rusty_halo (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rusty_halo) wrote2004-04-12 12:51 pm
rusty_halo) wrote2004-04-12 12:51 pm
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A million thank yous to everyone who offered Highlander fic suggestions (and to those who pimped my request in their own journals, thus leading to Highlander fans that I'd never met offering excellent suggestions). I just read one so far, by Sylvia Volk (whose Spike fic I adore) and I can't wait to start on the others.
Are there still active places in HL fandom, and if so, where might I find them? (Methos centric, preferably).
Also, a bunch of thank yous to the people who congratulated me on passing my colloquium. I haven't had time to reply individually but I really appreciate all the nice things everyone said.
I finally tried to catch up with my friends list this weekend. I got to skip=980, then it wouldn't let me go any further back. So I missed everything between Friday April 2 and Monday April 5. If you posted something especially interesting during that time (especially fic), please let me know.
I just skimmed my list (and even then it took hours) and didn't comment. No offense intended--I was up till 4am, and just needed to catch up quickly and go to sleep. I also took a couple of people off of my reading list--nothing personal, I just can't keep up, so I tried to remove people who post often and whose interests have totally diverged from mine.
It was astounding how much *free time* I had this week, since I wasn't reading LJ or fic. It's so nice to have relaxation time, or playing-with-cats time, or cooking time, or TV time. I expect to continue cutting back on internet use, though I do plan to keep reading fic. I have this file with links to all the fic I'm supposed to read, and I just keep adding to it--at some point, I will catch up, and start asking archiving questions, and all that stuff.
A couple of people asked if I'm going to close my site when the show ends. The answer is still no--I plan to keep the site up as long as possible. (As in, years and years; unless there's some really compelling reason to close it, I will keep paying the maintenance bills as long as I can.) I will stop updating as often (um, I have stopped updating as often) but the archive will remain. And I probably will start updating regularly again soon, at least for a little while.
I regard quite a bit of the fiction on my site as Art (capital A) and I want it to be easily accessible. I honestly don't understand why people close their sites so superfluously all the time--even if I'm no longer that interested in Spike fic, many other people are, and if I have the site I may as well make it available. Some of this fiction is so astoundingly good--I want it to be as widely available as possible for those who are interested.
My weekend was fun, btw. I hung out with a whole ton of people both Friday and Saturday nights (including![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
10zlaine, thefangirl, soulmate815, drujan). We ate Spanish food, got drunk at the Times Square Brewery, saw Common Rotation at the Bitter End, etc. Common Ro were very good, as usual, but the real fun was in the company. 10zlaine and soulmate815 came over to meet my cats (who got all nervous around the company, but it was still cool). And thefangirl and I decided that we absolutely must have a sleepover, because she has the European versions of all the Highlander episodes, and these I've just got to see. (Plus, there are actually Methos episodes that I haven't seen at all...) And she's got this movie with naked Roy Dupuis (Michael from La Femme Nikita) ... so yes, we have much to watch.
I watched more Highlander this weekend--the last three episodes of season five. (These are the last episodes I have on tape--I didn't watch S6.)
I forgot that "Forgive Us Our Trespasses" has half-naked Methos. Yummy. Why weren't there more episodes with naked Methos? The episode itself is okay--it continues the "morality isn't black and white" theme pretty well, but it's not as good as some other episodes. The Methos part is wonderful, though; it's like he takes the words right out of my mouth: "[Another character] wants to divide the world up into good and bad, but it's not that simple. We are all both. Good and evil." How often have I argued that? I love Methos' moral ambiguity speeches--he is so damn cool. I haven't agreed with anything Spike's said since, what, BtVS S5? But Methos always had something neat to say. And did I mention he was almost naked?
The next episode, "The Modern Prometheus," is one that I've always hated. I think that what offends me most is that it had the potential to be wonderful--Methos-centric, Gothic setting, questions about the nature of art, potentially interesting moral quandry--and instead it totally dropped the ball and delivered cheese.
