A Legend of the Seeker Picspam
SPOILERS FOR SEASON ONE AND SEASON TWO. AS WELL AS GRATIUOUS PRETTY!
BONUS: FEMSLASHY GOODNESS
I really wanted to include this as one of the reasons that every should be watching Legend of the Seeker but that would have made my list go to 11, which is one awesomer. So just pretend that this really says reason number 11 and not bonus. Sure, lots of fandoms have subtext between the hot female ladies but not Seeker. Seeker goes right there and gives you some HLA (Hot Lesbian Action) which is appreciated by straight males everyplace. But more than the kissage and innuendo, there is an actual story behind it. Like when Cara finds Triana's skeleton in Season One finale Reckoning or the sparks that fly between them in the Season Two opener Marked.
10. THE BEAUTIFUL BACKGROUND/SCENERY
Sure, a lot of it can be chalked up to CGI and post but there is a hell of a lot of amazing places in New Zealand, which are captured in the stunning long shots during the show. It sneaks up on you. You'll be watching and then it's like BAM! this wide spread greenness. And trust me, living in Arizona, I appreciate the greenness.
9. HERACLES/XENA ALUMNI
Now to most people this isn't that important but this is MY list, damnit and it's important to me. You see, Xena was one of my first fandoms. My deep dark secret. I learned the difference between a "shipper" and a "subber". I spent time in the Oxygen Xena chat rooms that would scroll live on the screen during the broadcast. It was a beautiful time and I like seeing those beautiful people again. This is just a sampling and thanks to the people at legendofseeker (especially undrwrldangel24, lrbcn, gloomybardgirl) we've got a pretty compehensive list
8. ZEDDICUS ZU'L ZORANDER
A lot of people don't appreciate Zedd. Yes, he is a cockblocker. Yes, he is always hungry. Yes, he can't remember his own wizard rules. But he is also great for comic relief. He's like your bumbling next door neighbor, if the old man used Wizard Fire to keep the damn kids off his lawn. His love for his chicken, Clara is one of the sweetest lovestories that I have even seen. Oh for the day when they are reunited again!
7. AMORAL ATTRACTIVE ASSHOLE
Ladies love a bad boy. Just look at him? How can you say no to the hawtness that is Darken Rahl. Sure, he kills kittens, he manipulates people, he is an evil ruler who doesn't give a shit about his people, and he just might want to make out with his own brother (was Home just a little bit creepy to anyone else?). But who cares because he's hawt. And right now he is the only one with clothes in NoUndiesWorld so you know that's gotta mean he's got the sexay powerz.
6. SLO-MO FIGHT SCENES (MATRIX STYLE!)
I'm a girl but I can totally appreciate a good fight scene. And Seeker delivers. You get at least one every episode. At least one shot of Richard jumping through the air, his sword raised. Which if that isn't a metaphor, I don't know what is. But it's not like 300. The fight scenes are well choreographed and don't rely on being a complete gore-fest (Spartacus: Blood and Sand, I'm looking at you here!).
5. GOOD LOOKING PEOPLE IN TIGHT/NO CLOTHING
Did you not see the title of this picspam? It's superficial reasons and you can't get more shallow than just wanting to see some very attractive people in either tight leather or let's face it, with no clothes at all. I kind of prefer them that way. I mean, Kahlan's corsets and dresses inspired several Gay for Kahlan picspams, peeps! That is saying something about the level of GQMF these people possess!
4. REALISTIC PORTRAYL OF A RELATIONSHIP
What? A serious one. How did this sneak in here? Somebody, get me myself on the phone! But seriously, Richard and Kahlan have one of the best and most realistic relationships on tv. I come from the Buffy fandom where, if two characters can't be together, they angst like there is no tomorrow. Oh noes, we can't have the sexy tiems, I must run far far away. Well, guess what? Richard and Kahlan can't have sex either and they still manage to love each other, to be together. dannyblue said it better than I ever could: "I must say I love the way they have done the Richard/Kahlan relationship. On so many shows, if a couple couldn't have sex (for whatever reason) the belief would be that they couldn't be together at all. In fact, they'd do that thing where they'd pretend they didn't love each other after all, even though everyone knows they do, and any moment between them that could be in any way interpreted as romantic or sexual would be filled with much awkwardness.
Or, even if they did try to be together without sex, there would be much angst, and almost every scene they shared would somehow be about their unresolved, sexual tension. (And not the fun UST, but depressing UST.)
I love how Richard and Kahlan are. It's like, "Yeah, we can't have sex. But that doesn't mean we can't be happy together in other ways." I love it that they can kiss without it devolving into looks of "we can't have sex" anguish. I love it that they are so open about their feelings, and telling each other (and anyone else, for that matter) that they love each other. And I truly believe that Richard would stay with Kahlan forever even if they never, ever got to "do the deed."
That's love, baby!
Of course, I also fully believe that, at some point in the series, an inability to have sex won't be a problem for them anymore. But the fact that they can't right now doesn't make them any less romantic, or sweet. Or hot!"
3. KICK ASS FEMALE ROLE MODELS
So we know this is coming from the Xena-camp so you know that the women in Seeker aren't going to be your damsels in distress. They are going to kick ass, take names, and look great doing it. And you've got a variety of ass-kicking role models to choose from. Sister Verna, one of my favorite characters, isn't exactly a spring chicken. Kahlan is a fully developed woman who has emotions but doesn't let them rule her. And sure, the Mord'Sith are completely devoid of emotion but that is awesome because it's another way to show women. You've got the whole spectrum of what a woman can be.
2. IT MAKES ME CRY
We got the two serious ones out of the way so here is another very shallow reason. It makes me cry. Now, granted, I cry at International Coffee House commercials but this makes me cry in a good way, not because it's Stepmom-ing* me. I get invested in these characters, even ones that only appear for an episode, and it makes me want them to have a happy ending. When something bad happens to them, it happens to me too, even if they do live in a fantasy land. That's a sign of good tv.
1. THE FANDOM
I've been in a few fandoms in my day and I have to say that hands down, Seeker is the best one. Why? Because everyone realizes that this show, despite all the awesome, is cracky, campy FUN. Nobody takes it too seriously. There are no ship wars so if you like Zedd/Clara, someone is going to write it for you during a kink meme. Think Richard/Kahlan/Cara is hawt, join the club. You really wanna see X/Y, bet someone will write it for you. Wank? Forget about it. This is a wank-free fandom, thank you very much. And the fandom is filled with cool people who do hilarious cracky recaps and have Gay for Kahlan partays and talk about how epic Kahlan's hair is. There is no learning curve, no place where you aren't automatically accepted. It's like the most perfect fandom I've ever found.
Communities listed:
llmistressdenna (Team Denna of legendland)
legendofseeker (General Legend of the Seeker community)
lots_femslash (Legend of the Seeker femslash community)
legendland (Interactive challenge community)
sword_of_lies (ONTD-type community)
seekerstillness (Legend of the Seeker icontest)
*Stepmom-ing is a term inspired by the movie Stepmom in which a writer will create scenes designed to make people cry. Such as killing off a character or having two characters who hated each other bond as one is dying. The entire movie Stepmom is made up of these types of scenes.
This was a picspam challenge for legendland. Go check them out. Ask for Team Denna! (The greatest team EVER!)