Talk to me about...

[mangacat201]

...many things, actually. So this is a post comprised of posts that I've wanted to really put up over the past few weeks but never got around to and it basically contains an offer to talk about a myriad of fannish things that busied my brain in that time. You can answer to any, all or none of the posed topics and just tell me what's on your mind. (Beware, there might be spoilers for some things in the comments though I'll try and keep this entry skimming off the top)

So, talk to me about...

... JUSTIFIED. The series finale. MAN, did they deliver when I really wasn't sure what was going to come out of a sixth and last season that had some serious ups and downs. But I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the last hour of that show SO MUCH. They tied up so many loose ends without it feeling like they were concluding the story at large and had some pretty fantastic show-downs. Complete with the last scene that ended the show on an emotional punch and with the best of bookends, I couldn't have asked for more. What did you think?

...SUPERNATURAL. Those past couple of episodes, man, did they pack a punch. But I can't help but think that they're retreading storylines we've seen before without twisting them in a new way (what if Sam DID tell Dean what he was up to? What if they didn't try the same thing over and over hoping for a different outcome? I'm kinda ready for the boys to learn that shit already) to drag out the tension just a bit further towards the finale, but I feel like it doesn't serve the show very well. They should be bold and wrap up those storylines earlier and break new ground with the characters. With honesty and acceptance of their crappy options, they DO face new challenges. I have liked S10 pretty well so far, but I can't help but feel that our writers are lazying about a bit in tried and true formulaic narrative tropes instead of posing the challenge of the new and untried for themselves that made the show so intriguing in the first place. I don't think that the story of Sam and Dean has been told to conclusion or God forbid to overbundance, but I feel like the boys need to grow up and learn from their history a bit more than they have for the past couple of seasons. Jared and Jensen are both Dad's with big family lives now, they've entered into a new stage of maturity in their careers and their personal lives, I feel like it might be a good thing for that to be reflected in the journey of their characters in some way (not that I think the Winchesters should settle down and start families, but maybe that they redefine their purpose as something past 'saving people, hunting things' only to get them to the next stage).

...iZOMBIE. I was willing to give the show a chance because of it's pedigree (hello Rob Thomas) and because the premise sounded like something that could sustain an interesting story. And while I sometimes am painfully stylistically reminded of Veronica Mars, I can't believe how much I enjoy watching this little thing - especially since Bradley James has made his recurring-character American debut. It's fresh, it's quirky, it's got a bomb cast mixed in with newcomers and familiar faces and it's been continually throwing me curveballs of defying my expectations whenever I was watching and - provided it can get over its romantic triangle cliché plotlines in the future - I see the best things happening. I'm also proud to be planning a SPN/iZ crossover fic as a price for getting bought at fandomaid by liliaeth which I'm ridiculously looking forward to.

...THE MESSENGERS. Came across it completely by accident, decided to take a look without knowing more than that it was some kind of weird ass apocalyptic plot with resurrection stuff going on, and I was pleasantly surprised with how engaging and interesting it is. The characters are mulit-faceted (and multi-hued, yay inclusion) and even though I don't really care for their special effects - I'd much rather they'd held off on SHOWING us the evil-n-good-guy stuff for a while, giving it a bit more narrative tension - I'm really intrigued by which way they've started to spin well-known tropes. If you're looking for a great ensemble cast mystery genre entertainment, this is the right address. They might be taking baby steps yet, but I think they have the potential to be great.

...MARVEL... So now that the tie-in episode of 'Agents of SHIELD' aired (and was unsatisfactorily light on the tie-in considering what they'd toted in the previews) and my US friends are finally getting ready to catch up with the rest of the international community in terms of the new canon, tell me what do you think of THE AVENGERS - Age of Ultron? YAY? NAY? Headcanon-buster (as it was for me tbh)? Talk to me about it.

And in terms of news from my side... my new job keeps me pretty busy and will likely continue to do so for some time yet, but I'm really proud to be able to announce that I'll be working on THREE fandomaid for Nepal charity fics - I still can't believe people picked up my offer - which will consist of the aforementioned crossover, a timestamp for my J2-AU 'Roll the Dice' and a yet untitled but not entirely unplotted fic that will contain 'kidnapped!restrained!hurt!Jensen' as per request. I can't wait to use the upcoming long weekend for some much needed ficwork. Whoever wants to come cheer me on is heartily invited to the party!
Aaaaaand I can tell you that I've finished my written draft for the continuation of my 2014 pod_together party favour 'Wicked Game' which awaits podficcing by my awesome gal silkylustre and will hopefully be ready to be posted soon. Anyway, that's it from me, I'd love to hear from you guys (whoever's still reading by now) about your fannish opinions, about what you're up to and anything else you want to tell me about.

Comments

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I have tried every HTML trick I know to hide spoilers, but LJ is not recognizing any of them. So, I'm really sorry and beware all the spoilers.

So many spoilers:

.
.
.
.
.

Justified: They did do a nice job wrapping most things up, and I'm glad Tim and Loretta survived. I'm disappointed that Ava never had to pay for any of the things she's done.

