Big Bang & BSG
I have come to the sad conclusion that there is almost no way for me to meet the rough draft deadline for Big Bang. To do that, I would need a lot of long stretches of time to devote to nothing but writing, and that would entail giving up RL pursuits that are important to me. More importantly, I love my story idea, and I couldn't bear to make myself hate it by enslaving myself too rigidly to a deadline. Nor could I bear to make the story less complex than it deserves to be just to get it in on time. I am sad, though. When writing a story this long, one worries about finding an audience, and a challenge like Big Bang has one built in. I can live without a fanmix, but having art to go along with a story has been a long-running fantasy of mine. It would be especially lovely to have art to go along with a story I worked so hard on. But who knows? Maybe I will be seized by a burst of inspiration and a long stretch of free time and suddenly finish on time. And if not, better to have a good story than a mediocre one with fan art.
In other news, the boy and I overcame our disgust with our last BSG disc and got a new one. Our reaction is an equal combination of 'this is awesome!' and 'what the fuck?'
So, we're at the part where they found the new planet, Baltar ordered them to colonize it, and then the Cylons showed up and colonized them.
Awesome things thus far:
(1) Kara Thrace stabbed someone in the neck with chopsticks! And then she ate dinner with her victim's blood on her hands!! I love her so much, and I kind of love the show for acknowledging that while life is dangerous for everyone, there is a unique sexual component of that danger for women.
(2) Gaeta, fighting the good fight, as always. He may be climbing the list of my favorite characters ever. Is there good porn involving Gaeta? Het preferred, but threesomes containing women also acceptable. I have been a little in love with him ever since I saw him being all mussed with the tiger on his chest.
(3) Chief = Che Guevara
(4) That moment where Callie doesn't even let Chief finish apologizing before she says "I forgive you."
(5) Laura Roslin's scary efficient aide chief of staff. I was kind of miffed that they killed Billy for no reason, but if they did it to make way for this lady, Billy can rot in hell for all I care.
(6) Ellen screwing Dean Stockwell Cylon to get her husband back. It broke my heart, but in a good way. It was just true, both for the kind of choices women would have to make in that situation, and also for who she is. I liked it because I don't think it broke her. I don't think she liked it, but I think she saw it as being smart and crafty and using the best resource she had to get her husband back.
(7) Sharon. Always Sharon. I'm not sure I can think of a single more interesting character, male or female.
(8) Related to #7 above: that moment where Caprica Six and Sharon spare Anders' life. Specifically, when they give him back Kara's dog tag. And smash Lucy Lawless' head with a giant chunk of concrete.
(9) Adama's moment with Roslin when he confronts her about rigging the election. At the time, I was on his side. Believing that you know better than all your people puts you down the slippery slope to dictatorship, but after seeing the results of the Baltar presidency? Maybe a Roslin dictatorship wouldn't have been so bad. But on the whole, I admire the show for presenting a choice that was too complicated to have a clear right answer.
(10) If you're wondering, the eye is gone. They pulled it out and showed it to me. Looked just like a boiled egg.
And also...
I haven't seen you at any of the Cylon meetings.
(1) I cannot take Adama seriously with a mustache.
(2) Lee Adama and his stupid, unmotivated man pain. Argh. I thought he was better than that. I think the show did write him better than that, but it was convenient for him to be fat and lazy and soft, so they made him that way. Which is sad, because I did like his character at the beginning.
(3) Dualla? Way too awesome to marry to Lee Adama. Gaeta is the only man good enough for her.
(4) Related to #3 above: did we have to get everyone married off in the space of a year? Maybe that would be people's normal response to a situation like that, but still. Lack of backstory makes it kind of unsatisfying.
(5) Related to #4 above: OMG you just threw away an entire season of material! I find their new situation quite fascinating, but I want to see more of it. What made life on the colony planet so awful? How did people cope? How did everyone hook up with each other? How did Gaeta end up working for Baltar? What happened with Kara and Sam's relationship? Roslin losing the election, Kara rescuing the survivors, Baltar ordering the settlement, Cylons giving up the war, and Cylons colonizing the New Caprica is too much for three episodes. My head is still spinning from trying to process it all while also keeping up with the new story.
(6) Reason for Cylon invasion as yet extremely unclear. I'm hoping this will reveal itself in the future, but I am preparing for it to remain inexplicable.
(7) Women currently all victims, supportive wives, or waiting at home with babes in arms. I like the story enough to take off my feminist goggles for a little while, but let's get some ladies doing more than sifting through photos of Cylon collaborators in their brightly decorated classrooms. What about that badass redhead chick who was blowing things up with Anders back on Caprica?
(8) Still do not understand Kara Thrace/Sam Anders. It was a one night stand, not a love affair!
(9) Callie/Chief?! I love Callie, and I have always loved the ship. I just wanted to know how it happened. That moment when she forgave him almost wrung some tears out of my cold, black heart. How could they cheat me out of the rest of the story?! Maybe it exists in fanfiction? Please to be leaving me recs?