First, I have this utter squick about fiction featuring real people. It's a personal squick, not "you are going to hell for writing RPF" or anything like that. It just makes me cringe in horror and embarrassment, especially when it's done so poorly. Immortals inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein? Byron is a rock star? Please. The episode also doesn't make much sense--no one has any qualms that Macleod kills a guy for partying too hard? (Methos has qualms, but they're all about preserving the guy's artistic ability). Byron didn't kill those idiots, he just helped bring out their own stupidity. And yeah, he was going through a pretty fucked-up period, but Macleod (and Methos) have also had their own dark fucked-up periods. If you look at "Through a Glass, Darkly" from a season ago, the double-standard is pretty blatant. In that episode, the nutty guy actually flat-out murdered someone, but oh, he was Mac's old friend so he got to live. In "The Modern Prometheus," the nutty guy doesn't even murder anyone--if someone is dumb enough to dive from the ceiling of a concert hall, that's his own damn fault, no matter how much his favorite rock star encouraged him. But Bryon is Methos' friend, not Macleod's, so he dies.
There are a couple of good things in the episode, though. Methos having flashbacks instead of Duncan? Awesome, and a trend which really should have continued. I love how it opens up all these possibilities--Methos has 5,000 years of history to explore, and here is just one little taste of all the potential stories. Having him called "Doc" is also a very nice little touch--how many names must he have had over all this time? (And I love how his names play on the theme of "Adam," the first man ... ) His desire to preserve art and knowledge also comes out in this episode (among many others) and is one of the things I love best about him. Intelligence = sexy.
And the episode also has this wonderful exchange, which Methos delivers so perfectly:
Byron: "Do you want a tombstone that says he lived for centuries? Or do you want one that says for centuries he was alive?"
Methos: "You're not listening to me. I don't want a tombstone."
The cold, calm, final way that he says "I don't want a tombstone" is just so brilliant.
Oh, and the homoerotic subtext between Methos and Bryon is another plus in this episode. The deep looks they exchange, the way Byron touches Methos .... excellent, but still, really should have been better than it was.
I don't get how the show started sucking so bad at the end of the fifth season, when it had climaxed so brilliantly with "Comes a Horseman" and "Revelation 6:8" in the middle of that season. But the sucking continues in that season's finale, "Archangel." What a pathetic excuse for an episode, especially such a pivotal one. Why the hell would Joe and Methos not believe Macleod? They totally bought that, without any kind of trigger, Mac just all of a sudden lost his mind? After they've known him how long, and they know that magic exists, they refuse to even consider his claims that something supernatural is happening to him? It was such blatant character manipulation in order to set up the story so that Richie was the only one supporting Macleod.
The insanty stuff was so poorly done--bring back Horton and Kronos, then have them bore us with endless kindergarten taunting? And the Richie thing--don't even get me started. Richie was an irritating idiot, and he'd never have survived long anyway, but his bond with Macleod was pivotal to the show. You don't do something like that so casually, or so poorly. There's no real point to it at all--it's totally a mistake. There's no deep character exploration, no choice or reason, just a lame accident. It's like how ME wussed out with dark Willow (it's an addiction, it's not really Willow, blah blah blah). If you're going to take a character to that kind of extreme, go all the way. A half-assed version isn't going to please anyone.
The only good thing in the episode is the very very end--Methos refusing to kill Macleod, and then holding Joe as he cries. Awww. (And speaking of Joe, Jim Byrnes is awesome, isn't he? He and Peter Wingfield together are amazing--best actors on the show by far, and work together so well.)
One of the things I really love about Highlander is the friendships--you really believe that these people care deeply about each other. The way they act is just in such striking contrast to Buffy, in a subtle yet very clear way. Post high school, did you feel the deep emotional connections between the characters? I sure didn't--it seemed like Willow and Xander hung out with Buffy because, well, the actors were contracted to do so. But was there a deep organic kind of friendship ingrained in the show? Hell no. On Highlander, though, you get these incredible friendships. Joe, Duncan, Methos--the way that they're there for each other, the way that they casually touch each other and support each other, the way that they laugh together, the way that they always defend each other. The deep personal hurt they feel when one betrays the other. These relationships feel real--these people love each other, through good times and bad. (And not just with big grand gestures and speeches, but in the little things: the casual day to day interactions of a friendship--the show takes the time to show us those, which I love it for.)
I do suspect that if I had been deeply involved in Highlander fandom and knew all the minutia, I'd have quite a bit to be pissed off about--lame story decisions, lost opportunities, and so on. But being a casual fan means I can just skip all over the bullshit and just enjoy the parts I like. It's nice. And quite different from Buffy, which I can't even watch anymore without wanting to break something. Actually, the #1 thing about watching Highlander? I don't have to endure that self-obsessed snooty little $%^&, Buffy. (And no Marti Noxon issues, and no "normal is the only way to be happy," and no "bad boyfriend" bullshit, no "domestic abuse is okay as long as it's a woman doing the abusing," no "all men are evil nasty rapists," no "sex always leads to death," no "Spike and Anya died but it's still a happy ending," blah blah blah Joss Whedon sucks.)