Supernatural: Show has done some story arcs that didn't send me in the past, but never has it bored me so much for so long as it has this season. Except for the brilliant 200th ep, all they've done all season is retread previous story arcs and beat the same plot points to death over and over.

iZombie: I tried it, but I just couldn't get into it.

Age of Ultron: I was hugely disappointed. It seemed like this movie existed solely to set up Captain America: Civil War, which, let's face it, is basically going be another Avengers movie because everyone will be in it. There's really no heart to AoU, just a lot of explosions. It also bothered me enormously that 99% of the destruction to civilian populated areas was the Avengers fault this time. In previous movies, it was the bad guys causing the destruction and the Avengers trying to stop it. This time, except for that one Hydra base firing on a nearby city just to be dicks, every other civilian casualty was the fault of the Avengers. Again, that's the set-up for the Superhuman Registration Act, but how am I supposed to root for the protagonists of this movie?

[mangacat201.livejournal.com]

Hey, sorry, RL got in the way of answering this for a bit, but I'm really glad you took the time to lay out all the stuff you found interesting.

I am SO glad Deputy Tim made it, I don't know why, but he's just grown on me so much those past years, even though he didn't ever have a really big part. And yeah, Ava did end up as the one that got away, but eeeeh. I have to say I really liked the way they set up this theme of how the women in this world deal with their circumstances and that they're the truly powerful players in the whole plot. That was a really interesting touch.


I have to say, I haven't been bored by SPN so much this season, but I feel like I haven't been engaged in a way that makes me care for the rising tension. And I've felt like the season arc didn't pack the narrative punch it could have *cough*deamon*cough* which I solely blame on that one admission of Bob Singer's that he let out in an interview at the beginning of the season saying 'we have no idea at the beginning of the season where it's going to go, how it's going to end' like that was a quality pitch, when instead it made all the alarm bells go off in my head. I feel like that's something the show has continuously suffered from since the Carver years... that artistic aimlessness that sets up great potential and then squanders it with too little foresight. People can whine about Sera Gamble's show-running all they want, but at least she realized the Kripke-success-recipe of the season arcs going TOWARDS something instead of just meandering around until they hit a gold creek. That makes for great cliffhangers but not so great seasons.

Well, I guess Zombie-soap-buddy-cop-comedy isn't for everyone, but it just filled a weird craving in my TV-brain. Plus, I'm totally shallow enough to stay with shows that I technically find not that awesome because of the actors that are in them.

Age of Ultron... well, I have to admit, it improved on rewatch. I felt like I could follow the plot and the set up of the different characters a lot better and I knew where I had to pay attention to not miss stuff that I didn't really get the first time. So I really came to like some of the character dynamics especially between the new crew, but you're right, I felt a lot like a set up for Civil War and didn't quite find the balance that the first Avengers movie had. I still think that it has a lot to do with the fact that I found Ultron to be a rather uncharismatic and forgettable villian (which I found disappointing). On account of the civilian casualties. Uhm, yeah, actually I got nothing. Though I have to say I was kinda impressed that they went there, actually showing in a few deliberate, personal shots that civilians were harmed in the making of this movie and didn't just did in nameless, faceless thousands in collapsing buildings. That's more than most Hollywood movies even attempt these days (still not enough, I know, but well, I think the industry is to cynical to do better these days)

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I am SO glad Deputy Tim made it, I don't know why, but he's just grown on me so much those past years, even though he didn't ever have a really big part.

I'm really disappointed the PTSD storyline they intended to give him never materialized.

the season arcs going TOWARDS something instead of just meandering around until they hit a gold creek

Yes, this. The whole "season of Deanmon" thing never felt like it was gaining momentum or heading anywhere specific. It was just kind of there, covering the same ground over and over. There certainly wasn't enough to that arc to justify a whole season of it. Supernatural has always been at its best when it's limited a story arc to half a season before shooting off in a different direction.

I guess Zombie-soap-buddy-cop-comedy isn't for everyone

It wasn't that so much as how Liv would take on the characteristics of anyone whose brain she ate. Don't ask me why I found that so off-putting because I have no idea, but it was a deal-breaker for me.

I felt like I could follow the plot and the set up of the different characters a lot better

I got the plot and the characters just fine, it just felt tone deaf to me. When did Banner become Natasha's One True Boo? There was absolutely no set up for that, and it felt like Whedon only did it to say "ha ha, psych!" to the fandom, which was also what the surprise reveal of Clint's family felt like (even though I loved Clint's family and how Auntie Nat was the only one who knew about them).

Also, when did the Avengers start working together again? Last we saw, they were all doing their own thing, so what were the Avengers doing that was so important that Steve was willing to abandon his search for Bucky?