(10) Gaius Baltar is not exactly a strong person, or a selfless one, but I needed more insight into how exactly he got that bad. Now I have no choice but to hate him, where before I found him intriguing and morally ambiguous, kind of like Snape with less magic and more sex. Also, wtf would someone like Six still have any interest in him at all?
I would like to read any stories that fill in the blanks from that missing year, provided that they don't spoil me for the rest of the series.
In other news, the boy and I overcame our disgust with our last BSG disc and got a new one. Our reaction is an equal combination of 'this is awesome!' and 'what the fuck?'
So, we're at the part where they found the new planet, Baltar ordered them to colonize it, and then the Cylons showed up and colonized them.
Awesome things thus far:
(1) Kara Thrace stabbed someone in the neck with chopsticks! And then she ate dinner with her victim's blood on her hands!! I love her so much, and I kind of love the show for acknowledging that while life is dangerous for everyone, there is a unique sexual component of that danger for women.
(2) Gaeta, fighting the good fight, as always. He may be climbing the list of my favorite characters ever. Is there good porn involving Gaeta? Het preferred, but threesomes containing women also acceptable. I have been a little in love with him ever since I saw him being all mussed with the tiger on his chest.
(3) Chief = Che Guevara
(4) That moment where Callie doesn't even let Chief finish apologizing before she says "I forgive you."
(5) Laura Roslin's scary efficient aide chief of staff. I was kind of miffed that they killed Billy for no reason, but if they did it to make way for this lady, Billy can rot in hell for all I care.
(6) Ellen screwing Dean Stockwell Cylon to get her husband back. It broke my heart, but in a good way. It was just true, both for the kind of choices women would have to make in that situation, and also for who she is. I liked it because I don't think it broke her. I don't think she liked it, but I think she saw it as being smart and crafty and using the best resource she had to get her husband back.
(7) Sharon. Always Sharon. I'm not sure I can think of a single more interesting character, male or female.
(8) Related to #7 above: that moment where Caprica Six and Sharon spare Anders' life. Specifically, when they give him back Kara's dog tag. And smash Lucy Lawless' head with a giant chunk of concrete.
(9) Adama's moment with Roslin when he confronts her about rigging the election. At the time, I was on his side. Believing that you know better than all your people puts you down the slippery slope to dictatorship, but after seeing the results of the Baltar presidency? Maybe a Roslin dictatorship wouldn't have been so bad. But on the whole, I admire the show for presenting a choice that was too complicated to have a clear right answer.
(10) If you're wondering, the eye is gone. They pulled it out and showed it to me. Looked just like a boiled egg.
And also...
I haven't seen you at any of the Cylon meetings.
(1) I cannot take Adama seriously with a mustache.
(2) Lee Adama and his stupid, unmotivated man pain. Argh. I thought he was better than that. I think the show did write him better than that, but it was convenient for him to be fat and lazy and soft, so they made him that way. Which is sad, because I did like his character at the beginning.
(3) Dualla? Way too awesome to marry to Lee Adama. Gaeta is the only man good enough for her.
(4) Related to #3 above: did we have to get everyone married off in the space of a year? Maybe that would be people's normal response to a situation like that, but still. Lack of backstory makes it kind of unsatisfying.
(5) Related to #4 above: OMG you just threw away an entire season of material! I find their new situation quite fascinating, but I want to see more of it. What made life on the colony planet so awful? How did people cope? How did everyone hook up with each other? How did Gaeta end up working for Baltar? What happened with Kara and Sam's relationship? Roslin losing the election, Kara rescuing the survivors, Baltar ordering the settlement, Cylons giving up the war, and Cylons colonizing the New Caprica is too much for three episodes. My head is still spinning from trying to process it all while also keeping up with the new story.
(6) Reason for Cylon invasion as yet extremely unclear. I'm hoping this will reveal itself in the future, but I am preparing for it to remain inexplicable.
(7) Women currently all victims, supportive wives, or waiting at home with babes in arms. I like the story enough to take off my feminist goggles for a little while, but let's get some ladies doing more than sifting through photos of Cylon collaborators in their brightly decorated classrooms. What about that badass redhead chick who was blowing things up with Anders back on Caprica?
(8) Still do not understand Kara Thrace/Sam Anders. It was a one night stand, not a love affair!
(9) Callie/Chief?! I love Callie, and I have always loved the ship. I just wanted to know how it happened. That moment when she forgave him almost wrung some tears out of my cold, black heart. How could they cheat me out of the rest of the story?! Maybe it exists in fanfiction? Please to be leaving me recs?
(10) Gaius Baltar is not exactly a strong person, or a selfless one, but I needed more insight into how exactly he got that bad. Now I have no choice but to hate him, where before I found him intriguing and morally ambiguous, kind of like Snape with less magic and more sex. Also, wtf would someone like Six still have any interest in him at all?
I would like to read any stories that fill in the blanks from that missing year, provided that they don't spoil me for the rest of the series.