Are there still active places in HL fandom, and if so, where might I find them? (Methos centric, preferably).
Also, a bunch of thank yous to the people who congratulated me on passing my colloquium. I haven't had time to reply individually but I really appreciate all the nice things everyone said.
I finally tried to catch up with my friends list this weekend. I got to skip=980, then it wouldn't let me go any further back. So I missed everything between Friday April 2 and Monday April 5. If you posted something especially interesting during that time (especially fic), please let me know.
I just skimmed my list (and even then it took hours) and didn't comment. No offense intended--I was up till 4am, and just needed to catch up quickly and go to sleep. I also took a couple of people off of my reading list--nothing personal, I just can't keep up, so I tried to remove people who post often and whose interests have totally diverged from mine.
It was astounding how much *free time* I had this week, since I wasn't reading LJ or fic. It's so nice to have relaxation time, or playing-with-cats time, or cooking time, or TV time. I expect to continue cutting back on internet use, though I do plan to keep reading fic. I have this file with links to all the fic I'm supposed to read, and I just keep adding to it--at some point, I will catch up, and start asking archiving questions, and all that stuff.
A couple of people asked if I'm going to close my site when the show ends. The answer is still no--I plan to keep the site up as long as possible. (As in, years and years; unless there's some really compelling reason to close it, I will keep paying the maintenance bills as long as I can.) I will stop updating as often (um, I have stopped updating as often) but the archive will remain. And I probably will start updating regularly again soon, at least for a little while.
I regard quite a bit of the fiction on my site as Art (capital A) and I want it to be easily accessible. I honestly don't understand why people close their sites so superfluously all the time--even if I'm no longer that interested in Spike fic, many other people are, and if I have the site I may as well make it available. Some of this fiction is so astoundingly good--I want it to be as widely available as possible for those who are interested.
My weekend was fun, btw. I hung out with a whole ton of people both Friday and Saturday nights (including
10zlaine, thefangirl, soulmate815, drujan). We ate Spanish food, got drunk at the Times Square Brewery, saw Common Rotation at the Bitter End, etc. Common Ro were very good, as usual, but the real fun was in the company. 10zlaine and soulmate815 came over to meet my cats (who got all nervous around the company, but it was still cool). And thefangirl and I decided that we absolutely must have a sleepover, because she has the European versions of all the Highlander episodes, and these I've just got to see. (Plus, there are actually Methos episodes that I haven't seen at all...) And she's got this movie with naked Roy Dupuis (Michael from La Femme Nikita) ... so yes, we have much to watch.I watched more Highlander this weekend--the last three episodes of season five. (These are the last episodes I have on tape--I didn't watch S6.)
I forgot that "Forgive Us Our Trespasses" has half-naked Methos. Yummy. Why weren't there more episodes with naked Methos? The episode itself is okay--it continues the "morality isn't black and white" theme pretty well, but it's not as good as some other episodes. The Methos part is wonderful, though; it's like he takes the words right out of my mouth: "[Another character] wants to divide the world up into good and bad, but it's not that simple. We are all both. Good and evil." How often have I argued that? I love Methos' moral ambiguity speeches--he is so damn cool. I haven't agreed with anything Spike's said since, what, BtVS S5? But Methos always had something neat to say. And did I mention he was almost naked?
The next episode, "The Modern Prometheus," is one that I've always hated. I think that what offends me most is that it had the potential to be wonderful--Methos-centric, Gothic setting, questions about the nature of art, potentially interesting moral quandry--and instead it totally dropped the ball and delivered cheese.
First, I have this utter squick about fiction featuring real people. It's a personal squick, not "you are going to hell for writing RPF" or anything like that. It just makes me cringe in horror and embarrassment, especially when it's done so poorly. Immortals inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein? Byron is a rock star? Please. The episode also doesn't make much sense--no one has any qualms that Macleod kills a guy for partying too hard? (Methos has qualms, but they're all about preserving the guy's artistic ability). Byron didn't kill those idiots, he just helped bring out their own stupidity. And yeah, he was going through a pretty fucked-up period, but Macleod (and Methos) have also had their own dark fucked-up periods. If you look at "Through a Glass, Darkly" from a season ago, the double-standard is pretty blatant. In that episode, the nutty guy actually flat-out murdered someone, but oh, he was Mac's old friend so he got to live. In "The Modern Prometheus," the nutty guy doesn't even murder anyone--if someone is dumb enough to dive from the ceiling of a concert hall, that's his own damn fault, no matter how much his favorite rock star encouraged him. But Bryon is Methos' friend, not Macleod's, so he dies.