Also also, when Ultron made his first appearance by crashing Tony's party, he was menacing and creepy as hell, but right after that he started channelling Tony Stark's one-liners. As soon as he started being funny, he stopped being menacing to me. In particular, that one scene where Ultron ripped off a guy's arm for saying Ultron sounded like Tony could have showcased how utterly terrifying it could be to interact with an unstable AI in a very powerful robot body who could literally rip you apart in a fit of pique, but instead of Ultron being terrifying, he had an air of kind of sheepish embarrassment, like he'd just spilled red wine on his date's white dress. There's a time and place for comic relief, especially in the MCU, but it was badly timed and placed throughout this entire movie.

Ugh, I had so many issues with this movie. I'm so happy Joss is passing the torch to the Russo brothers. That's the only thing keeping me going at this point.

[mangacat201.livejournal.com]

I think I might have to answer these in single comments soon *g* (but my slow, slooooow internet wouldn't like that, oh no)

Justified: YES, I was totally waiting for that story to go somewhere and give him something more meaty to dig his heels into (because Jacob Pitts can have a whole conversation with the lift of an eyebrow), ah well...

SPN: I honestly wouldn't have minded a season of Deanmon, in fact I would have been overjoyed if we got even HALF. I mean, even Jensen has expressed discontent on how that just fizzled out. They dropped the ball because they would have had to sit down on their asses and actually come up with something like... how does Sam find the grain of humanity in his brother? How does he negotiate a truce and they go hunting again together? How does it affect their hunting that Dean can't be killed, how their relationship with other hunters?
Instead we got the same old 'Dean has the Mark STILL, he's 'getting worse' and we have to sit on him and do what Sam has literally spent half of last season being in a - justified - snit about. Why?

Zombie: Ha, interesting, that part is actually what intrigues me a lot about the whole concept.

Ok... gotta have to come back to that later, work calls. ACK.

[jennylynneh.livejournal.com]

I am way behind on everything.

About the only thing I'm caught up on is Marvel, which took a miracle because I had not stepped into a theater since Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire. Let's just say I'm a workaholic homebody who doesn't like crowds or strangers. However I got to that episode of Agents of Shield where I felt I couldn't watch any more until I'd seen AoU, and I didn't want to wait a year for the movie to be on Amazon/DirecTv. So, I actually told my PM that I was taking the afternoon off. :D Theaters sure have changed! Though, there's no still no closed caption or way to rewind when you don't understand what someone said or did.

I will say that I wasn't as happy with AoU as the others. I think there were too many characters and too much going on. After seeing the cast list for Captain America: Civil War, I think it will have the same issue. In fact, I don't think they should continue to market it as a Captain America movie now that Robert Downey Jr has insisted he get a bigger role in it (because, you know, he is Tony Stark's ego) and the movie is really about Cap vs. Stark and everyone taking sides.

Anyway, I really dropped by to talk about Supernatural. I know you couldn't have guessed from all that rambling.

So...Supernatural. I haven't had the guts yet to watch the entire season finale. I have no idea what happens past the first 15 min which is all I watched before my stomach hurt so bad that I had to turn it off. I'm not kidding. I did the same thing at the end of season 5 with the final 3 episodes. I waited until the day before season 6 started. After Bobby was killed, I put off watching for a good month or two. I couldn't bear it and I suppose part of my current mental state has to do with my favorite non-Winchester's unexpected demise. It really p*$$@d me off because seriously? I realize it's a dangerous career choice but at this rate by the end of next year, the Winchesters are going to be the only hunters left on the planet. Can we please have some reoccurring characters that aren't supernatural or children or comic relief?

Plus, I'm like you, while season 10 was better than seasons 8 and 9, I kind of felt like we were on repeat. Instead of dealing with Sam's tainted blood, we had Dean's Mark -- both are basically the same thing, causing blood lust and anger management issues while the other brother fights to find a cure. Though admittedly, Sam was way less judgmental than Dean had been back when. Neither of them seemed to notice the similarity of the situation.

The other thing that really bothered me was Sam making a deal with Rowena. After everything they've been through, all the Deals and the reaping of those dealt seeds, I just don't see it. I still don't think he would have gone that way at the end of season 9 either when he tried to save his brother after Metatron ran him through. After he returned from Hell, Sam has said more than once that Deals have never gotten them anything good. He's been the victim of Deals gone bad over and over. He knows first hand that the price isn't worth it --

• Mary's Deal not only cost her life but cursed Sam
• John's Deal saved Dean cost his life and the Winchester's chance to kill Azazel
• Dean's Deal to bring Sam back led to Dean going to Hell and both boy's unwitting participation in starting the Apocalypse
• Cas's Deal with Crowley led to angel deaths, including Balthazaar, an insane god-like Cas massacring millions, and Leviathans on earth
• Dean's Deal with Death re-souled Sam but led to Sam's complete mental breakdown
• Dean's Deal with Ezekiel/Gadriel saved Sam's life but led to Kevin's murder and the deaths of so many others, including Tessa
• Dean's Deal with Cain was meant to help him defeat Metatron but in the end, all it did was spectacularly curse him and turn him into a demon for a while.

You know if the shoes were reversed, Dean would chain Sam in the basement of the bunker and demand that Cas "fix his brother".