone you haven't ever interacted with before or introduce yourself to someone you've interacted with and friend/follow them.
Went and did that on the posts from Day 2 (so many lovely Tolkien tributes!) and also on some fics from the rec lists for day 5 (the advantages of doing this late :P)
Day 5: In your own space, post recs for at least three fanworks that you did not create.
Argh, I had everything written up and coded and then got distracted C&Ping or something, and then had to restart my computer, so had to do it all over again. OK!
Still haven't made much headway on this year's Yuletide stories, so these are a mix of recent things I've read / things which were recently posted --
Rivers of London: three-body problem (15k, Mature, Peter/Beverley and Peter/Nightingale poly from Bev's POV, post-Hanging Tree) -- another one of the really good RoL longfics this year's Yuletide produced. Peter/Beverley isn't even my ship, but I enjoyed seeing Beverley's loving and occasionally exasperated view of him, and Bev herself. The Rivers are my least favorite part of RoL's worldbuilding, ironically, but I liked them in this fic.
Dresden Files: Winter Service (gen, 500 words ficlet, Harry & Thomas, post-Cold Days) -- adorable Christmas-themed banter by aletheiafelinea that I got to read months ahead of everyone else, mwahaha.
Firefly: We Measure Our Seasons Anyway (600 words, gen, ensemble) by travels_in_time -- poignant but hopeful autumnal ficlet in which both the character voices and the tone felt spot-on for the show.
19th C Paleontology RPF: The Ballad of Cope and Marsh (Edward Drinker Cope / Othniel Charles Marsh, general audiences, actual ballad) -- in delightful verse! with crazy rhymes of scientific terms and hilarious real events, just how I like my cracky verse to be. This was actually the product of last year's Yuletide, but I only discovered it this year because it was podficced as a gift for the author this year.)
And my newest fandom:
Killjoys: hands fall together by egelantier (teen, 4k, pre-canon Dutch and Johnny) -- lovely fic with everything I like best about the relationship between the two of them, funny and piercing lines in a plot that feels very fitting to an episode of the show.