There are a couple of good things in the episode, though. Methos having flashbacks instead of Duncan? Awesome, and a trend which really should have continued. I love how it opens up all these possibilities--Methos has 5,000 years of history to explore, and here is just one little taste of all the potential stories. Having him called "Doc" is also a very nice little touch--how many names must he have had over all this time? (And I love how his names play on the theme of "Adam," the first man ... ) His desire to preserve art and knowledge also comes out in this episode (among many others) and is one of the things I love best about him. Intelligence = sexy.
And the episode also has this wonderful exchange, which Methos delivers so perfectly:
Byron: "Do you want a tombstone that says he lived for centuries? Or do you want one that says for centuries he was alive?"
Methos: "You're not listening to me. I don't want a tombstone."
The cold, calm, final way that he says "I don't want a tombstone" is just so brilliant.
Oh, and the homoerotic subtext between Methos and Bryon is another plus in this episode. The deep looks they exchange, the way Byron touches Methos .... excellent, but still, really should have been better than it was.
I don't get how the show started sucking so bad at the end of the fifth season, when it had climaxed so brilliantly with "Comes a Horseman" and "Revelation 6:8" in the middle of that season. But the sucking continues in that season's finale, "Archangel." What a pathetic excuse for an episode, especially such a pivotal one. Why the hell would Joe and Methos not believe Macleod? They totally bought that, without any kind of trigger, Mac just all of a sudden lost his mind? After they've known him how long, and they know that magic exists, they refuse to even consider his claims that something supernatural is happening to him? It was such blatant character manipulation in order to set up the story so that Richie was the only one supporting Macleod.
The insanty stuff was so poorly done--bring back Horton and Kronos, then have them bore us with endless kindergarten taunting? And the Richie thing--don't even get me started. Richie was an irritating idiot, and he'd never have survived long anyway, but his bond with Macleod was pivotal to the show. You don't do something like that so casually, or so poorly. There's no real point to it at all--it's totally a mistake. There's no deep character exploration, no choice or reason, just a lame accident. It's like how ME wussed out with dark Willow (it's an addiction, it's not really Willow, blah blah blah). If you're going to take a character to that kind of extreme, go all the way. A half-assed version isn't going to please anyone.
The only good thing in the episode is the very very end--Methos refusing to kill Macleod, and then holding Joe as he cries. Awww. (And speaking of Joe, Jim Byrnes is awesome, isn't he? He and Peter Wingfield together are amazing--best actors on the show by far, and work together so well.)
One of the things I really love about Highlander is the friendships--you really believe that these people care deeply about each other. The way they act is just in such striking contrast to Buffy, in a subtle yet very clear way. Post high school, did you feel the deep emotional connections between the characters? I sure didn't--it seemed like Willow and Xander hung out with Buffy because, well, the actors were contracted to do so. But was there a deep organic kind of friendship ingrained in the show? Hell no. On Highlander, though, you get these incredible friendships. Joe, Duncan, Methos--the way that they're there for each other, the way that they casually touch each other and support each other, the way that they laugh together, the way that they always defend each other. The deep personal hurt they feel when one betrays the other. These relationships feel real--these people love each other, through good times and bad. (And not just with big grand gestures and speeches, but in the little things: the casual day to day interactions of a friendship--the show takes the time to show us those, which I love it for.)
I do suspect that if I had been deeply involved in Highlander fandom and knew all the minutia, I'd have quite a bit to be pissed off about--lame story decisions, lost opportunities, and so on. But being a casual fan means I can just skip all over the bullshit and just enjoy the parts I like. It's nice. And quite different from Buffy, which I can't even watch anymore without wanting to break something. Actually, the #1 thing about watching Highlander? I don't have to endure that self-obsessed snooty little $%^&, Buffy. (And no Marti Noxon issues, and no "normal is the only way to be happy," and no "bad boyfriend" bullshit, no "domestic abuse is okay as long as it's a woman doing the abusing," no "all men are evil nasty rapists," no "sex always leads to death," no "Spike and Anya died but it's still a happy ending," blah blah blah Joss Whedon sucks.)
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Bravo for you for cutting the chains of discontent and looking for something you actually enjoy.
::huggles you::
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I'm sad that this won't be a new fannish obsession (Highlander having ended years and years ago) but it's a fun diversion for now. It is really nice to watch a character and love him, instead of watching him while cringing about the horrible ways the writers are going to ruin him.
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So. Jaime. We finally got a conversation with him, and very very interesting. He's only slept with Cersei. :) He's got a sardonic wit. And he's a classic case of let the antagonist explain his side and suddenly things aren't so black and white after all, are they? I just wish I liked Catelyn even a little bit. Then I could enjoy her threads more.
I'm still all about Arya and Jon Snow. They rock.
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I'm glad you finally got to the Jaime conversation! Those are definitely some of the things I love about him (sardonic wit, not so black-and-white after all, etc.) He really grows from this point, though--it's more of a starting point. I didn't love him until the third book.
I'm bored by Catelyn too. Luckily Jaime is separated from her in the next book. I'm bored by a lot of the characters, actually--I have to fight to resist the temptation to skip the boring ones and jump to the ones I like.
I'm very fond of Arya, too. I don't really get the Jon Snow thing--I can't really get inside his head. He seems like sort of a bland hero type, not much interesting going on. My favorite character other than Jaime is Tyrion, by far. His POVs are always fascinating, and he's such an interesting character, at odds with his family and his environment, so smart, trying to do the right thing and and be loyal to his family, even though all but Jaime treat him like dirt ...
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Ah, Roy Dupuis :-)
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::mind boggles:: Wow.
If I haven't said so yet, congratulations on passing.
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I laughed at your list of "Noxonisms." The unwavering truth in HL is that if Duncan loves you, if Duncan glances your way, RUN. Because you're gonna die, and he'll probably be the one to kill you.
But the slash! Omigod yes.
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I can see that. Though it also used to piss me off how he'd let people go for stupid reasons all the time, too. His ethics always seemed very strange to me, and I loved when Methos showed up and started calling all of Macleod's "givens" into question. I think I nearly stood up and cheered when Methos whacked Kristen's head off in "Chivalry."
But the slash! Omigod yes.
It's very fun to rediscover Highlander from a slashy perspective. :)
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The Spikeny got updated and the final piece is has just gone off for betaing, though it's as huge as some of the other parts so it might take a while:)
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Peter Wingfield Fan Club
But yeah... end of season 5 and pretty much all of season 6 were teh suck. Mercifully short.
The final episode was lame. *Such* an original premise. Someone ought to write a movie with that premise (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/).
And not even the allure of Elizabeth Gracen could keep me watching the Raven.
Where did it all go wrong?
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I had such a great time this weekend, and you were a big part of that!
I fell into bed Sunday at 5am, and G. called me at 9:30, to see where I was, because he figured I'd be on the road by then. HA! (I didn't tell him when I actually went to sleep...) So, I got up and left around 10:30. Somehow, I had no trouble with fatigue, thank god.
I can't wait for June!
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You really should. The quality varied immensely, but when it was good, it was very good (especially when Methos was around). They rerun it on Spike TV sometimes. And if you're ever around here hanging out, we should totally watch some.
I had such a great time this weekend,
Me too! It was very fun. I'm glad you had a good time--I also really enjoyed hanging out. It's a good thing that you were able to sleep in on Sunday; I can't believe we were out so late!
June is going to be awesome. Can't wait to see you. :)
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yay!
Its hard to believe that people who don't care about animals are even the same species as us.
I just started my livejournal - is it OK if I "friend" you?
Re: yay!
You're welcome to friend me--no need to ask.
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Don't forget to send the Vegan recipes, esp. the dessert ones. Donna decided upon sobering up that she could not become a Vegan, however, we are both still interested in the recipes.
Ginger
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(Anonymous) 2004-04-23 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2004-04-23 05:51 pm (UTC)(link)HL FIC Recs
http://www.seventh-dimension.org
Stories are broken down by various catergories, including by character. Methos stories can be found here:
http://www.seventh-dimension.org/Methos_Main.html
Here are some of my personal favs:
http://www.seventh-dimension.org/stories/Lynne/LastCall.txt
http://www.seventh-dimension.org/stories/Amand-r/OhToBeLikeaGod.txt
http://www.seventh-dimension.org/stories/Alice_in_Stonyland/StrangerThings.txt
Hope you enjoy and happy reading!!
Susan